Talk Morgan Forums Community Vehicle Talk (non-Morgan) Maserati Levante

All modern cars are brilliantly efficient tools. The only new car that makes me look twice and appreciate its lines and shape is the Mazda 6.

The main problem with all these stupid 4x4 vehicles in addition to their vast bulk is that they never go off road.
Coming back from a great day out at Krazy Horse ( when I got to drive the Polaris ) I met a Porsche 4x4 coming towards me along a very narrow road.
I couldn't pull over too far as there was a very high concrete block in the way. I signalled to the chap that he would need to reverse which involved him putting two wheels in the dirt, well you should have seen the look he gave me from his high chair, talk about fat, arrogant pig and he isn't the first nor will he be the last.
To say I hate these cars is understating it a bit, we are surrounded by them living, as we do, in a rural area.
Rant over, sorry chaps.

Lowbird, there are two different reasons for a 4x4: one purpose is off road capability. (Landrover, Landcruiser, Merc.G)
An other purpose is better road holding. (Audi quattro and all the other cars that followed)
The elevated seat position is one main advantage of the SUV's. As a marketing tool SUV's implement some offroad capabilities (which they hardly have at all)

As a project manager I drove hard core 4x4's for half of my business live. Later on I continued with 4x4 cars because of the better seating position and the additional space available. An other bonus was the better handling in winter on snow (we have mountains and snow here in Austria). In a city a SUV is useless but there are lots of reasons to drive one at the country side.

(If you hate SUV's I wonder how you justify the usefullness of a polaris...)

I really struggle to understand the attraction of SUV/4/4's. I've ridden in plenty over the years and driven a few. Their size doesn't seem to translate into a roomy interior in most cases. The only exception is that when I need to move the family I'll hire one and they are useful load carriers but with a dull driving experience. I do get old Landrovers though. Character with discomfort I get.
Oh and big SUVs rarely seem to carry more than one person.

"In a city a SUV is useless but there are lots of reasons to drive one at the country side."

Well, that's not exactly true. It's just that the reasons to have one in a city are different. The high seating position for a start, so you can look over the roofs of the cars in the jam in front of you, getting out of a tight spot by putting a wheel or two on the pavements and most importantly, if you drop a wheel into a massive pothole, the deeper and stronger tyre is unlikely to get damaged, with consequent damage to rim and spring etc.

It's not the cars that are the problem, it's the drivers !

Exactly!

They are perfectly fun things in the right context. I loved my Range Rover on the motorway when the weather was bad. Being high up you were out of the spray and had superior visibility.

Being higher up it was much easier to load kids in.

The massive load capacity is ideal when you have babies.

With modern car seats if you actually want to carry a 5th passenger and 2 kids in the back then a big wide car is essential. A golf sized car with 2 child seats in it doesn't carry anyone else!!

On the other hand they don't drive well, have safety issues (roll over and stability risks) and can feel pretty anti social at times...

The main use for a Maserati SUV?
To make lots of money from people who want SUVs for no rational reason so Maserati can invest more in making sports cars..

Works for Porsche.
Even Ferrari makes one. Sort of. Horses for courses and all that

It's better looking than the new Bentley which really is shocking. I love my Range Rover and my Morgan. Horses for courses.

They just need to jack them up about another 6 inches and then I will be able to see under them in order to be able to read the road ahead better from my Aero's driving seat !