By Andrew Vick (Afv) on Wednesday, August 15, 2001 - 09:24 am: Edit

My normally sane, disco enthusiast wife made a comment yesterday that made me question all that life stands for:

"Liesl and Greg just got a Cadillac SUV, and it's really nice! Maybe we should look at that after the "Beater" ('95 Disco) goes south!"

Where have I gone wrong?

By Eric N (Grnrvr) on Wednesday, August 15, 2001 - 09:29 am: Edit

Get rid of her

By 94Rover on Wednesday, August 15, 2001 - 10:56 am: Edit

Afv, only if you decide to change your career to pimpin will you need to get the Caddy SUV, and if your going to be pimpin farm animals you can get the new Caddy pick-up......

I'm just waiting to see where this S.U.V craze will be in about 5-6 years, and what will all these stupid model SUV's look like in that
timespan...

What ever happended to the protype SUV that porsche was working on?

By anonymousfu on Wednesday, August 15, 2001 - 11:05 am: Edit

She has lost it. I suggest a medium duty brush chipper from Sears to by-pass the messy divorce proceedings.

By gil on Wednesday, August 15, 2001 - 11:15 am: Edit

unfortunately, that Porsche should be coming to market soon along with VW's suv that has a 400hp V12 option?!?@#?# huh?

By ryan on Wednesday, August 15, 2001 - 11:31 am: Edit

BMW is pissed off because the Cadillac Escalade offically has the title "the most powerful SUV in the world" By the end of this year, BMW is going to release the 2002 BMW X5 4.6i(instead of 4.4i). It will have something like 360hp. Now, Porsche is pissed off at BMW because the Porsche Cayenne was suppose to be the most powerful SUV in the world. Lastly, MB is(and was) pissed off, because they use to have the most powerful SUV in the world, the ML55. It only had a measly 340hp.

By Eric N (Grnrvr) on Wednesday, August 15, 2001 - 11:44 am: Edit

That's OK. When they go speeding by me it will be one less speeding ticket I'll have to worry about getting. But, at least we won't have to worry about moving out of the way for any of them on the local trails. Buffy, you got dirt on the Porsche. Now it's ruined. You would think that if you wanted that much horse power you would want some handling to go with it. The only thing that those are good for is showing off that you had enough money to waste on a piece of useless crap. It is only about the badge on the front for anyone who buys those.

By Blue Gill (Bluegill) on Wednesday, August 15, 2001 - 11:53 am: Edit

The presidents of Caddy, BMW, Porsche, & MB should just drop trou and lay their meat on the boardroom table & be done with it. Same goes for Suburban vs. Excursion moronic competition.

By ryan on Wednesday, August 15, 2001 - 12:07 pm: Edit

I know for a fact the Bimmer handles great(the 4.4i with,get this, 19 INCH WHEELS). It could pull off 64.8MPH on a 400ft slalom. That is better than most cars. It'll do 60 in 6.7 seconds. It holds the road with .89G's. Great truck(I mean car) if you don't plan on any off-roading. I'd take the Bimmer over the Caddy anyday. The X5 4.4i starts off at $49,000. The damn Caddy starts at about $52,000. It's just a rebadged Tahoe.

By Ho Chung (Ho) on Wednesday, August 15, 2001 - 12:13 pm: Edit

andrew, i hear that all the time.
just ignore. thats' the best you can do.

By Mike Rupp (Mike_Rupp) on Wednesday, August 15, 2001 - 12:32 pm: Edit

The sad fact isn't that Cadillac, et al., are producing nasty, ugly SUVs. It's that people actually buy these things. I just dont understand why someone would buy a BMW X5. If they buy it, they obviously have no intention of taking it off-road. The 19-inch wheels have a tough time of staying intact from pothole damage. What's the point? Why not buy a M5?

I get this from my friends all the time: "Why would you buy a Land Rover? It's so friggin' slow." My response is that if I wanted a fast car, I wouldn't have bought a Land Rover. I'd buy an Audi S4.

I just don't get the current trend of SUV buyers. This must be an easy time for the car manufacturers that make SUVs. Design a plastic clad, ugly vehicle with independent suspension, throw some hp to it, and the public will come.

