What is the difference: SUV vs. Van
 

I was having a discussion with my wife the other day, and she can not tell the difference between a van and an SUV. OK, I can look at one and say that is an SUV or that is a van, but I couldn't find a good way to descibe the difference so that she could get it. Can anyone help me out?

It used to be easier, now it seems like a lot of vehicles are hybrids of vans and SUV. Generally I think SUVs have less cargo and passenger space, 4-wheel drive, are more rugged, and have a higher wheelbase and profile than a [mini]-van.

The latter is a goobermobile, and the former you can actually say you drive with a minimum of embarrassment.

In that case what's the difference between a station wagon and an SUV???

Just another good reason not to have more than two kids.

My wife drives an SUV and she would kill me in a slow painfull way if I ever so much as thought about buying her a min-van

Well I did say to my wife that a Mini van is a mommy car, while an SUV is a daddy car.

There is no difference. SUV's and MiniVans are essentially the same car nowadays. Guys just spend more money (up front, and with gas mileage) to drive a car that accomplishes the same purpose.

The way I understand it, SUVs are the "in" thing while Minivans are the "not in" thing. So, from what I've been told, the SUV would be like khaki (or cargo) shorts and the Minivan would be the jean shorts.

Yeah, one shows that you wussed out and bought a "family vehicle" while the other is the poster child for people who need to overcompensate for inadequacies.

SI

You said it much better than I.

SUV's are designed for off-road and bad weather use, but are mainly driven on paved roads in perfect conditions by materialistic image consious yuppies with more money than brains.

Mini-vans are what people who actually need cargo room drive.

SUV's tend to be driven by people who don't need them, but have to advertise their self-importance to the world.

Also, mini-vans don't seem to have nearly the dramatic negative impact on intelligence that SUV's do.

Screw the environmental impact of them, I'm ready to start running SUV's over with a tank based purely on the way these fucking idiots drive.

I'd much rather have our Odyssey than an SUV, to be honest. For the money, we got a much better automobile. That said, the minivan is my wife's, as I don't want either a minivan or SUV for me - I prefer a sedan. But for carting the kids around and for taking trips, the minivan has actually been well worth the "embarrassment" (an awful lot of embarrassed people around here, I guess...).

Not unlike people who chose to drive a car that is not an economy model. Do you long for the good ol' days when "you can have any color so long as its black?"


Inadequecies?


How does this differ from most cars above the economy class? or without the bare bones trim package?

To be honest, where I live the SUV is very popular with the urban/black crowd.


You can be such an ass some days. Trucks are for cargo and get similar gas milage. Several (not mine) SUVs are as gas milage friendly as cars.
---------------------

All you folks are really saying is "you don't need an SUV," which is true. But, I like the look, sitting up high, the heavy steel constuction, the passenger/cargo versitility, the all weather capability, and the potential to pull a small hose behind it. Most of all, I can afford to buy the thing I like. Do people need a trip to Disneyland? No. In America, we aspire to be able to use the money we earn to buy goods and services that increase our enjoyment of life.

Quit being so crabby (except JIMG, who is crabby about everything)

Umm ... I was trying to say that the whole "green thing" didn't matter a fuck to me.

As for being crabby about SUV's, shit, that doesn't begin to cover it. Really, given the number of near-misses with "soccer-mommies-who-can't-even-see-over-the- wheel-of-their-land-battleship-but-drive like-they're-fucking-bulletproof"
I've endured in the past couple of years, "crabby" is extremely generous.

how is that very different than a slew of other vehicles?

Easy -- the kamikaze driving style I see employed every single day by SUV'ers is unrivaled by any other type of vehicle.

It may not be you, it may not be in any area other than my own regular driving range for all I know ... but it's the most dangerous thing on the roads I drive, not because of the vehicle itself but because of the way the types who drive them drive them. And minus the protection (real or imagined) of their land yacht, I don't believe they'd be so damned gung-ho, in fact I know the ones I'm talking about aren't because they don't drive that way when they're in their other vehicles.

Yes. Yes I do.

I just think it's silly that we have hordes of soccer moms who will never drive on anything but asphalt running around in Cadillac Escalades with 4 feet of ground clearance, all-terrain radials, and four wheel drive.

