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Don't know what we all think a SUV is. But Audi Ahmedabad sure thinks AUDI R8 V10 is a "SPORTS UTILITY VEHICLE"

I went to Audi Ahmedabad the other to have a look at the Red R8 V10 on display there and noticed this... :Frustrati

Guys...

Dont you people think we are diluting and confusing ourselves with the definition of "SUV" and an "OFF-ROADER" lol:

My dream SUV or off-roader has to be a Land Rover Defender. The Mercedes G-Wagen comes close. Have never driven either of these, and my choice is purely based upon appearance and pictures and videos seen over the internet. Thanks to fellow BHPian Manish Asrani, I had a ride in a Land Rover Defender in Bangalore. Although it was merely a 15 min ride, I'll surely remember it for a long time to come.

The Toyota Land Cruiser retains most of the true blue SUV qualities, though it has gone more softer. But for me, still the Defender and G-Wagen lie above everything else.

Strongly my personal opinion only.
Looks(highly subjective)- True, the Scorpio looks imposing from the front but the other sides? From the side view it looks all squashed up and the doors are so small,looks like the rear is always higher than the front. And the rear ,less said the better though a tailgate mounted spare tyre does wonder. Am not saying every SUV should have one,but just that the Scorp need it to make up for the bland boxy rear.
Or if anyone has doubts, look at both Safari and Scorpio in proper international roads,the Safari looks and gels with the other traffic while the Scorp sticks out like a sore thumb and awkward.
Interior space- When i hear about SUVs, big cavernous cabin is what i expect and huge comfy seats, but the Scorp? Actually except for the height i don't find much difference in the front seat space of Scorp and my WagonR, maybe a bit of legroom more and the rear seats are strictly average. A plus for Scorp is the presence of 3rd row seats however cramped.
Ride and handling- When we have nice handling but bad ride we say it's driver's car, when nice ride but bad handling we say comfortable car. When both ride and handling are good we say "best car".
But when both of them are bad what do we say?
Offroading- SUVs are for offroading and am not saying that Scorp is bad,but it just can't match (again i go)Safari.
BUT Though must admit it did us proud by coming in top 3 of some South American rally and is also pretty reliable compared to Safari.
The compact proportion may look bad in looks department but makes it nimble in the city, it's light controls makes it a breeze to drive in the city(but hairy in the highway) and also the initial punch of the engine and mid range makes it more driveable than the Safari.
In short the punchy engine,imposing front styling,3 row seating and more reliability makes it sell 3 times more than the nearest rival.

Exactly. It seems like lots of folks want to associate just the looks to the term SUV. It is the same as repeat a lie a few times and becomes the truth.

I guess the sports part of "SUV" is on the menu. However the utility part is to be imagined. I would say that is one smart dealer. Haha

I am glad this is just your personal opinion and I respectfully disagree. After filtering all the hoo-haa about looks, international roads, etc. wikipedia says that not all SUVs are 4x4 and not all 4x4 are SUVs. I think I agree with that definition. Here is the link - Jeep Grand Cherokee - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

OT:
And for decades Grand Cherokees have proven that you could build an SUV with unibody chassis. So one can hope the W201 will atleast be good enough with AWD

I just told about the Scorpio being an SUV bit,not the SUV bit.
I have said what i see in an SUV in the same thread earlier.
agree:Agree with you that all SUVs are not 4X4s and all 4X4s are not SUVs.(How many of the SUVs sold in India and around the world have 4X4 standard. And also Jeep is not usually called as an SUV.)
The W201 can't be compare with the Cherokee. The moment Mahindra mounted the engine transversely and decided to launch the FWD version first followed by the AWD version,just a crossover with SUV body, and don't know if the AWD is full time or on-demand.:D

It is premature to compare w201 with anything yet. However I meant that w201 having unibody construction is not necessarily a disadvantage.

With regards to AWD,if w201 does not have AWD with some sort of terrain management system like in the latest Ford Explorer and Grand Cherokee. If it does not then yeah, it is just a CUV.

SUV, SAV, MUV, MAV, RAV, CRV, HRV, MRV....(the list is growing every day)

vs

4WD/4x4 (no competition as yet)

i wonder where does my Hilux fits among the above catagories?

Awesome pickup truck? :thumbs up

Its Toyota Hilux 4WD/4x4. Daddy of Fortuner and Innova.

hey i think my truck falls under SUT...Sports Utility Truck(as per the americans)!

The indestructible one, Hilux.
Well actually it depends upon the variants.
The ordinary ones are just pick up trucks.
The one with 4X4 and higher ride height becomes SUT. A fine line of difference.

If you too belive that a picture is worth more than a thousand words, then here goes my definition of the SUV

i dont want this thread to go off topic into Hilux topic...

but i couldnt resist posting these two photos.:D

for my truck...its 4WD and its SUT. more modifications are on the way, not like the modifications in the photos!

I knew right away it is a Hilux. In fact couple of days, I saw the latest model in Autoblog



Here is the article - Toyota Hilux pickup gets fresh skin, more power for 2012

Moreover, lets not combine SUV and off-roaders (SUTs) in the same breadth. Each has its place for now.

Well ,the Hilux does deserve a separate thread and i almost want to kill Toyota for refusing to sell it here citing reasons of brand premium.:deadhorse