[lb1lf]

As for SUVs I pretty much agree with your sentiment, but a 'proper' for lack of a better term 4x4 has a lot of things going for it -

-You're sitting significantly higher than most traffic, giving you a much better idea of what is going on around you.

-Mirrors tend to be very large by car standards, further enhancing your awareness.

-Large wheel arches tend to allow a smaller turn radius, making them surprisingly simple to drive.

-While riding tall, they are often both relatively short and narrow, further easing your life in traffic.

-Oh, and winters.

Anecdata - my Land Cruiser is shorter and narrower than my wife's VW Passat, has more than twice the trunk space and just over half the turn radius.

The penalty paid is the fuel consumption; when Toyota found out how thirsty the engine was, they shrugged and designed a larger fuel tank.

[u801e]

> You're sitting significantly higher than most traffic, giving you a much better idea of what is going on around you.

This also comes with a higher center of gravity which makes it more difficult to control the vehicle during emergency situations

> -Mirrors tend to be very large by car standards, further enhancing your awareness.

Larger vehicles tend to have bigger blindspots (even with properly adjusted mirrors)

> While riding tall, they are often both relatively short and narrow, further easing your life in traffic.

But you still have a higher center of gravity and worse vehicle handling as a result. Trying to swerve around something or make an emergency lane change makes it more likely you'll lose control of the vehicle

> Oh, and winters.

This is more a factor of the type of tires used and how many wheels are driven. My all-wheel drive vehicles do very well in the winters when equipped with snow tires.

> Anecdata - my Land Cruiser is shorter and narrower than my wife's VW Passat, has more than twice the trunk space and just over half the turn radius.

How would your Land Cruiser do in the moose test versus the VW Passat?

This is the video[1] of a Toyota Hilux during that test. And this is a video[2] of a VW Passat. Note that the first video was done while the driver was going 37 mph. The second was at 45 mph.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoHbn8-ROiQ

[2] https://www.motor1.com/news/388271/euro-spec-vw-passat-moose...

[lb1lf]

-Do note that the question I was (poorly, as it were...) trying to address was 'what is the appeal of SUV/4x4 type vehicles?', not 'why is a 4x4 the only right choice, for anyone, under any circumstances?'

That being said - yes, the narrower track and somewhat higher CoG does make the LC handle less well than the Passat at speed, however this disadvantage is largely negated by the local conditions - I live in a (very) rural area where the posted limit is mostly 20 or 30mph.

Blind zones are definitely much smaller in the LC - side mirrors are almost three times larger and placed farther from the vehicle body; the rear window is more than 50% larger and, crucially, more than a foot closer to the rearview mirror than in the Passat, greatly improving the view.

I agree tire quality and wheels driven affect handling very much (obviously!) - part of the (local) problem being that when it snows, it really snows, and with very few people living on this island, every snowfall is effectively a DoS attack on the roads. When there are 6-8" deep ruts while waiting for a plough to eventually arrive, 15" ground clearance beats 6" ground clearance every time.

As for moose, luckily we don't have anything larger than deer, but if we did, I'd rather be in the Passat driving under the moose rather than in the LC getting it in the face, no doubt.

Again - I did not intend to leave the impression a Humvee was the only choice which made any sense -rather that 4x4s have properties which make them sensible choices to some people in some locations.