I feel like automakers are intentionally blurring what was once a pretty clear distinction between two kinds of vehicles. By this, I refer to the acronym SUV: Sports Utility Vehicle. Basically, a truck chassis with a station wagon body on it. Chevy Suburban, Ford Bronco, etc. And then came the crossovers (CUVs). They are unibody chassis, like cars, but with a slightly taller suspension and a taller body to accommodate an upright seating position. They don’t have the capabilities (towing and off-roading) that an SUV does (or can be made to have), but they are every so slightly more capable in driving down a rutted dirt road or across a suburban park than their sedan equivalents. The market is swamped with these vehicles, and for on-road use, they are perfect. My wife drives a Honda CRV as her daily, and it is very efficient, comfortable, and capable for everyday road use.
Our other vehicle is a Jeep Wrangler. It’s four-wheel-drive (not all-wheel drive like the CRV), has much taller (and more aggressive) tires and suspension, and solid axles to support some articulation. It’s been down some hard roads. We take care of it, repair, and maintenance-wise, but it’s got plenty of scratches and dings from the trails in Northern Michigan. It’s not by any means a crawler or even a hard-core trail runner, but it gets us everywhere, and it kind of doesn’t matter what we have to go through to get there.
So what happens when someone drives a large crossover (which the manufacturer and rental company – yep, this was a rental car – undoubtedly market as an SUV) the wrong way up a one-way-only mountain pass road, ignoring the warning of locals? This:
San Miguel County Sheriff’s – Colorado
I snagged this photo from The Drive’s website. They have a more detailed story on this particular incident (I’ll include the link below), but really it’s just illustrative of the dangers of inexperienced drivers, ignoring warnings, and tackling challenging terrain with unsuitable machinery. I know someone who drives the Hyundai version of this vehicle, the Palisade. It’s a very plush, comfy ride with all the room you’d expect to find in a minivan, which is basically what it is. It’s made to look like an SUV, but underneath, it’s the heart and soul of a minivan. And this is not a bad thing until someone with no off-road chops does something foolish and dangerous like this. I’m not sure if this is a case of mad coincidence or high irony, but the vehicle that nearly slid thousands of feet down this mountain is a Kia Telluride. The town it would have fallen into is Telluride, Colorado.
I wish marketing people would stop conflating CUVs and SUVs. They are very different machines when it comes to towing and off-road. Your Mercedes GL/Chevy Traverse/Kia Telluride is a wonderful vehicle for going to the mall and probably driving up to your lake house or cottage, winter or summer. But don’t try to haul a big boat or camper, and for the sake of the lives of your passengers, don’t travel remote mountain passes, thousands of feet up and many miles from where the nearest tow truck could access you. The boat ramp videos of people launching and recovering very large boats with CUVs and 2-wheel drive pickups are entertaining, but a disaster for those who are the subject.
Another Winding Road 