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The times today decided to enter the debate and write a whole page about why someone has got a bee in their bonnet over 4x4's.It was quite a refreshing change.It also high light the fact that jeep have introduced anew 4x4 that has two 5.7 litre engines giving out 670 hp 
here it is if you want to read it.
Praise for the maligned 4 x 4
By Kevin Eason of The Times
Big and beautiful: Jeep unveiles two new 4x4s at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit this week, including the Gladiator, above (JERRY MENDOZA)IT IS a bit difficult to visualise but, in a week when Jesus has been dragged into the limelight thanks to a musical with more swearing than you could hear during lunchtime in a truck drivers’ café, why shouldn’t the Good Lord turn up in a car showroom? According to the Evangelical Environmental Network, an enthusiastic Christian organisation in Philadelphia, “Jesus cares about what we drive”.
Which, I think, is nothing to do with the issue of whether he would have swapped his ass for a Jaguar for his drive into Jerusalem, but a ploy to embarrass some of us. Well, you actually. Yes, you, with that enormous 4 x 4, who was parked outside the school gates this morning with cars queued up and down the street, drivers tapping their steering wheels in exasperation as you unloaded Hermione and Julian after their exhausting 500-yard drive from home. You are the one they are after. And Jesus, too, apparently.
In fact, everyone seems to hate the 4 x 4: Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, who wants a grand prix in the capital, thinks that only “idiots” drive 4 x 4s in town. Tree-hugging Liberal Democrats want to double the congestion charge on them because they are too big and guzzle petrol; authorities in Paris even want to ban 4 x 4s from the city’s streets (although no surprise that none of France’s carmakers markets a four-wheel-drive vehicle).
NI_MPU('middle');The carmakers in Detroit this week, where the bigwigs of the industry met for the annual North American International Auto Show, might have been keen to press their green credentials, but there is still a mountain to climb before hybrid electric vehicles take over from the traditional slab-sided petrol and diesel ones that have attracted Christian ire and led to the evangelicals dishing out bumper stickers with the motto “What Would Jesus Drive?” to prick consciences. There were a couple of hybrid models on show. So, what?
Jeep, the oldest name in the 4 x 4 business, turned up with the Gladiator and the Hurricane. Say no more, really, with those two monikers. The Gladiator is a positive shrinking violet, more pink tutu than chest armour, with a measly 2.8-litre turbo-diesel pumping out 163 horsepower to shift its two tonnes. The big hitter is the Hurricane, a concept that will have the environmentalists reaching for their recycled notepaper even as I write. Close your eyes now if you don’t want to know the worst: not one 5.7-litre engine, but two — one in front and one in the back — give “the most powerful 4 x 4 ever built” its 670hp (like strapping together nine Ford Fiestas).
I hear the cry “disgrace” rising from the living rooms of North London and the pews of North America. But why take it out on 4 x 4s? Are they bigger than a London taxi or a people carrier? I thank Mr B. W. Crooks, my faithful reader from Berkshire — where I am sure they have their fair share of 4 x 4s — for his studious intervention. He has been out with the calculator to dispel the myth that 4 x 4s take up more than their fair share of road. He has calculated the “footprint” of 31 vehicles — their area of space — and discovered that SUVs are far from being the road hogs: only one, the Range Rover, with a footprint of 1,084sq cm, appears in his top ten, which is headed by Bentley’s Continental GT at 1,235sq cm. His list has the Ford Galaxy (994), new Citroën C5 (998), Mercedes S-Class (1,075), BMW 7 Series (1,102), Rolls-Royce Phantom (1,160) and Mercedes Viano MPV (1,170) way ahead of just about any 4 x 4 you could name. He points out mischievously that two of the vehicles in the top ten, the Chrysler Grand Voyager (1,127) and Jaguar XJ (1,072), are regularly used by a certain Mr Blair. Now, I am not as clever as our reader (O-level maths, failed, twice), but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out that there are plenty of gas-guzzling cars around, the second accusation levelled at 4 x 4s. You might be lucky to get 30 miles to the gallon from most petrol-powered 4 x 4s, but diesel versions return some respectable “mpg” figures, just as some petrol cars will cause the odd shock at the pumps. In other words, the debate is spurious nonsense fuelled by zealots who have fastened on to an easy target. After all, if Jesus did have to choose a car, it is not just fuel economy and pollution He would have to worry about; there would be the disciples to cram in the back. And then there is all that clambering up to rocky mounts to give sermons. A Ford Fiesta just wouldn’t cut it. He might have to buy a Grand Voyager. Or even, gulp, a 4 x 4.
