SUV

A sport utility vehicle, or SUV is a passenger vehicle which combines the towing capacity of a pickup truck with the passenger-carrying space of a minivan or station wagon together with on or off road ability.[1]

• Manufacturers have responded to buyers' complaints that SUVs "drive like trucks" and demands for "carlike ride" with a new type of SUV. A new category, the crossover SUV uses car design and components for lighter weight and better fuel efficiency, but is no longer designed or recommended by the manufacturer for off-road usage or towing.(More...)
  
  

Manufacturers have responded to buyers' complaints that SUVs "drive like trucks" and demands for "carlike ride" with a new type of SUV. A new category, the crossover SUV uses car design and components for lighter weight and better fuel efficiency, but is no longer designed or recommended by the manufacturer for off-road usage or towing. [1]

Not all 4WD passenger vehicles are SUVs. Off-road vehicles are a very different class of vehicles, being vehicles primary built for off-road use. Although some SUVs have off-road capabilities, this is often a secondary role and they often do not have the ability to switch between 2WD, 4WD high gearing and 4WD low gearing.[1] Most SUVs are designed with a roughly square cross-section, an engine compartment, a combined passenger and cargo compartment, and no dedicated trunk.[1] Current model SUVs (crossovers) take into account that most SUV owners never go offroad. As such, some SUVs now have lower ground clearance and suspension designed primarily for paved road usage.[1] Some full-size SUVs have far greater towing capacities than conventional cars, allowing owners to tow travel trailers (caravans), trailers, and boats. This coincided with very low oil prices of the 1990s which made the running costs of SUVs affordable to the masses. Some of the SUV's popularity can be attributed to its "utilitarian" image, which could explain the large growth in SUV popularity and among some women.[1] In Australia, a unique situation resulted in the growth in popularity of SUVs. There, SUVs have a much lower import duty than cars. This means a typical SUV has a price advantage over a similarly-equipped, imported sedan.[1] It was the 1984 Jeep Cherokee (XJ) with its innovative appearance and sales popularity that really started the SUV boom because it spawned important imitators as the other automakers began to notice that the Jeeps were replacing regular cars.[1] The first Sport utility vehicles were descendants from commercial and military vehicles such as the Jeep and Land Rover. SUVs have been popular for many years with rural buyers due to their off-road capabilities.[1]

A sport utility vehicle, or SUV is a passenger vehicle which combines the towing capacity of a pickup truck with the passenger-carrying space of a minivan or station wagon together with on or off road ability.[1] SUVs are often used in places such as the Australian Outback, Africa, the Middle East, Alaska, Northern Canada, the Western United States, Iceland, South America and most of Asia, which have limited paved roads and require the vehicle to have all-terrain handling, increased range, and storage capacity.[1] SUVs are also used to explore places otherwise unreachable by other vehicles. In Australia, China, Europe, South Africa, South America and the United States at least, many 4WD clubs have been formed for this purpose.[1]

Women constitute more than half of SUV drivers, and SUVs are one of the most popular vehicle choice of women in the United States.[1] SUVs became popular in the United States, Canada, and Australia in the 1990s and early 2000s for a variety of reasons. Vehicle buyers were drawn to their large cabins, higher ride height, and perceived safety.[1] Compact SUVs and mini SUVs may have five or fewer seats. It is known in some countries as an " off-road vehicle " or " four-wheel drive ", often abbreviated to "4WD" or " 4x4 ", pronounced "four-by-four".[1] The psychology of SUV purchasing. Includes a comparison of vehicles and their 'deaths inside vehicle' and 'deaths caused/outside of vehicle' rates.[1] More modern SUVs often come with luxury features and some crossover SUVs have adopted lower ride heights and utilize unibody construction to better accommodate on-road driving.[1] Increased ground clearance is useful in climates with heavy snow. Full-sized SUVs have replaced the full-size station wagons and bear similar features such as 3-row seating.[1]

In recent years, the import duty has been lowered for cars as well, and is currently at 10% (compared with 5% for SUVs).[1] In the last 25 years, and even more in the last decade, the popularity of SUVs has increased among urban drivers.[1]

Typical examples are the Land Rover and the Toyota Land Cruiser. SUVs intended for use in urbanised areas have traditionally been developed from their more rugged all-terrain counterparts.[1]

Consumer Guide classifies 17 different models as premium midsize SUVs. Use our buying guide to help you find the right one.[2] Consumer Guide classifies six vehicles as large SUVs. Whatever model you choose, any large SUV is designed for maximum cargo and passenger versatility.[2] Consumer Guide puts nine vehicles in this class. Regardless of brand, all players in this category have their own appeal for well-heeled shoppers who want and need more than what any coupe, sedan, or smaller SUV has to offer.[2]

Compact SUV's are an excellent choice for active owners who need flexible space for people and cargo in a manageable, condensed package.[2]

Section Contents:

• Crossovers are taking over for a reason.(More...)
  
  
• All SUV reviews include comparisons, interior and exterior analysis, options & features, and test drives.(More...)
  
