The content of the article:
- SUV buying rules
- Which model to choose
Only a beginner or a non-professional can think that an SUV is a car that moves equally well on any road. It can accelerate on the highway to 150 km / h, in the city it is excellent to maneuver and stand in traffic jams, and when entering the forest, it can quickly overcome ravines, holes, pass meter-long sand and mud.
In fact, each class of car is built for certain driving conditions, and today there is no universal car that would equally well overcome the sand dunes and surprise with the wonders of speed and comfort on the European Autobahn.
Before choosing an SUV, you should think carefully why you need such a car, what impassable thickets do you plan to overcome - maybe you should limit yourself to choosing an urban crossover that perfectly moves along a snow-covered track and maneuvers well along the hardened roads of villages?
But if the final choice is made in favor of a classic SUV, here are the rules on how to choose the right one.
SUV buying rules
1. Ground clearance
In the photo: Kia Rio
The car on which it is planned to conquer difficult off-road must have certain technical characteristics, without which the car cannot be classified as a real off-road vehicle. And the first parameter is high ground clearance.
The ground clearance must be at least 20 cm.
The most common option to increase ground clearance is to re-shoe the car with wider tires. In SUVs, ground clearance is measured by the distance from the differential housing to the roadway, less often from the lower shock absorber brackets.
When choosing a car, it must be borne in mind that the ground clearance of a fully loaded car should not be lower than 20-22 cm.
2. Maximum overhang angle, roll angle
A real SUV has an overhang angle of at least 43 degrees. This means that before entering a hill, a ravine at such an angle, the car will not touch the ground with the front bumper.
In sedans, the overhangs are much longer - for example, the Skoda Octavia sedan has a good ground clearance of 17 cm, but because of the wide front overhang, it will not drive up a steep hill, it will rest against the front bumper.
Off-road classic Land Rover Defender can easily drive up a hill at an angle of 49 degrees - this is the angle of the front overhang of the car, in reverse the SUV will rise to an angle of 47 degrees.
Roll angle - the maximum angle when the SUV goes from a flat road to a hill or vice versa and at the same time does not catch the bottom of the road surface. The higher the parameter, the steeper the road the car will overcome.
If the angles of entry and exit of the car on the steepness are immediately visible, then such a technical parameter as the angle of lateral static stability can be visually understood only by professional auto designers - this is the angle at which the car will tip over on its side, and the parameter depends primarily on the characteristics of the car's center of gravity laid down by the manufacturer ...
If the center of gravity is as low as possible, the SUV will show maximum stability.
3. Wide wheels
An off-road vehicle should easily change shoes on wide tires with a maximum wheel diameter. The wide tread will provide optimal movement on uneven surfaces, but wide tires are absolutely unnecessary for the city.
4. Reduction gear
It is an essential transmission system for traveling on sand and loose snow. Without a downshift, an SUV cannot be considered a real Jeep. When driving on sand or snow, the driver has to depress the gas pedal harder to get more torque from the engine.
But at the same time, the wheels should not turn too fast, so as not to bury the car in a snowdrift. Often, in order to get out of a skid, rpm is needed a little higher than idle, and you can't do without a lowering here.
For a city or highway, a downshift is practically not needed, as well as four-wheel drive is not needed.
5. Four-wheel drive, center and cross-axle differentials
An inter-axle blocker is a distinctive feature of a real SUV, which will provide good handling and cross-country ability on slippery ground, in mud, in sand, and an inter-axle differential will allow you to safely ride on stones.
Motorists who have been conquering the off-road of Siberia for weeks note that an SUV should be frame-mounted.
The frame is more reliable - when jumping over bumps and stones, the body experiences tremendous torsional loads, and the frame reduces pressure.
Professional drivers recommend choosing an SUV with the Terrain Response all-wheel drive system, which is installed on the Land Rover, or the Super Select 4WD system, which goes to SUVs and some Mitsubishi crossovers.
6. Maintainability
For a true SUV, the word maintainability has a completely different meaning than it does for all other vehicles.
This means that the car can not only be repaired at the service station or in the garage, but that the jeep can be repaired in the field.
The complete set has a minimum of electronics, the wiring is additionally protected from moisture and damage, and if a light bulb or indicator fails, this does not affect the operation of the power unit and the oil system in any way.
7. Diesel engine
When buying an SUV specifically for off-road driving, diesel engines should be a priority. And although diesel engines constructively have a motor resource 30-50% less than gasoline ones, their benefits for SUVs obvious:
- high torque;
- moisture resistance;
- lower fuel consumption.
Diesel engines deliver high torque at lower engine speeds, ensuring that the slightest push on the accelerator will pull the car off the ground in mud and sand.
Diesel fuel is less sensitive to moisture penetration into the fuel tank, the nozzle will spray fuel and the engine will give its return, even if water gets into the tank.
Fuel consumption also matters if it is supposed to be an hour-long trip to the country house outside the city, and a multi-day trip across the fields of the Central Russian Plain.
8. Comfort
In the photo: the interior of the Mercedes-Benz GLS SUV
No matter how technically correct an SUV is, if the car has uncomfortable seats, a very stiff suspension, poor sound insulation, then it will be difficult to drive such a car. Psychological and physiological discomfort will quickly affect the driver.
Connoisseurs of real off-roading rightly point out that it is still necessary to get to the real off-road. Therefore, it is necessary that the SUV is as comfortable as the sedan on flat asphalt.
9. Carrying capacity and trunk size
Photo: Land Rover Discovery Commercial SUV
For a real SUV, these parameters should be not just large, but very large. A powerful motor should easily take a ton of cargo, and a trunk should be easy to place.
When traveling, the car becomes both a bedroom and a kitchen, while the presence of a trailer is rejected. The jeep must carry all its "luggage" itself, and if necessary, take the stuck friend in tow. But these are more likely questions to the power of the engine.
Which model to choose
In the photo: Land Rover Defender
An important factor when choosing an SUV is the cost of maintenance. Many motorists miss this moment, and when buying a car of the budget segment, they spend significant sums in operation.
Considering the range of modern SUVs, professionals note that all Chinese jeeps have remained at the level of the last century and cannot be considered a real SUV, but only a modernized crossover. These are good cars for going to the country, walking in the woods, and besides the harsh look, they have neither a powerful engine nor a reliable transmission.
In addition, in Chinese SUVs, some of the wiring is located in places that are the first to suffer from dirt and are practically unprotected, while the model has a four-wheel drive and a frame.
Models of the Russian car industry have their own "national" features: poorly adjusted suspension and minor assembly defects that do not affect the productivity and performance of the car.
UAZ "Patriot" is one of the best vehicles for permanent off-road operation, it has a large trunk, a reliable engine and a powerful suspension. In terms of comfort, the UAZ leaves much to be desired, but the budgetary cost covers the shortcomings.
Today, they fully correspond to the characteristics of an SUV model:
- Land Rover Defender;
- Nissan Navara;
- Chevrolet Niva, LADA 4 × 4;
- Mitsubishi L200 / Pajero;
- UAZ Patriot / Hunter;
- Volkswagen Touareg;
- Jeep Wrangler, Jeep Rubicon;
- SsangYong Kyron / Rexton;
- Toyota Prado;
- Suzuki Jimny.
But are such cars needed, if the biggest off-road that is planned to be overcome is the city streets, on which they forgot to remove the snow, let each driver choose for himself.
