Mission Statement

The mission of the Alliance Against Urban 4x4s is to inform and unite groups of concerned citizens across the United Kingdom against the growing presence of 4x4 vehicles in urban areas.

The Alliance seeks to educate people about the environmental and social damage caused by the increasing numbers of urban 4x4s as well as promote sustainable forms of transport.

We will lobby for increases in congestion charges and road taxes for 4x4s and seek a ban on advertising in the mainstream media.

Our activities

All our campaiging activities are designed to be peaceful, creative, eye-catching and constructive. We want to engage urban car drivers in the debate and not demonise drivers of big 4x4s. Everyone wants to have a safer, cleaner environment, so we hope urban 4x4 drivers will realise that their car is the villain - not them - and we want to help them make better choices in future.

A small number of 4x4s are available that have safety features and carbon emissions that are less damaging than most, and we hope that these will be chosen by people who genuinely need a 4x4.

However, most big 4x4s are highly polluting and very dangerous to others on the road, and we will carry on campaigning until these cars are no longer marketed to or bought by people with no need to drive off-road, tow heavy loads, or other activities for which 4x4s are designed.

 

The cars we want out of our towns and cities

We would like to make it clear exactly what it is we are campaigning against.

We aren't concerned about four-wheel drive in itself, and we certainly aren't after the little Fiat Panda.

The 'big 4x4s' we talk about are four-wheel-drive, off-road vehicles with large engines, high ground-clearance and a tall, boxy shape (see graphic for the basic features).

This type of design, and the extra weight that goes with it, leads to a very poor vehicle for use by families and in city streets for a number of reasons.

Why this design is bad for fuel efficiency and pollution

For a given amount of internal space, an off-roader body means that the vehicle ends up much taller and larger than would be the case for a saloon, estate car or even people carrier. Combined with the extra transmission equipment and tougher suspension and chassis needed for four-wheel-drive off-roading, this produces a much heavier vehicle.

A heavier vehicle needs a bigger engine to achieve the same performance as a lighter car, which will in general produce more pollution per mile (including carbon dioxide, nitrous oxides, unburnt hydrocarbons and particulates).

Diesel models are popular among 4x4 owners because they are less thirsty. However, while diesel engines produce less carbon dioxide, they give out greater amounts of the other pollutants, which can make them even more harmful to the people around them.

Why this design is bad for safety

The extra weight of 4x4s automatically makes them more of a danger to other road users when they are involved in a collision. From basic mechanics we know the kinetic energy of a vehicle, which needs to be dissipated in a crash, is proportional to its mass.

However, the unique problem with the off-roader shape is that this extra weight is combined with additional height. Higher bumpers and mismatched crumple zones lead to extra dangers to pedestrians, cyclists, people in smaller cars and the occupants of the big 4x4s themselves. While cars like luxury saloons and MPVs are heavy too, they don't suffer from the appalling design faults of 4x4s in this respect.

The inertia, high centre of gravity and sluggish handling of many 4x4s may also make it harder to avoid a collision.

More specifically...

Here are a few examples of the kind of 4x4 models we want new regulations to address, and some other vehicles for comparison.

Petrol 4x4s

Model	Engine Size (cc)*	Urban mpg*	CO2 (g/km)*	NOX (g/km)*	Minimum kerb weight (kg)	Pedestrian safety (Euro-NCAP)
Range Rover	4398	12.2	389	0.052	2570	*
Landrover Discovery	4394	13.5	354	0.029	2461
Porsche Cayenne	4511	12.9	378	0.038	2225
Toyota Landcruiser	4664	13.1	387	0.09	1900
Isuzu Trooper	3494	13.2	355	0.06	1980
Mercedes ML500	4966	14.2	335	0.019	2210	*
VW Toareg	4172	13.9	355	0.026	2317	*
Audi Allroad Quattro	4172	14.1	331	0.038	1860
Mitsubishi Shogun	3497	14.2	339	0.109	1865
BMW X5	4799	15.1	324	0.063	2200	*
Mercedes ML320	3199	15.2	324	0.04	2185	*
Jeep Cherokee	3700	15.2	318	0.052	2056	*
Volvo XC90	2922	15.3	309	0.04	2139	**
Ford Maverick	2967	16.1	290	0.02
Landrover Freelander	2497	16.5	298	0.1	1650	*
Lexus RX300	2995	16.7	288	0.021	1835
Suzuki Grand Vitara	2493	19.8	262	0.001	1505	*
Mitsubishi Outlander	2378	20.5	240	0.026	1565
Subaru Forester	1994	21.1	230	0.02	1395
Nissan X-Trail	2488	22.2	231	0.025	1510	**
Honda CR-V	1998	23.2	220	0.03	1517	***

Diesel 4x4s

Model	Engine Size (cc)*	Urban mpg*	CO2 (g/km)*	HC + NOX (g/km)*	Partic- ulates*	Minimum kerb weight (kg)	Pedestrian safety (Euro-NCAP)
Range Rover	2926	19.6	299	0.732	0.069	2570	*
Landrover Discovery	2720	21.4	275	0.622	0.056	2461
Toyota Landcruiser	4164	20.0	292	0.62	0.078	1900
Isuzu Trooper	2999	21.1	275	0.64	0.075	1980
Mercedes ML270	2688	22.6	248	0.646	0.043	2185	*
VW Toareg	4921	16.5	332	0.56	0.07	2317	*
Audi Allroad Quattro	2496	20.9	262	0.408	0.035	1860
Mitsubishi Shogun	3200	21.2	278	0.064	0.062	1865
BMW X5	2993	23.5	250	0.639	0.055	2200	*
Mercedes ML400	3996	19.2	288	0.653	0.051	2210	*
Jeep Cherokee	2776	22.2	262	0.072	0.068	2056	*
Volvo XC90	2401	23.7	242	0.51	0.04	2139	**
Landrover Freelander	1951	31.0	205	0.451	0.043	1650	*
Suzuki Grand Vitara	1997	27.4	216	0.516	0.031	1505	*
Nissan Patrol	2953	20.0	287	0.64	0.08
Nissan Terrano	2953	22.1	262	0.718	0.046
Nissan X-Trail	2184	31.4	190	0.49	0.04	1510	**

Alternative vehicles for comparison

Model	Engine Size (cc)*	Urban mpg*	CO2 (g/km)*	NOX (g/km)*	Particulates*	Minimum kerb weight (kg)	Pedestrian safety (Euro-NCAP)
Ford Mondeo 2.0 Petrol Estate	1998	25.4	186	0.081	-	1431	**
Nissan Micra Petrol	1386	35.8	154	0.026	-	979	**
SMART 4 seater Petrol	1124	40.4	130	0.032	-	965
Vauxhall Vectra Diesel	1910	38.2	154	0.239	0.015	1441
VW Golf Diesel	1968	41.5	146	0.237	0.02	1451
Renault Scenic Diesel	1870	36.7	157	0.415	0.034		**
Jaguar X-type Estate Diesel	1998	36.7	154	0.399	0.022	1510

 

Taxi	Engine Size (cc)*	Urban mpg*	CO2 (g/km)*	HC + NOX (g/km)*	Particulates*
London Taxi LTI TXII	2402	29.0	206	0.476	0.055

 

Bus	Engine size (cc)	Urban mpg	CO2 (g/km)	HC + NOX (g/km)	Particulates
London Bus Volvo B7TL	7300	5.4	1406	12.16	0.024

NB: On average a bus carries the same number of people as 30 cars in one-tenth of the road space. (Average car occupancy is 1.6 persons)

*all from www.vcacarfueldata.org.uk