By Eric N (Grnrvr) on Wednesday, August 15, 2001 - 01:11 pm: Edit

Ryan, I don't see an X5 out handling a Corvette, S4, M3, or almost any other sports car that you can get for the same price. That was what I meant. I'm sure it will out handle any real SUV or truck but, for the money it is a waste. It isn't an SUV any way. BMW calls it an SAV (sport activity vehicle).. I would rather have a WRX wagon then the X5 and with all the money I saved I could put into performance parts and leave the X5 and almost every thing else on the road standing in my dust.

By michel on Wednesday, August 15, 2001 - 01:27 pm: Edit

We'll, these manufacturers queried their customers and found that most of them owned a jeep grand cheroque or some other SUV besides their luxury car for carying more stuff. So, they don't want to lose customers, and thus make a SUV that will fill the need of those people. Simple really, the SUV is the 70's station wagon. Now were seing the rebirth of the el camino. hehe

Michel

By MA on Wednesday, August 15, 2001 - 01:44 pm: Edit

My conclusions are this: The X5 is one hell of an SUV(SAV) for 95% of the people on the road who don't give a damn about off-road ability(or price for that matter). I have used the X5 in snowy/icy conditions, and it did great(right up there with my Disco). It is a very comfortable car(even with its 19 inch wheels). Also, it can tow 7000lbs! I could see why people like it, but it's not for me. Sure it's fun smoking cars when the light turns green or scaring the shit out of people when you take the corners, but hittin' the trails gives me a much better feeling. It requires more thought thought and disciplin. We are a very small percentage that are willing to give up comfy on-roadiness for hard-core off-roading. Most people buy SUVs for their looks, feel, performance and space. That is what the designers at BMW were probably thinking(except for the space thing maybe). They know that less than 8% of SUV buyers actually go off-roading, so they built the X5 for the people who are strict on-roaders that might drive down a dirt road(the video that came with the X5 had a "un-paved road driving" section in it, that was kind of funny.)

By chuanchen on Wednesday, August 15, 2001 - 02:54 pm: Edit

Mike

I totally agree with you!!

In fact, I never think Disco (or LR vehicles) is a "SUV". This is because that "SUV" no longer stands for its original definition; Now it only stands for those non-capabled, transformed-from-something, ugly vehicles. LR is "4x4", not "SUV", at least the way I look at.

everytime sombody asks me if I am driving a SUV. I answer "No, I am not." My little blue is a 4x4. (cuz a SUV is not necessarily 4x4!)

chuanchen

By Jon E. Yermo (Jon) on Wednesday, August 15, 2001 - 03:25 pm: Edit

I agree with the station-wagon comments earlier. Just a bunch of kids in their early thirties who don't like the '70s fake wood paneling idea of a "station-wagon". They all want an A6 with a view, that's all.

Oh, yeah - I've N E V E R seen an MB or BMW off-road. They're a really really nice tall sedan - not the competition - just a different class.

Don't sweat all the American beater versions, either - they have an effective life of 3-4 years anyway.

God Save Land Rover!

-Erik

By Karen Jones on Wednesday, August 15, 2001 - 04:46 pm: Edit

I know I have been driving one of the slowest vehicles on the planet Earth for 15 years (Volvo 240 DL), but the Disco has plenty of go for me. When the sales guide gave me a "gun it" demo ride, topped off by the "slam it" brake demo, it literally made me feel as if I was about to tear up. I dubbed it the Peptobismol Test, because I took it twice and both times felt I could have done with a coupla pink tabs afterward. My husband had the same response, though we both managed to look as if it hadn't mattered a bit to us. No kidding, it was such a visceral experience had it lasted another 500 feet I might have shed a tear! Yup, enough horses under the hood for me.....besides, speed to often equals death, and I want to live.

Karen P.S. Blue Gill, I think you might be onto something with your Drop Trou Diplomacy. Wonder if it would work for the Arabs and the Jews? ;)

By Leslie N. Bright (Leslie) on Wednesday, August 15, 2001 - 04:47 pm: Edit

Back when BMW still owned Land Rover, I read on their website something to the effect that the BMW "SAV" was designed to tackle all road conditions... but that if you wanted to go "off-road" you should get a Land Rover instead....

Wonder what their site says now?


