Urban 'on-roaders' or wannabe-mobiles

Theres been a craze among european car-manufacturers this year to produce vehicles known as 'urban-on roaders'. This fancy sounding name intails taking a supermini jacking up the suspension,putting chunky bodycladding on and giving it a trendy or SUV-ish name. These cars very rarely offer 4WD and have limited and sometimes no off-road ability. Its so approriate this trend all began in Britian, with the Streetwise where all these uprgrades give people illusions of grandure(British snobbery at its best). Now everyones getting in the act ,Brazil with the Ford EcoSport which actually offers 4WD and India with the TATA Indigo Advent. These cars are the ultimate wannabe-mobiles.

http://www.swindonautomobiles.co.uk/rover/vehicles/images/streetwise2.jpg
The car that started it all, the Streetwise by Rover
http://1.im.cz/n/photo/01/71/57arqbc-topsirka.jpg
VW Polo Fun(called Dune in UK)
http://www.carbc.com/news2/highres/c3xtr-01.jpg
Citroen's C3 XTR
http://www.envenenado.com.br/nacionais/ford/ecosport_005.jpg
Ford Fusion based EcoSport
http://www.forum-auto.com/uploads/200310/alx_1066144756_panda_4x4.jpg
Fiat Panda 4X4 'Simba'
http://www.theautochannel.com/N/news/2004/03/03/183315.1-lg.jpg
TATA Indigo Advent

Sorry to kidn of bring this thread up a bit but I think it's a great idea. If only we could get der Polo in the US with AWD. I would buy one for sure! But alas the closest I can get is a 4motion V6 Golf.

These things would be useless off road.

just cause they have rubber paneling doesn't mean they're rugged.

Most full size SUVs are just as useless, but then you're forgetting that most SUVs are not designed with off-roading in mind. All I can say is that the Lada Niva predates all of those cars, and is probably infinitely better at going off road than any of the current small SUVs (and probably a good deal of the larger ones as well).

These things would be useless off road.
Yes, they would be, but that misses the point.

These things are more useful and utilitarian than a car. The driver sits up higher, so they can see around urban traffic, with lots of interior room in a short and nimble package. Sure they may not be as good on the highway as a car, but for an urban family who need the space they are dandy.

So what if the manufacturers take pictures of them off road. The buyers use them as on-road vehicles which is EXACTLY what they are designed for.

The new Panda 4X4 has been offically released and is offered in 4X4 and thanks to generous ground clearance, short body overhangs and viscious joints with two differentials. This means it can negotiate a gradient of over 50%, It seems pretty good in the rough stuff too. All this is mated to Fiat's new compact 1.3Multijet diesel which offers wide band of torque so it should be pretty nippy too. Lets hope the pricing's right, if so Fiat has got one over its useless rivals.

http://www.autonews-exklusiv.de/preview/FIAT%20Panda%204x4%20(2004)%2001.jpg
Production version of the Panda 4X4.

It's weird really. Manufacturers need to come up with new ideas all the time. One does something and everyone else jumps on the band wagon.

Mini me SUV's that don't cope off road, estate cars like the Volvo and audi being made in 'off road version' that are just as useless. Then there are the likes of Range Rover of which 90% only go off road when the owner parks on the driveway......

...I want to see a manufacturer come out with the SRV and everyone will follow. I want to see the School Run Vehicle.....that's all these cars are.

The only real offroad vehicle that has a low price would be (I should say had been) the suzuki sidekick(geo/chevy tracker, Isuzu rodeo), you can go anywhere with that thing

These vehicles are a really good idea since 99.9% of the people that own them will never go off-road! Whay would these people need a full frame, solid axles if they are never going to take it to the trails?? They can save gas, maintinace, and space by buying these!