Now I love SUVs even more.

 

I hate it.. My mom has this POS jeep grand cherokee and it drives just like a boat..I try to make it fun by throwing it into full time 4WD but I get yelled at not to break her car.. If I take a corner with any kind of speed it feels like its gonna tip over.. Its funny though because if I'm at a light and i hold down the brakes and press on the gas the car will tilt hard to the left.

EDIT: Ever gone over a bump in an SUV? WOW!

 

Today its all about the horsepower war.. everyone wants more HP.

 

SLegacy99 is correct. The Camry DOESN'T need 270 HP (except maybe the SE model), and, for several reasons, the halcyon days of ever-more power are about to come to an end, just like they did back in the early 70's.

And, even apart from those reasons, with cars like the Mercedes AMGs and BMWs, we have reached the limits of what can be practically put into street cars anyway. And everyone dosen't necessarily want more HP.........even Car and Driver, Road and Track, and other enthusiast magazines are saying that for street cars, enough is enough. When guys like THAT, who are speed freaks to start with, become concerned, you KNOW we have an excess and it's time to start trimming back.

 

this sort of bugs me, i know that many of you guys do not like suv's but this article seems as if all people who drive suv's are like that, when in truth, some actually need it, we for example, need it, we have the lx with we need to tow our boat or atv's that we share with out neighbors. we need it to get to our beach house our a place we stay when we go skiing. and we could not do that in a minivan. sure that in many cases, people chose status over practicality when buying a car, why buy a gx, when you can have a gs, well why not. saying buying an suv over another car is like asking why a person buys a ferrari over a kia, it's cause they can. i guess this can be a very touchy subject, but w.e, the least people can do is not stereotype the people who drive certain cars, just saying

 

Good point, most performance sedans and sports cars are much lighter and much more aerodynamic then SUVs and get much better gas mileage then a large SUV with the same horsepower or less. Sports cars generally get poor gas mileage when driven hard where SUVs get bad gas mileage no matter how you drive it. Also sports cars and sedans are much smaller then SUVs which means they take much less resources to build. Sports cars and sports sedans are generally more expensive and not nearly as common as gas guzzling SUVs/pickups so they don't do nearly as much damage. People buys sports cars/sedans because they are thrilling to drive and all the performance they offer and often do not drive them that often where SUVs are often bought because someone is under the false impression that they are safer or they feel they need one when they don't and they are boring and unsafe to drive. Ferrari's and Lambos don't get good gas mileage but they are super rare and hardly ever driven by owners, average Ferrari owner would use less gas in his vehicle per year then even a 4 cylinder econo car owner who drives it everywhere.

I don't see why average family sedans need over 250hp especially Camries and Avalons which have always been softly sprung and bought by older people who are not enthusiasts. People who buy those cars would rather have a smaller smoother more fuel efficient engine then a larger more powerful less fuel efficient engine. I find it funny why Toyota puts a 3.5l 280hp engine in the fwd Avalon and 268hp in a fwd Camry which do not need the power and are not bought by enthusiasts yet they put a 3 liter 245hp engine in the much more expensive heavier rwd/awd GS sports/luxury sedan and only a 2.5 liter 205hp v6 in their rwd/awd IS250 sports sedan. It probrably just had to do with marketing so they could charge so much more for the larger more powerful engines but it is still dumb. The Camry should have got a 235hp 3 liter and Avalon should have received a 3 liter at 245 or 250hp. The Lexus rwd sports sedans should have got a 3 liter 255hp engine for the base IS from the beginning and the GS should have got the Avalons 3.5 280hp from the beginning instead of the weak base engines. I know Lexus finally put a 300+hp engine in the new GS350 but it should have came out with it from the beginning, if I had a new GS300 I would be pretty upset.

 

manafacturing isnt streamlined if you are producing both 3.0 and 3.5 engines

 

Isn't the ability to have a choice great? If someone doesn't like SUVs, don't buy one. I want it, I need it, let me have it.

 

Yeah but the SUV driver endangers the lives of others too. Freedom of choice only goes to a point where it can't impact another person's freedom of choice.

I don't mind the car-based SUVs so much; my mothers CR-V drove VERY well, got great gas mileage, had great brakes, and never felt top-heavy at all.

 

Ridiculous article. Yes I own an SUV which I drive more than my wife, plus she used to own one but now drives a hulking F-150 which she needs to pull a horse trailer now and then.

I like SUVs primarily because I like space and comfort and not having to get 'down' into a car - SUVs to me are MUCH more comfortable than sedans. I like the higher driving/viewing position. I like loading stuff in the back at waist height and not having to lift is over some stupid high lip.

I only drive the SUV about 50% of the time though, when a small efficient vehicle works I drive the MX-5.

 

i admit it. i bought my "suv" for the high driving position. but its much more than that. I love the trunk area. having a flat area with fold down seats is a very valuable area. im not saying i need it every day, but its great when i do need it.

I wouldnt buy ridding the earth of those Chevy Suburbans, tahoes, escalades. But long live the CUV!! 18/24mpg doesnt sound too bad to me.

btw, the camry doesnt need 270 horses, which is why you can buy the 2.4 liter one if you wanted. lol.

 

I definitely have noticed that there are a significant number of SUV drivers who are not very skilled behind the wheel. The Escala-lanche that almost put an end to my GS was one example. However, it seems that, regardless of the vehicle, there is frequently something more important that driving going on in most people's cars. It's a trend that's pretty disturbing.

 

Perfect example: Corvette vs. Escalade. 16/24 vs. 12/18.


I know Lexus wants their hybrids to be powerful, but my dad is poo pooing the GS450h because it has too much power for him. He'd rather have a hybrid that will hit 60 MPH in 6 seconds than the 5.2 seconds of the GS hybrid in hopes of better fuel economy. He was telling me that he would get another RX400h cause he likes the hybrid so much, but would feel silly getting a second SUV of the same make. Camry hybrid appears to be in his future.


I agree that with these CAFE standards the HP war is over. I'd like to see a V6 Camry with a smaller displacement (say maybe 3.0Ls [back to the way it was]) but with updated technologies like direct injection, valvematic, and of course keep the 6 speed auto.

 

I am very eager to see the Ecoboosted Ford Explorer.

However, even with DI I am skeptical if a 270 hp 2.0L turbocharged SUV will meet the fuel economy claims that they have been making. I say that because I am thinking of the 2.0L WRX (20/27 mpg) with 227 hp, though without said modern updates in engine technology.

 

FYI, my 300HP V8 Explorer gets between 18 and 20mpg. Not great but not terrible either.