[Big Dave]

At one time a SUV was a unique vehicle. Jeeps and old K-Blazers, etc. Now they are minivans with an extra drive axle. At diesel sites, I dog on SUVs as poseurs. My criterion is simple: A real off-road SUV has mud and scratches in the paint. No mud or scratches, you are a poseur.

I am a little puzzled that the venom for SUVs is not equally applied to minivans. Are you that afraid of Momma? Minivans get horrible MPG, too. They are operated (usually) in an method guaranteed to get poor MPG. They have the aerodynamics of a box of Wheaties. If any vehicle ever made that should be a hybrid it is the minivan with its stop-and-go mission.

Yup. Kinetic energy. It does you no good to have only a small amount of KE if you do not have the traction to deal with it. I don’t know whether the Toyota had poor tires or poor ABS or what but it was a two-dimensionally ballistic object on that surface. Because of my narrow tires (inflated to 90 psi BTW) my truck did as good jeepers in Colorado counseled was effectively riding on “pizza cutters” that reached down and found some traction. Even though my KE was much higher than theirs, I could manage mine and they could not manage theirs.

Yup. The conditions were exotic. Maybe three days a year even here on the frozen steppes. But then me getting that close to idiots is a fairly exotic occurrence, too.

As we watch some of the guys wrestling with aerodynamics of short, brick-like cars a pickup does have one thing going for it: Length. That long bed gives you some space to taper the wake down with building yourself a very long tail. Yes, I need it because of the height of the cab.

As AndrewJ noted, a relatively small improvement in pickup MPG could have an enormous effect on national fuel consumption. I think I can coax 30 MPG out of this beast (in summer). While there is no EPA number (for whatever credence you give that number) for pickups over 8600 GVW, the best a similar truck gets is about 17 MPG. That would give me a 75% improvement.

Yes, compromises will have to be made. That is always the case when you seek performance. But compromises have their attraction. If I can get 30 MPG, haul my 4x8s and 2x6s and not expect to be mashed like a bug by an idiot in a lifted F-150, that is an acceptable compromise.

The guy who drives the powered street luge can throw rocks.