Suvs

The cost of developing the infotainment system and other sophisticated electronics for the 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee left the refreshing of the iconic brand's flagship SUV over budget. So much so that it will delay the design of several other new Chrysler Corp. models. But that's OK given the considerable profitability and consequent importance of the Grand Cherokee, which is the retail sales leader among full-size SUVs with 154,734 sold in 2012. "There's so much money in these vehicles, and they are running three shifts at Jefferson North," the Detroit assembly plant where Grand Cherokees are built, said Joe Phillippi, an industry analyst who runs the AutoTrends consulting firm.

Thanks to a University of Texas professor, America now has proof of what every driver of a lowly sedan has sensed: sport-utility vehicles, pickup trucks and minivans are clogging up traffic. It's simple math - a larger vehicle that accelerates more slowly takes longer to get through an intersection than a smaller, more nimble car. So reports Kara Kockelman, an assistant professor of civil engineering. She adds that drivers of cars tend to hang back behind those "light trucks" because we can't see around them.

You wouldn't take a sports car off-roading - or expect it to plow through a snowstorm. Low ground clearance and high-performance tires with stiff sidewalls are not the ticket for slogging through mud or negotiating unpaved, rock-strewn roads. It's generally understood that these specialty vehicles are designed to corner and accelerate better than average cars on dry, paved roads - but the price you pay for this superior capability in the "sporty" department is offset by a built-in disadvantage when the pavement ends or the weather turns foul.

TO THOSE protesting my bumper sticker campaign against full-size SUVs: A midsized car engine produces 19.5 pounds of CO2 for each gallon of gasoline. A full-sized SUV produces twice that much. Since 1990, SUVs and light trucks have wasted an extra 70 billion gallons of gasoline. If my midsized car gets into an accident with your SUV, your children will probably survive and mine won't, yet SUVs have higher death rates than cars in single-vehicle crashes, not even counting the roll-over problem.

THE LOCAL papers have gloated over recent wins in several public debates that newspapers remain uniquely suited to lead. Let's examine two - the Chestnut Street reopening and the SUV wars - whose ultimate lessons are yet to come. Mayor Street has decided to re-open the block of Chestnut Street in front of Independence Hall, trumping his earlier decision to accommodate the (continuing) security concerns of the National Park Service. His decision illustrates that all politics is local; the mayor responded to vocal local interests over abstract global concerns.

IN THE SAFARI camps of Botswana, the first thing they tell you is to stay on the wooden walkways that wind their way through the jungle some five and six feet off the ground. As long as you do, they say, the lions and leopards with whom you share the leafy forest will leave you alone. It is a different story in Uganda, where it takes more than an elevated sidewalk to discourage the big cats. In fact, the country is home to a breed of carnivores known as "tree-climbing" lions for reasons that became evident as we motored out of Uganda's Kibale National Park.

Do we believe that a crash involving a sport-utility vehicle and a car would be devastating for the car? Definitely. Do we also lay the responsibility for fixing the inequity square in the laps of the Big Three domestic automakers in Detroit? You got it. Those are the results of a new national poll released recently by the Independent Insurance Agents of America which, along with other special interest groups, have been leaning on automakers to make safety design changes to their SUVs.

KUDOS TO Don Russell and the investigative staff at the Daily News on their important revelation of Philadelphia's oversized and wasteful SUV and Hummer fleet. When a private citizen elects to purchase one of these unnecessary, dangerous and environmentally harmful vehicles, it is that person's choice. When taxpayer dollars are used, it's an act of fraud, waste and abuse. And the leadership of the Philadelphia Gas Works should be fired for their low number of SUVs. This agency is threatening to tarnish city government's image as a corrupt body unconcerned with taxpayer and citizen needs.

When the driver sitting 'way up there in that sport utility vehicle isn't riding your bumper in traffic, or crowding your space in the parking lot, he's taking forever to fill up at the pump. And now you say he's getting a break on auto insurance? Arrrgh. Jimmy Carter got it right. . . . Or so it would seem from the latest move by the nation's largest auto insurer. Illinois-based State Farm Insurance Co. will offer slightly lower rates for cars and trucks with the best safety records - including some of those bruiser SUVs.

DETROIT - The largest recall in Toyota's 75-year history is threatening to undermine the carmaker's comeback from natural disasters and embarrassing safety problems. The company on Wednesday recalled 7.43 million cars, trucks, and SUVs worldwide to fix faulty power window switches that can cause fires. The recall affects more than a dozen models produced from 2005 through 2010 around the world including the Camry, the top-selling car in the United States. It's bigger than the seven million vehicles recalled two years ago for floor mats that can trap accelerator pedals and cause unintended acceleration.

