Sorry your browser is not supported!

@Jeku - my mate has a Mazda 3 - they are NICE cars! Good handling and good looking too..

I do agree that if I'm IN an accident, I'd rather be in a 4x4 - however seeing as a 4x4 is larger than a normal car, logically speaking there is more chance of you having an accident as there is more of you to hit!

I do also agree that its not the car that makes a bad driver, its the driver themselves and I also agree than a 18 year old with their baseball cap of invicibility in a Honda Civic is more dangerous than a sensible driver in a 4x4, however if you put "Mr Invicible" in a 4x4 - thats a very big risk!

If everyone would (quite sensibly) prefer to be hit by a Mazda 3 rather than a 4x4, then does that not make people who drive 4x4's quite selfish as they only reason they're driving is entirely for self protection without consideration for anyone else?

Coincidentally, last weekend I drove to Alton Towers (180 miles there and 180 back again in a weekend.. So tired!!) and I saw the most perfect use for a 4x4.. It was towing a Bull in a cart thingy behind it. THATS what a 4x4 is good for.. That and driving through the desert

Also, I was watching the news this morning and the BBC did a review on car reliability in the last 2 years. Honda came out the most reliable (something like 20% of their cars needed repairing in 2 years?) whereas Land Rover's were the worst with 50% of them needing to go back to the garage within 2 years.

Nick

tee hee, I like this little car/4x4 argument. Here in "the states", up in Minnesota, 4x4's or AWD cars are the way to go. I live in Duluth, which happens to be built on a biggg hill. If I didn't own a Jeep, I wouldn't be able to get up those hills in the winter. We have harsh, cold and extremely crappy roads here. When I need to get to work at 5am, and there's a foot and 1/2 of snow on the ground, I'm sorry, but my Audi (even though it's AWD) would NOT be able to get the job done. But the Jeep, lo-and-behold gets through (and man does it feel good). I can understand in an environment with tight little roads that doesn't have bad conditions, but here, if you don't own a 4x4 or at least some sort of AWD car, you're pretty much screwed in the winter.

I consider myself a good driver, and yes, I do feel safer in my 86' Jeep Wagoneer, it's made of METAL, the entire thing is METAL. Last winter, I was stopped at light on the hill (as in the city) and an older Civic was behind and couldn't stop, they skidded right into my back. Guess what happened to me, nothin. To them, badly banged up hood, headlight, bumper, etc. I can understand your position on 4x4's, as they may just not make sense in your area, but in mine, they're a requirement.

Exactly! In your situation, a 4x4 is REQUIRED. Just like if, in the UK, you're a farmer, or you live 2500ft up a steep hill in an area that often gets snowed in, or if you own a caravan. However, they are NOT appropriate for driving yout 6 year old child 2 miles down a perfecltly flat & grippy road thats about the same size as the car! They're not even appropriate on the motorways here, unless you're towing something like a caravan or a cow!

I'm sorry - but its gonna take a better arguement than "I feel safer in them" to change my mind. I feel perfectly safe in my Rover 25 (small car, about Mazda 3 size) as long as there is not a 4x4 near me!

Well Nicholas, you're forgetting that not everybody has the luxury to afford both an economy car and a 4x4. If you're a city man but like to go out to the mountain on the weekends, it would be sensible just to purchase a 4x4 for everything. In my opinion, people should be allowed to purchase whatever kind of legal contraption they like. I see no economical use for Ferraris, and they're potentially dangerous because they're so freaking fast, but if Mr. Hoitee-Toitee wants to buy himself one for stop-and-go city driving, then all the best to him.

I guess it's to each his own. I dread the day they start taking things away from me because they don't understand the motive for owning them. If I want a gun, let me buy one :-P

Wouldn't you say that guns are in a slightly different catagory from cars?

Not at all - both require (and if they dont, they should) a license to own and use. Both can be used to kill. In the wrong hands, accidents happen!

Jeku - I agree that each car has its purpose and a Ferrari has no place on a busy stop-go street except maybe to point out to everyone that person has less-than-average-sized reproductive anatomy. However, they're nice to have.

Also bear in mind, a Ferrari will stop quicker than a 4x4, handles significantly better (so you can more easily avoid the object) and even if you do hit someone, they will get hit in the legs by the car's bonnet (hood) rather than the chest or face of a land rovers front

It is each to their own. I have strong feelings for 4x4's only being used for an approriate purpose (just like Ferrari's and guns). A gun should be owned by a fully trained person who is only going to use it for legal and "safe" purposes (such as maybe defending themselves against tigers in the desert, or in the event that an axe-wielding maniac comes into your house.. Although that last one is a discussion for another day ). Cars should be driven and owned responsibly. They're not a RIGHT. When you're born, you dont immediantely earn the right to drive. You have to EARN it, commonly via tests. Even once you've earned it there are strict rules you [are meant to] obey.

I think that comparision with owning a Gun is very apt. You tend to buy the best gun for your purpose, eg long range=sniper, short range + carnage = shotgun, etc. Same for cars, offroad/towing,etc = 4x4, city/stop-go/driving-child-to-school=Economy Car, Showing-you're-richer-than-me=Ferrari

I also agree that if you dont have the money to buy two - buy the one that is going to be best all round, or at least works ok for one and good at the other. A Mazda 3 would probably make it about 1 meter of uneven ground and not too far when towing a caravan before you kill the clutch, whereas 4x4's do work on the motorway and taking kids to school - its just they're not ideal.

EDIT: Woooo... just realised - I like my long posts hehe

I actualy think its fact in a way. I'm not saying women are bad on the roads when it comes to driving in familliar places.If u did a test to see who got to a location faster by finding ur way on a map. The man will get there first. And its also fact that men have larger brains than women. now a woman would think i am being Big headed (no pun intended) But its actualy true. Men are able to visualise the route ahead... i cant explain it.. they have tested it and the men cam first. Its the whole men are better at map reading than women that lead people to assume that men are better driver.... we are just better at finding where we are going. Trust me. I was on this walk thing ages ago and all the girls got lost.