The spacious interior of your SUV is one of the many features that you can be proud of when someone takes a ride with you. But what if that ample space is full of disorganized stuff like empty soda cans, food wrappers, junks, and other personal things that you often carry with you while you travel? For sure, it will be so embarrassing to let someone see that mess inside your SUV. So, what to do? Better organize your SUV following these three easy steps.

1. Sort your stuff and clean up. As much as possible, take everything out of your SUV, including the ones stored in your door pockets and glovebox. While doing so, you may find all sorts of trash which need to be disposed like candy wrappers, torn papers, and empty soda cans. After removing them, start cleaning up and sort the things which you often use and those which are not. Make sure to put the former handy, so it won’t be difficult for you to find them when you needed them the most.

2. Analyze by asking yourself, “What is the main purpose of my SUV?” Is it for driving your kids to and fro the school? Are you a salesperson who often carry with you stuff and samples to show to your clients? Is it mostly for long distance driving or only for shorter trips? Now, when you answer this question, you have to think what are the things that you need the most when you are inside your SUV. Pens? Papers? Tissues? Then, organize your SUV according to your priorities.

3. Contain your things. That’s right! It’s very important that you have a car organizer where you can put all your personal and non-personal stuff that you often bring with you when driving. Imagine putting them everywhere, on top of the dashboard, on the seats, and on the floor. When you suddenly step on your brakes, chances are they’ll go rolling everywhere too. So, avoid this scenario by equipping your SUV with a car organizer.

Sort and clean, analyze, and contain. These are the three very easy steps to organize your SUV. Come on and see what these can do to make your SUV’s ample space really something to admire.

Image Source: organizedlifestyle.com

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With the family growing, perhaps you’re considering selling that Mercedes-Benz or Honda car you have and replace it with a bigger vehicle like an SUV. Although some say that SUVs are gas-guzzling, having one for a larger family is still practical since it can accommodate everyone comfortably. Plus, if you plan to bring gears and cargo along, there’s nothing to worry about the space for SUVs are known to provide spacious seating capacity.

But you might ask, “What is the best SUV for me?” The answer actually lies on your own preferences and it depends mainly on your needs. And since there are lots of options available, you might get confused as to which one will really provide you the best features possible. Consider looking at these popular SUV options for your growing family:

1. Dodge Nitro

2. Dodge Journey

3. Ford Edge

4. Ford Escape

5. Honda CR-V

6. Hyundai Tucson

7. Hyundai Santa Fe

8. Jeep Compass

9. Jeep Patriot

10. Jeep Liberty

11. Jeep Wrangler

12. Kia Rondo

13. Kia Sorrento

14. Land Rover LR2

15. Mazda Tribute

16. Mercedes-Benz GLK 350

17. Mitsubishi Outlander

18. Nissan Rogue

19. Saturn Vue

20. Subaru Forester

21. Suzuki Grand Vitara

22. Toyota Rav-4

23. Volkswagen Touareg

24. Volvo XC60

The list could actually go on and on. But since this is your first buy, you should choose only from the popular options available. At least with this list, you can start from here.

Out of the twelve small SUVs evaluated in the new roof-strength test conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, only four of these got “good” safety test ratings. These include the Volkswagen Tiguan, followed by the Subaru Forester (in descending order), the Honda element, and the Jeep Patriot. While the rest were given acceptable, marginal, and poor ratings.

If you happen to own any of these four SUVs, you’ll feel more secured about its strong roofs. However, some safety researchers debated whether a stronger roof really means a safer SUV. That is why IIHS made sure that the standards set on this test are far more demanding than the minimum standard set by the federal government.

Here are the SUVs that receive only acceptable ratings: Suzuki Grand Vitara, Chevrolet Equinox, Pontiac Torrent, Toyota Rav4, Nissan Rogue, and Mitsubishi Outlander. And those which got really poor ratings were Kia Sportage and Hyundai Tucson.

]]> http://www.fourby4.com/?feed=rss2&p=199 http://www.fourby4.com/?p=196 http://www.fourby4.com/?p=196#comments Thu, 12 Mar 2009 07:24:59 +0000 admin http://www.fourby4.com/?p=196

Choosing between petrol SUV and a diesel SUV? Well, here are four issues that you better look into: 1. Performance, 2. Economy, 3. Refinement, and 4. Emissions.

Performance

First, you have to ask: What are you more after, relaxed driving or outright performance? Because as far as game of power output is concerned, diesel SUV no longer loses out to petrol one. But since petrol SUV has the potential to develop a greater power output, of course it’s expected to have really high performance motor. Diesel, on the other hand, produces much greater levels of torque in the rev range, so this makes for a more relaxed driving.

Economy

When it comes to economy, there is no doubt diesel is the better choice. However, you have to take note that the economy advantage will still depend on one’s driving style. So, try driving it gently.

Refinement

If diesel has the economy advantage, petrol, on the other hand, has the refinement advantage. Why? Because petrol SUV is generally quieter than diesel SUV. Try to compare cruising on both types of vehicle and you’ll notice that when you drive the petrol SUV, you won’t hear much engine noise.

Emissions

With respect to exhaust emissions, a lot of people may think that the diesel SUV produce more particulate and gaseous emissions since grey or black smoke is seen emerged from the exhaust pipe. But little do they know that petrol-engined SUV emits more carbon dioxide than diesel. So, if diesel emits higher NOx emissions, that will make no difference to petrol.

