Most passable SUV.

Do not believe advertisements, glossy magazines and managers in car dealerships when they, pointing their finger at some shiny and sparkling chrome parts, announce to you that this is the most passable SUV. All published ratings and tops are custom-made, and they have one task - to increase sales of certain cars. Therefore, looking for the best all-terrain vehicle is a hopeless occupation, but trying to understand what it should be is quite the opposite.

The classic idea of ​​an off-road vehicle

Without touching on terminology, under an SUV, as is customary at the household level, we mean a car capable of overcoming sections of the road on which there is no hard coating. Based on many years of experience in operating cars in such conditions and taking into account the practice of using army vehicles, "jeepers" have developed the requirements for a real all-terrain vehicle. These include, first of all:

  • frame structure;
  • four-wheel drive;
  • high ground clearance;
  • differential locks - center and (preferably) wheels on the same axle.

This, of course, does not exhaust all the requirements, but these were the first all-terrain vehicles, and time has fully confirmed the correctness of this approach in relation to off-road vehicles.

The contribution of each of the listed elements to the design of these cars is simply undeniable, but, perhaps, for complete clarity, a small explanation should be made.

  1. The use of a frame improves reliability. When driving over rough terrain, the body is subjected to significant loads in all directions, up to the fact that it may deform. The frame allows the vehicle to carry such loads without consequences. True, in recent years, it is increasingly being abandoned in favor of a monocoque body, at best with a subframe.
  2. Four-wheel drive provides the transmission of torque from the engine to all wheels, which significantly increases the passability of the machine. There are different options, but for vehicles moving off-road, the best choice would be permanent all-wheel drive or plug-in drive.
  3. Significant ground clearance allows you to overcome obstacles without touching them with vehicle structural elements (bottom, axles, etc.).
  4. Locks allow the torque to reach all wheels regardless of the prevailing driving conditions, such as slipping or hanging a wheel, which allows the vehicle to overcome any obstacle.

These are the minimum requirements that the most passable off-road vehicle must meet, in the world of such cars a lot has been created and produced, and we will touch upon this issue.

What else you need to know when choosing an off-road vehicle

Among the factors that directly affect the vehicle's permeability, of course, should include:

  1. The torque developed by the engine. When off-road, it is decisive. When driving through mud at low speed, a significant amount of force must be applied to the wheels. Therefore, an engine capable of developing a large torque at 2000 rpm, and not at 5000 rpm, will have an advantage in such conditions. Such requirements provide priority to a diesel engine, although gasoline internal combustion engines are quite successful in coping with similar tasks.
  2. Short overhangs. Thanks to them, the car can overcome obstacles, while avoiding contact with uneven roads. The shorter the overhangs, the more steep ascents and descents the car can conquer.
  3. Short base.This term describes the distance between the axes. The advantages of a long wheelbase are increased stability when driving at high speeds and predictability in corners. Short-base cars are better at taking sharp turns, they have higher maneuverability and cross-country ability. The last statement is explained in the figure below.The larger the base, the higher the likelihood of putting the car on the "belly" in a situation when the front or rear wheels fall into a hole or downhill.
  4. Dependent suspension. It got its name because of its inherent feature, when one wheel affects the position of the other.The advantages of the dependent suspension include its strength, ease of operation and better contact with the ground when driving off-road. The disadvantages include the worst handling at high speed, the inability to provide comfort in the cabin.

This is only part of the requirements that apply to a real "rogue".

So what is an SUV?

The above requirements describe quite unambiguously what an all-terrain vehicle should be. But at the same time, they affect the design and behavior of the car in off-road conditions, while when driving on hard surfaces and in the city, the requirements will be different. So it turns out that the car, which feels great on soggy country roads, behaves much worse on the asphalt.

It follows from this that a car, especially an all-terrain vehicle, is a continuous compromise, an attempt to combine the possibility of confident movement in the city and on the highway with driving on clay, water, pits and potholes. Therefore, to say that the car of company A is the most passable, the serial SUV of company B is the best, and the jeep of corporation C is generally ideally suited for any traffic conditions, would probably be a mistake.

If we consider only the possibility of overcoming the thaw, then here it is not so simple. A lot, under equal conditions, depends on the rubber used, the road and the skill of the driver. As an example, the video:

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And the most "sophisticated" modern car, equipped with all possible devices for overcoming off-road, sometimes gives in to the old proven technology, for example, as shown here:

However, it should be taken into account that enthusiasts, in order to increase cross-country ability, subject their cars to significant modifications, which significantly changes their characteristics. Such modified cars sometimes create real miracles that are inaccessible to ordinary cars, regardless of their make and model, for example, as in the video:

And therefore, the task of determining the best "rogue" becomes almost insoluble. In such situations, as they say, the decision can be made on a specific situation, i.e. only here and now. If your car was able to overcome the broken and flooded road, then this is the very best all-terrain vehicle, whatever brand it may be.

Determining the most passable SUV is a completely hopeless business. The road changes, the conditions for its passage change, the skill of the driver and his knowledge of the features of the car are different. All this creates such a wide range of conditions for comparing the capabilities of a car that it simply does not make sense. It is worth following a simple rule: if you overcome an obstacle, then your SUV is the most passable.

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