Definitions blur as SUVs grow up

Brian Early

SPECIAL TO THE STAR

Witness the process of evolution at work, right here in this single category of vehicles.

What began as primitive, truck based utility vehicles intended for military use and the needs of a few dedicated outdoorsmen has blossomed into one of the most popular and diverse market segments ever.

Certainly few would have imagined back in the days of the original Ford Bronco, International Scout and Jeep Grand Wagoneer, that car-based crossover SUVs would exist, let alone see the kind of success that they have.

And still the definitions continue to blur. The availability of some form of four-wheel drive used to be the signature characteristic of the genre, but even this has fallen by the wayside since many of these vehicles are available with two-wheel drive, and all-wheel drive systems can now be had in nearly any imaginable body style, not just trucks.

For our purposes, we'll broadly categorize this segment by automatically including any truck based, body on frame SUVs, and adding any multi-purpose vehicle that at least offers the ability to power all four wheels, while not having the flat load floor and sliding doors of a minivan, or obviously being the wagon variant of an existing car model.

Whew!

With those rules established, here's a selection of the new or significantly changed SUVs and crossovers that you should check out at this year's Auto Show.

Chevy HHR

Okay, I'll admit that this one falls outside of my carefully defined category criteria since it doesn't offer any form of all-wheel drive or even display off-road pretensions. But since the HHR (Heritage High Roof) doesn't fit cleanly into any single category, it gets mentioned here by virtue of its crossover like shape.

The HHR is basically Chevrolet's take on the Chrysler PT Cruiser, and like the Neonbased PT, the HHR is based on a compact sedan. In this case the new Chevy Cobalt supplied its front-wheel drive "Delta" platform mechanicals.

Chevrolet's designers looked to the '49 Chevy Suburban for styling inspiration, and the end result is a clean, retro looking vehicle that offers modern versatility. It's a Cobalt wagon without being, well, a Cobalt wagon.

Power for the HHR comes from two different versions of the corporation's Ecotec four-cylinder engine, either a 145hp, 2.2 litre, or a 171hp, 2.4 litre, and both manual and automatic transmissions will be available when the HHR arrives later this year.

Ford Escape Hybrid

The Ford Escape is not new to the market, but the Hybrid version is. Like the Lexus RX 400h, this hybrid crossover SUV has been seen at prior auto shows, but this year you can actually buy one; Ford chose to delay its public availability in order to refine the hybrid's engineering.

All four-cylinder 2005 Escapes are powered by a larger, Mazda designed 2.3 litre engine; while regular Escapes are rated at 153 hp, the hybrid uses an economy optimized "Atkinson cycle" version that makes just 133.

When combined with the electric motor however, the powertrain's output totals approximately 155 hp. As with all other Escapes, reactive all-wheel drive is optional.

Jeep Grand Cherokee

Redesigned for 2005, the Jeep Grand Cherokee could be criticized for not being styled very differently from the model that it replaces. It's true that it's not a radical restyle, but the Grand Cherokee hasn't retained its popularity for this long by abandoning its traditional Jeep styling cues.

Grand Cherokee buyers value the model's proven off-road credentials, though those have been diluted ever so slightly this year in favour of better onroad manners among the refinements is the adoption of an independent front suspension system and rack and pinion steering.

Buyers also like the available 325 hp "Hemi" V8 and the big SUVstyle Class IV towing capacity that this mid-sized sport-utility offers.

Everyone should appreciate the additional space created by a longer overall length and wheelbase.

Kia Sportage

Though many consumers may not realize it, Hyundai owns Kia, which it bought in 1998. The two companies are finally starting to benefit from the synergies that this merger has created, and the new Ford Escape-sized Kia Sportage is a prime example.

This new Sportage shares only its name with the previous version; the 2005 Sportage is actually a virtual twin of the Hyundai Tucson, itself introduced last year.

Like the Tucson, the Sportage is a car-based crossover (in this case, a much modified Hyundai Elantra platform), and it offers the same choice of 140hp, 2.0-litre "Beta" four-cylinder, or 173 hp "Delta" 2.7 litre V6 engines.

Both engines can be mated to a reactive, lockable all-wheel drive system, but only the four cylinder models offer a manual transmission.

Land Rover LR3

This is the replacement for the Discovery in fact, it is called the Discovery 3 in many markets. To say that it is an improvement on the outgoing Discovery would be an understatement.

Engine power, long a Disco sore spot, has been handily addressed by the inclusion of a 300 hp, 4.4 litre Jaguar V8 (Ford owns both companies).

Powering all four wheels through a six speed automatic, the LR3 has enough electronic driver aids to impress even the most jaded technophile. A twist knob varies the reaction of items like the ABS and stability/traction control to a range of surfaces, including "Grass/Gravel/Snow" and "Mud/Ruts."

Regardless of the gadgets, this premium SUV should prove to be a very capable off-road vehicle.

Land Rover Range Rover Sport

As predicted by last year's "Range Stormer" concept vehicle, Land Rover has gone in a direction that few might have predicted, making an onroad oriented performance model called the Range Rover Sport.

While it shares many design cues with the larger Range Rover, this all new Rover actually shares its basic body on frame chassis design with the upright LR3.

In the Sport, power is supplied by a 390hp, 4.2 litre super charged Jaguar V8, and is channelled to the ground through a six-speed automatic and all-wheel-drive. Four wheel independent air suspension and electronic controls are said to allow for excellent onroad behaviour, while retaining Land Rover's expected level of offroad ability.

