"Sports Car" SUVs - what is the point?

[ThysleRoux]

I was standing outside the office, getting my nicotine fix, when I noticed a brand new Range Rover at the access control booms to the estate and for the first time really looked at it. The GQ man in the article that Alex posted in the "Recovery Gear" thread came to mind.

WTF ????? What is the idea of a love child between an Off-Road vehicle and a Sports Car about? It makes about as much sense as man boobs - useless and usually FUGLY. Porsche started this trend with the Pepper and just about every other manufacturer jumped on the bandwagon. FFS, the things have no ground clearance, runs on 20 aspect ratio run-flat tyres that are worthless even on South African highways, let alone dirt roads or, Heaven forbid, off-road trails. If you want to barrel around at 200+ km/h on the school run, buy a bloody BMW "M" or Merc AMG platkar. It'll be better at the job and you will not be bluffing yourself that you own an off-road vehicle.

To each his own, but I am of the opinion that Alex's GQ man's requirements have phucked up the market ......................

[NEW]

So some manboobs are not Fugly?

[Hedgehog]

I think it was the BMW X5 that started the trend.
I really do not like the look of the new Ranger/Land Rover's they have this condommed dildo look about them.

If I was forced to have one, I do like the look of the new XC90 ! It is a real pretty swis.

Although most of the new "SUV"'s are pretty, they are only good for snow on tar... oh..and the smooth gravel estate road to your mansion.

[Mike Nel]

I believe that SUV's serve a purpose. But that purpose should stay on tar. I drive one as a daily and I love it. But I will never take it off a tar road

I normally leave conversations when guys tell me they drive 4x4 SUV's

[ThysleRoux]

So some manboobs are not Fugly?

Have you seen the knockers on some of the Thaiboyz?

[grips]

Nope you guys have it all wrong. These things are marvelous. There are some guys out there that will convince you that they are better than a 4x4 equipped with 44 inch tires.

There were very long arguments on other forums about this.

I have done my fair share of 4x4ing and never ever see where one of these SUV`s really kicked ass. They start losing plastics very fast when stuff become technical 4x4 runs.

[NEW]

I was standing outside the office, getting my nicotine fix, when I noticed a brand new Range Rover at the access control booms to the estate and for the first time really looked at it. The GQ man in the article that Alex posted in the "Recovery Gear" thread came to mind.

WTF ????? What is the idea of a love child between an Off-Road vehicle and a Sports Car about? It makes about as much sense as man boobs - useless and usually FUGLY. Porsche started this trend with the Pepper and just about every other manufacturer jumped on the bandwagon. FFS, the things have no ground clearance, runs on 20 aspect ratio run-flat tyres that are worthless even on South African highways, let alone dirt roads or, Heaven forbid, off-road trails. If you want to barrel around at 200+ km/h on the school run, buy a bloody BMW "M" or Merc AMG platkar. It'll be better at the job and you will not be bluffing yourself that you own an off-road vehicle.

To each his own, but I am of the opinion that Alex's GQ man's requirements have phucked up the market ......................

So some manboobs are not Fugly?

Have you seen the knockers on some of the Thaiboyz?

Sure. But the long Jaap hangin out under the skirt distracts from the knockers.

To the original post. I can understand that everyone should be able to get whatever they want does not matter how useless someone else thinks/knows it is.

But the one thing I cannot understand is low profile tires and massive rims.... There are a lot of 4x4 bakkies with these low profiles as well. This severely hampers the vehicle in all possible ways. Which only leaves the notion that somewhere someone think it is "pretty". How?!

[XJ Junkie]

Good thread Thys.

I think the trend is very much driven by demand. Globally, the SUV trend has shown big demand & sales growth is massive, whereas the demand for large sedans & MPVs has dropped significantly.

When it comes to the 4x4 ability aspect, the market is just too small for manufacturers to cater for. Besides, what else can compete with the Wrangler?

[Chris Stoffel]

In the hunters world, regarding what caliber is the best 'all rounder' to shoot everything with, one rifle that can do it all, there are big arguments regarding what the best 'all rounder' caliber is. Perhaps car drivers are looking for the best 'all rounder' as far as vehicles go? Some speed, some 4x4 ability, some road holding, some luxury? But nothing excels. It can do almost everything after a fashion. But nothing 100%. Yes?

[ThysleRoux]

In the hunters world, regarding what caliber is the best 'all rounder' to shoot everything with, one rifle that can do it all, there are big arguments regarding what the best 'all rounder' caliber is. Perhaps car drivers are looking for the best 'all rounder' as far as vehicles go? Some speed, some 4x4 ability, some road holding, some luxury? But nothing excels. It can do almost everything after a fashion. But nothing 100%. Yes?

