A Message For 4x4 Owners

[wokka wokka]

Copied from http://www.howies.co.uk/content.php?xId=103&xPg=1

You do not need a 4.8 litre 360hp V8 engine to take Betsy and Josh to school.

You do not need 200mm of ground clearance to clear a traffic- calming speed hump. Hampstead-Wandsworth is not Paris-Dakar.

You are not about to invade a mountainous desert kingdom.

You do not need to park your vehicle on a pile of rocks outside the dealer when it needs a service, even if that is what attracted you to buy it in the first place.

You do not have the right to make yourself feel safer by driving a car with 2.4 tonne of engine aimed directly at another driver's head.

You do not need to drive a vehicle that is twenty-seven times more likely to kill the occupants of a vehicle hit by a normal car.

You do not need Intelligent All-Wheel Drive, Hill Descent Control or Trailer Stability Control to negotiate the Tesco supermarket car-park, even in the rain.

You will never, ever need the ability to tow 3,500kg back from Tesco.

Seven out of eight of you will never drive off-road. Only two out of five will take your car out of town.

It's not a jungle out there. It's a traffic jam.

You are not driving a Sports Utility Vehicle. You are driving a: Socially Unacceptable Vehicle.

[Kozeyekan]

Fully agree.

I own a 2002 Nissan Pathfinder, which has been modified for off road use. It has done many tours of the top end, has a few dents and scratches here and there, but is a great car.

However, I do not need it anymore, so I'm selling it.

Now. The amount of people that have seen it who do not know sh!t about 4wd's is amazing. They do not want 4wd's, but just toorak tractors.

The pathfinder has old man emu rear suspension, dual batteries, roo bar, esky built in to the boot, luggage cage and off road tyres on it.

The first guy was adamant that a second battery would not fit, and that it sounded dodgy. I popped the bonnet and showed him the place that it was installed, and how easily it fits there. Another guy said he liked it, but wanted a sunroof, cruise control and the stereo keys on the steering wheel. I pointed out that it HAS cruise control, and a sunroof on a vehicle with a top mounted basket was a bit redundant.

But the bloke who took the cake was one who complained about a 'weird noise' when driving. He said the tyres vibrated, which they do around corners, because they are knobby off road tyres. He is probably still adamant that these tyres are illegal. I simply said that it's been through an inspection since I came to melbourne from regional NSW, but, well, he's a tool.

So in short, of the dozen or so people who have checked it out, not one has known the first thing about the capabilities, dangers or purpose of a 4wd. Makes me sad that i have to sell it to someone who is probably never going to use 4wd mode, except to park on the nature strip. This car has literally saved my life when I was bitten by a brown snake, crashing through a few K's of scrub to get to a main road, and menindee 'hospital'

Having said all that, it might seem I'm hard on my vehicles. I am, but I take care. All dents are sucked out if possible, car has fluids changed after every trek, and I use premium fluids and fuel.

Maybe I just hate the fact that it seems there are only pretenders buying 4wd's in melbourne.

I beleive that 4wd's should be a seperate class of license, which should include a full practical off road driving test. Send em bouncing and bumping back to toorak.

One last word: WTF is with the Porsche 4wd? I cannot see that going through an overflowing gutter, much less a muddy river.

....And I'm spent.

[ctjet]

Apparently the Porsche Cayenne is one of the rare examples of a 4wd that is acctually a very good off road vehicle... not that anyone would be stupid enough to take a $150K vehicle off the black stuff

[RPMGTR]

Bugger Society!!....I'll drive whatever I want, whenever I want, over whoever I want!......

[NickR33]

What I don't understand when I see all the 4wds lined up at the primary schools is that children are SMALL... the have little legs that don't even get to the floor when there sitting in the back and yes they have 3 bags but the bags are fricken SMALL... everything is small because they are small little people... I mean you could fit like five of the little bastards in the back of a 33!

... I just don't buy it.... You don't need a 4wd to transport midgets, you could shove them in the back of an RX7 and they wouldn't care, especially if you had TV's back there

[Jamezilla]

Lada Niva - 1982 Pharoes Rally winner, 1983 Dakkar Rally 2nd, 1984 Dakkar Rally 3rd

It's all you need to be ace off road.

