Quote:
Originally Posted by whatnext
I'm with you. As someone who enjoys driving, I hate being stuck behind some soccer-mom behemoth that basically blocks my view of what is going on the road ahead. I wouldn't be suprised if that's a big factor in the increasing accidents.
I have no desire to drive one of these clumsy handling, fuel-sucking barges,
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Agreed.
I definitely don't think larger vehicles are more practical overall. They're just more practical in a few select (overemphasized) ways. They're less energy efficient, take up more room complicating parking and maneuvering, have poorer handling, and cost more than a smaller vehicle of otherwise equivalent stats. Efficiency and functionality are both issues of practicality. People focus way to much on the "what if' aspects of life to the detriment of "what's frequent". For instance, wanting these crossover type things for the AWD for the 2 out of 365 days when it would actually come in handy and sacrifice efficiency on all the rest of the days as a result. And a lot of people seem to think it improves handling and helps prevent accidents when it does no such thing. I mean, the number of times the average person would be driving their FWD car in conditions in which it's likely to get stuck are so few it's ridiculous. Unless you're trying to get in/out of your driveway without shoveling or you're driving in a storm before the plow goes through (pretty risky regardless), you may never encounter it.
Generally I'd consider a larger vehicle
less practical unless you have a specific reason for needing one (such as hauling a large family).