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It’s time for Americans to embrace small cars
(arstechnica.com)
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this post was submitted on 18 Aug 2023
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I live in Appalachia and I have kids. I definitely love having my small SUVs because it’s almost impossible to get anywhere here in a sedan during the winter.
I have been stuck on the side of a mountain a few times in cars. I haven’t been stuck once when I’m out in something capable of off-roading.
I can’t imagine needing one living somewhere flat though.
Nah I lived in a mountain town with a Mazda 3 for ten years. Either you have some serious off roading going on and need an actual off roading vehicle or you just never learned to properly drive in the snow. In ten years I can count on my hand the number of times I didn't make it up a grade. And that was because of ice, which an SUV wouldn't help. Furthermore there are several off road capable cars available. SUVs are not off road vehicles by nature.
They were supposed to be! The shit that's happened to them over the last few decades because of all the non-off-roading folks who are too insecure to drive a minivan is a damn travesty. SUVs should be much more niche vehicles than they are, and the ones that aren't capable off-road don't deserve to exist.
It was all marketing. It always was. They made more money selling pickups and evading CAFE standards. So how do they convince people to buy more pickups? Slap a shell on it. Then pay Hollywood to slander minivans and wagons. When wagons become moderately popular again in the 2000's you just drop the chassis lower and sell the SUV as a wagon. (Looking at you Ford and Dodge)
The SUV production line is the car companies' swiss army knife. They can get 3 out of 4 form factors out of it. That's all it ever was. And the entire off roading community is sitting on the biggest secret that the biggest weapons aren't super special. AWD, a low gear, a moderate lift, and a manual transmission are enough to go most places. Once AWD was commonly available car companies needed something else to sell as off-roading. But the most common utility vehicle in poor infrastructure areas is still the Toyota series 70 after 30 years. But even Toyota doesn't want to sell that in the US, because they can make a higher profit on larger vehicles.
Mine are.
Then you're very much the exception.
Flat places still have sand, dirt, rocks, mud, and snow.
In WWII the Willie's jeep was basically unstoppable and it is about 1/4 the size of the monster trucks that Americans need to drive to get KFC
Its kinda sad that thr jeep cherokee sport was kinda the perfect size for what it did and was the size of a nisaan cube. Now compare a 2001 jeep cherokee sport to a fucking rubicon. Seriously why the hell are modern vehicles so fucking large compared to the first SUVs even.
The old Cherokee was small, but I think calling it the same size as a Nissan Cube is a ~~stretch~~ squish.
Given the fact I parked next to one the other day, theyre about the same size. The Cube is a bit taller and the Cherokee is somewhat longer. Though most of the added length is due to the Engine compartment.
Well, TIL.
Still, I think the extra length of the Cherokee "counts" more than the extra height of the Cube, especially since a Cherokee actually intended to be used off-road (with 4x4, bigger tires, etc.) would be taller.
Not denying that, I was moreso just comparing a modern car to an old SUV.
I know, my car is a Subaru Crosstrek which is basically a lifted AWD hatchback. It comfortably holds 4 adults and bikes, kayaks, cargo basket with whatever thanks to a hitch and roof rack. Similar ground clearance to much larger vehicles.