DETROIT - Only two of 13 small SUVs performed well in front-end crash tests done by an insurance industry group, with several popular models faring poorly. Subaru's 2014 Forester was the only vehicle to get the top "good" rating in the results released Thursday. The 2013 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport was rated "acceptable. " But fast-selling models such as the Ford Escape, Honda CR-V, and Jeep Wrangler received only "marginal" or "poor" ratings from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

CARLSBAD, N.M. - As the driver of an overturned SUV lay dead beneath his vehicle, someone stole the rims, tires and battery, Carlsbad police said Friday. The accident on a little-used, dirt road happened either Tuesday night or Wednesday morning, killing Steven Roy Reese, 26, Carlsbad police said. He apparently lost control of his 1996 Ford Explorer and it flipped over, tossing out Reese and pinning him under the SUV, police said.

CARLSBAD, N.M. - Hours after a fatal crash, police in New Mexico say they arrived at the scene to find the wrecked SUV's rims, tires and battery had been stolen as the victim remained pinned underneath the vehicle. The accident on a little-used dirt road happened either Tuesday night or Wednesday morning, killing 26-year-old Steven Roy Reese, Carlsbad police said. The victim apparently lost control of his 1996 Ford Explorer, and the Carlsbad Current-Argus reports the medical investigator determined Reese was dead for at least eight hours before police found him. The act of removing the items was both illegal and extremely insensitive, said Carlsbad Police Lt. Jennifer Moyers, and the person who stole the vehicle parts could face criminal charges.

The 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT that will debut in showrooms in mid-April is a full-size SUV that weighs 21/2 tons and is capable of towing 31/2 tons. The idea that such a big beast of burden could acquire Corvette-like qualities might strike you as fodder for an automotive tale from the Brothers Grimm. You know, off-road frog turns into the prince of speed. But, in fact, the fun-loving mad scientists at Jeep have wrought something as Viperish as it is SUVish. "It feels and drives like a sports car, but it happens to be an SUV," says a smiling Dave Cottrell, the SRT's chief engineer.

WARREN, OHIO - Investigators on Monday tried to piece together what eight teenagers crammed into a stolen SUV were up to before the vehicle flipped over into a pond, killing six of them. Authorities gave few details on where the group of friends had been and why they were out around daybreak Sunday, speeding down a two-lane road. On Monday, the SUV's owner met with police and filed a stolen-car report. Although the father of one of the dead said the teenagers were coming home from a sleepover, the mother of another boy killed said that her son and his best friend had lied about staying over at each other's homes.

The cost of developing the infotainment system and other sophisticated electronics for the 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee left the refreshing of the iconic brand's flagship SUV over budget. So much so that it will delay the design of several other new Chrysler Corp. models. But that's OK given the considerable profitability and consequent importance of the Grand Cherokee, which is the retail sales leader among full-size SUVs with 154,734 sold in 2012. "There's so much money in these vehicles, and they are running three shifts at Jefferson North," the Detroit assembly plant where Grand Cherokees are built, said Joe Phillippi, an industry analyst who runs the AutoTrends consulting firm.

LAS VEGAS - Bullets were flying from a black Range Rover at a gray Maserati as the vehicles raced toward a red light on the Las Vegas Strip. Beneath the neon lights, police say, the Maserati ran a red light at one of the Strip's busiest intersections and smashed into a taxi that exploded into flames early Thursday, killing the two people inside. Three more cars and a utility truck collided at the crossroads home to Bellagio, Caesars Palace, and Bally's, leaving at least six more people injured as the Range Rover sped off in the predawn darkness.

Subaru really is the automotive poster child for that old saying, "necessity is the mother of invention. " When America fell in love with SUVs back in the '90s, Subaru found itself without the wherewithal to develop one. So, it took its all-wheel-drive Legacy wagon, jacked it up a bit, tacked on some macho-styling cues, and presto: The pioneering Outback crossover SUV was born. Because crossovers are based on car platforms instead of truck chassis, as the original SUVs were, they offer more car-like ride and handling.

The completely redesigned 2013 Range Rover is, predictably enough, the best one ever. As such, it retains its off-road primacy among luxury SUVs. When it comes to slogging through mud and sand, fording streams and tap dancing up rocky inclines, the Range Rover is the upmarket king of the hill. I know, I know. Who's going to go mudding and fording and bouncing off rocks in vehicles with base prices between $83,545 and $130,995? But thanks to the off-road driving programs afforded Range Rover customers, the number of owners taking their vehicles on mud-and-crud expeditions is doubtlessly higher than the luxury SUV general population.

A former pub waitress testified Tuesday that a Delaware County assistant district attorney ran two bar tabs totaling $120 the night he allegedly struck a teen with an SUV. Michael Donohue, 32, is charged with aggravated assault, an accident involving personal injury and other related crimes. Prosecutors say he allegedly hit the teen the night of Nov. 4, 2011, then left the scene with the boy seriously injured in the road. In addition to the waitress's testimony, eight members of the district attorney's office, a state trooper and a County Park Police officer also took the stand to testify in the case.