Dear Jean-Leon,
Personally I am passionate about energy saving, but I do not think that the real and big problem with SUV is the consumption of fuel. This assuming that it is a special vehicle and used for activities that it is designed for and you are obviously doing that. It is a problem created by the US automotive industry, with a substantial support by the US governments, past and present, left and right. The reason was the idea to find a niche of vehicles where the technical demands on safety and fuel economy was low and also where the competition from imports was minimal. By this the automotive industry could appeal to the American taste for BIG vehicles and do that at a low cost with the classification as trucks. A very smart and as we know it have been very successful, built on some special unique conditions in the US market that did not exist in the competitors home markets, - Very low fuel prices, not present in Europe and Japan. - Lack of special driving licence for trucks in US. - Lower demands on safety design, with low manufacturing cost. - The American taste for Bells and whistles in utility vehicles. - The American firm belief in that size matters. - Lack of compatible vehicle designs with competition. - Corporate tax exemptions and subventions. Very well aware of that selling automobiles is completely dependent on marketing, they set about to sell SUV with the usual arguments of size, sex and freedom. This possible to do without such minor problems as safety and fuel economy. The US administration supported with tax exemptions and lists of which vehicles who could get them. This despite that it was a trade off between American jobs against American lives. Anyone have to see the successful smartness in it, even if we have different views about such details as sustainable society and preservation of lives. The American society and people must take care of the hangover after such moves and it can be some substantial problems. It is a price for being manipulated against the interest of the people. The idea of having a second car for commuting is both a responsible and economical alternative. Tell me if you can find choices of American, clean, small and fuel efficient diesels for your purpose. The whole discussion with rational arguments, is only valid for a few. Since the human instinct is to find rational arguments for emotional choices (basics in advertising and marketing courses), those arguments are generally used and without validity. Hakan At 06:52 PM 3/1/2003 -0500, you wrote: >Sorry for interrupting the train of thought, but this stuck... > >- AND I KNOW AN SUV DOES NOT "HAVE" TO EAT GAS. > >Please enlighten us as to how this is possible. I guess Newton's Force= Mass >X Acceleration schpiel was, after all these years, wrong. Four wheel drive, >a higher, boxier body, and larger rotational mass cannot be engineered to be >more efficient than 2wd, lighter, less rotational mass. That's the way it >is. You can build the most fuel efficient engine in the world, but it'll >still be better if you reduce the work it has to do by moving less weight. > >You are a hotrodder? I think that the combination of skills available to >most automotive manufacturers are better than what you can come up with by >"hotrodding" a V8. > >Oh yeah, I drive a 1966 Land-Rover. It gets 10-15 mpg. Don't bother >dejecting me as someone who doesn't get it, or, a yuppie wannabe. It snows a >lot up here, and I do a lot of camping/backcountry in northern Quebec so I >need a 4wd. As well, I do a lot of rough road driving so a truck that's on 4 >leaf springs is a nice thing as it's very tough and easy to maintain. Right >Keith? > >However, most of the time I could get by just fine with a small car. That's >why I'm looking at buying a small car as a commuter, that will be VWO >powered, and I'll keep the truck for when it's needed. As was said, I need a >4500 lbs,. twin winch, 4wd, 36" tired monster workhorse quite a bit, but I >don't feel it is a good idea to drive one everyday. > >J-L Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