But, like you said, it's their money. I'd just personally choose to spend it a little more wisely.

SUV's don't kill people, people driving SUV's kill people. Someone driving a Navigator that cuts me off while talking on the phone deserves to die.

I find myself agreeing with JonInMiddleGA. Surely the apocalypse is near....

The reason you can't identify the difference between an SUV and a van is because you aren't talking about a REAL van. You're talking about a minivan. SUVs are sub-urban vehicles, minivans are for minifamilies, but if you ever see a REAL van, anybody can tell tell the difference. It's all about the size, baby. You can't make butter with a toothpick; you know what I'm sayin. Full-sized vans for full-sized families; that's what I'm talkin' about.

:D

Damn straight. It seems there's a disproportionate number of idiots driving SUV's who think they're the only person on the road and drive like it.

SI

Oh, I'm sorry, was I not clear. Here, I've found an image that hits that is a bit less subtle:



SI

that is a kickass red x.

Seriously, I don't see how anyone can have an issue with people buys 'status' or 'style' cars anymore than they have problems with such utilitarian vehicles as the Mustang.

----------
Fuel Economy:

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/FEG2005.pdf
on page 6 you will see that the FUEL ECONOMY & ANNUAL FUEL COST
RANGES FOR VEHICLE CLASSES chart lists the high end range for SUVs exceeding Cargo Vans, Passenger Vans, Mini-Vans, Midsize Station Wagons, Large Cars, and Minicompact Cars.

So lets chuck that argument, okay?

In terms of rollover, SUVs are the worst as seen http://www.safercar.gov/Rollover/pag...ysVCompare.htm

But, some SUVs are as safe as some cars, and certainly as safe all vans, and do as well or better than pickups. Certainly some SUVs are worse than anything.

If I read the info right at http://www.safecarguide.com The weight of a vehicle has a lot to do with fatalities.

Even with that, the deaths per million is HIGHER for cars and vans than it is for SUVs in 2 car crashes with cars of similar weight classes.

Of course, SUVs are deadlier to people in the other vehicle (in a two car crash)

As far as status goes, if you think anyone is driving a BMW, Lexus, Infinity, Mecedes, etc for anything other than status, then I think you need to extend the same courtesy to SUV drivers.

My issues are that these supersized vehicles make other peoples' driving and parking more difficult. Never mind the mass of a 3 ton vehicle smashing into a sedan. Anyone who drives an Excursion or Suburban down city streets that isn't towing a horse trailer should be pillaried in the town square.

Now THAT is what I'm talking about! Move over, Suburban, Daddy's got a brand new VAN. Who's bigger now? Huh? Huh? What? You wanna piece of me?

stkelly, show this to your wife. Say, "This is a van. Everything else is just a car."

Even a Geo Metro can pull a small hose.

I have a problem when:

A) The main reason someone buys an SUV is so that THEY will be safer when they hit me in my compact sedan.

B) I'm waiting to legally turn right at a red light, and some a$$hole in an SUV or truck pulls up to my left in the thru lane and stops way past the stopline, so that I can't see traffic to my left. WHERE THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING?!?!?!?!!?

C) many, many other reasons that people have already mentioned, such as the off-road capabilities needed to take Jimmy to soccer practice or get around the mall parking lot

Have you seen the size of some of those potholes in the parking lot?

the difference between an SUV and a minivan?

It's a great big pain in the ass to put kids into car seats in SUV's. We (thanks to my %$!@$ daughter totalling my wife's minivan) get to buy a new van or SUV. I like the Chevy Trailblazer, but we're probably going to get a Chrysler T&C Limited since we've got three kids in car seats. It's just so much easier with the sliding doors.

Back off, guys! Fritz is 31337!!!

You've got, what, 3 of those things?!

Yeah, SUVs seem to confer a false sense of security on the driver. Whenever it's snowing out I can pretty much guarantee that most weather-related accidents I will see will involve an SUV...

I disagree. Minivans were never the "in" thing, so maybe a more appropriate analogy would be no shorts...since that was never in style. :)

What I just learned:

Mini Vans get stuck in the snow very easily, while the SUVs are able go over it.

Sure the full potential of 4WD is only use a few times a year, but then how often are the airbags used?