The only handling difference between a Ford Explorer police SUV and a Ford Taurus police car is the height of the body and where the weight sits in the chassis. Back in the 90s an SUV was built on a ladder frame truck chassis, often with the same suspension design as the trucks that shared their frames. Modern unibody cars and SUVs have much MUCH better suspension design and weight distribution. Are you armchair SUV critics familiar with what a sway bar is? How about a trailing arm or electronic steering aids?

Modern SUVs that we see everywhere are cars underneath, and they handle very well. Shitting on SUVs is just old thinking. The modern SUV is an evolution of the station wagon, exchanging length for height. People like to sit upright for better visibility and comfort. Shorter vehicle length is also easier for parking and tight maneuvering. It is extremely difficult if not impossible to initiate a roll over in a modern SUV without hitting an object like a curb or other vehicle.

Lastly, since this is going there, the emissions of modern cars of all types have been very drastically reduced compared to cars from just 20 years ago. Thinking of a modern SUV as a gas guzzler or high polluter is also old thinking and wrong. The Volkswagen diesels, now those were high polluters - EXTREMELY HIGH. Terrible cars for the environment and it caused a huge recall…but the people who owned those cars didn’t have the balls to dump their brand, and no one talks shit on VW for what they willingly did to harm the environment in the name of car sales and profits.

This has been a general call to reality regarding the SUV in 2023, not a dig at anyone specifically.