I still like my Forester though.

I would think that you should like your Forester. I really like my wife's Outback. (Do they sell those under that name in Australia, I would think it would be incongruous to do so)

Cheers.

this is only partially related to SUVS but I hate aircon (Commodore)and automatics (Commodore) and creaky noises that shouldn't be there (commodore)as well as disliking the ditz that could wipe me out while putting on makeup and forgetting to negotiate a roundabout! I do like Hilux's and Patrols out in the bush though but the important thing is they're not going stupid crazy speeds and understeering like a b*%&h!

The easy answer to this on going worldwide debate,would be to BAN all SUV,s within a one Klm radius of any school,forcing the parents,kids to walk,ride,bus it to school,this would slow the demand on manufacturers,oil companies etc.and would keep the kids and parents fitter reduce all the thunder thighs and pot bellied 10 year olds.
The down side would be a dramatic down turn in govenment revenue.
There where bugger all fat kids when i went to school...Ahh the memories of an uncomplicated world.

I have a forester (is a soft roader not an suv) too and they are just a higher wagon(unless you lower it and then it becomes a normal wagon).
I think the SUV's discussed here are the people that have bmw x5, mitsu challengers, toyota prado's/landcruisers for drivng in the city. IT IS NOT WARRANTED!!!!
Most car parks wont even fit them in city car parks(its funny to watch them try and 20 point turn into them) and the worst offenders now are the hummer loving tools that drive round st kilda being cool with dark tint and bap rap music.
They should be banned to 20km or more from the city centers, and smaller cars given parking concessions in these zones.
If people can afford to drive them, and pay their guzzling running costs they can afford to pay a tax on them too (a highly inflated one at that) to have the privlidge to drive them and disservicng the rest of us road users(and cyclists)

is my x trail a higher wagon ?

no its a ladys car.... they dont make them for men- it too is a soft roader cause it comes in fwd only as well as awd.

mmm yeah i think hummers (H2s and H3s) pretty much sum up the arguement for useless pieces of crap that wankers drive to try to be cool. but i think they are a whole different sort of people to the normal X3, X5, ML and so on driver

i love my 1990 4 runner but its preety much just a 80's 4x4 celica wagon jacked up. alot of 4x4 theese days are just wagons jacked up and they are full of plastic much safer than most dattos. ive been bush bashing places no dattto/2wd would dare enter and im more of a menace driving my datto then my 4x4. so i dont see why 4x4's are dangerous. and by the way its a 22r motor 2.4L 4 cyl on gas so it hardly pumps out emissions i dont see why they should ban me from anywhere a normal car can go

i had a Forester long time ago and it was really economical, and i did take it offroad, but the facts are out there about the big 4x4's I sw something on SBS ages ago about the facts.

they take abou 10M longer to pull up from 80 kmh and with about an extra ton not pulling up and hitting whatever it hits up high above the intrusion bars of cars. A real menace. They can not recover from a swerve at 110-120 kmh without probably rolling and the roof and pillars collapse on most except the euros like volvos.
What i hate is U cant see past them at intersections so have to wait til theyre gone, and i do see them speeding in school carparks. Apparently in the US now with their economy something like 3/4 of cars being traded in are F150's and other big ones like that.