Roland Perry gurgled happily, sounding much like they
were saying:

In message , at 09:43:39 on Tue, 10 Aug
2010, d remarked:
I don't think anyone blames the americans for using their cars if they
live miles from nowhere. But you don't need a gas guzzling 5.0 V8 SUV to
bring the groceries back from the shops.

But you do need to own something that's also suitable for long trips on
sometimes very poor roads.

Some people do, indeed. A tiny minority, since most Americans would no
more dream of driving from coast to coast via back roads than they would
boiling their head in Strawberry Jam. In the event they DID actually do a
road trip, most would just stick to the Interstates.

But even for those, it doesn't need to be something as ridiculous as a
Lincoln Navigator or a Cadillac Escalade or a Chevrolet Suburban or a
Ford Expedition or a...

Hell, I did it (Massachusetts down the East Coast, then across through
Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Nevada to California, then down the coast)
quite happily in a 2cv. Sure, aircon would have been nice in the Nevada
desert in August, but it really wasn't an issue for most of the trip...

The attraction of the SUV concept is that it's a more suitable
compromise than an even bigger traditional 4x4 or pickup truck.

You haven't seen the US idea of an "SUV", have you? Clue: We're not
talking Honda CR-V.

In message , at 10:16:25 on Tue, 10
Aug 2010, Adrian remarked:

You haven't seen the US idea of an "SUV", have you? Clue: We're not
talking Honda CR-V.

I've owned one (which is probably more than most of the correspondents
in this thread have). It was slightly smaller than a Range Rover, and
completely typical of the breed.
--
Roland Perry

Huge gurgled happily, sounding much like they
were saying:

Hell, I did it (Massachusetts down the East Coast, then across through
Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Nevada to California, then down the
coast) quite happily in a 2cv. Sure, aircon would have been nice in the
Nevada desert in August, but it really wasn't an issue for most of the
trip...

Try the Northern States in the winter!

There's much wider use of winter tyres in the US than here - and, again,
they're not drastically different in climate to Scandinavia. Most Scandis
manage quite happily with "normal cars", often 2wd.

You haven't seen the US idea of an "SUV", have you? Clue: We're not
talking Honda CR-V.

Good point. I got picked up from Newark Airport by a "limo" company in a
Ford Expedition. You could have fitted 12 people in it without great
effort.

I think the Chevy Suburban is so called because it's the size of a Suburb.

In message , Adrian
writes
There's much wider use of winter tyres in the US than here - and, again,
they're not drastically different in climate to Scandinavia. Most Scandis
manage quite happily with "normal cars", often 2wd.
I've got a relation in Sweden, he say's snow tyres are mandatory in the
winter months, they even have dates that they have to swap between
ordinary and snow tyres.
--
Clive