suvs.....Re: anyone see this?

[Ameer Antar]

word up steve!

i agree w/ you completely.

also, i think 85% of car owners give no thought to their tires. Looking in 
parking lots around here, I constantly see deflated, bald, and tires that 
re just generally in bad shape. Heck, I saw studded snow tires on a Honda 
and a VW at work this summer. Talk about disregard for safety. Tires are 
the only part of the vehicle that touch the ground. Tires should be the 
first thing on their mind. Also the factory tire pressure was too low. I 
know people who haven't checked they're tire pressure 2 years after buying 
the car. And since tire pressure was low to begin w/  they could easily end 
up w/ 15-20 psi which will destroy most other tires riding under an SUV. I 
think people are too ready to blame and ready law suits. When bad things 
happen, we must learn something from it, or it will be repeated. Maybe the 
real moral of the story is not a conspiracy, but to learn how to take care 
of your tires. I think combination of poor care and the extreme weight of 
SUV's is the cause here. And we're only seeing it now, b/c these huge 
trucks are being sold to the masses.

And why the hell are they feeding the masses these huge trucks. It makes no 
sense at all. We seem to be taking a step back. Fuel economy on these 
things are the same as those big 60's/70's V8's in some cases. I think this 
could be the real cause of our worldwide fuel shortages. Oil production may 
have stayed the same, since 90's, but economies have increased and people 
are driving more and buying more inefficient cars. I don't understand why 
SUV's are popular anyway. Why do we want our daily drivers to be more like 
buses? A mid-size is much more practical economically and performance-wise. 
How do expect emergency handling to be in such a high vehicle, and that's 
how most accidents can be avoided, through better handling, response, and 
braking. Now don't lighter, lower cars exhibit all of these characters? I 
think SUV's can come out of an accident in a better shape, but they're also 
more prone to accidents, esp. w/ the way some drivers cruise in and out of 
lanes. People need to think a little, rather than mindlessly buy these 
things cuz they saw it on mtv or some commercial. And there should be a 
limit of how heavy a passenger car should be. That way, we can start 
conserving energy and maybe some lives...

-ameer

At 03:54 PM 9/18/00, you wrote:
>... I find it a bit amusing to see this sort of thing on an Audi list ... oh
>how soon we forget!  While there do appear to have been problems in
>manufacturing, and most definitely the problem has been mis-handled by both
>parties (hey, even that sounds familiar!) ... there are other
>characteristics that really should be kept in mind as the issue is
>considered ...
>
>1) Weren't these same tires sold to other SUV manufacturers?  Why is it that
>the problem seems to be related to a specific marque?
>
>2) Evidence shows that Ford knew that the vehicles had a tendency to roll
>over ... AAMOF, Ford's response to specify a lower inflation pressure
>increases the likelihood of a tire failure.
>
>3) Word is now that in many cases there is evidence that the vehicles were
>driven at a high rate of speed, in some cases not that much slower than the
>maximum rated speed of the tire.
>
>4) Many people (at least here in the USA) view the SUV as a vehicle that
>affords them an extra evel of safety, primarily due to the crash test
>ratings.  Unfortunately, the tests do not demonstrate the fact that with
>shorter wheelbases and higher centers of gravity, many SUVs require a level
>of skill that not many drivers on the road here have acquired.  Perhaps
>manufacturers can depend on computers to make up for this vehicle
>dynamic/lack of skill issue (as Daimler-Chrysler did on the MBz SUV
>offering).  In my mind, it was a matter of time before all of the "stars"
>would line up and something bad like this would happen.
>
>While I don't remember ever owning a set of Firestone tires I do look at the
>cost/performance for them and would not consider the current hoopla to be a
>major issue in the consideration.  I see no need to own an SUV, but I will
>continue to investigate Ford's product line even in the event of this
>occurrence ... at least you can imagine that the prices for Firestone tires
>may become a bit of a bargain as compared to the competition ... hmmm, that
>sounds familiar too! ;-)
>
>Steve Buchholz
>San Jose, CA (USA)
>
> > Bridgestone, however, is a Japanese company who (in my opinion) makes very
>
> > good tires, and bought Firestone a few years ago to try to turn the
>fleggling
> > company around.  Bridgestone is the parent company.  I just think
>Bridgestone
> > should write off Firestone and keep thier name out of this whole mess.
>That
> > would be wise anyways.  This is a PR nightmare, and Firestone's name is
> > getting dragged through the coals.  The worst part is I cringe everytime I
>
> > hear them refer to themselves as the Bridgestone-Firestone company every
>time
> > the make a press announcement.
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