If a model isn’t where people expect to find it, they might just leave … and we don’t want that. Why? Because many shoppers still think of anything that looks like an SUV as an SUV, and not a crossover or - heaven forbid - a CUV (crossover utility vehicle). The SUVs also include some hardcore off-roaders like the Jeep Wrangler, Toyota 4Runner and Land Cruiser, and less-expected luxury models like the Lexus GX and LX and Mercedes-Benz G-Class.īefore you contact your congressman or something, I’ll disclose that ’s SUV section includes dozens of models that don’t meet the description above.
Chevy Traverse? Unibody (if you want to call something that’s 17 feet long and weighs over 4,300 pounds a car-based crossover, we’re not going to stop you).
Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban? Body-on-frame. Most are full-size SUVs based on full-size pickup trucks, like the aforementioned Ford Expedition or the Toyota Sequoia, Nissan Armada/ Infiniti QX80, Cadillac Escalade, etc. If forced, we’d certainly still categorize the roughly dozen SUV models as such because they are body-on-frame. The same can be said for fuel efficiency, which is still the traditional SUV’s biggest typical disadvantage. Overall, body-on-frame vehicles tend to have better towing and hauling capabilities, but that seems like a good reason for a shopper to look for a good tow vehicle rather than confuse matters with labels. Today we have some crossovers that ride like trucks, and some SUVs that drive beautifully.
Conversely, the venerable Explorer made the switch from body-on-frame to unibody construction in 2011 - yet remained frustratingly snug inside given its exterior bulk. To give one example, back in 2003, Ford redesigned its full-size Expedition SUV’s rear suspension to pass through the frame rather than sit underneath it, both improving its performance and providing a third row usable by adults. Most truck-based SUVs have incorporated four-wheel independent suspensions.
What is a crossover car driver#
Unibody construction has some theoretical advantages, but there’s no guarantee that a crossover will deliver on that promise, or that an uninformed driver could tell the difference between of one of today’s body-on-frame SUVs and a unibody crossover. They drove more like cars and were more fuel efficient and space efficient, no doubt.īut much has changed since then. But the “car-based” SUV models credited with breaking ground and becoming the first and most influential crossovers of the SUV era include stuff like the 1996 Toyota RAV Lexus RX 300 (these model years represent U.S. By that time in automotive history, most cars used unibody platforms (also known as monocoque or unitary construction) in which the structural floor pan and body are a single piece.Įven before the SUV explosion there were some lesser-known trailblazers (sorry, Chevy) like the original sport utility wagon (sorry, Subaru): the 1980 AMC Eagle. When SUVs proliferated more than 20 years ago, the overwhelming majority were based on trucks - some literally full-cab versions of existing pickups, like the segment-establishing Ford Explorer, which was derived from the Ford Ranger - while others merely used body-on-frame truck platforms. If you accept the historical definition, which is based on a vehicle’s underlying construction, almost all of 2019’s roughly 114 discrete SUV models were crossovers only 13 weren’t. Fortunately, all of these characteristics are their own bottom lines, so rather than obsess over whether a vehicle is a crossover or an SUV, why not look at the bottom-line items and get on with your shopping? Now Almost Everything’s a Crossover The fixation with the terms SUV and crossover are mainly about characteristics that these terms no longer faithfully represent, such as appearance, efficiency, roominess and capability. View all 2020 Ford Explorer models for sale near 60606
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