I don't drive around in the SUV to protect them, I drive the safest vehicles I can find - IMO, obviously.

Have been driving SUV's for a long time. I had a few fender matchups over the years - mostly not my fault, but some mine. Never did it lead to any injuries - and certainly their bumpers are no higher than your average minivan.

And I have never, ever considered it selfish to defend ones self. BTW, is it selfish to order parts shipped by trucks as they are proportionaly involved in more hiway accidents than carsa nd suv's combined.

As for our collective childrens' futures and the footprints we leave behind, should we all sell our gas guzzling, polluting 911's and drive Camry's and PRius'?

yes, let's go right to black and white thinking. I drive a gas guzzling 911. For a few hours every weekend then for track days. But my main car is not a 5K lb hulking SUV. It doesn't have to be all one or the other.

You will drive whatever you want. Free country. I just think that most people who drive SUVs don't really need them. And I believe the safety rationalization is just an excuse. Your implication that those that don't drive SUVs (or the safest vehicle out there, evidently an MBZ GL450) don't care about the safety of their family is rather ludicrous.

Wonder how so many of our parents managed to raise large families before SUV's were even invented.

remember, station wagons kill

The review of the the X5 points out the good and the bad. Plenty of electronic gremlins to go around with all the computer circuitry the car has. This is hurting BMW as well as many of the other foreign cars.

That's true, but the new X5 apparently has change that fact somewhat, it's based on the current 5-series chassis now, the old one was based on teh e39 chassis.

We have two SUV's, a 2001 Tahoe that is my winter driver is the weather is bad, and the car we use for towing the camper, etc. My wife has a new Volvo SUV, and we have been very happy with it.

The NA motor (non V-8) gets decent gas mileage as well. We get about 22-23 mpg on the highway with the V-8 in it. It has a very good amount of storage space and the third row disappears into the floor very well. It will cost less than the others you have mentioned as well.

Bill

Bill, you're using it in a manner that makes sense: crappy weather and towing. I don't quite understand why they are necessary in SoCal by people with small or no family and no towing needs. But to each their own...

The next time an Escalade parks in a compact spot next to my GTI, I reserve the right to remove all 4 valve cores from their tires...

I agree Todd. My wife drives the XC90 every day, but she also drops off the kids and picks them up from daycare. I plan driving the Turbo as much as possible, and during the summer using the HD as much as possible as well.

One of the reasons I wanted to get rid of the WRX. It wasn't big enough to comfortably take the kids, and it wasn't a 911...

Bill

Sports cars should be light and efficient, and I hate the idea of an SUV. Yet I drive one and am likely to get another one next year. Try to offset it when I can - my daily driver is the Chicago commuter train and my own legs to the office, so the hulking SUV and old 911 don't worry me too much. ;) 911 has put on 12,000 miles in 5 years for a grand total of 34,000 right now as it hides from the salt - actually, took it out in the rain yesterday since we seemed salt free.....

Do I really need a big car, no. And is the "cool" factor there? It sure is. I think we all know that the best "cars" out there from a mechanical/save the earth sort of view point must be minivans for large groups and mini-minivans (Toyota Matrix-ish) for smaller groups - hybrid or not....

I do worry about wasting gas and crushing other people, but see it as a bell curve. Need another big car for the three kids and soccer teams for another few years, then move downward towards the ultimate goal of a small two seater for the wife and me - but this time instead of a creaky old Fiat 124 or Triumph TR-8, with any luck it will be a Cayman....SmileWavy

But that'll have to be when we don't need to get out of the unplowed alley in our old town as I don't think the Cayman has much snow/ground clearance....

RKC - I agree with the downsizing. We've already gone from 8 seat belts (Expedition) to 7 (GL). I suspect in 3 years we'll be down to a 5 passenger vehicle, possibly a car. It's all a funtion of hauling - whether it's kids, stuff or towing.

RKC - Don't you think the "cool" factor has largely disappeared from the SUV? I certainly do here on the left coast.

Nostatic - I never, ever said or even iimplied that those who have small families and don't drive an SUV don't care about their family's safety. But it is an honest, and I think, legitimate concern of mine. There are so many things that are outside our control in life - in some areas, you try to do what you can.

Well, yes, SUV's aren't really cool anymore. And minivans aren't made fun of like they were - though they still have baggage that feels like a slight failure of spirit - like a Camry in Amana white instead of a VW, Honda, or old BMW for instace.

Still, some of the macho aura remains with SUV's here in the midwest. And as a skinny triathlete who grew up in San Diego and doesn't give a s**t about the Bears or the Cubs or the Sox or the Bulls, my manhood is already pretty suspect here. LOL!

Car-topping a kayak and/or towing a Hobie Cat to the North Woods instead of Jet Skis or a big power boat ain't helping either.....Maybe I need a Hummer.....;)

Don't we all. ;)

It certainly mattered in this case. Now of course she could lose control of her SUV tomorrow and roll it, or get hit by a bigger, faster, truck, train, falling satellite, and thus fate will have gotten even. We all make decisions that work for us. Sorry (not) if us choosing a large vehicle that intimidates the dude driving the Mini Cooper S (love that car too) but that's the way life works. Sue me.

The LATimes article notwithstanding, has anyone driven the new X5?