SUV was a time period reserved for body-on-frame, truck-based autos, till the crossover got here alongside and turned the whole lot on its head. Now some automakers declare that their subcompact front-wheel-drive hatchbacks are SUVs or crossovers, and we have now unibody vehicles just like the Ford Maverick and Honda Ridgeline that additional muddy issues up. So, what actually makes an SUV an SUV anymore? As these phrases develop an increasing number of diluted, it appears the perfect clarification is that classifying a car is all in regards to the vibe. The precise bodily and mechanical variations between a automobile that’s labeled as an SUV, hatchback, or crossover has grow to be moot.
The three-row Mercedes-Benz GLS is predicated on a unibody platform, however we agree it’s a reliable SUV as a result of it’s massive and boxy and presents spectacular off-road chops. The GLS was engineered to dominate on- and off-road, with devoted options like accessible E-Active Body Control to free the GLS from deep sand or mud. The Kia Soul, which can also be a boxy unibody car, shouldn’t be an SUV and hardly even registers as a crossover because it doesn’t even supply all-wheel drive or any semblance of off-road capability, however Kia categorizes it as one. Chevrolet now lists the Bolt beneath the SUV part of its web site, which is laughable contemplating it was initially launched as a hatchback and there have been no mechanical or design adjustments to extend its off-road talents and justify its SUV classification.
The SUV craze hit within the Nineties when the Ford Explorer and Jeep Grand Cherokee began stealing gross sales from household automobiles. Consumers love the sensation of an elevated driving place, elevated floor clearance, and the safety of AWD. Those autos have been nonetheless truck-based and featured body-on-frame development, making them clearly SUVs. The introduction of car-based crossovers just like the Lexus RX and Toyota RAV4 swayed extra consumers into the primary lifted AWD wagons by making them simpler and extra comfy to drive than conventional SUVs, which displayed sloppy dealing with and excessive facilities of gravity, in addition to providing higher gas financial system. Then the floodgates opened.
Being categorized as an SUV used to imply one thing, however now it appears to explain a automobile that embodies the character or vibe of these foregone rough-and-tumbled, bushy chested, solid-axle heavyweights.
The new Hyundai Santa Fe is a good instance. It used to sit down solidly within the crossover class, however the latest technology’s styling is extra rugged and upright, making it lean extra in the direction of an SUV vibe no matter its off-road talents or lack thereof. Its appreciable measurement and general go-anywhere vibe portrayed by the roof racks, physique cladding, and blocky, upright styling all contribute to the brand new Santa Fe’s SUV-ness.
As the transition to electrification continues, the strains get much more blurred. There are not any EVs that presently supply a body-on-frame development, but most are thought of SUVs. I simply drove Chevrolet’s Blazer EV, which felt extra like a wagon than an SUV, and the AWD system shouldn’t be meant to deal with prolonged off-road driving. Yet it’s thought of an SUV. The Hyundai Ioniq 5 is extra of a hatchback however can also be thought of an SUV, and the identical goes for the Tesla Model Y, Mustang Mach E, and Nissan Ariya.
EPA classifications additional confuse issues. Take, for instance, how the Lamborghini Urus Performante is classed as a small station wagon, placing it in the identical class because the Honda HR-V and Kia Soul. The Hyundai Kona is listed as a small SUV, whereas the Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV is categorized as an ordinary SUV.
The definition of what makes an SUV and a crossover is altering, and because it shifts it begins to lose which means – when the whole lot is an SUV, nothing is an SUV. Model classification means much less now than ever, other than making a car extra interesting to consumers who crave an elevated driving place and who wish to really feel invincible.
Source: jalopnik.com