A Guilt-Free SUV?

Newsweek ^ | 4/13/04 | Gersh Kuntzman

[NYC Republican]

Ford has made a hybrid-powered SUV that gets more miles to the gallon—and emits less pollution—than most cars. Our columnist puts it to the testWEB-EXCLUSIVE

COMMENTARY

By Gersh Kuntzman Newsweek

Updated: 2:49 p.m. ET April 12, 2004April 12 - Look out, my fellow liberals, but we're about to get run over by an SUV! Ford has just introduced one that gets 40 miles a gallon and puts out less pollution than an electric car.

[NYC Republican]

Can anyone explain why they always go after SUVs and never after mini-vans, which have about the same mileage per gallon???

[sauropod]

At least this idiot identified himself as a liberal.

[I still care]

The running over by an SUV part sounds good.

[rhombus]

This guy sounds like quite the butthead.

[dirtboy]

I drive a guilt-free SUV. And I don't need a stinkin' hybrid engine to make it so. Ya just need to have the proper filter installed - the one in your head that filters out liberal idiocy.

[Monty22]

Weird how liberals do *everything* through a political prism. Even car reviews.

Severe oddness.

[mewzilla]

I think it has to do with the different safety problems posed with SUVs. Manufacturers are already dealing with some of those. But heck, if they make them safer and more fuel-efficient, I might even buy one.

[dead]

It's just liberal dingbat pack mentality.

Their television told them to hate SUVs, so they hate them to the core of their souls.

I hope their television tells them all to drink Drano.

[Lost Highway]

A Guilt-Free SUV?

I already have on. A Jeep Grand Cherokee. No guilt here. (I can't wait until I can afford a Suburban.)

[MrB]

The SUV is a symbol of Capitalist superiority.

[TheBigB]

Jeep Liberty for me. No guilt at all.

[volchef]

Why don't they go after full size pick-ups which are the best selling automobiles in America and get worse gas mileage than most SUV's? My theory is because it's mostly white "redneck" types driving them and the liberals don't see they have any chance to sway them over while they see a great opportunity amongst bleeding heart moms. However, that doesn't answer your question....those same bleeding heart soccer moms are driving mini vans too. So, it beats me.

[mpreston]

They already are safer.

http://www.mackinac.org/article.asp?ID=5041

[volchef]

Now that I've read the article all I can do is laugh, laugh, laugh. Yes, the mighty behemoth Ford Escape. That thing is nothing more than a raised up car. Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha. Yep, that's gonna sway us moms in need of a 7 passenger vehicle. Sure is. Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha

[stevio]

I do alot of things through a political prism too. I wonder what he would do if his kid had a "play-date" with my kid, knowing I was a gun owning, SUV driving conservative. Actually, I think my boy would figure it out first and decline on his own.

[Pylot]

If you look back to the origin of the attack on SUV's you will see it came from the Sierra Club.

They want SUV's banned because they are a viable way to get into the national forests.

You can't run on most of the remaining access roads into the national forests in less than a high clearance four wheel drive vehicle.

So the attack on gas mileage and safety (or lack thereof for other drivers) is just a way to deflect attention from their real agenda while further limiting access to your national forest property.

[SquirrelKing]

Saturn VUE for me. Good ride.

[TigersEye]

" ... who once stopped letting his kid have play-dates with a neighbor because her parents owned an SUV, ..." Gersh Kuntzman

The guy is well named. I've never seen a whinier self-guilt rant in my life. Is there really a car review in there somewhere? I couldn't find a word about performance. (It was hard to do anything but scan this.)

"The Ford Escape, it accelerates faster than a slug. It tackles most hills ... if you remove the weighty plastic rear bumper. The Escape seats six adults comfortably ... and will actually move two. You may have to dodge molotov cocktails from lefty activists and pull off on the shoulder to let aggressive right-wing bicyclists pass you but you can hold your head up proudly ... if you open the sunroof."

[babyface00]

after all, the Escape uses the same gas-electric hybrid technology made famous by Toyota's 50-mpg Prius seven years ago.)

This is idiotic. An old Mercedes-Benz turbodiesel and a Freightliner tractor trailer "use the same technology", but I daresay there's a quite a bit of specific knowledge and engineering that differentiate the two.

The idea that the powertrain of a tiny, lightweight vehicle like teh Prius, with essentially zero load capacity, can be easily transformed over to a full-size SUV without significant re-engineering is just ludicrous.

[CedarDave]

Why don't they go after full size pick-ups which are the best selling automobiles in America and get worse gas mileage than most SUV's?

Good question. But I'd buy something that got better mileage than my 2001 Silverado in a heartbeat.

Why you ask? I'm an independent contractor living in a small SE NM town. The nearest cities are 2+ hours away in Texas (traveling at 70 mph). My job requires a pickup and some of my jobsites are 70 miles away (one-way). To be competitive, my clients only reimburse me at the IRS rate of 37.5 cents. Every penney that gas goes up or my gas mileage goes down means a loss that I take. If I can save (or make) a few dollars on gas, I'll take it. Yesterday I looked into getting a K&N air filter and a Tornadoair device to get a few more MPG out of the truck. If anyone has experience with either one (positive or negative), I'd like to hear it.

