to think that 4x4 drivers are the most selfish w@*&(*&s ever???

[redrobin]

It makes my blood boil! They drive their big childcrushers whilst on the phone, they tailgate other smaller cars, they use enormous amounts of petrol, they block up roads, they look threatening...how can people choose to drive something like that? Do they have ha a selfish gene, do they think they are just better than other people so rules don't apply to them, or are they just thick?

(NOTE this is only about town drivers, i appreciate that they are useful in the countryside).

Sometimes, I think Jeremy Clarkson is winning.

MrsXX

There are a number of reasons people hate 4x4s

1. They tend to be driven by the incompetent

1. They take up more space on the road and in parking bays & also reduce visibility due to their height causing both inconvenience and higher risk to other road users

1. They generally use more fuel and have higher emissions - you are being disengenous in pretending there is no correlation between the size of the vehicle and the size of the engine

1. If there is an accident they are more likely to cause fatalities or serious injury

1. They have a bigger blind spot when reversing, causing unnecessary hassle and risk in car parks.

Think a quick Google will demonstrate that 4x4's are not fuel-efficient! Some are worse than others, but those who are trying to justify it on those grounds are really wasting everyone's time.

Do people still not get that conspicuous consumption is not something to aspire to these days?

Mrsxx said "The assumption that they use more fuel is laughable in some cases and shows the op knows bugger all about cars and her ignorance shows. Why do some people look at a big car and assume it must be a fuel gussler? It's the engine size NOT the body work size that makes the car a fuel guzzler! I think you would be suprised if you found out about smaller cars with big engines and how much fuel they swollow. So i think a little research on the op's half wouldn't go a miss. My dp's diesel 4X4 gets the same millage as my petrol polo! Now you wouldn't know that just by looking at it!
"

Mmmm thats not strictly true. If you have 2 cars with a 2litre engine, but one is a small,light car and the other is a large, heavy car then the heavier car will require more energy to shift its heavier mass and therefore use more fuel. Its simple physics and YOUR ignorance shows. Its a fact that 4x4s are heavy cars so no matter what their engine size (although they do tend to be bigger), they will use more fuel.

AitchTwoOh, my dp is 6ft 8" and he is also disabled. He has a Grand Jeep Cherokee because the seat is high up meaning he can just sit down and turn his body to face forward. He doesn't have to bend down to try and get in his car which he cannot do. He doesn't fit in my polo because he is a huge guy, i don't mean fat, i mean he is very big in build.

He has his Jeep because it is practicle for him and that's it. He doesn't have it to feel big and clever. I know people do buy them to feel big and be better than everyone else but that's not the case for everyone which is why i get annoyed when people do such big genralisations on 4x4 drivers. His jeep cost £5000, hardly a big, expensive car is it?

needmorecoffee, i really do see what your saying. I would love to cycle but won't in fear of cycling on the road for my own safety. But where i live which is buy no means a rough area, i see everyday cyclists doing the things i decribed. I have nearly run over a few, all of which would have been because the cyclist was breaking law yet i would be penalised for it. I am one of the few drivers who wait until it's safe before over taking a cyclist on the road.

Also there is more energy needed to operate the extra mechanism of the 4 wheel drive as opposed to two wheel...

You want incompetent driving wih kids not belted in, smoking and using mobile at the same time...come to Belgium. We have a 4x4 and I feel a damn sight safer in that than in my Saab when driving on the Belgian roads.

Our 4x4 runs on LPG, so we only fill up with petrol occasionally as it needs it to start, but the vast majority of the driving to and from the UK from Brussels is done on LPG. In Brussels it normally lives in the garage as DH takes a tram to work, and I drive my also LPG car. We take the 4x4 off road, and DH flies a glider, so needs something capable of towing the glider and trailer and robust for when he goes to retrieve another pilot who has landed in a field, or when someone comes to retrieve him.

Both cars are 10 years old and we will keep them until they no longer go.

DH is a considerate, thoughtful and competent driver, who has done courses for driving a 4x4, so is aware of the pitfalls in driving one. He must be good, as he has been in Brussels for almost 4 years, and has not been pranged yet, which given the standard of driving over here is a minor miracle.

StripeyKnickersSpottySocks, dps car is a diesel and so isn't as fast. You put your foot down on the ecelerater and nothing happens! The joys of having a diesel. Your car also uses more fuel depending on how you drive it and how fast you excelerate.

