I guess it would serve some purpose if the soccer mom was a MILF.
sublime...that looks like the vehicle Ashton
Kuchner drives around....
The 2005 Xterra looks good.....It has some new safety features like side curtain airbags.
If you are still looking you may want to wait for this.
Thanks sublime1....
This vehicle's crab steering will revolutionize
parallel and garage parking. Imagine also being able to turn circles at the summit of a mountain for panoramic viewing....Wow!
...article mentions everything but
the price....??
I think it is still in the concept form. With two hemis powering it the price will probably be astronomical. It was just too cool not to share.
thanks sublime, very kewl indeed!
Saw an interesting programme on Brit telly the other night called 'What Would God Drive?'
It was all about Americans love of the SUV and failiure to take the threat of global warming seriously through their insular and selfish use of fuel inneficient vehicles.
A religious organisation has the above catchphrase, proposing that as God created the enviroment, it was every good christians duty to take care of it!
Basically, it was saying that an American would drive to an enviroment rally...in an SUV!
I'm not saying I agree or disagree with the programme...but it was food for thought.
What do you think?
I think there will always be a need for the more rugged vehicle, especially if one lives in a rural area or spends a lot of time travelling here in
the vast spaces of North America.....I suppose the new hybrids are an attempt to address fuel/environmental issues.
If the only buyers of SUVs were those who live in rural areas or travel on primitive roads (or no roads), the market would be quite small.
My argument being that I doubt more than 5% of SUV owners ever need the vehicle for rugged driving...
Light Trucks and SUV's
Diesel
Diesel exhaust is known to cause cancer, asthma, and other respiratory diseases.
The health risk from diesel exposure is greatest for children and the elderly. The proximity of a child's residence and school to major roads is linked to asthma occurrence.
Asthma limits children's ability to participate in sports, and is the most common cause of children's absence from school due to hospitalization.
The State of California decided that there is enough evidence to list the particulate matter in diesel exhaust as a toxic air contaminant.
Exhaust from heavy-duty diesel engines contains between 100-200 times more small particles than gasoline engine exhaust.
California's Scientific Review Panel estimates that 16,000 Californians will develop lung cancer over a lifetime of diesel exhaust exposure.
Only 2 percent of the vehicles on California's roads run on diesel. Yet they account for 31 percent of smog-forming nitrogen oxides, and for 79 percent of particular matter emissions from on-road vehicles.
Cleaner alternatives to diesel are available, such as liquefied natural gas, compressed natural gas, or propane. Electric or fuel-cell engines are being enhanced to provide future alternatives.
By federal law, light trucks and SUV's do NOT have to meet the strict emission standards placed on passenger cars.
Light trucks and SUV's now account to almost half of all auto sales in the United States.
Many Light Trucks and SUV's run on diesel, which severely increases the danger of lung diseases.
In average, light trucks and SUV's of the 2004 model year achieve only about 70 percent of the fuel economy of average cars.
With advanced technology, such as gasoline-electric hybrid motors, auto manufacturers could ensure that SUV's and light trucks meet the same emission standards as cars.
Interesting information smorgs ....
Are you aware that there is an SUV thread in the politics forum SUV's suck?!!
I wonder whether the popularity of SUV's is limited
to North America?
shepaints, do a Google image search on "unimog". They come in all shapes, sizes, and configurations.
Thanks for the laugh! rotfl! I think there's room for my skis on top of that vehicle! Does it have crab steering too?
I don't know about crab drive, but as I said, they do come in all shapes and sizes. You can't find a more capable off road vehicle unless you start adding axels or a tank tread.
omigod its a unimog!
http://www.unimogtrucks.com/
No word sums up the Unimog U500 truck better than versatile. Designed to perform multifunctional vocational duties, the Unimog truck takes on the brute force of rough terrain, Arctic weather, and heavy-duty push/pull operations like no other.
Outta here, but have fun, y'all.
There is quite a lot of copy-cating here of whatever is "in" in the US and Suvs are all the rage amongst the well off. Outside the cities and off the major highways there are lots of very steep dirt roads where four wheel drive is necessary. Out in the pueblos public transportation consists of early fifties model Willys Jeeps. They just rebuild the motors and repaint them every few years. There also seem to have been big imports of Toyota Land Cruisers, Nissan Patrols and Suzuki jeeps in the seventies back when those vehicles were relatively cheap. Cheap 4x4 imports in the eighties include Russian Ladas, Romanian Aro Carpatis and Chinese Bejing Jeeps. The last two are big and serve as public transport on mountain routs. With lengthwise bench seats plus those who stand on the bumper and hang on to the roof rack they often carry twelve or fifteen people.