  

Crossovers are taking over for a reason. Most consumers don't really need the advantages body-on-frame construction provides, and the resultant poor gas mileage is certainly unattractive in these $3-per-gallon times. There are two types of SUVs that inhabit this price point. [3] The all-new Nissan Rogue is also compelling for suburbanites who are willing to sacrifice some utility for a lot of style and a very carlike drive. The Jeep Compass and Patriot have received lots of attention, but they challenge the term "SUV" by essentially being restyled versions of the Dodge Caliber hatchback. Both offer poor interior quality, limited interior space and unrefined powertrains. Although they cost less than other compact crossovers, you get what you pay for.[3] Old-school, body-on-frame SUVs offer superior towing capabilities and usually better off-road performance, but suffer in terms of on-road handling, ride quality, interior space and general refinement.[3] A crossover is broadly defined as an SUV that features carlike unibody construction. In general, this increases interior room, betters the driving experience and reduces weight (which improves fuel economy and agility).[3] Amongst the "old guard" of SUVs are the Dodge Durango, Ford Explorer, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Nissan Pathfinder and Toyota 4Runner. Each is a nameplate that helped create the SUV craze in the 1990s, and there's no denying they maintain some of their original appeal. The Hummer H3 and Jeep Commander (larger than the Grand Cherokee and technically a crossover) also fall into this category.[3] The lines between car, truck, SUV and crossover are becoming increasingly blurry.[3] Each is comfortable and has made great strides over earlier SUVs in terms of on-road civility. Plus, when there's a boat or a U-Haul to pull, they provide the type of towing capacity that crossovers simply can't match.[3] The Sequoia, in particular, is worth a look, as it matches GM's entries strength for strength, while offering unprecedented seating flexibility thanks to fore/aft adjustable second-row seats coupled with a fold-flat third row. Compact and midsize luxury models constitute the other type of SUV in this category.[3]

At the top of the M-Class line is the ML63 AMG, a tuner variant that competes with other seemingly oxymoronic high-performance SUVs like Land Rover's Range Rover Sport, VW's Touareg V10 TDI and the Porsche Cayenne.[3] Want to read more? Gosh, where do I begin? I've been tempted to include stories about growing up in the 70's in the snowbelt outside of Buffalo, NY and how we managed to survive - kids, pets, and all in a simple CAR! Or about how much I laughed when all those idiots broke their SUV axels trying to plow through snowbanks (just like they had seen in the commercials!) a few years ago when a big storm hit Chicago.[4] Switching from an average new car to a 13 mpg SUV for a year would waste more energy than leaving a refrigerator door open for six years, a bathroom light burning for 30 years, or a color TV turned on for 28 years.[4] Depite great improvements in recent years, California's air quality still violates health-based state and federal air quality standards in regions throughout the state. When emissions standards were originally set in California for "light trucks," including SUVs, these vehicles were primarily used for work purposes. Less stringent emissions standards were created for these vehicles because they were presumed to have more rigorous operating conditions.[4] Today, light trucks (including SUVs) are almost 50% of the vehicles in California. This unprecedented growth in sales has seriously altered the light truck vehicle emissions category and has had a disastrous effect on air quality. Jerry Martin, spokesperson for the CARB has said that " are the station wagons of the '90's (because) they're being used as cars, we feel they ought to be regulated as cars."[4] SUVs are three times more likely to kill the occupants in a rollover. Light trucks/SUVs crashing into cars accounts for the majority of fatalities in vehicle-to-vehicle collisions, 2,000 people would still be alive if their vehicles had been hit by a heavy car instead of an SUV.[4] An average SUV or a pickup is more than twice as likely as a car to kill the driver of the other vehicle in a collision.[4] Am I way off base? Of course I think not. Even if you are driving a "small" SUV, you're still contributing to the industry that produces these wasteful machines instead of fuel-efficient vehicles.[4] Ah, so you made it to the bottom, I'm proud of you. Perhaps I've underestimated you? THANK YOU for taking the time to read this and to care about the many problems to which buying and driving an SUV contributes. Please forward this to as many people as possible.[4] Now can't you agree that SUVs really suck? And I'm not normally a person who likes to use that "suck" word.[4] "SUV owners want to be more like 'I'm in control of the people around me."' This is an important reason why seats are mounted higher in sport utilities than in minivans, he said.[4] http://slate.msn.com/Features/GodzillaSUV/page2.asp http://slate.msn.com/Features/GodzillaSUV/page2.asp ("It's been said that SUV owners are selfish, gluttonous, even anti-social. That's exactly the customer we are looking for--and we're finding more every day! After all, somebody is going to hog the road and waste gasoline. It might as well be you.")[4] Since 1990, the inefficiency of light trucks (including SUVs) have led to Americans wasting an extra 70 billion gallons of gasoline. How automakers save money with SUVs: They decided in the mid-1980s that they were going to build more light trucks to take advantage of all the regulatory loopholes and were able to do so very cheaply, even though they didn't have a lot of truck engineers.[4]

SUVs can spew 30+ percent more carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons and 75+ percent more nitrogen oxides than passenger cars.[4] Federal law permits SUVs to waste 33 percent more gasoline than passenger cars.[4] SUVs spew out 43 percent more global-warming pollutants - 28 pounds of carbon dioxide per gallon of gas consumed - and 47 percent more air pollution than the average car, using 1 million barrels of oil a day.[4]



All SUV reviews include comparisons, interior and exterior analysis, options & features, and test drives. [5] Whatever your needs, you'll find first-hand impressions and professional opinions about the new SUV models that most interest you like the popular new Dodge Nitro or the Chevrolet Suburban.[5] HELP! Choosing an SUV is too hard! Here's what I need it for.[5]

Summary Summary The Mercedes-Benz M-Class SUV is just the right size and is set u.[5]

1. Sport utility vehicle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sport_utility_vehicle

2. 2008 SUV Buying Guides
http://consumerguideauto.howstuffworks.com/vehicle-suv-buying-guides-cga.htm

3. 2008 SUV Buying Guide at Edmunds.com
http://www.edmunds.com/suv/2008/buyingguide.html

4. The Anti SUV Portal
http://www.suvsuck.org/

5. New SUV Reviews | 2009 2008 SUV Review & Research at Automotive.com
http://www.automotive.com/new-cars/reviews/02/suvs/index.html