The original Rangie was great in most respects, as was the Jeep Wagoneer, WJ and XJ. The current versions are trying to hard to be "sports cars" but they are not great at that or being "people movers"

Sent from my FIG-LX1 using Tapatalk

[Chopped]

I was standing outside the office, getting my nicotine fix, when I noticed a brand new Range Rover at the access control booms to the estate and for the first time really looked at it. The GQ man in the article that Alex posted in the "Recovery Gear" thread came to mind.

WTF ????? What is the idea of a love child between an Off-Road vehicle and a Sports Car about? It makes about as much sense as man boobs - useless and usually FUGLY. Porsche started this trend with the Pepper and just about every other manufacturer jumped on the bandwagon. FFS, the things have no ground clearance, runs on 20 aspect ratio run-flat tyres that are worthless even on South African highways, let alone dirt roads or, Heaven forbid, off-road trails. If you want to barrel around at 200+ km/h on the school run, buy a bloody BMW "M" or Merc AMG platkar. It'll be better at the job and you will not be bluffing yourself that you own an off-road vehicle.

To each his own, but I am of the opinion that Alex's GQ man's requirements have phucked up the market ......................

I have had the same thought quite often. The GQ man that you mentioned always comes to mind. You mentioned Rangies, so I will follow that line of thought. For years, love them or hate them Land Rover portrayed and actively strived for the image of world exploring, rugged adventurism (not sure if adventurism is a word) but you know what I mean. Now not only are their vehicles catering to a different market, but their whole brand is geared that way. Have a look at the official range of Landy clothing and accessories. Its all high-end fashion run-way stuff. Perfect for the oke with floppy hair and pointy shoes. The oke who normally wears pants so tight that they initially came from the womens section of truworths or something. I would not take any of those clothes on a normal day, never mind if I was looking for something that was going to be robust enough to last an Overland journey or a day on a trail.
All of this has probably happened because somebody, somewhere had a focus group or some such thing and they decided that market research was indicating a move in this direction.
Jeep funny enough, seem to still be doing the right thing (again, i.e. wrangler moving with the times and Defender dying) but you can, if you want to, still go and buy jeep brand clothing that is functional and fit for purpose. Much like the wrangler.

[Oldtimer]

I can see from the posts here how uninformed you lot really are.

To the OP, seeing a Range Rover with very little ground clearance is really nothing. You press one button in the car and it lifts itself by 50mm. you press the same button again and it lifts itself another 50mm for off-road travel. If you get hung up on a rock or a middelmannetjie then the car will automatically extend its legs another 40mm or until it senses the wheel spinning in the air has found traction.

Now lets see what you lot drive. Some drive jeeps. New or used, newish or very old? Would you, a jeep driver for instance go and drive the same "At se Gat" or "Koos se klip" with a new Cherokee or not. And be honest about it please. Let's say after many years of working Manny can eventually afford to buy the newest, latest 2,8 GD6 Fortuner off the floor. Would you see him that same weekend bashing around the playgrounds in the bush with the same vigour as he does with his current Fortuner? Ok, Manny is maybe a bad example because he will most likely do that to prove a point. Yes, there are some people out there that does exactly that, but he will have another pocket rocket sitting in his garage to take him to work and back on Monday.

Yes it is a bit of a worry to take a car that cost you nearly R2m to go and "play" off road, it can shed plastics. But then, yours can too. And the major difference is that the RR plastics ends up costing much more than your Toyota/Ford/Jeep/ Isuzu plastics. The insurance on a R2m car averages around R4200 per month. The paintwork on my previous RR was R100K alone. Did I take it off road, you bet I did albeit like the typical JHB Yuppie scared of scratching the car......

On my current RR Vogue the plastics cost roughly R20K for a bumper, R12K for a grille, R25K for one headlight, R33K for an aluminum bonnet. And that car is 8 years old already.

When you go out of your way to tackle the most difficult obstacles there are then you go there knowing that you will/may dent stuff, scratch stuff and lose bits and pieces. It is purely your choice. Personally I do not see what you get out of doing that. Believe me I can do that any time I want to but I choose not to. When I had my Defender 130 I went where most guys were scared to go, I did my bit offroad whenever I could and wherever I could. From spraying locusts in the Karoo at night in the veld where driving through the swarm was compulsory, irrespective of the terrain involved to bundu bashing along a riverbed in the Kalahari. I drove in many off road events while living in Pretoria and before while in Potch and Klerksdorp and enjoyed it thoroughly.
But those days are over for me know, I have a wife who does not enjoy "roughing" it and two daughters who would much rather sit playing games on their cellphones and I am now too old, too fat and far too unfit to "walk the obstacle" or to struggle with digging myself out of a mudhole etc. I have Land Rover Assist on call, they do everything for me from recovery to changing tires.

Today I do my offroad experience in the lap of luxury riding on smooth air suspension in unbelievable comfort driving through veld/gravel roads/tar roads and any place my heart desires or I care to drive into.

But please, do not make the mistake of judging the car's ability against its looks.

