Chelsea Tractors....

[Philip King]

I have a 4*4 and a normal car, I feel I am a far safer driver in the Jeep as I drive it more conservatively than the Volvo. I live in the middle of nowhere and the Jeep gives my girlfriend and I the reassurance of knowing we can get out when things get wet or snowy.

BTW in snow lighter 4*4's a far better, the Subaru Legacy type of car off roader is way better than the classic Jeep, (when it comes to stopping). Next up I'll be getting a Subaru

On the environmental side of things, yes it burns more fuel but its 8 years old and has almost 200,000Km on the clock but the environmental impact of buying a new car and all the sourcing of material, paint etc must be far greater than keeping this things on the go. Maybe, I don't know..

 

[Matt F]

I personally dont like like 4x4's (unless an evo etc) but will defend others rights to have them. Motorists should stand together rather than being divided to fall, if 4x4's get it in the neck for being un necesary then it will be sports cars on speed grounds, then petrol cars and then before we know where we are we will all be in sensible 1.5 deisal corsas, which there is nothing wrong with if thats your choice.

Nail on the head there mate and, in fact, I think fast/sports cars will be the first to go.

Once the satellite tracking is in place for road charging, there's no reason for them not to monitor people's speed AT ALL TIMES and then where's the market for your Porsches, TVRs, M3s, Imprezas and EVOs?

It's dead - that's what it is - if you effectively have a virtual policeman sat in your passenger seat forcing you to stick to the speed limit at all times then there is no point in having a fast car.

And then, because there is no penalty for fuel consumption with the new road pricing, there's nothing to stop people buying and driving huge engined 4x4s i.e. if you can't do fast, you do huge and powerful.

So, what do we end up with? Scrap yards full of worthless fast cars (no market for RHD nearby), fast car dealerships going out of business, every other bugger driving around in V8 monsters and a truly f*cked up environment due to all the emissions.

Let me just add that I drove along the M4 on Saturday for the first time since the permanent speed cameras were installed and I've never seen so much bunching and undertaking in my life.

Just seeing those permanent speed camera signs really annoyed me - I mean we've got some serious education problems with whatever percentage of primary school kids not being able to read and write properly but we've got the safest roads in Europe (and our motorways are our safest roads) and which matter do our esteamed leaders choose to address.... yep, the one that isn't broken! :inferno:

Matt.

 

[rsand]

The big brother black box won't happen, it will have too bigger an effect on the ecconomy, I along with every other enthusiast will ditch the fast car, so they will lose the vat and fuel duty. If it does I wont live here, I stick to 30, 40, 50 and motorway speeds religeously but nat speed should be open season IMO.

People with an advanced qualification should be allowed to drive faster too, as they are safer drivers.

 

[domfjbrown]

Strangely and somewhat surprisingly it is only a couple of mm longer and a couple of mm wider than the Audi A4 cabriolet that it is replacing! And the Honda is a biggest of the so called soft-roaders.

Matt - well, in THAT case, that's "fair play" then - you pass! He he!

Thank fcuk it's not a Land Cruiser size (wallowing lethiathan?)