Meephead wrote:
Don’t most 4WD vehicles have a lever you can move into the “2WD only” position?
Or is that what “AWD” means?
My vehicle has all-time four wheel drive, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. After the situations I’ve been in, I can say that it’s definitely worth the extra cost. I was living in a very rural area during Hurricane Floyd. We didn’t get too much flooding, but all of the local dirt roads were horribly washed out. A lot of the paved roads were blocked, leaving you with no choice but to drive off-road around the blockage, whether it was a tree or a trailer.
I’ve also found that the traction is great in rainy weather, but a lot of that has to do with the kind of tires you have. The 4x4 has to help some though–after all, there is power going to all four wheels.
Oh, dear. I wish I hadn’t opened this thread. Ah, well. Can’t turn back now.
I drive a BMW. I love my car. That’s why I own it. I don’t own it for an image. I don’t own it because I’m pretentious (well, I am, but that’s got nothing to do with the car). I own it simply because I enjoy driving it. Weird concept, huh?
So, Zenster, you don’t appreciate BMWs or SUVs of any sort. Your tastes differ from mine in this. Apparently, that gives you some right to mock me should misfortune befall me. You don’t like my taste in cars, therefore, I am acceptable target for ridicule. That’s how this works, huh? I see. Well, since I don’t like your sense of humor, I feel completely justified in saying that I will laugh when you suffer. I will laugh when you get cancer. I will laugh when your spouse dies. I will laugh when your children are molested and murdered. I will laugh at all this simply because I don’t like your sense of humor.
If I have somehow failed to make perfectly clear to you my feelings, I’d be happy to more thoroughly explain myself in the appropriate forum.
Have a lovely day.
Definition of a creche ?
Collision between SUV s outside a first grade school. 
Okay, man. Just don’t come crying to us when your yacht sinks.
Comedy is based on the misfortune of others…
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- Anyone?, , I would like some evidence that driving a Ford Expedition is any better or worse for the environment than driving a Geo Metro. - MC
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MC,
If you accept the idea that 2 gallons of burned gasoline causes more environmental damage than 1 gallon of burned gasoline AND 2000 pounds of raw material causes less damage than 4000 pounds of raw material AND during most rush hours here in Dallas I don't see a whole lot of Excursions (or other big SUV's) carrying more than one person to work, then yeah, Excurions cause 2 to 3 times the damage of a Metro. Here are the stats:
Metro: 1895lbs, 41mpg, 3 Quarts Oil every 3K miles
Excursion: 7150lbs, 16mgp, 6 Quarts Oil every 3K miles
Of course you’re hearing from a person that is still driving a '89 Integra with 208K miles on it! (Still getting 32mpg on the highway!)
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Firstly, let me address this by saying that I would not have dreamed of flaming you. The last time I checked, a turd doesn’t light. 
Secondly, I do not have either a BMW or a SUV. I drive a pickup truck. Granted, it is large, and uses a ton of fuel. However, I use it for its intended purpose frequently. I haul things in it. Those who attended the broncos game along with me this weekend can attest to the pile of leaves still in the bed.
Sure, I keep it clean, and it is my daily driver. But hey, I drive it, I like it, and could not care less about someone who labels me as either “Small Penised” or “asshole” for driving it. I fret not at all.
Lets see if I understand this correctly: two expensive cars nearly colliding is funny, I guess a near miss by 2 18-wheelers would be side-splitting funny. I guess the funniest thing you could think of would be a close call by two jumbo-jets, or perhaps a couple of cruise ships. Excuse me if I don’t get it. Must be because I drive a SUV.
I drive a 4wd Toyota Landcruiser & I make no apologies to anyone! It cost me $ 30K, so what, I earned the money I spend it the way I want to. You don’t like it ‘Tough Titty’ - My SUV is diesel powered, never exceeds the speed limit, and its emissions are cleaner than half the 20-year old wrecks drving the roads.
One of my primary reasons for buying the SUV was protection for my wife. I am not worried about other people, they have to take care of themselves, my responsibility extends to my own family. Both my wife and I are carefull, experienced drivers.
