As much as we're excited about the lithe 2011 Lotus Elise, it's Fat Tuesday so we're going to give a break to at least one car porking up like the rest of us. Which fatty deserves a fair shake?
Call us crazy, but isn't a luxo-barge supposed to be barge-like? Everyone yaps about bloated luxury cars and bloated SUVs and the Land Rover LR4 is certainly large but, c'mon, isn't that the point? Sure, it's gotten so big — expanding from 5,426 pounds in 2005 to over 5,800 in pounds in 2010 — they had to super size the name from LR3 to LR4. But with the added heft you get a more capable world crosser that finally has an engine powerful enough — an awesome 5.0-liter V8 — to stop its weight from getting in its own way. It represents the British Empire in its descent and a former colony in its ascendancy, which is a lot of baggage to carry.
Sure, it's a fatty, but it's a fatty with a purpose. Try taking your Escalade across the Serengeti.
When you're done stuffing your face with pazckis and king cake let us know: which fatty deserves a fair shake?
(QOTD is your chance to answer the day's most pressing automotive questions and experience the opinions of the insightful insiders, practicing pundits and gleeful gearheads that make up the Jalopnik commentariat. If you've got a suggestion for a good "Question Of the Day" send an email to tips at jalopnik dot com.)
Photo Credit: Photo by Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images