Lexus RX 400h

Lexus has teased us with this one before. This is the long awaited hybrid version of the RX 330 luxury crossover SUV; a vehicle that Lexus claims can better the fuel economy of the average compact sedan while providing V8 performance.

While Ford beat Lexus (and Lexus's parent company Toyota) to the punch by offering the first hybrid SUV in North America with the Escape Hybrid, Lexus is the first premium brand crossover so equipped, and of the two hybrid SUVs, it is the only one to better the performance of the model's other conventional powertrains.

With a combined electric/gas power output of around 270 hp, hybrid RXs are significantly quicker than their non-hybrid brethren, despite having a slightly less powerful version of the 330's 230hp, 3.3litre V6 on board. Look for the mechanically similar Toyota Highlander Hybrid to appear at the AutoShow as well.

Mercedes ML

Arriving this spring as a 2006 model, the new Mercedes M Class acknowledges that most luxury SUV buyers value onroad agility more than off road ability, and it is designed to better meet that need.

Two engines will be offered initially, a 268hp, 3.5 litre V6 (ML350), and a 302hp, 5.0 litre V8 (ML500). Both are mated to a seven-speed automatic and full-time all-wheel drive.

As you'd expect from a premium brand, an astonishing array of electronic and safety equipment can be found or had the sky is the limit.

Hardcore off-road Benz lovers, fear not; an off-road package is to come, and it will bring back the previous model's two-speed transfer case, while adding features like lockable centre and rear differentials.

Nissan Pathfinder

One of the original compact SUVs in the 1980s, the Pathfinder returns to its roots for 2005, being once again a body on frame SUV that's based on the Japanese automaker's compact pickup truck chassis.

Only that pickup since renamed the Frontier is no longer compact. Consequently, neither is the new Pathfinder, which although much smaller than the immense Armada, is now big enough to hold up to seven passengers in its three rows of seats.

Power is from an enlarged and beefed up 4.0 litre version of the VQ series V6 engine that can be found in everything from the 350Z to the Altima. In Pathfinder trim, it produces 270 hp and is mated to a five speed automatic.

Just like in the original Pathy, a dedicated off-road package is available, but all '05 Pathfinders sport a decidedly un-'80s four wheel fully independent suspension system.

Nissan Xterra

Like the closely related 2005 Pathfinder, the new Nissan Xterra shares much of its chassis engineering with the Frontier, and therefore the full sized Armada and Titan pickup as well.

Wider and taller than the previous model, the new Xterra's wheelbase is 5 cm longer, improving rear seat room. Nearly 22 cm shorter than the Pathfinder, the Xterra seats only five, and has a solid rear axle instead of the Pathfinder's independent setup.

The Xterra has substantially more power for 2005 265 hp from its 4.0 litre VQ40DE V6 and it can now be equipped with either a five-speed automatic or a six-speed manual transmission.

Styling is evolutionary, with a clear link to the new Nissan truck identity, but the Xterra's characteristic tubular roof rack and tailgate "bump" remain.

Expect the new Xterra to arrive in showrooms this March.

Saab 97X

Saab's 97X is built in Moraine, Ohio. Surprising? Perhaps, until you know that the Swedish manufacturer is owned by General Motors, and that this new Saab SUV is a variant of GM's

"GMT360" platform, a design shared by the Chevy Trailblazer and GMC Envoy. (This is not the first rebadged Saab, either; the compact Saab 92X is based on the Subaru Impreza and built in Japan.)

Saab's research showed that many Saab owners also own an SUV, and that up to 30 per cent of Saab's defectors left the brand to buy vehicles of that type.

A ground up new SUV was out of the question, but the 97X does have unique suspension settings and a lower ride height, 18 inch wheels, the quicker ratio steering rack from the extended length GMT360s, and additional stiffening braces in its frame.

The interior and exterior have also received a Swedish makeover.

97X Linear models are powered by GM's 275 hp, 4.2 litre inline six cylinder engine, Arcs receive a more potent 300hp, 5.3litre V8; both are paired with a four-speed automatic and full-time all-wheel drive.

Subaru B9 Tribeca

Although Subaru pioneered the genre of car based light off-road vehicles most notably the Outback family and it was among the first to make all-wheel drive widely available in conventional cars and wagons, Subaru has never had a real crossover or SUV in its lineup.

That changes this year, with the introduction of the five or seven-passenger all-wheel drive B9 Tribeca. Powered by the Outback H6's 250 hp, 3.0 litre flat six, the B9 Tribeca offers the larger size and 1,587 kg towing capacity that buyers are often looking for, in a package that is, to say the least, distinctive (it looks better in person).

The B9 Tribeca's styling is true to the Japanese company's most recent concept vehicles, and is intended to recall parent company Fuji Heavy Industries' aircraft manufacturing roots.

Like the new look or not, the B9 Tribeca offers much of the latest in crossover safety and electronic equipment, and should prove a capable adversary to competitors like Nissan's

Murano and the Lexus RX 330.

Quick hits

Be sure to check out the following changes to some existing models:

GMC Envoy/Envoy XL Now available in upscale Denali trim levels, with V8 power as standard equipment, even in the short wheel base models.

Hummer H2 SUT A pseudo pickup truck version of the plus-sized SUV.

Jeep Liberty CRD Jeep finally brings the turbo diesel version of its Liberty SUV over to this side of the Atlantic.

Volvo XC90 V8 Ford resurrects the Taurus SHO's V8, enlarges it to 4.4 litres and creates a mad 311 hp Volvo sport-utility.

bandb.early @ sympatico.ca