The Sport Utility Vehicle is a passenger vehicle with a larger cargo capacity and generally with a higher ground clearance than sedans and station wagons.
Traditional SUVs are built using a light truck chassis and usually equipped with four wheel or all
wheel drive
capabilities which will be easily accommodated by their higher ground clearance.
A sport utility vehicle consists of three main compartments:-
- The front of the car with the bonnet or hood and the engine compartment.
- The passenger area with two rows of seats which accommodates five or six averaged sized passengers including the driver.
- An extended rear compartment with the roofline that goes straight back to the rear of the vehicle which provides more space for cargo.
After reading the three compartments you will realize that the SUV has a general layout or body style as the station wagon but
the difference is that SUVs are larger with a higher ground clearance as I mentioned earlier. Some SUVs have a third row of seats as
an option to carry up to seven or eight passengers.

The Toyota Land Cruiser, a large SUV and an exceptional off roader

The Range Rover Sport, a sport oriented (crossover) SUV
The light truck chassis that SUVs are built on allow them to have the durability and rugged feel of a
pick up or a small truck but most of the smaller and mid-sized SUVs have strayed from the rugged feel and are now crossover SUVs.
Many of the larger SUVs are manufactured with diesel engines designed to provide adequate
torque for tasks such as towing and can still have good fuel efficiency ratings.
Like some hatchback models I have seen a few SUVs with three doors which will be the two front seat
passenger doors and the tailgate. I should tell you that these type of SUVs lack in cargo space unless you pull down the back seat and
persons would have to enter the back seat like how you would in a coupe.
Sport utility vehicles can be further classified into small, mid-size and full-size with the flagship SUV being the full-size or whichever is the larger size the company offers.
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