Quote:
carlos fromspain said:
As to space, you would be surprised how spacy station wagons can be, and about changing diapers inside the car/SUV, thats is not going to make me buy the vehicle I don't want just because its a bit more difficult to change a diaper
I had a E500 T loaner, we hated it. I drive a SUV because I need the extra room, I need the safety of the heavy body (there is no real study with modern SUVs, most negative studies were done with older models, mostly from the US) and the fact that the passengers are sitting higher, I love how SUVs can be driven in rain and when it is snowing and of course I love some power too.

My wife can stretch out her legs completely and our girl in the rear has still plenty of room left. Try this with the E 500 T.
Not to speak about the head room and the height(!) of the luggage compartment.
If I need a sportscar, I buy a real one.

Or would you drive in your station wagon to the track?

I don't know how many kids you have Carlos but with two kids, a station wagon is hell.

Oh, I also forgot to mention: we also need the SUV for some trips to Eastern Europe from time to time. Bad streets or stones and other stuff lying on the street is pretty common there. With a station wagon, I wouldn't "survive" too long.
And even on our last trip to Italy, the SUV came in handy. Despite the fact that we were able to pass a horrible accident scene as the ONLY car because I was able to raise the suspension and drive over a "concrete traffic island" in the middle of the intersection, we had heavy rain in Austria when we returned back from Italy. At some point we had to drive under a bridge but the street was covered with water, apparently not very high because a truck passed through the water on the other lane and I saw how high the water was.
Anyway...with a car, no chance to go through, many cars turned around. I raised my Cayenne to full special off-road setting and drove slowly through the water. No problem at all.
Just a few examples of how a SUV can make your daily driving safer but apparently the anti-SUV hype in the US has come here to Europe too.

I have only one single complaint: fuel consumption.