RE: Audi/Porsche, SUVs, .....

["Amirkalali, Mohamad A (Mohamad)" <mamirkalali@lucent.com>]

Dave,
My response was not intended as SUV bashing and it was certainly not
personal. Thank God not all SUV drivers are as incompetent as those I
encounter in my area. But the fact remains that the perception of "utility"
is driving the market and not the reality. For a number of folks, utility
was and still is the reason for choosing an SUV. But for a dangerously large
number of ex-car-drivers, it is just the impression of safety that makes
these vehicles attractive. Drivers of 18 wheelers are required to pass a
tougher set of standards (equipment + skills) that allow them to share the
same roads as cars (those standards are poor also). They also pay more when
they travel on toll roads. The question is how large should a truck/SUV get
and how many of them should there be before a new set of standards should be
applied. I say they are large enough and there are enough of them around to
start looking at how the safety standards should be changed. The number of
highway deaths should not drive this consideration. In another word, we
should not wait until these vehicles get old and start to fall apart and
start to kill people before  we recognize that MASS KILLS. 
Don't get me wrong. I am not as paranoid as I may sound. But, I do believe
that these nice new shiny SUVs will get older, a large number of them will
not be maintained as well as they should and driver incompetence along with
poor maintenance will show the deadliness of a these monsters. It is a shame
that then, and only then, will people face up to the facts.
Regards,
Moe

> ----------
> From: 	Dave Puterbaugh[SMTP:deputer@email.msn.com]
> Sent: 	Friday, August 07, 1998 10:38 PM
> To: 	'Quatrro List'; WDouglas@fmarathon.com; Amirkalali, Mohamad A
> (Mohamad)
> Subject: 	Re: Audi/Porsche, SUVs, .....
> 
> I do not understand the SUV bashing.  My wife drives a Suburban and loves
> it.  We use it to tow our 20' boat, go camping with lots of crap,  take
> our
> family of four plus friends skiing, etcetra.  As much as I love my Audi, I
> also love to drive the Suburban, and it does chores the Audi could never
> do.
> The problem that I see is that there are some of you that are lucky enough
> not to need an SUV, and some of you encounter crappy drivers that are in
> SUV's.  The amazing thing is that people rarely cut in front of my 200
> quattro, but every time I drive the Suburban, people cut in front of it
> with
> less than a car length between us!   If you really love cars, love all for
> what they do.  My ideal list of cars to own would be an Audi S-8, a
> Suburban, a Chevy truck, a Mini-Cooper, a 911 Porsche, a 1969 GTO and a
> 1963
> Ferrari Berlinetta Lusso.  Life would be bitchin'!!!!!
> 
> Dave Puterbaugh
> 1991 200q sedan, IA III, euro lights, and 17" BBS rims
> 1996 Suburban
> 1974 914 (for my daughter)
> maybe a 911, or a supercharged Mustang Cobra for my raging mid-life crisis
> in the very near future
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Amirkalali, Mohamad A (Mohamad) <mamirkalali@lucent.com>
> To: 'Quatrro List' <quattro@coimbra.ans.net>; 'WDouglas@fmarathon.com'
> <WDouglas@fmarathon.com>
> Date: Friday, August 07, 1998 1:08 PM
> Subject: RE: Audi/Porsche, SUVs, .....
> 
> 
> >Well, I don't like SUVs either. But, I can understand why everybody and
> his
> >brother is making them. PEOPLE BUY THEM. Every year about a million
> people
> >are replacing their cars with SUVs. In the process, the car companies are
> >making loads of money. As an example, the margin on a suburban is
> ~$11,000.
> 
> >
> >How does ~90 Cavaliers grab you? As long as folks buy them, they will
> make
> >them. It's that simple. In the mean time, we have to contend with
> increasing
> >numbers of  5' 2", 105lb people driving 5000 lb. vehicles @ ~68 mph with
> >virtually no idea of what is going on around them. A month does not go by
> >that I don't encounter one of these characters enter the high way, move
> >three lanes to the fast lane and almost brush my front end. After the
> driver
> >eventually sees me he/she gives me a finger as if I was tail gating. Mean
> >while, I am trying not to get run over by another idiot driving another
> >monster truck behind me. At least I try to get the set of bumpers out of
> my
> >rear wind shield !!! May be my problem is that I am much too much aware
> of
> >the laws of physics. Mass kills and some (may be most) drivers have no
> idea
> >that stopping a 5,000 lb. monster takes some skill and awareness.
> >
> 
> 
> 
>