[ThysleRoux]

Please see my response where applicable

I can see from the posts here how uninformed you lot really are. I resent this comment - you don't know how informed I am

To the OP, seeing a Range Rover with very little ground clearance is really nothing. You press one button in the car and it lifts itself by 50mm. you press the same button again and it lifts itself another 50mm for off-road travel. If you get hung up on a rock or a middelmannetjie then the car will automatically extend its legs another 40mm or until it senses the wheel spinning in the air has found traction. You wont get to a rock or a middlemannetje, as the tyres won't allow you to

Now lets see what you lot drive. Some drive jeeps. New or used, newish or very old? Would you, a jeep driver for instance go and drive the same "At se Gat" or "Koos se klip" with a new Cherokee or not. The new Cherokee and Grand Cherokee are in exactly the same league as the Range Rover in my OP. The RR was used as reference, because it is what trggered my line of thought. Are you really so insecure about your brand of choice ??And be honest about it please. Let's say after many years of working Manny can eventually afford to buy the newest, latest 2,8 GD6 Fortuner off the floor. Would you see him that same weekend bashing around the playgrounds in the bush with the same vigour as he does with his current Fortuner? Ok, Manny is maybe a bad example because he will most likely do that to prove a point. Yes, there are some people out there that does exactly that, but he will have another pocket rocket sitting in his garage to take him to work and back on Monday.

Yes it is a bit of a worry to take a car that cost you nearly R2m to go and "play" off road, it can shed plastics. But then, yours can too. And the major difference is that the RR plastics ends up costing much more than your Toyota/Ford/Jeep/ Isuzu plastics. The insurance on a R2m car averages around R4200 per month. The paintwork on my previous RR was R100K alone. Did I take it off road, you bet I did albeit like the typical JHB Yuppie scared of scratching the car...... This proves my point - GQ man is prescribing to the manufacutrers. Why buy an "off-road" vehicle if you cannot or will not take it off-road??

On my current RR Vogue the plastics cost roughly R20K for a bumper, R12K for a grille, R25K for one headlight, R33K for an aluminum bonnet. And that car is 8 years old already.

When you go out of your way to tackle the most difficult obstacles there are then you go there knowing that you will/may dent stuff, scratch stuff and lose bits and pieces. It is purely your choice. Personally I do not see what you get out of doing that. Believe me I can do that any time I want to but I choose not to. When I had my Defender 130 I went where most guys were scared to go, I did my bit offroad whenever I could and wherever I could. From spraying locusts in the Karoo at night in the veld where driving through the swarm was compulsory, irrespective of the terrain involved to bundu bashing along a riverbed in the Kalahari. I drove in many off road events while living in Pretoria and before while in Potch and Klerksdorp and enjoyed it thoroughly. The defender was a real off-road vehicle.
the bits of your statement in blue is a little contradictory. We do it because it's FUN I may be old, but I'm not DEAD
But those days are over for me know, I have a wife who does not enjoy "roughing" it and two daughters who would much rather sit playing games on their cellphones and I am now too old, too fat and far too unfit to "walk the obstacle" or to struggle with digging myself out of a mudhole etc. I have Land Rover Assist on call, they do everything for me from recovery to changing tires. You should be driving a Jaguar platkar

Today I do my offroad experience in the lap of luxury riding on smooth air suspension in unbelievable comfort driving through veld/gravel roads/tar roads and any place my heart desires or I care to drive into.

But please, do not make the mistake of judging the car's ability against its looks. It's not about the looks - my point is that even with all the acronyms and fancy suspension, a modern "off-road SUV/sports car"won't go where a real off-roader can. I am NOT referring to driving through KNP - you can do that in a Jaguar platkar as well.

I stick to my original point - most, if not all modern "off-road" SUVs are designed to meet the preferences of the GQ man, who is not interested in going off-road, but wants to drive a sports car, while bluffing himself and his friends that he is the original "Camel man"

Oh and for the record - I'm quite a bit older than you, but still very young at heart

[Mad Manny]

Well, these AWD SUV's are produced because the public demand it.

Haval only makesSUV's - most are FWD.

Toyota is considering replacing the Corolla with an SUV.

So complaining about that is silly.

HOWEVER, where I will agree with verkrampt Thys is that if a guy buys one of these Soft SUV's (be it a Merc GLA, GLC, GLE, GLS, a BMW X, a Audi Q, a Disco Sport, a Jeep Renegade etc. That's all good - it's your money.
BUT do not think they are as capable or good for overlanding.

I would say that the new Range Rover, Disco5 & Grand Cherokee can go a bit further if you can fit slightly better tyres.

Obviously the LC200 is in a different class altogether.

[Mad Manny]

...while bluffing himself and his friends that he is the original "Camel man"

Thys, I'm sure that if a few Voortrekkers saw you doing a trail in your Jeep that'd laugh & call you a wuss.

It's all about perceptions...