-L

By C. Ross on Wednesday, August 15, 2001 - 05:45 pm: Edit

Well,

I'll take the money leftover after I buy my 97 Disco for less than $14K spend $4K outfitting it and buy my early 90's Porsche 928 that'll outrun them all and have the best of both worlds for waaaaaayy less money. 97 Disco with mods = $18K
89-91 Porsche 928 = $13K+

That's only $31K and you have 2 cars for almost half the price of one. Of course if you sell one D90 (I did) you can buy two toys (I am).

Ross
97 Disco LSE 88K
Coming soon...93 Porsche 928 GTS 5sp

By Bud on Thursday, August 16, 2001 - 12:58 am: Edit

Andrew - Let me see if I understand your dilema. Your wife wants to get another type of vehicle which will leave you to do as you please with the Disco, such as full mods, as much off-roading as you wish since its just a beater and cover it up with all sorts of stickers, discoweb included. Now, what is the downside?

Bud

By Andrew Vick (Afv) on Thursday, August 16, 2001 - 06:31 am: Edit

And the six pack goes to BUD for really getting to the issue!

By Andy Nix (Andy) on Thursday, August 16, 2001 - 03:18 pm: Edit

Andrew,

Go off-roading with your friend and his "SUV" and see what your wife says then !!!

By Bud on Friday, August 17, 2001 - 01:17 am: Edit

Ka-ching! And Andy lands the fatal blow. A definite case of the grass being greener on the other side. Until, of course, you ARE on the other side, which makes the side you used to be on the other side which makes the grass you used to stand on greener than the grass that used to be on the other side. Hopefully, this confuses the simple solution that Andy as offered above.

BTW, why WOULD anybody want to drive a vehicle that looked like it was outfitted with a chrome snow plow blade on the front?

Bud

By Horness Spencer (Horness) on Friday, August 17, 2001 - 02:33 am: Edit

Just tell her straight.

She can move in with Liesl and Greg and "enjoy" the Caddie SuV as much as she wants!

I'm sure there are some nice maidens on Discoweb who would love to sit aloft your "beater".



Horness

By Andrew Vick (Afv) on Friday, August 17, 2001 - 05:05 am: Edit

Excellent point Andy, although there's no way they'd do it. They think I'm nuts, especially when the 1 year old is strapped in back!

Bud: Your message is so confusing, something more than a six pack must've been involved, and I haven't even sent that yet.

Horness: You are very disturbed, and I like that!

In synopsis, I enlighted my wife to this thread, and she did not hesitate that it was indeed she who suggested we buy the '95 brand new. Guess my hair is not falling out, it's falling in and clogging my brain.

By lynden on Friday, August 17, 2001 - 11:34 am: Edit

Okay, I just need to say one thing for the idiots who purchase a SUV to be fast and carry lots of gear/people- S4 Avant. That damned thing will eat up Crapmaros and outhandle Corvettes. These idiots buying the X5 and MB have to be nuts to buy something like that. I guess the only thing you could say is that you can't tow a boat w/ an Avant, but that's why you buy a '76 F-250 for $1200.

Just my $.02
Lynden

By ryan on Friday, August 17, 2001 - 02:12 pm: Edit

Yeah, but it's a STATION WAGON, that is more embarrassing than us driving mini-vans.

By Eric N (Grnrvr) on Friday, August 17, 2001 - 04:30 pm: Edit

No way.. A mini-van is much worse then a station wagon.

By lynden on Saturday, August 18, 2001 - 07:15 pm: Edit

Ahh, be very careful. In the UK our rigs are considered station wagons and in fact when I called my Ins. agent after purchasing the disco. it was listed as a station wagon w/ state farms. You sir are driving a station wagon. You may want to edit your earlier post. (All in good fun, I'm not trying to bust your balls)

The avant is a station wagon but... it has 250hp and will clean the clocks of all but the very latest muscle cars. How would you like the see the look on the hairballs face when you beat his crapmaro w/ a station wagon!!! I'd pay big $$$, just not $35K... at least not yet.
Lynden

By gp (Garrett) on Sunday, August 19, 2001 - 01:48 pm: Edit

i agree. much rather drive a Volvo V70 XC any day over a mini-van. just the word mini-van hurts my ears. i don't have any kids and i would still love to have an S4 or V70 as a second vehicle.

By Andrew Vick (Afv) on Monday, August 20, 2001 - 05:42 am: Edit

You could call our Discos station wagons, but the wife currently has a Saab Aero Wagon. 120mph over Vail pass is nothing to sneeze at!