[mpreston]

Don't know much about Tornado air device, but stay away from K&N since you are in NM. Read the marketing stuff and notice they promote higher engine performance but not higher filter efficiency. In dusty environments they let more dust/dirt downstream to screw up MAF's and increase engine wear.

[CedarDave]

I responded above before I read the article. God, this guy is nuts! He stereotypes everyone who drives an SUV and actually believes the crap he spouts. He's the typical liberal that just KNOWS what's best for everyone else and if his ilk were to gain power, they'd DICTATE that we swallow that spoonful of medicine.

[TigersEye]

'59 Chevy 3/4 ton. 8-10 mpg. No guilt here.

[HungarianGypsy]

Yep, that's gonna sway us moms in need of a 7 passenger vehicle. Sure is.
That's what annoys me the most is the people who say we should all drive itty bitty cars are people who also have itty bitty families. Some couple wrote to my local paper the other day saying those who drive SUVs should be charged more. Maybe I should be strapping my kids that don't fit inside to the roof? My husband would like to get something with better gas milage to drive to work, but we have other bills right now. At least we can say our Suburban is paid for.

[joesnuffy]

I am working on my completely guilt -free dream SUV......
Ford Excursion with a Cummins turbo diesel with a 4 inch exhaust....with really big tires....a winch....a luggage rack...
pulling a AirStream...
Some day maybe I will convert it to run on french fry oil....

[Beelzebubba]

To be competitive, my clients only reimburse me at the IRS rate of 37.5 cents.

---

At 15 mpg, and $2/gallon, your gas cost is 13.3 cents a mile. You are ahead by nearly 25 cents a mile (~$15/hour for your drive time.) I grant that there is a few cents per mile of depreciation, but if your clients are paying IRS rates, your reimbursement is triple your fuel cost.

[CedarDave]

What MAF's??

[Maringa]

Despite having to sift through the liberal rhetoric within the column, I have to applaud Ford in their effort to improve hybrid technology and apply it to a vehicle that people will actually drive instead of the potato on wheels that you see on the road today (prius, honda cv-1). Toyota Highlander is the next hybrid SUV coming out, and I imagine Honda Pilots or CRV's will be next.

The general impression (don't mean to apply with a broad brush) I get from Free Republic, is the tendency to ridicule fuel economy, hybrid technologies, fuel alternatives for fear that it would cramp our choices, or require us to swallow our pride because we hate everything the environmentalists stand for or support (being fuel economy, etc). Let's face it, we will never be allowed to drill for oil in Alaska like we need to. We will always continue to depend on Arab/OPEC oil. Our country has some of the greatest minds and go-getters in the world. If we were able to reduce our oil consumption by 50%, and rely on domestic sources (own oil, alcohol, bio-diesel - source of income for our farmers!!!), we could tell OPEC to eat sand. Nothing would give me more pleasure, and on top of that, taking the issue away from the environmentalists...

[wbill]

You'd hear a news report of some enviro-terrorists smashing the windshields of a few dozen Hummers in California and part of you would want to cheer on these freedom fighters. (Full disclosure: This column does not sanction vigilantism or violence in any form—except against Hummers.)

Whatever happened to tolerance and diversity? Whatta hypocrite.

[CedarDave]

Let's face it, we will never be allowed to drill for oil in Alaska like we need to. We will always continue to depend on Arab/OPEC oil. Our country has some of the greatest minds and go-getters in the world. If we were able to reduce our oil consumption by 50%, and rely on domestic sources (own oil, alcohol, bio-diesel - source of income for our farmers!!!), we could tell OPEC to eat sand. Nothing would give me more pleasure, and on top of that, taking the issue away from the environmentalists...

Agree 100%, and I'm in the energy business.

[cyberaxe]

.....me, 03 H2.....

.....the wife, 03 X5.....

.....18 year old boy, 97 Disco.....

.....9 year old girl, 5 year old Quarter Horse.....

.....7 year old girl, 6 year old Quarter Horse.....

.....i do feel a little guilty about ALL that hay!.....

[mpreston]

MAF - Mass Air Flow - part of your injection system that measures air flow to determine fuel injection parameters. They are not cheap. K&N filters require oiling. Unless the oil is applied in exact proportions, some oil gets downstream and collects on the MAF. Then add the increase in dust particles and you have a formula for problems. K&N's are probably ok in wet climates but not here in the Southwest.

[Riley]

Any SUV that I might acquire would be guilt-free. I am not interested in what screechy, misinformed, obsessive, know-it-alls think is right or wrong.

[TigersEye]

Some day maybe I will convert it to run on french fry oil....

I have an issue of Mother Earth News somewhere that shows how to put a woodburning unit in the bed of the truck that creates methane (or something) to fuel the truck. It works and it's clean. Why don't we see all these libs driving those? All talk no commitment?

