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Kraigmo's avatar

Why do owners of new Jeeps (generally speaking) drive so slow and stupid? What is it about the Jeep owner demographic?

Asked by Kraigmo (9223points) March 15th, 2020

I’ve noticed that owners of relatively new Jeeps tend to drive really slow and really stupid. Generally, they enter freeway on-ramps at speeds lower than the speed of the freeway (which is really insane). They also tend to drive 35 MPH on 45 MPH roads.
What is it about Jeep owners that makes them so stupid?
(This doesn’t apply to used Jeep owners, who are people who tend to buy whatever good deal they can get. This applies to people who specifically choose Jeeps on purpose).

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14 Answers

Smashley's avatar

I think you need more empirical data to support this claim. I suspect your observations are based less on some unique characteristic of late-model Jeep owners, and more on local, environmental factors.

Do you live:
near a Jeep dealership where people take test drives from?
in a private college town where people have big cars to keep them safe because they are bad drivers?
in a tourist destination where a certain type of rental car may be common?
beneath a cloud of contempt for recent redesigns of the classic Jeep, and can you only feel disgust and loathing for those who would drive one?

ragingloli's avatar

They are probably all decrepit boomers that buy jeeps for nostalgia reasons.

KNOWITALL's avatar

Have to agree with @ragingloli here. Jeeps are sport utility to me but around here the new ones really are Boomers and slow. I’d take an old CJ7 over new ones anyday.

lucillelucillelucille's avatar

Perhaps these newer Jeeps might share the same type of engine which might explain their lack of pick up on the ramps, etc…. ;)

gondwanalon's avatar

Perhaps the nature of a new Jeep engine requires a slower acceleration and driving speeds for the first 500 miles or so. In that case they should stay off the freeway.

Call_Me_Jay's avatar

Selective observation – you are annoyed by a Jeep owner, and focus on slow moving Jeeps, ignoring all the other equally slow-moving vehicles.

zenvelo's avatar

It could also be that Jeeps are underpowered and are not very stable, so take some getting used to. Plus they have a lot of road noise.

Tropical_Willie's avatar

My neighbor has a brand new Jeep, we followed him on a two lane 31 MPH in a 45 MPH zone. Saw the Jeep a week later with jumbo tires and rims and a winch on the front, he still drives 31 in a 45 zone. He drives all his vehicles that way including his Cadillac XLR.

MrGrimm888's avatar

Well. There are some things you have to consider, about Jeeps. Gear ratio.
Control, at speed.

I don’t know a lot about the latest Jeeps. But. Older ones, were designed for off road capabilities. They are not designed for high speed.

Gear ratio.
For example. In a sports car, the ratio, is designed for acceleration. The power of the engine is distributed to the axle, that turns the wheels that spin, by the size of the gears. In an off road vehicle, the ratio is the opposite of a sports car.
If you are driving through mud, or over rocks, you want there to be slower rotation of the wheels with the engine power pushing harder. And, you’ll be moving pretty slow. The faster the wheels spin, in mud, sand, or on rock, the less traction…
An off road vehicle on a highway, is like a sports car off road. It’s contrary to the design/purpose, of the vehicle.

Control at speed.
There are many variables here.

Ground clearance.
The lower a vehicle is to the ground, the better it can handle speed, and corners. But. The undercarriage of the vehicle(being low,) reduces it’s ability to clear objects on the ground. So. Off road vehicles, are generally higher off the ground, than others. But. That makes them highly unstable, at greater speed. If you turn too fast, you can flip the vehicle.

Then, there is tire size vs rim size.
A sports car, will have a larger rim, and lower profile tires. When you make turns, the rubber tires compress. So. At higher speeds, you want as little compression as possible. Otherwise, you are shifting the weight of the vehicle too much.

Off road vehicles, need traction control at low speed. So. They often have a smaller rim, and a larger tire. So. When the rubber flattens out (often people let some psi out of their tires, before going off road,) it gives the tires a bigger “footprint.” Which increases grip.

The off road vehicles, often have longer shock travel. And, softer shocks. Making them further undesirable, for higher speeds…

So.
Such vehicles, are simply not designed for speed…

As a side note.
I am fairly well traveled. And, IMO, people who drive Volvos are by far the worst drivers…

ucme's avatar

A cheap Jeep will make them weep when in to deep…beep, beep :D

KNOWITALL's avatar

@MrGrimm Seems like these folks don’t ever take them off road, that’s what is so odd.
I test drove new ones and hated them all.

SQUEEKY2's avatar

I would consider it just a personal observation, like every time I come upon a camper van it is always driving at least 20kph below the posted limit.
I owned a Jeep Comanchee pickup and never once was accused of being a slow driver.
My Nephew owns a new Wrangler and his stack of speeding tickets show he isn’t a slow driver.

MrGrimm888's avatar

When I own a vehicle that’s off road capable, I take it out “muddin.”
But. The reality is that most of the time, you’ll be driving on the streets.

SQUEEKY2's avatar

I have always owned a 4×4 but never really off loaded any of them, close I ever got was loading the dirt bike getting up in the hills then hitting the true off road with the bike, I wipe out the bike I just get up and keep going I slide the truck into a stump and do thousands of dollars damage in body work.

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