Once again I appear to have offended you Stinky. Though I cannot see why as no insult has been levelled at anyone personally. What is happening here is that you anti's are being forced to look at the facts and when you don't like them you scream "foul - personal abuse!"
I acannot be held responcible for your collective lack of debating skills. If you have these skills I suggest you would not have such dogmatic views as debate opens the mind to the views of others. I believe in freedom of choice and freedom of voice. But I am apparently not allowed to express my views or ask you to consider mine.
I ask again - considering what I have to tow on a regular basis please suggest a practical alternative to a 4x4?
Bringing it all together may be useful to provide a synopsis of what has been achieved with this latest thread, once again "hijacked" by the anti's:-
a) Despite 4x4 being the universal nomencliture for All Wheel Drive, as far as the anti's are concerned this term apparently ONLY applies to Off Road Vehicles.
Now I am confused because my Range Rover was always catagorised as a dual role vehicle - excellent on road manners and superb off road as well. Are you now saying that there is no reason for a Unimog to be on the UK roads for example? If so your beef is with all the Utility companies not us 4x4 drivers. When you next loose power to your home you may be pleased to know that 4x4 vehicles (usually Unimogs and Land Rovers round here) will be used to transport equipment and personell to the fault site. If you ban 4x4's I am sure you and others will not mind waiting far longer to have power reinstated.
b) Apparently a 4x4 vehicle is not a 4x4 vehicle even if it has All Wheel Drive as long as it LOOKS like an "ordinary" car - whatever ordinary can be defined as?
Err! Am I missing something here or is this the biggest cop-out on record so far??
c) Such salloons as Audi quattros, the new Skoda being advertised, Ford Cosworths, Vauxhaul Cavaliers etc. despite being described by the maunfacturers as 4x4 are being reclassified by the anti's as they do not fit their particular rather skewed version of reality.
d) Vehicles that would normaly be defined as "Off road vehicles" by the anti's - such as the Nissan X-Trail, Toyota HiLux and all the others that share the same body/chassis parts BUT WHICH ARE AVAILABLE IN ONLY TWO WHEEL DRIVE VERSIONS are again conveniently ignorred by the anti's as once again this upsets the delicate balance of their reality.
e) If you want a simply alternative to 4x4 as a descriptive term, then one has been in use for a long time - AWD = All Wheel Drive or FWD = Four wheel drive. The latter is not used so much now with the advent of Front Wheel Drive cars but RWD is still in common use for Rear Wheel Drive. So once again Stinky ( and PLEASE do not take this personally) you are wrong to say that 4x4 is only used in relation to what you describe as "Off Road Vehicles"
f) A good point is made by other contributors in that whatever you tow with, more fuel is used when we tow our white sheds on wheels. How soon will it be before the anti movement moves its sights to the "average saloon" that being not as suitable to tow as a 4x4 uses more fuel, causes more pollution and is closer to the upper towing limits and therefore potentialy less stable than a vehicle specifically DESIGNED to tow. Towing with an ordinary car is always going to be a compromise. Towing with a 4x4 is an excercise in design.
Finally Stinky Pete seems to saying that he dislike my car because it clearly is not "average". Clearly my old Range Rover is towards one end of the array. Presumably Bubble Cars, Smart Cars and Mecedes A Class cars at the other end of the array.
Stinky you should realise that if you and your brethen succeed in removing cars like mine the "Bell Shaped Curve" of the array will shift. This will mean that more cars currently within one Standard Deviation will then fall outside the norm.
Still I am satisfied that we can now confirm that the Antis are NOT anti 4x4's - only those 4x4's that can do a job of work in the rural economy as well as transport goods and passengers safely on the UK roads.
Finally, I still have a problem with the inference that it is I that is selfish for having a vehicle that has been proved to protect its passengers better than the plastic and cardboard tin cans that represent an "average" vehicle.
If protecting myself and my fammily better than the average person is selfish then I hold my hand up to it - 100% guilty as charged and proud of it.
I could not live with it any other way. Not protecting what you love is an irresponcible act in my book.
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