SUV?

Yes.

Never quite understood why vans with windows seem to be so much in fashion. At one time, buying a van and putting windows in it was a cheap way of getting a decent load carrier, if you were short of money. But that doesn't apply to SUVs.

Umm, you seem to be confusing SUVs (4x4s) with MPVs (people carriers) - it's the latter that could be called "vans with windows".

And why are they always driven by people who think they are three times the actual width, especially on country roads/lanes? It seems the only way to drive them is to straddle the white line in the middle of the road (white van man doesn't seem to have this problem).

The two seem to have fused into one these days.

A new Discovery looks just like an old van in shape.

And yet those who buy them - often for their wives - say they are so much easier to drive due to the commanding driving position.

There seem to be two linages that have merged over the years. First the original Range Rover: a recognition that even farmers etc might want and need to drive a distance on well made roads sometimes. Over the years this has got more and more luxurious thereby creating a need for something less fancy to fill the gap. The other thread (and the term SUV) come from the US: persuading people to buy light trucks rather than cars meant manufacturers could meet requirement for lower average car fuel consumption as that average did not include light trucks.

I think the final step was the state of the roads, now you need something to cope with ruts, potholes, and 'traffic calming' on todays 'well made roads.

Sporty Son-in-law found he liked his wife's Qashkai so much he traded in his Beemer for a Masda SUV. I think it is fashion. The height also makes it easier to get kids in and out, and psychologically they look as though they are providing more protection.

And there is a regrettable but undeniably real feeling of superiority which you get when looking slightly down on people from a 4x4 and, even more, from a horse.

But

Do they go round bends?

Do they go smoothly over traffic calming devices or pogo like a stuck pig?

They leap about all over the place if they see a crisp packet in the hedge. Or a recycling box. Or another horse. The one thing they're often good with is cars, peversely.

Oh, you were talking about 4x4s... ;-)

ObSense: With the state the roads are in, bouncing around on speed humps in a Disco seems a lot less awful than crashing through potholes and sunken drains in my BM!

That's why they've got steering wheels

Did you remove the shock absorbers as well as the steering wheel?

Whoosh!

ROFL!

To me, a Utility Vehicle is a pickup truck, and a SUV is a pickup truck with a large petrol engine, rarely seen in Europe. HTH, YMMV, HAND.

Well there is one DC exit I take every morning. Having taken the exit I look in my mirror and at least once a week there is a stupid van with windows that is failing to go round the corner but has crossed the white line into the path of oncoming traffic.

No. My daily drive to work passes over a number of road cushions. One is next to a bus stop, it seems my low slung coupé is the only vehicle that isn't a bus as everyone else detours though the bus stop. Nearer home there are more, lots of vans with windows (Disco's, RAV4, RR) slow to around 20mph, while I can take them smoothly at 30mph (except the 2 nearest home).

OK thanks for many replies. Seems that SUV copes betters over potholes and rough surfaces than e.g. a sporty saloon car, but not always the case.

Many years ago I was passenger on an original small jeep, and it was a spine crashing experience. Seems that modern SUV exploit the ride hight for more suspension movement. Never mind 4WD. This is quite a different animal than the original idea.

But I despair when I see an Audi Q5 which looks very frumpy and not as sleek as an Audi Q3. Similarly, the Porsche Macan looks more sleek and acceptable than the Porshe Cayenne.

They are vertically-bloated station wagons. And most are FWD. The only RWD SUV I know are the poverty packs of Gran Vitara, Ford Territory, BMW X5.