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You did say truck based. That's where I took the body-on-frame from. But I see what you're saying now.
Fair enough, I can see why you'd derive that. I was speaking more to the sourcing from truck platforms more so than the body on frame design. Still I can see why you'd raise that question.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dwatted Wabbit
Who cares? Just drive it!
There's always one. What's wrong with just letting people have a discussion, even a seemingly benign one, without the dismissive "who cares" attitude? Does it bother you that people are interested in talking about this stuff?
No. An SUV can be either body-on-frame or unibody, but it needs to have 4WD and be off-road capable, incl adequate ground clearance, suspension system, and skid plates, and have a towing capacity of at least 5000 lbs. Show me a crossover that comes close to that. A purist would probably say a true SUV also has a manual transmission, lacks a cushy interior and electronic doo-dads, and is able to ford streams.
Two midsize SUVs are now crossovers: The Ford Explorer and the Nissan Pathfinder.
When Ford discontinued the Ranger (2011 if I'm not mistaken) the Explorer migrated from that platform to the Taurus platform. I'm less familiar with the Pathfinder and Nissan products across the board. In the Explorer's case I'd be willing to bet it's a better daily driver than before, but less capable off road or in otherwise austere conditions than some of the older models. Perhaps the same can be said of the Pathfinder.
I'm sure both companies' market analysts know what they're doing though.
I know these changes are driven by market analysts, safety regulations, and CAFE requirements, but those of us who need a true SUV are finding it increasingly difficult to find one. I was outraged when Nissan stopped production of the Xterra with no plans to replace it with another SUV. WTH use do I have for a Rogue? Exactly zero.
I know these changes are driven by market analysts, safety regulations, and CAFE requirements, but those of us who need a true SUV are finding it increasingly difficult to find one. I was outraged when Nissan stopped production of the Xterra with no plans to replace it with another SUV. WTH use do I have for a Rogue? Exactly zero.
You left out cost. For example it made sense to convert the Explorer from SUV to crossover because the company maximized savings in productions lines closing in one arena and optimizing existing production lines elsewhere.
I also think it's the mid size SUVs that are fading away. The 4Runner is still doing well, and I suppose the Dodge Durango can be considered a mid-size. Then there's Jeeps. It does seem like crossovers are phasing out the mid-size SUVs. If you look at either of the two minivan threads here (one recent, the other recently revived) you see a lot of accusations that SUV drivers are "image conscious." I'd suggest more crossover drivers fit this description than do actual SUV drivers: they want something that looks like an SUV but drives and feels like a car. It's just a hunch on my part.
Meanwhile full size SUVs are alive and well and I imagine will be for a long time.
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There's always one. What's wrong with just letting people have a discussion, even a seemingly benign one, without the dismissive "who cares" attitude? Does it bother you that people are interested in talking about this stuff?
