Is your crossover more CAR or more SUV?

"MojoMotors.com" (MojoMotors)
08/19/2014 at 11:50 • Filed to: crossover, SUV, infographic

We compared 15 popular crossovers to find out if they have characteristics making them more car-like or SUV-like. Specs studied included engine size, horsepower, MPG, towing capacity, payload capacity and ground clearance.

The "most car-like" crossovers are at the top with the city backdrop and the "most SUV-like" crossovers at the bottom in front of the mountain. During the analysis we had to define what makes a car and what makes an SUV. Keep reading to find out why we determined a CR-V is more like a Civic than a Suburban.

What makes a car?

We examined the most popular midsize cars on the market like the Toyota Camry, Honda Accord, Nissan Altima, and Hyundai Sonata to find similarities. All of them came have around 180HP powering the front wheels on their base models and achieved a combined 30 miles per gallon. Not surprisingly, none of them were rated for towing. Simply put, a car is the best option if you're commuting to work, moving two to four people and running errands. Beyond that, these sedans don't have much else to offer.

What makes an SUV?

When sport utility vehicles entered the market, they were nothing more than pickups designed to carry more people and less payloads. They came with heavy duty suspensions and body-on-frame construction that made them difficult to handle and hard to navigate on any road other than highways or the trails. However, these features meant SUV's could do far more than the average car.

Their towing capacity usually matched their pickup truck counterparts and the 4X4 drivetrain made even off-roading possible. The downfall of the SUV was their large and inefficient V8 engines that were necessary to move those absurdly heavy vehicles. By the late 1990s, SUVs had gained a reputation within American culture as being the choice of the soccer moms with money to burn.

Age of the Crossover

In the early 2000s, the SUV was damned by a reputation for inefficiency and overindulgence. While cars weren't considered big enough for a family and no one wanted to be seen in a minivan anymore, where could the American family turn? The automotive industry had to devise a way to rebrand cars that were large and powerful enough to carry families while simultaneously avoiding all of the previous stigmas. Enter the crossover. Crossovers weren't so much a new type of car as they were a combining of two pre-existing vehicle types. They have unibody constructions instead of the heavy-duty frames of the SUV's, which was acceptable because the majority of SUV's never saw their full potential. Most SUV's were being used as people movers anyway.

Crossovers still retain the look of SUV's but are much lighter, allowing manufacturers to outfit them with smaller V6 and even I4 engines that got much better mileage than SUV's. Another way crossovers are different from SUVs are their drivetrains. If you did not opt for 4X4 on your SUV, it typically came with rear wheel drive. With crossovers, if you don't opt for AWD, you get FWD which adds to the sedan-like driving experience. Over the years, the term crossover became increasingly ambiguous and the line between a car, crossover and sport utility vehicle is blurry.

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DISCUSSION (49)

For Sweden > MojoMotors.com
08/19/2014 at 11:51

Durango

Crossover

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > MojoMotors.com
08/19/2014 at 11:52

Isn't the logical description of a Crossover an SUV style body slapped onto a Car platform instead of an SUV which is an SUV body on a Truck platform?

Nibby > For Sweden
08/19/2014 at 11:53

They're not body on frame!

Imirrelephant > For Sweden
08/19/2014 at 11:53

Nailed it!

mazda616 > MojoMotors.com
08/19/2014 at 11:54

So...our CX-5 has more ground clearance than an Explorer? Odd. Anyway, I know the CX-5 is rather car like. But that's why I like it. Makes my wife feel like she's driving an SUV but gives me the economy and driving dynamics of a car. If I needed to tow anything, then it'd be a different story. But for daily driving and future baby hauling, our trucklet does fine.

Alfalfa > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner
08/19/2014 at 11:54

I always thought the logical description was "tall station wagon"

HammerheadFistpunch > MojoMotors.com
08/19/2014 at 11:55

I'm not going to lie, I'm not going to follow the link (personal policy not to follow content created solely to drive traffic away from jalopnik/oppo) But I really like this and the info graphic. I've been working along the same lines on an article without the graphical work and it makes it much more wordy and long.

Its my opinion that an SUV should be defined by, as you have suggested, its ability to work and play when the road ends. I also feel that an suv ought to be longitudinal in engine layout, but thats not really a sticking point. The truth is that the term SUV is practically useless these days as there are probably only 20 vehicles on the market that fit the term still.

The rest are crossovers which, by definition, are neither here nor there. Again, I like this graphic.

HammerheadFistpunch > MojoMotors.com
08/19/2014 at 11:57

Also, researching payload is a bitch isn't it?