here it is if you want to read it.Praise for the maligned 4 x 4
By Kevin Eason of The Times
Big and beautiful: Jeep unveiles two new 4x4s at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit this week, including the Gladiator, above (JERRY MENDOZA)IT IS a bit difficult to visualise but, in a week when Jesus has been dragged into the limelight thanks to a musical with more swearing than you could hear during lunchtime in a truck drivers’ café, why shouldn’t the Good Lord turn up in a car showroom? According to the Evangelical Environmental Network, an enthusiastic Christian organisation in Philadelphia, “Jesus cares about what we drive”. Which, I think, is nothing to do with the issue of whether he would have swapped his ass for a Jaguar for his drive into Jerusalem, but a ploy to embarrass some of us. Well, you actually. Yes, you, with that enormous 4 x 4, who was parked outside the school gates this morning with cars queued up and down the street, drivers tapping their steering wheels in exasperation as you unloaded Hermione and Julian after their exhausting 500-yard drive from home. You are the one they are after. And Jesus, too, apparently.
In fact, everyone seems to hate the 4 x 4: Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, who wants a grand prix in the capital, thinks that only “idiots” drive 4 x 4s in town. Tree-hugging Liberal Democrats want to double the congestion charge on them because they are too big and guzzle petrol; authorities in Paris even want to ban 4 x 4s from the city’s streets (although no surprise that none of France’s carmakers markets a four-wheel-drive vehicle).
NI_MPU('middle');The carmakers in Detroit this week, where the bigwigs of the industry met for the annual North American International Auto Show, might have been keen to press their green credentials, but there is still a mountain to climb before hybrid electric vehicles take over from the traditional slab-sided petrol and diesel ones that have attracted Christian ire and led to the evangelicals dishing out bumper stickers with the motto “What Would Jesus Drive?” to prick consciences. There were a couple of hybrid models on show. So, what?
Jeep, the oldest name in the 4 x 4 business, turned up with the Gladiator and the Hurricane. Say no more, really, with those two monikers. The Gladiator is a positive shrinking violet, more pink tutu than chest armour, with a measly 2.8-litre turbo-diesel pumping out 163 horsepower to shift its two tonnes. The big hitter is the Hurricane, a concept that will have the environmentalists reaching for their recycled notepaper even as I write. Close your eyes now if you don’t want to know the worst: not one 5.7-litre engine, but two — one in front and one in the back — give “the most powerful 4 x 4 ever built” its 670hp (like strapping together nine Ford Fiestas).
I hear the cry “disgrace” rising from the living rooms of North London and the pews of North America. But why take it out on 4 x 4s? Are they bigger than a London taxi or a people carrier? I thank Mr B. W. Crooks, my faithful reader from Berkshire — where I am sure they have their fair share of 4 x 4s — for his studious intervention. He has been out with the calculator to dispel the myth that 4 x 4s take up more than their fair share of road. He has calculated the “footprint” of 31 vehicles — their area of space — and discovered that SUVs are far from being the road hogs: only one, the Range Rover, with a footprint of 1,084sq cm, appears in his top ten, which is headed by Bentley’s Continental GT at 1,235sq cm. His list has the Ford Galaxy (994), new Citroën C5 (998), Mercedes S-Class (1,075), BMW 7 Series (1,102), Rolls-Royce Phantom (1,160) and Mercedes Viano MPV (1,170) way ahead of just about any 4 x 4 you could name. He points out mischievously that two of the vehicles in the top ten, the Chrysler Grand Voyager (1,127) and Jaguar XJ (1,072), are regularly used by a certain Mr Blair. Now, I am not as clever as our reader (O-level maths, failed, twice), but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out that there are plenty of gas-guzzling cars around, the second accusation levelled at 4 x 4s. You might be lucky to get 30 miles to the gallon from most petrol-powered 4 x 4s, but diesel versions return some respectable “mpg” figures, just as some petrol cars will cause the odd shock at the pumps. In other words, the debate is spurious nonsense fuelled by zealots who have fastened on to an easy target. After all, if Jesus did have to choose a car, it is not just fuel economy and pollution He would have to worry about; there would be the disciples to cram in the back. And then there is all that clambering up to rocky mounts to give sermons. A Ford Fiesta just wouldn’t cut it. He might have to buy a Grand Voyager. Or even, gulp, a 4 x 4.
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A positive attitude wont solve all your problems but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort! 
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