Pimp My 4x4! But Start With The Tyres!
Four-wheel drive, 4WD, or 4x4 is a term used to describe a four-wheeled vehicle with a drive train that allows all four wheels to receive power from the engine simultaneously. The term has traditionally been linked to sports utility vehicles, or SUVs, which have been very popular in the United States, and are now becoming popular across Europe. The benefit of a car with four-wheel drive is that it allows for normal two-wheel drive on normal roads and superior four-wheel mode for low traction conditions such as snow, ice, slippery surfaces, mud or loose gravel.
In response to criticism by civic groups against using larger SUVs for daily urban trips, car manufacturers are now trying to position the smaller versions as green vehicles, with levels of CO2 emissions much closer to their conventional car equivalents than larger models. For example, Citroen recently launched the C-Crosser, only available with a particulate filter and frugal diesel engines.
These newer models are likely to be popular in Europe, where smaller SUVs have been more successful than larger models, and are likely to be a bigger driving force for sales of 4WD vehicles in the near future. Other examples include the Nissan Qashqai and the Renault Koleos, both combining four-by-four drive and limited off-road capabilities with the handling of a passenger car.
J.D. Power Automotive Forecasting estimated SUVs comprise 1.5 million out of 18.3 million vehicles, or 8% of the car market, in Europe in 2007. Of this quotient, 0.6% are small SUVs, 2.4% are large ones and 5.3% are medium-sized. By 2010, the SUV segment is estimated to grow to 10.1%, with medium growing to 7% and large slipping to 2.2%. By 2014, the SUV market is expected to increase to 11.2%, with medium-sized cars responsible for 7.6% and large cars for 2%. The total European new car market is then expected to be 21.9 million vehicles.
This is of course good news for car workshops. In recent years, TV shows such as MTVÕs Pimp My Ride, have increased the popularity of overhauling, or, if you will, customising cars with things like game consoles, chrome wheels and faster engines. But before 4x4 owners go off trying to similarly overhaul their own vehicles, it might be best to invest in a new set of 4x4 tyres.
Donald Cheach, editor of Top Gear Malaysia, recently told the Malaysia Star: ŅThe first thing I would recommend is definitely a set of better tyres. There is nothing wrong with go-fast upgrades as long as there is an equal effort to improve the safety aspect of the vehicle. The wheels represent the unsprung weight of the vehicle. Generally, the lighter this is, the more efficient the performance. Suspension should be looked at next, followed by engine upgradesÓ.
Ultimately, those looking to buy a new SUV in order to take advantage of its 4x4 capabilities, yet stay environmentally conscious, will find their needs well-met by upcoming medium and small sized SUVs, should they decide to pimp them or not.
By Andrew Regan.
Visit the Blog about citroen romaniaCitroen C-Crosser
I thought I was well abreast of the gap between reality and PR spin in the motoring industry. I am used to being told that unsporting cars are exceedingly sporty and that cars designed for SainsburyÕs are fun to drive and full of emotion.
To me and most who do this job, itÕs just another form of white noise that accompanies most product launches and can be mentally tuned out while you wait in the usually forlorn hope that theyÕll tell you something you havenÕt read in the press pack.
But with this, the C-Crosser, Citro‘n has taken the reality gap and stretched it so so wide that no suspension of disbelief, willing or otherwise, can bridge it. For this is a car which, we were told without the merest hint of irony, is Ņa pure Citro‘n productÓ with ŅCitro‘n DNAÓ running through it. It is nothing of the sort.
The C-Crosser is, in fact, not a Citro‘n in any conventional sense save the badge on its bonnet. This Ņpure Citro‘n productÓ is a Mitsubishi, designed, engineered and built in Japan.
And as for the DNA, not only does it contain none of the quirky design touches that have distinguished key Citro‘ns throughout the companyÕs history, it is an SUV, a genre noted for its absence from the Citro‘n lineup ever since it hit the market.