MojoMotors.com > HammerheadFistpunch
08/19/2014 at 11:58

Definitely less than 20 "real" SUVs in the US market. Aside from GMs lineup and the Expedition/Navigator what else makes the cut?

MojoMotors.com > HammerheadFistpunch
08/19/2014 at 12:00

No doubt. Then trying to figure out which specs to include/exclude was another debacle.

HammerheadFistpunch > MojoMotors.com
08/19/2014 at 12:02

I have a list of about 15 that will be included in my article. you'll have to wait and see.

For Sweden > Nibby
08/19/2014 at 12:04

Do you even Range Rover?

MojoMotors.com > HammerheadFistpunch
08/19/2014 at 12:05

Looking forward to it then. When you thinking it will be ready?

HammerheadFistpunch > MojoMotors.com
08/19/2014 at 12:06

it has to be today, otherwise I'll never have it done.

oldirtybootz > MojoMotors.com
08/19/2014 at 12:10

Tahoe, Suburban, Yukon, Escalade, Expedition, Navigator, Grand Cherokee(?), 4Runner, Sequoia, Land Cruiser, GX460, LX570, QX56(70? 80? Not sure anymore), Armada(is it still in production?), G-Class, GL-Class(?), LR4, RRS, RR, Touareg(?)...

BigBlock440 > mazda616
08/19/2014 at 12:12

The new Explorer is just a Taurus station wagon with a small lift. It's not that odd that something would have more ground clearance.

XJDano > MojoMotors.com
08/19/2014 at 12:14

Not on the infographic here but Equinox 1st gen for sure is car like, not sure about 2nd gen. Although memory serves for the towing payload around 3000.

mcseanerson > MojoMotors.com
08/19/2014 at 12:20

What do you know, my two favorites are some of the most car based but have the most ground clearance.

MojoMotors.com > XJDano
08/19/2014 at 12:20

Over 3,000 lbs for the 2014 model year. Besides the payload, everything else is very car-like.

XJDano > MojoMotors.com
08/19/2014 at 12:27

We have a first gen, my wife picked it out before we were dating. I would have picked a different trim, or car altogether. But it is paid off by now, living without any car payments.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Alfalfa
08/19/2014 at 12:31

it could be that too, but if you think about it I covered that because station wagon is still typically built on a car platform.

BigBlock440 > oldirtybootz
08/19/2014 at 12:35

Wrangler

Nibby > For Sweden
08/19/2014 at 12:43

Nope. Too $$$

oldirtybootz > BigBlock440
08/19/2014 at 12:43

I knew I was forgetting an obvious one.

Denver Is Stuck In The 90s > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner
08/19/2014 at 12:56

The Lexus RX is built off the Camry Platform

BigBlock440 > oldirtybootz
08/19/2014 at 13:03

I wanted to throw in a few more, but I just couldn't think of any

julienjj > Alfalfa
08/19/2014 at 13:10

My personal description is Wagon/hatch with lift kit, larger tires and fake offroad toughness upgrades, such as fake skid plates on bumpers, unpainted plastic wheels arches, side steps.

See : audi allroad a4 b8, passat alltrack, volvo xc70, bmw X, subaru outback.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Denver Is Stuck In The 90s
08/19/2014 at 13:10

I think you must have replied to the wrong person...

Denver Is Stuck In The 90s > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner
08/19/2014 at 13:14

Nope. Alfalfa called crossovers tall station wagons, you said a station wagon is based of a car platform, I wanted to tell you that there are crossovers built of car platforms. Thus merging Alfalfa and your theories on the classification of crossovers

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Denver Is Stuck In The 90s
08/19/2014 at 13:16

ahh ok.

It's surprising how people don't realize how many cars/cuvs are related.

Like the Taurus/Flex/Explorer/Lincoln MKS/MKT are all the same car. 1 platform 5 nameplates, that's why Ford had a come back

oldirtybootz > BigBlock440
08/19/2014 at 14:04

XTerra! And I think that's it.

Glorious Comb Over > MojoMotors.com
08/19/2014 at 15:21

Kinja'd!!!

I'm sorry to be the one to break it to you all, but all crossovers are just handicapped minivans. Basically minivans that rode the short bus to school wearing a helmet and face guard, developing and perfecting everything wrong with minivans without getting any of the advantages of being a minivan.

Glorious Comb Over > Alfalfa
08/21/2014 at 08:17

edu-petrolhead > MojoMotors.com
08/21/2014 at 16:37

Kinja'd!!!

I don't even know how to link this to a car...

BiffMagnetude > MojoMotors.com
08/21/2014 at 16:49

You did this wrong.

Ground clearance is the only thing you got right.

Cars have horsepower and you could tow an airstream with a vista vue.