[IYAS9YAS]

What the bloody blue blazes is a "play date"?

[SuziQ]

Weird how liberals do *everything* through a political prism. Even car reviews.

The fact that he didn't allow his children to play with some other children because their parents drove an SUV is just SICK!! Talk about INTOLERANT!

[wbill]

Hey hey hey......Let's not be trashing Ford Escapes here. I like mine. It was a good compromise between myself (I wanted a pickup) and my wife (who wanted a station wagon). Decent gas mileage, V6 (enough power, also comes in a V8, I think) and it has room enough to haul a few hundred lbs of fertilizer for my lawn. But enough with the free Ford ad.

I will say that the V4 Escape is an underpowered POS. Can't imagine how bad the hybrid version is.

And also - the gas milage will be at it's peak in the city because it will mostly run on electric. Can you say 'Gimmick'? Wonder if it gets 38 mpg on the highway?

[stevio]

That was his term not mine. I called it, "let the kids play and let's drink some beer".

[UB355]

Too Good not to index

[volchef]

I used to own a honda CRV myself. Nothing more than a raised up civic. I've moved on to the extended (7 seater) Chevy trailblazer because I've got 3 kids. I'm not saying the Ford Escape doesn't fill a need for certain people, but a full size family SUV it ain't and I think the moron who wrote the article seems to think it is. He's delusional.

[capitan_refugio]

The Tornado device is really an old concept, but it works. The idea is that you get better fuel economy through improved mixing of the fuel and the air entering the combustion chamber.

I have heard the claim of 1-2 mpg improvement, and about 15-20% improvment. Even on the lower end, for a guy like you who travels on the road quit a bit, that could mean pretty good savings for a relatively small investment of +/- $70 in parts plus the cost of installation.

With that said, I don't own one!

[TigersEye]

What the heck is a Disco? Sounds groovy.

I always chuckle when I see a VW Passat. It is pronounced 'pass it' isn't it?

[NYC Republican]

Thanks for the explanation. Now I get it.

[IYAS9YAS]

As far as the K&N goes, it will help a little. Fine dust will hamper its efficiency. If you have fine dust in your area, knock it out of the filter every time you change your engine's oil (or sooner). But, you don't have to clean and re-oil the K&N every time you change your truck's oil.

Try some Energy Release in your engine and tranny. Don't put it in your differentials, they won't lock again, ever.

Make certain your tire pressures are good, that can be a huge detriment to mileage. Use good gas. The cheap stuff will eventually cause you more harm than the savings at the pump. A topper on your pickup bed can really work to reduce drag as well. May not be an option since you are in construction, but if what you have will fit under a lid, or a topper, use one.

[wbill]

A delusional liberal? Nooooo......

And you're right, I was just pulling your tail. When I have kids I want about 6 tons of Detroit steel wrapped around them, too. For now, though, I'd like an F150, but I also like to sleep inside the house. Mrs. WBill has a strong opinion on the matter. :-)

[NYC Republican]

I found the part about him not allowing his child to hang out with a friend, just because the parents own an SUV, especially disturbing... or comical... or both.

[Long Cut]

Actually, if you really look you'll see that the attacks on vehicles the Left doesn't like began in the early 1970's, when the target-of-opportunity was called a "gas-guzzler". Together with friends in the Democrat party and government, gas prices were high, and the cars were regulated out of existance.

No more Chevelle 454's, Shelby Mustangs, Plymouth Barracudas, Dodge Chargers, etc...and no more station wagons, either.

Since Americans, by and large, prefer big, roomy, and versatile powerful vehicles, they gravitated towards the SUV as a replacement for the family station wagon.

Therefore, the Left is now attacking those, using the identical tactics it used to nearly destroy the American automobile industry then, with the same goal in mind.

Funny thing is, even if they succeed, SOMETHING will fill the demand of Americans for large, powerful, and roomy vehicles. Economics are like that. Artificially attempting to eliminate a demand will not result in its elimination; only its supply through altered means.

[volchef]

I'm not ridiculing the fuel economy I'm ridiculing the idiot who wrote the article who thinks that the Ford Escape is the save all for humanity. No matter how much it's raised off the ground the Ford escape is not bigger than a full size car.....most soccer mom SUV drivers go for the 7-8 passenger vehicles. This doesn't fullfill that need. Also, many of us proud SUV drivers are sick and tired of being harrased because we like our choice of transportation. If the mantra were the same for everyone including full size pick-up drivers, buses, vans, etc. maybe we wouldn't be so defensive, but there is an all out offensive against us when there are many other vehicles that have worse MPGs.

[MrB]

Economics are like that

If leftists understood basic economics, they wouldn't be leftists.

No excuse either, with Dr. Sowell's Basic Econ books out there.

[al_c]

Can anyone explain why they always go after SUVs and never after mini-vans, which have about the same mileage per gallon???

Or mid-size sedans that also get the same mileage. BTW, I already have a "guilt-free" SUV ... I don't feel guilty about my TrailBlazer at all. :o)