Why we need big hybrid SUVs

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tyrin @ Jun 10 2007, 12:45 AM) [snapback]459014[/snapback]</div>

Not to speak for Hokie, but most maintenance men carry the following: drywall sheets, 5-gal buckets of paint (ever see what that can do to your carpet if it busts open?), ladders, toolboxes; if he's EPA certified to work on Air Conditioners then it would expand to include R-12/R-134a 30-lb jugs, I also imagine that lawn mowers and weed whackers could also be included.

Since he's also a woodworker, I imagine he also carries 4-foot-wide sheets of plywood occasionally, tools like miter saws and circular saws, and a few other items as well.

There are just some things you don't want to haul around in your Prius. Those are a few of them.

Toyota really needs an HSD Tacoma. Bad. Forget the X-runner; if I can get over 30 mpg in a pickup truck I'm sold.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(john1701a @ Jun 9 2007, 05:55 PM) [snapback]458912[/snapback]</div>

There is a widespread, but erroneous, belief that 4WD handles better on slippery roads. 4WD does handle better than rear-wheel drive, but not better than front-wheel drive. So you take a person who does not know how to drive a big, heavy vehicle to begin with, but who believes that 4WD will never skid, and the result is one more SUV in the ditch.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ozyran @ Jun 9 2007, 09:55 PM) [snapback]459028[/snapback]</div>

There are indeed things you would not want to put in your Prius. That's why the Xebra is available as a pickup truck.

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<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ Jun 9 2007, 08:40 PM) [snapback]458910[/snapback]</div>

This is just not true guys. I've owned and driven many different kinds of vehicles in the snow. FWD with traction control, FWD with VSC and TRAC, RWD with VSC and TRAC, and 4WD/AWD. VSC does not help AT ALL when accelerating from a stop, TRAC does that and no traction control helps get you going from a stop as well as the most mediocre 4WD or AWD system does. The other benefit of a SUV is ground clearance and the ability to drive through deeper snow than is possible in a car, no matter what the drivetrain is. True AWD doesn't help you stop or turn, but it will get you going from a stop when FWD and RWD, TRAC or not cars are just spinning away.

As a matter of fact, RWD cars are SAFER to drive in the snow than FWD cars once you get going, provided you have a good set of snow tires. FWD cars are inherently unbalanced and having the drive wheels the same as the steering wheels makes directing the car with the throttle impossible. I would take a RWD car with snow tires in the snow before ANY FWD vehicle, regardless of the technologies implemented. My first choice however for snow over 6 inches is a 4WD SUV with a low range.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ozyran @ Jun 9 2007, 11:55 PM) [snapback]459028[/snapback]</div>

Thanks, Ozy. I knew there could be some things, but I guess as a maintenance man, I wasn't picturing things like drywall on a regular basis. But then, I've never done the job.

The only reason I asked is that I'm doing a serious home renovation, and have been astounded by what DID fit in the Prius. The ONLY thing I couldn't fit in was 8x4 sheets (drywall or plywood). Luckily, my dad stopped by with his van . And yes, I've got him convinced to buy a Prius as his next car. Guess that means next time I'll have to rent the van. Or have the drywall delivered (probably cheaper).

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tyrin @ Jun 10 2007, 12:45 AM) [snapback]459014[/snapback]</div>

Gladly...my prius cannot carry a standard sheet of plywood, let alone a stack of them. Or the 10-12' boards he picks up on a regular basis from the millwork. Or the finished caskets he makes.

Edit: Ozy, thanks for the assistance you came up with a better list than I did off the top of my head from my original description. I have the custom cargo mat for my car and there's still plenty of stuff I would prefer not to haul for the risk of damaging carpet...no worries about that with a truck with a bedliner... And I wouldn't want to be hauling the hazardous materials(paint thinner etc) or other things he carries to the dump in a car where I am sharing the air supply with the cargo.

Oh yeah...I also forgot the occassional load of funeral tent poles. In case you haven't figured it out, he also works a side job at the funeral home they own.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ozyran @ Jun 9 2007, 11:55 PM) [snapback]459028[/snapback]</div>

Or American could do what Europeans have been doing for decades and get small utility trailers to pull behind their cars for the occasional time you need to haul large bulky items. For messy things like paint, gas cans, etc, you can do what I do and put them in a large rubbermaid container so if anything spills it doesn't get on the carpet. Ladders can go on an roof rack just as easily as a bike or kayak does.

I replaced my truck with a the Jetta TDI Wagon 5 years ago and haven't yet found something I haven't been able to get home. In the last 5 years we have had to pay a delivery fee once and that was $25 for a truckload of topsoil to be delivered and since I had 10 buckets delivered at once instead of 10 trips at one each that will fit in a compact truck I doubt I would have saved much doing it myself.

 

Or, for the amount you save in gas in a couple of days, you can rent the truck from Home Depot to move the supplies for the first trip to the job site, then revert back to your economical car.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jhinton @ Jun 12 2007, 09:04 AM) [snapback]460175[/snapback]</div>

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Darwood @ Jun 12 2007, 09:12 AM) [snapback]460182[/snapback]</div>

Exactly! Americans buy vehicles based on their biggest load of the year, or their hardest hauling job of the year. They have the capital outlay and the 365-days-per-year operating cost of a car they only need once or twice a year! And then they complain that gas costs too much. Multiplied by the population of the country, they are bringing on the collapse much sooner than need be. I have no sympathy.

 

How silly. Honda is dropping the Accord Hybrid for 2009 and instead replacing it with an Accord Diesel. Their reason? "Hybrid technology does not offer the gains in larger vehicles that it does in smaller cars". And you want to put a hybrid motor into a large SUV? Bwahahahahaha.

A diesel engine is better suited to larger heavier vehicles. (The new common-rail euro diesels with particulate filter produce LESS soot and greenhouse gasses than a gasoline car, so don't try to play that card). Example: The Touareg R5 TDI. That's the five cylinder model not sold in the US. It has a towing capacity of 7700 lbs and gets 33 mpg on the highway. 33 mpg in a large 5300 lb SUV like the Touareg is damn impressive - that's better highway mpg than the compact-car Suzuki Forenza.

The military is already using "hybrid" engines in some new tactical prototypes. Has nothing to do with emissions or fuel savings though, it to allow the vehicle to operate over a limited range while producing 0 noise. You can sneak up on an enemy a bit better if you don't have a large and loud engine running.

I agree that the majority of large truck and SUV drivers in the US don't need a vehicle that size. They buy it "just in case" the have to move something large one day. "Um, hello! That's what a U-haul rental is for!".