Mind you - the X5 I had for LMFF was ace, and if I could afford one, and afford the fuel... nah I wouldn't get one. But it was cool.

[AWDMAT]

society sucks

i say take holdens off the road

they have more wanker drivers in them than any other car

not gonna happen,... i know

so shut the f**k up about 4wds

[blackrex]

Lada Niva - 1982 Pharoes Rally winner, 1983 Dakkar Rally 2nd, 1984 Dakkar Rally 3rd

It's all you need to be ace off road.

Mind you - the X5 I had for LMFF was ace, and if I could afford one, and afford the fuel... nah I wouldn't get one. But it was cool.

Yep, agree with the fuel cost there, filled my Mothers one (she left it with 2 liters of fuel in it ) and ended up costing over $150 for a tank, to make matters worse it drinks at a rate of 20l/100k's I'll stick with my diesel Navara thanks.

[Interloper]

Copied from http://www.howies.co.uk/content.php?xId=103&xPg=1

You do not have the right to make yourself feel safer by driving a car with 2.4 tonne of engine aimed directly at another driver's head.

You do not need to drive a vehicle that is twenty-seven times more likely to kill the occupants of a vehicle hit by a normal car.

You are not driving a Sports Utility Vehicle. You are driving a: Socially Unacceptable Vehicle.

damn straight! they're a f**kin liability to themselves and other road users

example: a dumb kent at work just got himself a nissan patrol....prob the biggest tank you can get....doesn't know shit about it....i had to show him how to change the rear brake light bulb .....chances of him taking it off the sealed road = 0%

[GTRgeoff]

I had a 76 SWB 'cruiser once. It was fun until I realised a Leopard tank will go a million places 4 wheels wont.

[khunjeng]

some1 had a go at me driving a landcruiser at the shops not long back...said some stuff like this to me.

My Answer : "I have a boat u tosser, try towing that with ur fu&king magna"

4WDs are not just good for off road use.

[Starionturbo]

I want a 4WD to go riding and tow my dirtbike.

To drive around town, they are fairly slow, bulky, hard to park, annoying.

People have a sense of security in them, and hey, even with all the bs its 2000 times more likely to roll and its more dangerous and so on, if another car T bones ya, u stand a better chance than if you were in a small car.

Men buy them for there wives and families to commute in because they can seat a lot of kids, the wagon style lets u pack the boot well and at the day peace of mind because they are bigger that other cars.

So in saying all that, yes Id love one for the bush and no I would definetly not get one as a daily around the city.

[SS8_Gohan]

It was fun until I realised a Leopard tank will go a million places 4 wheels wont.

you've got one too!?

anywho... i wanna hear the snake story!

SNAKE STORY! SNAKE STORY! SNAKE STORY! SNAKE STORY! SNAKE STORY! SNAKE STORY!

[GTRgeoff]

some1 had a go at me driving a landcruiser at the shops not long back...said some stuff like this to me.

My Answer : "I have a boat u tosser, try towing that with ur fu&king magna"

4WDs are not just good for off road use.

Chris some of the guys on Soarer central are towing pretty big boats behind their airbag suspension V8 Soarers. Plus with about 800000km of heavy specialist vehicle operation including some serious off road time I'm not convinced. Heavy towing and heavy vehicle operation is all about attitude and planning, as well as the right braking system and balance so as long as the Magna is set up right then no problems. I trained Army drivers for many years due to my specialities, stuff like towing a triple road train through a back NT country road for a few hundred kays with a 17ton wrecker and only 290hp. We go places your average off road driver won't, say deliberately winching yourself and other vehicles down into an area for operation needs.

Anyway, is you boat any good for taking diving

[ebola]

as long as the Magna is set up right then no problems.

uh huh. How much does khunjeng's boat weigh? considering a magna is more than up to the task of a 1500 kg car + a car trailer. remembering that a car is a sprung load...

oh - this was a TM 2.6L carby manual runaround that existed during my uni days.

