I LOVE my gigantic SUV.

TC,
did you notice the tag I put on that photo in FB?


edit: page top, bitches!

 I did notice the tag!  Thanks for that!!




You Rock the top of the page!!!

...and you thought your boat burned a little gas...




Twin 1075 horse Mercury engines and a few other toys. It's a bit over the top for water skiing, though.

---

My presence here means that a village somewhere is missing its idiot.

Lake Como? 1 mile wide surfspot?  U talking about Dervio?
BTW, your's it's not a SUV, it's a sport car masked as one..tee hee,,,

Well actually it's Domaso, where we surf.  It's on the northe side, and has la Brevia, a very famous wind.  There might be another spot but this is the only one I know on Como lake......

And about my car, let's just say it's a Sport Utility Vehicle.... ;)

I'm going totally off topic...apologies to everyone
Domaso is at the north end of the lake (well, almost), on the western shores, Dervio is a bit further south, on the opposite side, there's a windsurfing schoold there, but kite surfing is also well spread and sailing in general (well, the area has plenty of sailing schools IIRC)...

Unless it's local lingo in Domaso, it's Breva, not Brevia...said to derive from the ancient german Broese (or Broese, modern Luftchen also french Brise, engl Breeze, itl Brezza, little wind) at least this is one of the possible translations linguists give, but since its opposite wind is the Tivan (Italianized in Tivano, taken - in fact it's a contraction of it - from the french "petit vent"), I see no reason to doubt it....
The Breva blows on the lake from the North, from the Valtellina, in the morning while the Tivan blows in the evening (or during the day, but always after the Breva stops) from the South, both winds were used by the lake sailors to move their boats loaded with goods around the lake...
If you are familiar with the lake, you should know Davide Van de Sfroos (Davide Bernasconi, "Van de Sfroos" it's not dutch, its' "laghee", lombard language, and means approximately "to go unnoticed", in short, to do something not really legal, it's a reference to the bootleggers of the region who were transporting stuff - illegally of course, mainly cigarettes and silk- to and from Switzerland.  "T'e faa un sfroos" as "there's something dogdy here") songs...one of his Cds is named
"Breva&Tivan" containing a song with the same title...

Bréva e Tivàn, Bréva e Tivàn,	Breva e Tivano, Breva e Tivano,
la vela la se sgùnfia e'l timòn l'è in'di mann,	la vela si gonfia e il timone è nelle mani,
Valteléna ciàra e Valteléna scüra,	Valtellina chiara, Valtellina scura,
l'è una partida a dama cun't el cieel che fa pagüra...	è una partita a dama con il cielo che fa paura...
Sòlti in söe l'unda e pö se làssi nà...	salto sull'onda e poi mi lascio andare...
el soo che fra un pezzètt el tàca a tempestà,	lo so che tra poco inizia a tempestare,
el soo che in söe la riva i henn là tücc a pregà,	lo so che sulla riva sono là tutti a pregare,
me ciàpen per un màtt che vöer dumà negà...	mi prendono per un matto che vuole solo annegare
E la barca la dùnda e la paar che la fùnda,	E la barca dondola e sembra che affondi,
che baraùnda vèss che in mèzz al laagh...	che baraonda essere qui in mezzo al lago....
El laagh che l'e' balòss, el laagh che'l tradìss,	il lago che è furbo, il lago che tradisce,
el fülmin lüsìss e'l cieel el tusìss...	il fulmine luccica e il cielo tossisce....
Brèva e Tivànn. Brèva e Tivànn,	Breva e Tivano, Breva e Tivano,
i tìren e i mòlen e i te pòrten luntàn,	tirano e mollano e ti portano lontano,
vàrda de scià e vàrda de là,	guarda di qua e guarda di là,
la spùnda la ciàma ma la barca la và...	la sponda chiama ma la barca va...
Ma urmài sun chè... in mèzz al tempuraal	Ma ormai sono qui.... in mezzo al temporale
tuìvess föe di bàll che a me me piaas inscè...	toglietevi dalle scatole che a me piace così....
E urmài sun chè... in mèzz al tempuraal	e ormai sono qui... in mezzo al temporale
tuìvess föe di bàll che a me me piaas inscè...	toglietevi dalle scatole che a me piace così...