Others on this thread have suggested that there might me a touch of envy in your feelings towards SUV and/or BMW owners. I have to agree with them.
Oh yeah my son, the Yuppie, has just ordered one of the new BMW X series SUV’s - more power to him, he earned it.
Some of us can protect our wives without purchasing Extraordinarily Big Cars.
(You sound a little like that goofy congressman from upstate New York, who claimed he owned an arsenal of assault weapons for the express purpose of protecting his wife. Or mother, or something.)
If you need help protecting your wife, I suggest you get in touch with Eve. She’s been giving Mullinator a hand for months now. And I know that nothing bad has happened recently to Mullinator’s Wife.
I don’t know for sure about the integrity of that statement, Uke. I’ve certainly noticed that while in the confines of my vehicle, the other person’s bumper doesn’t align itself with my head quite so frequently. The tradeoff that I see is I’m more vulnerable to a rollover. Which is worse? I don’t know. I do feel safer, however, in the larger vehicle.
I’d laugh at myself for not bringing the video camera.
It IS hysterically funny. Almost as funny as a vat of rendered baby fat.
Read: I’m a jerk who thinks that spending a lot of money shows other people my status. God forbid that they didn’t pay me the deference I deserve because they don’t realize exactly what my station in life is. 
Next you’ll go to the Sharper Image and buy your wife Kevlar dresses and the official Wonder Woman Brand Bullet Proof Bracelets. There are a lot of dangerous people out there when she is shopping and she might have to fight crime on the fly. Don’t forget the optional magic lasso… she’ll want to know where they went wrong.
A touch of envy? More like disgust and disdain. Some of us don’t measure ourselves by our possessions. Some of us go by the only yardsticks that matter: how big our dicks are and how attractive our spouses are. :rolleyes:
Joy. You’ve passed on your DNA and it’s buying things it doesn’t need just for status as well. A red letter day. Ecstacy beyond parallel. :rolleyes:
Whats really funny is seeing a 45 thou Cadillac Es…whatever that has been lowered to about an inch off the road lose its oil pan and crack its differential going over a three inch bump.I know it’s funny as hell cause I saw it and am still laughing about it. After the idiot cut me off I pulled in front of him to drive about 10 miles an hour on a road closed to one lane, and he decided to “show me” by jumping into the lane under construction to pass me.
I would have no problem with SUVs for people who might need use them for an intended purpose, you know. But in So. Cal, there’s no snow here, no huge ranches or huge mountain ranges. “The attitude” IS annoying. Whenever a lane merges, the SUV driver, no matter how far back he is, must try and cram his huge car in front of me. Heaven forbid he gets to his destination one car length later, I suppose. And I hate it, because when he does end up in front of me, then I CAN’T SEE around him! Here, 9 times out of 10, the SUV drivers are more rude and selfish and more a general annoyance to everybody on the road. It kinda reminds me of the Napoleon complex. Small person, big car. Not EVERYONE, I’m just saying that’s the way it seems to be around here.
A girl
Hastur: I posted something similar in the pit, but I bow to your superior cynicism (sp?)
It truly is sad that some people who drive SUV’s and expensive cars are dicks. It’s also truly sad that some people who drive smaller/less expensive cars are also dicks.
Whoa, flash of insight here, people… some people are just dicks. Who’s worse… the arrogant snobs who think they’re hot stuff because they’ve got a fad car, or the whiny little pricks who make targets out of people who have something that’s a bit better/bigger than what they’ve got?
“He’s got a shinier car, so he must be an arrogant snob… oh, and… uh… he’s ruining the environment, too! And… and… he talks on his cell phone while he drives! Oh, yeah, and I bet he rips the tags off his mattress, too! Oh, he’s so horrible… not like me, though… I’m perfect.”
I can’t see any humor at all regarding collisions. People in pain, property damage, legal hassles, these things are not a laughing matter. A scoop of ice cream falling off a cone and onto a persons shirt is funny, there is no pain and minimal damage if any.
Great Stuff(inb),
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=680326#post680326
Hastur, Ukulele Ike, Casdave, Spoke, all’a youse, get your butts over here right away.