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| The future: Some SUV fans envision a time when vehicles like the Suzuki Dune will run free. Courtesy of Suzuki |
For the S.U.V. set, a plunge into the mud
More four-wheel-drive owners appear interested in leveraging their vehicles' capabilities – and testing their own.
By Clayton Collins | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitorfrom the October 26, 2007 edition
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Dedham, Mass. - The Range Rover's hood blots out the rising trail, leaving only sky. Trees stand at our sides – close enough to imperil the mirrors. Creeping ahead, we crest, and the truck's nose falls. Through swirling dust I see the drop – about 45 degrees – a rocky, mounded path that suggests Osama bin Laden's driveway.
"No brake," says my co-driver, Scott Kinnear, raising an arm that I now notice is in a cast. "Just let it go." In low range, the Rover locks into Hill-Descent Control, walking us down like a bighorn sheep. "We're not anywhere near the limits of the car," says Mr. Kinnear, a pro driver hired by the automaker.
It's an effective pitch at a public driving event meant to illustrate that a luxury SUV – this Sport HSE is about $60,000 – is wasting its time just trekking to the mall. In recent years, of course, precisely that sort of use has prevailed, making the SUV an emblem of overkill and waste. But now – even if plenty of headlight-covering brush guards might never touch brush – more four-wheel-drive owners appear interested in leveraging their vehicles' capabilities and testing their own. While most SUV and truck buyers seek out the vehicles for peace of mind or to project a macho persona, drivers who view four-wheeling as an occasional necessity – and as sport – are more common now.
"We're seeing people we wouldn't have considered customers for our industry becoming more aware of the products out there to enhance the styling and functionality of cars, trucks, and SUVs," says Peter MacGillivray, vice president at the Specialty Equipment Market Association.
A SEMA survey of aftermarket-parts manufacturers and retailers last summer put off-roading at the top of a list of hot trends, edging out muscle cars (a male-boomer favorite) and drifting (the controlled-oversteer driving popular with the young tuner set).
For Jenn Sterling, that means heading out of Marin County, Calif., in a Toyota Tacoma for all-weather off-roading with her husband and 9-year-old son.
"My first serious off-road trip was in Big Bear in southern California," say Ms. Sterling. "I had no idea what to expect." What she found: hills, mud holes, ruts, and giant rocks they had to navigate at a crawl. "It's scary, and exhilarating." They recently hit the trails around Lake Tahoe, far beyond hiking range.
Hard-core hobbyist publications are following the shift. Some still focus on rock-crawling goliaths with wheels the size of New Beetles. But a recent issue of "Off-Road" magazine ran a feature on a small Ford Ranger pickup with a minimum of modifications – most of them basic bolt-ons – as an everyman off-road rig.
Camp Jeep, the granddaddy of "experiential" four-wheeling events, drew some 2,900 vehicles to Virginia this summer, says Jodi Tinson, a spokeswoman – up from 1,100 or so last year.
Showrooms tell a story, too. Sales of Jeep's Wrangler Unlimited – a four-door version of its classic 4X4 – have surged. Toyota's FJ Cruiser – descendant of the cult favorite FJ – has attracted new members to the lift-kit set. Volkwagen's SUV, the Touareg, lists a "fording depth" among its specifications for would-be creek-crossers (it's 19.7 inches). Suzuki's highly modified Dune, a prototype off-roader bristling with extreme aftermarket gear, "speaks to the platform's potential," says David Bolt, a Suzuki spokesman.
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