I can get my polo up to 35mph in first gear and i do so i probably use up more fuel doing that!

why would you accelerate up to 35mph in first gear?

Because i like filling up with petrol?

so your dh has it for practical reasons, mrsxx, like people who live in the country etc. not sure why you're getting so chippy when the OP is talking about silly arses who don't need them to pick up their kids from a local school.

and yes, i don't like feeling intimidated on the road, who does? and where, more importantly, does it all end? will we all be driving hummers to stop feeling small? tanks?

redadmiral i meant to ask, my age shows? What age would that be then?

no you are not being unreasonable.

Think you'r missing the point MrsXX. You're perfectly aware that 2 people driving different sized cars in the same manner - the bigger car will use more fuel.

Yes there will always be twats drving like a boy racer, sad fact of life.

However I can totally understand why at 6ft8" your dh needs a bigger vehical.

AitchTwoOh, sorry if have come across as defensive. But someone made a huge generalisation about 4x4 drivers and i felt i needed to add my two pennies worth. It's frustrating when people think ALL 4x4 drivers are the same (like what the op descibed) when i know my dp is not like that.

I hate twattish drivers in general, i don't care what they drive. Had the op titled her thread " to think that twattish drivers are the most selfish w@&(&s ever???" i may have been less defensive.

tbh if i see someone who looks like they can reach the pedals properly in a 4x4 i am pleasantly surprised. round here it's teeny penised men and lipglossed ladies in wedge heels.

Just referring to the fact that when I was younger Save the Planet campaigners were seen as deluded eccentrics. It now appears that they had a point! Hope it doesn't take us too long for everyone to get up to speed.

(I'm sure I'm older than you, by the way )

In all honesty StripeyKnickersSpottySocks, i don't think we could drive our cars in the same mannor. Mine is a 1.4 16V and has wickid exceleration. His is a sloooww diesel that doesn't move very fast even if you put your foot down.

redadmiral, i am not as old as you think i am! I think you would be very suprised!

From your posting style, I would guess 18?

That old?

What i don't like is the current trend for these 4x4 cars to look just like big cars.

Like that BMW X thing.

If you have a look at some of the current models being driven around the actual passenger compartment of the vehicle is either the same as a large car or a bit deeper. They just seem to tack on extra chunky bits on it, raise it up and add huge unnecessay tyres.

There is no point to this at all - it is all just a fashion statement and incredibly selfish.

What did these people do 5 years ago? Drive normal cars like the rest of us - that's what. They carp on about needing the space and other such nonsense like the rest of us are shoe-horned into a sardine tin or something, or the safety of it as if we are all travelling around in death-traps on wheels.

It is a cold hard fact that they use more fuel as they have bigger engines and way more resurces are used to build them in the first place.

One of my family has a 'monster truck' as they call it - but this is for work as they visit forestry plantations and lug stuff about. I doubt hardly any of these current chelsea tractor owners go anywhere they would actually need a large rugged vehicle.

It is all about making a selfish statement and nothing more.

One thing that annoys the hell out of me is when you are alongside them at a junction or in a car-park - you have to let them move first cos you just can't see past them. It's this idea that you have to naturally defer to them for your own safety that riles me up, or edge out slowly in a car-park and just hope no-one is coming from the direction you can't see round.

well i have found this thread very illuminationg. i find it so amusing that most of the posters who 4x4 defenders (not all) have confirmed my suspicions that they are either selfish or stupid.

Maybe in the future, like drunk driving, it will become socially unacceptable across all spectrums, not just with the 'vegan/save the planet/earth mother types' (what a sad sad
post that was). Everyone has a justification I notice. I do fear for our future, because how do you fight that 'I'm alright jack' attitude that goes right across society? Think i'm going to take to the hills.

I hatethese. Wonder what would happen if i turned up on he streets in
this!

YANBU I hate them too, don't see the need unless you live in the country etc. What I don't like is the safety for pedestrians. There is something like a 50% more chance of killing someone at simelar speeds when compared with a 'normal' car. The impact is more likely to be at a childs head height rather than the legs. The attitude seems to be 'as long as me and my kids are OK and would come off better in an accident' they are quite happy to run the risk to pedestrian children. I think it is sad to have one for status or fashion reasons. There are plenty of other 7 seaters or estate cars. I know alot of people that have a 'truck' with only one or two kids.

jellybean, there was someone further up the thread who has one for her DOG!