True, the new car does have a 2.2 litre diesel engine used in other Citro‘ns and Peugeots, while the Mitsubishi on which it is based, the Outlander, uses an inferior VW unit, and yes it has been given its own nose and detail changes to the rear styling so it doesnÕt look exactly like an Outlander. But none of this makes it a Citro‘n any more than dressing up like Elvis and slapping on some sideburns makes you the King.
The pity is this sort of nonsense threatens to cloud the fact that what Citro‘n has been able to lay its hands on is a pretty capable and impressive machine. At £22,790 for the VTR+ model and £25,490 for the Exclusive version I drove, itÕs not cheap, but IÕd place it a step ahead of most cars that could be called competitors.
Sensibly, it recognises that people are increasingly buying cars such as this not to go yomping through the jungle but as something that works like an MPV or an estate without the homespun image. And in these roles it does well.
The fact that its third row of seats is fiddly to raise and lower and will accommodate only children is dwarfed by the fact that these seats exist at all: you wonÕt find them in a Land Rover Freelander 2, Toyota RAV4 or BMW X3. It has a split tailgate to provide a weatherproof vantage point or simply somewhere for children to change muddy wellies or football boots. The middle row of seats doesnÕt merely fold, it slides and reclines too.
And itÕs fair that Citro‘n takes a share of the credit for the refined and punchy motor under the bonnet. The VW equivalent in the Outlander is not only 10% less powerful, it sounds like a hardware store being fed through a blender. In contrast the 156bhp Citro‘n engine is smooth and flexible while offering reasonable fuel consumption and emissions. Sadly no automatic is available and the standard (Mitsubishi) six-speed gearbox is a little rubbery and obstructive.
The C-Crosser rides and handles surprisingly well, too. Citro‘n claims to have had some influence over Mitsubishi in the choice of suspension settings for the car (though the architecture itself is all MitsubishiÕs). It has a strong appetite for the open road, steers notably well and can be switched between two and four-wheel drive on the move. And if all you want to do is cruise, its all-round independent suspension and muted noise levels make light and comfortable work of long journeys.
ItÕs not an off-roader in traditional terms, but with reasonable ground clearance and the ability to lock up its four-wheel-drive system, it should have no problem extricating itself from muddy fields at sports day, a point-to-point or a country wedding, which, frankly, is all almost anyone is going to ask of it.
Inside, however, it is less successful, particularly when you consider the steep pricing points Citro‘n has chosen for it. Almost all the interior plastics are hard, scratchy and have no place in a car costing so much Š you can spend less and have an Audi A6.
The instruments are unattractive, the steering wheel lacks reach adjustment (an extraordinary omission these days), which compromises your driving position, and the sat nav that is standard on the top of the range car provided such dreadful graphics and proved so useless at navigating me through the Pyrenees that I seriously question its value.
I also question the carÕs positioning in the market: Citro‘n has always been aware that value is an integral part of its brand, yet it is charging big money for this car while Mitsubishi will sell it Š albeit with a considerably less pleasing engine Š for less than £20,000.
Even so, the C-Crosser is good enough to deserve to succeed. Whether it does is another matter. People are used to Citro‘n hatchbacks and Citro‘n MPVs but the evidence is that when Citro‘n wanders into a market where its face is less familiar, life can be tough.
Even Xavier Duchemin, the managing director of Citro‘n UK, admitted that sales of its big C6 saloon were disappointing. Clearly his marketing men are going to have to work hard to acclimatise the car-buying public to the idea of a Citro‘n SUV.
Perhaps they should exploit the fact that Mitsubishi is, in contrast, one of the biggest and longest established names in the SUV world and rename the C-Crosser with a view to describing it a shade more honestly and accurately. IÕve come up with the Citro‘n-Mitsubishi Cross Dresser. If youÕve got a better idea, perhaps youÕd let us know.
By Andrew Frankel.
