T i m wrote:

I don't think right minded folk have any issues re 4x4's in general
just their suitability in many cases. Yes it's their (your) choice
etc but in these days when many people are looking to reduce emissions
AND increase mpg (reducing emissions further) they are just seen as a
'luxury' that the rest of us could do without?

Ah, envy you mean? ;-)

Also their size means they take up more room on the road (given their
typically low occupancy) creating more congestion, take up more room
when parked (congestion again) and mass mass to recycle (energy
consumption again)?

This has been disprove enough times (in this country anyway), it makes
me wonder why people keep going on about it. If you look at most of the
off roaders you actually see people driving, they are often no longer or
wider than a saloon or estate car. They may be a bit taller, but that is
not usually the "problem" axis (although it is what makes them look much
bigger).

In many ways the big people carriers would seem to suffer all the same
faults as an offroader, yet people seem to spend less time complaining
about them.

More than once I have seen big off road cars (I don't care if they
were 4x4 or not) parked across two bays because:

1) They won't fit in a std *car* bay.
2) Their owners don't want them damaged.

I have seen people do that with any (usually new) car for the same
reason....

Bottom line, vehicles should be (in my little world anyway) for taking
us and our belongings from a to b as efficiently and safely as
possible.

yup, give it a couple of hundred bhp and aircon and it sounds good to me
;-) (oh and 4wd is nice as well)

Should we all drive round in Porches or (for example) Megans (etc)?

Probably not... although one could argue that the performance car is
safer (for its occupants) for just those reasons. It will stop in a
shorter distance when required, it will also be able to swerve round a
obstacle at speed and have a better chance of the driver maintaining
control.

--
Cheers,

John.

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