After considering all these issues, now you can decide whether to go for petrol or diesel SUV.

Having a hard time deciding which one to buy for the family - SUV or minivan? Well, it doesn’t have to be if you just know exactly what you want from your vehicle. Consider these: capacity, safety, fuel economy, look/style, price, and versatility.

Let’s begin with capacity. Basically, when you think about accommodating your family during road trips or family vacations, the first thing that will come to your mind is to get either an SUV or minivan, right? And you are actually thinking the right thing because when it comes to capacity, both types of vehicle are reliable. SUVs and minivans can fit the family in, allow storage, and even have room for pets and other cargos.

But how about safety? As far as safety is concerned, an SUV has a higher risk of turning over than minivan. If you read on the news, almost everyday there’s an SUV-related accident. Although it is equipped with airbags and other safety features, you must look into it thoroughly before deciding to purchase.

In terms of fuel economy, well you can always look into the different models which are created as hybrid. SUVs are known to be gas-guzzlers so you better choose the hybrid one to help you reduce money spent on fueling it up.

As for the look and style, both are attractive and sleek; so it just depends now on your taste. For decades, a lot of moms have been seen driving their minivans, especially those driving their children to and fro the school; SUV offers the same capability, it’s just that moms look more hip, cool, and modern with the SUV’s sleek lines.

Considering the price, SUVs often come at a higher price than the traditional minivan. But if you’ll consider SUV deals like no downpayments and 0% financing, you can always have the SUV of your choice without ripping your wallet.

And as for reliability, first you have to think about where you’ll often drive your vehicle. If you are the outdoor type and you love camping or trekking, then an SUV is a better choice. SUVs are higher off the ground and come equipped with 4-wheel drive system which can help accommodate really rugged terrains. But if you think you’re not up to such outdoor activities, then you can always settle on a minivan.

So there. Now, it’s up to you to decide which one to get - SUV or minivan? Simply choose the vehicle based on your requirements and the choice will sure be easy.

Remember this famous line from Obama’s speech during his campaign in Oregon about 8 months ago? I’m sure you do since after this controversial speech, he got a lot of criticism especially from those who have SUVs. I just wonder if he’d say the same now that gas prices have fallen down.

If you will recall, a couple of months back, gas prices were soaring high. With this, some SUV owners were left with no choice but to keep their vehicles in the garage so as to save bucks. A few greatly considered selling their big ride and decided to buy a smaller car, while others chose to keep their SUVs because they need larger vehicles to fit the whole family in, to haul supplies from the store to their home, to move items, and to carry their equipment for work or for leisure.

The high gasoline prices really created a big impact to owners of these gas-guzzling SUVs. And so when Obama said, “We can’t drive our SUVs…”, a lot of SUV owners resented him for saying so, most especially when they saw him riding in an SUV, right after giving a speech about the dangers of SUV gas consumption.

So, now that he is already the President of the United States, and with the gas prices down, do you think he’ll say the same thing?

Image courtesy of: sayanythingblog.com

On sale now at £15,995, this model has a lot of exciting features to offer such as electrically-adjustable mirrors, steering wheel-mounted controls, electric windows, air conditioning, and a glass flip tailgate. It also comes with side steps, privacy glass, chrome tailpipe, and 20-inch alloys.

According to Chevrolet, the Captiva Ikon is ideal for families looking for replacement for their hatchback or for those who are looking for larger SUVs but want to cut on costs.

However, the company stated, “To catch your dream Ikon, you need to hurry - it won’t be around forever.”

The Honda CRV still rules the SUV scene. With 219,160 vehicles sold in the past year, this gorgeous Honda model is considered the most popular SUV on the road. And why would it not be on the top? With really great features like the 4-wheel drive and EPA fuel economy estimates of 27 mpg (miles per gallon) on highways and 20 mpg on local roads, this CRV sure caught the fancy of many SUV shoppers.

Coming in second is the Toyota Rav4 with 172,752 vehicles sold.

Wow, isn’t it exciting to install a new set of these custom SUV wheels? But before you get too excited there, first you must consider some important things. These include the budget, the type of metal you want for your wheels, the style, and of course where to best buy them.

Let’s start with the budget. Take note that custom wheels can be a bit pricey. So, the first thing that you need to do is to decide on a budget. Ask yourself, “How much can I afford for this project?” If you can afford as much, then your choices are endless, but if you can’t, you might as well set a price range so you can limit the choices available to you.

After you have set the price range, you can start considering the type of metal you want for your SUV wheels. Since they come in various metals like stainless steel, chrome, and aluminum, you must determine how much care and time you can afford to give to maintain them. Keep in mind that maintenance is the key to keep them in good shape.

Next, you need to choose the style of SUV wheels that you want. This is a very personal thing, so you must think about whether you want a classy look for your SUV or a tough and rugged look. Anyway, whatever you choose, the endpoint will always be a more distinct look for your ride.

Lastly, you need to know where to best buy the SUV wheels of your choice. For sure, you already know a few local auto parts dealers around. But, if you wish to expand your choices to find the best deals, then you might as well check various auto parts online dealers. There are lots of them, so please do check them out first.

Good luck on your project! May your new custom SUV wheels give your SUV a more exciting look all year round!