As for the rest of the rant, I'll spare you all...

[arep3]

i really got p1ssed off when i took the 4wd into the city and got told to get off the roads just cos its a 4wd. felt like running up their ass with my steel bullbar! yet did they notice the dirty big dint that was in the middle of it? a bloody tree in the middle of toorak jumped out in front of me i swear! (i got a massive gum with that bar up the back of gembrook state. damn red slippery mud ) that 4bee went bush every weekend.

i can understand why ppl crack it about them. hell i do. but i only crack it when the driver clearly CANT DRIVE. i see nothing wrong with people using them to tow boats or caravans. nothing against tradies using them for work purposes either.

Kozeyekan i feel for ya brother. i was lucky that the bloke that bought the rodeo still takes it bush. good to see my hard earned on the lift kit, bar, winch etc didnt go to waste.

[khunjeng]

uh huh. How much does khunjeng's boat weigh? considering a magna is more than up to the task of a 1500 kg car + a car trailer. remembering that a car is a sprung load...

oh - this was a TM 2.6L carby manual runaround that existed during my uni days.

As for the rest of the rant, I'll spare you all...

hey guys and thanks Geoff...I always listen when u talk.

My boat is a trailable yacht, 30ft about the biggest u can tow and weights about 2.4 tonnes with all the crap in it. It not actually mine But I have been towing it down to Gipsland lakes where my old man has a holiday house and using his landcruiser...I find it pretty easy to tow.

Although I'm no guru, I have been towing this kind of boat a bit ..I couldn't imange doing it in a sedan. My mates dada was towing a rather large power boat down there once and was going to fast, did the death wobble and bam..lucky no1 was hurt. That always scared me after that...I was in the car!

Chris.

[ebola]

My boat is a trailable yacht, 30ft about the biggest u can tow and weights about 2.4 tonnes with all the crap in it.

Now THATS a boat... congratulations. I apologise for including you in a blanket statement...

I just believe that the majority of 4wd owners have the wrong car for their purpose.

[Kozeyekan]

Now THATS a boat... congratulations. I apologise for including you in a blanket statement...

I just believe that the majority of 4wd owners have the wrong car for their purpose.

I agree completely.

The problem is, driving a true 4wd is very different from driving a regular car.

I cannot express how much it shits me to see the toorak tractors parked near the kids schools. It is so far beyond idiocy it's almost a darwinian evolutionary process. Parents get big trucks, kids run out form in between them, and get hit by another 'SUV', thus the imbecillic parents line does not continue and their genes are removed from the gene pool.

4wd's and kids are a terrible mixture.

Hell, 4wd's and cities are a crap pair.

I still firmly beleive that a 4wd vehicle (and maybe even AWD) should require a seperate license.

Any about the porsche cayenne mentioned earlier, it's a piece of crap. Sure, it's specs are good, but for $150K, you could buy a pajero and bring it to near Dakkar spec. Point it in a direction, and it'll bring you the horizon.

OK, so maybe the Porsche isn't all bad, but to me any 4wd that does not go off of tarmac is a waste, and If you wanted to go off roading, there are far better ways to spend your cash than on a porsche cayenne.

I'd happily steam roll all the bastards.

Bah, don't worry about me, I'm just still pissed that no one worthy has bought my pathfinder yet. One bloke wanted me to throw in some road tyres and also to remove the UHF, bull bar and boot esky for free. I think my look was somewhere between hatred and complete disgust. What's worse is that he was already driving a new pajero.

I have no problem with people who like to drive 4wd's, as long as it is for a purpose that isn't egocentric or masturbatory, which leaves about a dozen people in the whole city.

-end rant.

[Savage Bliss]

Apparently the Porsche Cayenne is one of the rare examples of a 4wd that is acctually a very good off road vehicle... not that anyone would be stupid enough to take a $150K vehicle off the black stuff

Yeah not a fan of the SUV, but, went for a drive in a Cayenne Turbo tuned to 430kw's with the owner of Waltmeister Porsche. And holy F*&K! What a car!

Still wouldn't buy one! Much better things to spend 380000k on, like heaps of cheese!