SUV's have two speed transfer cases and frames so they can go offroad and tow without damaging the structural integrity of the vehicle and making them creaky and annoying.

These are all cars.

MojoMotors.com > BiffMagnetude
08/21/2014 at 16:55

But Ron Burgundy said it was an SUV!

Zibodiz > oldirtybootz
08/24/2014 at 02:22

Grand Cherokee is unibody, but it's longitude; does that still count? It shares its platform with the Durango, which did not make your list, which would lead me to think it does not. The Touareg is the same platform as the Porsche Cayenne, which would tend to make me think it's a crossover rather than an SUV.

The XTerra is a true body-on-frame RWD SUV. Wrangler, as mentioned by BigBlock440. Otherwise, that list looks pretty complete.

Zibodiz > MojoMotors.com
08/24/2014 at 02:30

Kinja'd!!!

Whoah. I had no idea the new Rav4 and Escape had such an identical shape. I mean, your illustrations are spot-on, but those two look nearly identical. If I didn't know better, I'd think they were the same vehicle (like the Tahoe / Suburban.)

oldirtybootz > Zibodiz
08/24/2014 at 11:22

Yeah I forgot the XTerra was still in production and the JK was so obvious it just slipped my mind.

I didn't count the Durango because it uses AWD instead of the GC's 4x4. The GC has always been unibody, as was the XJ Cherokee.

The Touareg and it's siblings don't share that architecture with any VAG cars.

Charles Spratlin > oldirtybootz
08/24/2014 at 18:00

GC is a crossover, it and the Durango share the platform.

Charles Spratlin > MojoMotors.com
08/24/2014 at 18:01

Crossover done right.

oldirtybootz > Charles Spratlin
08/24/2014 at 18:08

Why? Because unibody? The XJ and ZJ were also unibody...

Charles Spratlin > oldirtybootz
08/24/2014 at 18:16

Chrysler group classified the GC and Durango as Crossovers, I'm honestly not sure why. fuckers are closer to a truck than anything else out there that isn't Body on Frame.

also going based on this chart, if one is technically a crossover so must the other be.

and seeing as i had an XJ, nothing but love for a properly done Uni-body SUV.

oldirtybootz > Charles Spratlin
08/24/2014 at 18:28

They blur the line between the two categories. The WK2 Grand Cherokee is definitely an SUV, the most car-like is the 392ci SRT8 so I'd say it has the truck thing down pat. The Durango is more truck like than it's competitors with ita longitudinal engines and the option of the Hemi, but it's far more car like than a BOF SUV.

Zipppy, Mazdurp builder, Probeski owner and former ricerboy > MojoMotors.com
08/24/2014 at 18:51

Kinja'd!!!

What a shame. 13 years ago, they had hitches that could tow 3500 lbs.

Charles Spratlin > oldirtybootz
08/24/2014 at 20:04

comes down to capability i suppose.
i forget who did this test when the Durango first came out but it was pitted against several other crossovers in capability challenges, and flat out monstered the competition. others will give you better mileage, but the Durango and GC are the only ones that will give you the capability of their bigger brethren with better economy to boot.

i also have a bit of love for the GC because its one of two real Jeep's remaining

Andrew's Ennui > HammerheadFistpunch
08/25/2014 at 00:12

(personal policy not to follow content created solely to drive traffic away from jalopnik/oppo)

Glad to see someone is thinking about the Nick Dentons.

upsidedownfunnel > BiffMagnetude
08/25/2014 at 17:07

Sure the Durango isn't meant for heavy duty towing, but I'd still call it an SUV. At the very least, it's more of an SUV than a car. It does have a two speed transfer case, if the system is similar to the Grand Cherokee.

BiffMagnetude > upsidedownfunnel
08/26/2014 at 10:29

Reread my post. A Vista View is an old wagon and it could tow like mad relative to its' era.

The Durango doesn't have a frame. So though it tows reasonably well, and it has a two speed transfer case, if you use it as an SUV, the unibody will suffer and eventually it will creak and groan and rattle. Unibody's are awesome for rigidity with crumple zones and are much safer than body on frame setups.

BUT, since the body is relied on to maintain structural integrity, it will respond very poorly to the sort of metal fatigue that offroading and towing presents. So, if it does not have a two speed transfer case AND a body on frame setup, it is a car. It might be a good car, but it is a car still. Use a Durango like you'd use a pickup and in a year or two the rattles and creaks will make you insane.

The market has responded to how people actually use SUV's they add transfer cases and rate towing capacities so the owners can pretend they have trucks, but almost nobody ever leaves the pavement or tows anything with them. Crossovers are designed for what the market actually wants in spite of what buyers say and any pretense of SUV like capability is really window dressing.