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 SUV
So what exactly is an SUV? We want to get to the bottom of this question using the VW T-Roc as an example. It is a medium-sized car, it is also available with all-wheel drive, the smaller T-Cross not. What is clearly not true:
They are not necessarily off-road vehicles and they have as much to do with the city as 'cows have to do with Sundays'. Why do manufacturers like to highlight the latter so much? Because there are the the wealthier buyers,
at least those who spend more money on a car.
| Even with the largest model, the seven-seater Tarraco, Seat writes 'Own the City'. |
The manufacturers have created an additional product line. They are constantly trying to sell something more to the customer and this here is not a new accessory, but a new housing. In doing so, they are taking advantage
of a certain technical development. Because over the years, if not decades, it seems to have become easier and easier to put a new hat on an existing platform.
| For example, in 2018/2019, more than one in three new vehicles delivered worldwide was an SUV.
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The latter contains the technology that can be redesigned much more slowly. And so you upgrade what you already have with new shapes. It doesn't have to be completely rigid either, but now allows changes to the
wheelbase, for example, without any major effort. At first, raising the vehicle was a particularly strenuous task. Now you get the feeling that the chassis is being designed in such a way that it is 'turned' a little higher for an
SUV body.
The term comes from earlier times, when it was actually possible to adjust the axles individually or both together up or down using adjusting screws, usually in conjunction with a torsion bar suspension. That is no longer
possible today, but manufacturers often have to adjust the coil springs to a higher empty weight even within a series.
So SUVs are cars that have been launched outside the normal product line and promise a higher return. These used to be coupes or convertibles, but their sales shares are not comparable. It is not uncommon for so-called
SUVs to overtake their base models in terms of registration numbers. For a while, the smallest of them were still experiencing growth rates, in contrast to the overall market.
This is how a group like VW created brands such as the Škoda Kodiaq, Karoq and Kamiq and the Seat Tarraco, Ateca and Arona, each from the largest and most expensive to the smallest and cheapest. VW itself is taking
the cake with four basic SUVs, the Touareg, Tiguan, T-Roc and T-Cross. But that's not all: the Tiguan is available as an Allspace and the T-Roc will soon be available as a convertible version. Of course, the Passat is also
available as an Alltrack.
The basic development is not without a certain logic. Imagine how many cars someone buys in their life, even if they drive them for a very long time. Who would want to buy the same model again? Perhaps they would,
because it has grown in the meantime. The trend is, however, that people generally earn more in the course of years and can at least afford more when the children are grown.
Even rural residents' cars should not be any longer or wider, as they also drive into older municipal parking garages with 2.3 m parking spaces or have their own homes with standard garages from the 1970s. So the only
option is height, especially as a better seating position provides a better overview of the increasingly complex traffic. And the proportion of older drivers, which is also growing slightly, can get in more easily.
Of course, increasing height has a disadvantage, namely air resistance. But as already mentioned, innovations in body construction have increased and so it is possible to counteract this disadvantage with a better c
W value. One could ask the heretical question whether it makes no difference if the airflow is directed instead above below the car. Difficult to answer.
Especially since the former off-road capabilities are now less and less important. Take a look at the lower part of many fronts, sometimes not unlike a digging shovel. Nowadays people are even starting to lower SUVs
again, which is of course just as easy as the above-mentioned raising.
The most important measure of the true, i.e. internal size of a vehicle is of course the wheelbase. This also costs the manufacturer the most money because of the urgently needed stability. You can see how much this has
grown overall in a company for which 2,400 mm was the measure of all things even for the middle class for decades.
The long wheelbases naturally limit the turning circle, and the front drive does something too. This is impressively demonstrated by a Smart with less than 7 meters. So here we have another indication that SUVs are less
suitable for city driving. You can also see the cost savings from having the same parts. Don't be fooled by a few millimeters difference. In reality, these are the same dimensions.
| A real SUV seems to have four-wheel drive and a diesel engine. |
For example, the T-Cross and Arona had the same wheelbases, as do the Kodiaq and Tarraco. At VW, the gaps to the next larger model were smaller because there is another one, namely the Touareg. That would be an
uncompromising SUV, but it doesn't fit into the phalanx above. It was only available with all-wheel drive, one petrol engine and three diesel engines. But its prices only started at 60,000 euros, while the table above started at
18,000 euros.
| The Touareg even has all-wheel steering. |
Its 2,904 mm wheelbase, 4,878 mm length and 1,717 mm height are impressive, and even the Kodiaq and Tarraco cannot match them. Perhaps the Touareg, as the name suggests, most closely corresponds to the
original idea of a sport utility vehicle, an off-road sedan. But such a car is not for everyone's wallet. So they have started the long march towards the affordable 'city SUV'.
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