To get back on topic, I prefer slower but sturdier 4x4...Jeeps and Land Rovers...My old Cherockee felt big enough...With that Cayenne it must be a bit of a hassle to negotiate the lake's roads...of course, having to drive down from the Low Countries...

This may have already been said but since I did not read the whole thread here goes.
E85 is a BLEND (key word) of 85% Ethanol and 15% gasoline (that is what the 85 part means). It has a MON rating of 105 (depending on what blend it is). The up side is that you can make more power in a high performance car, the down side is that because there is less potential energy in alcohol, you must burn more (roughly 25-30% more) to get the same power output. So while E85 may be cheaper, you will pull fewer MPG's with it. Because of it's high octane rating I am thinking of converting my supercharged Mustang to E85. 18psi in a 2900 lb car with great suspensio = one hell of a fun time.

I have a 2003 Suburban 2500 (6.0L) and it is irreplaceable as a family truckster.  I figure that I can haul 2 kids, wife, two labs, ski equipment and luggage to VT on 30 gals. (12mpg)  It would take four compacts to haul the same capacity at 40mpg, and would burn and aggregate 35 gals. of gas.   Not to mention to comfort and safety issues.

Yes La Breva, I know, must have been a typo!!  But: I am pretty sure that La Breva is the wind from the south, picking up from 1 pm...  At least that's how it's called now....  It's even written on Domaso's map that way...

And the Cayenne: It's the perfect do it all car. Driving 230 on the Autobahn, passing the Gotthard pass (between Göschenen and Airolo) in about 20 minutes, and during winter: no need for chains with chunky M&S tyres. Also on 'sport' suspension, it's always cool to overtake other cars in the outside lane of a corner ;-) like on autobahn crossings.  As it has a relatively small turn, it is not a hassle at all on small mountain, or for that matter, lake roads, and when needed, I just electronically turn my mirrors flat...to be narrower.  Only in those narrow tunnels on the Splügen pass there's an issue....

But in general it's just cool to drive a car which is like a sports car, but all your luggage and kids also fit in...

@ the rest of you: apologies for going OT

Here's my gigantic Detroit SUV on a roadtrip to Glacier National...

Edited by Mr. Crab - 9/30/09 at 8:43pm

I really miss my old Chev Cheyenne, not an SUV but it was great while it lasted. A Dodge Caravan just doesn't cut it, it struggles to pull 120km on the highway, and can barely tow anything. It serves the whole "Kids and dog" purpose, and the amount of room is staggering, but the truck was just so much more versatile, we had 1.5 tons on the back and another 4 tons behind it and it never quit, even being 17 years old. It got better mileage than the van as well. An SUV equivalent (Yukon or Suburban) would be la créme de la créme.

This is the real deal.

Tomorrow night my buddies and I are going wakeboarding.  Everyone is meeting at my house after work and heading to the lake.  7 of us, towing a boat.  Awesome.

I love my 10 year old Expedition! It has 165K miles on it and still pulls my 5000 pound camper up Eisenhower Pass or my 3000lb(+3200lbs of water ballast) sailboat out of the Gulf.
Plus, it looks sooo much nicer than the new Suburbans and it has a Ford transmission. My Chevy K5 Blazer 4WD made it only to 126K before losing it's tranny.
I get 18-20 mpg still-'course, that drops to 11 mpg with camper in tow.
And to include another reason to hate me-my daily driver in a BMW 530

I now love my GIGANTIC SUV too!!



Since I got it for dirt cheap (read FREE), I couldn't pass it up! It pulls our 19' camper like it's not even there, and it gets even better gas mileage than my Safari van.

Did I mention I LOVE her????

I don't think the BIG suv market is going away. Especially not in a universe like epic. People who play outside and are mobile need the abilitiy to transport their gear.

Roof box + hitch haul really boosts the capacity of our Forester.

The market isn't going away, but there will be less of them for sure.

One thing that is still a motivator is the $25,000 first year write off on 6,000 lb+ vehicles for self employed - business use ;-) I am tempted. When gas was 4 bucks a gallon no, but now it makes financial sense again.

I actually don't own a big SUV. Just a Outback sport. However I can see how big families or people with more gear on a longer road trip would want a larger vehicle. Didn't know about the tax break either.

On the other hand, some may ask why all the children in the first place... ;-) 

Never mind gear...