Ford’s Baby Bronco broke cover last week. It’s a retro-styled cute ute that… honestly, isn’t that bad looking. Also, peer a bit more closely at the central Bronco in the above set of three. See the silhouette behind it? Something bigger, and a bit more old-school Bronco is coming.
For now though, let’s focus on the smaller crossovers and SUVs. Are there any compact or mid-size machines that have your interest piqued? Personally, I hope there’s a Raptor-ized version of the Baby Bronco. That would be a bad-ass alternative to the Wrangler Rubicon. Stuff the 3.5-liter EcoBoost in that and we have a party on our hands.
Also, there are down-sized SUVs available outside of this country that have us paying attention. After you answer the question posed here, stick around because we have a review of not-for-US cute ute coming up later this morning.
[Image courtesy of Off-Road.com]
Hooniverse Asks: Are there any new small SUVs that you're excited about?
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31 responses to “Hooniverse Asks: Are there any new small SUVs that you're excited about?”
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No.
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My thoughts exactly, though I would be excited if the Jimny were coming to the U.S.
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The original Jimny looked that way because it made sense at the time, sort of like a Panda or a 2CV, which gave it a certain utilitarian chic. The new Jimny looks that way because of marketing, new pedestrian safety and fuel consumption laws have turned the boxy look into an engineering challenge for everthing street legal. Which means it’s like a Hummer H2 for developing nations. Meh.
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The new Jimny isn’t exactly bloated in size – it’s overall length is about the same as a first-generation Honda CRX. Plus 2,500 pounds is still pretty light for a globally-marketed vehicle.
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Perversely I’d ask “why do you even need a Jimny?” as both the Panda and 2CV had perfectly good 4×4 versions…
http://www.classicdriver.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_full/public/article_images/panda4.jpg?itok=5LsgJ0Gh
https://img2.cgtrader.com/items/11970/2b2ca933dc/1958-citroen-2cv-sahara-4×4-3d-model-max.jpg-
I don’t think the twin-engine 2CV was a ‘perfectly good’ 4×4, it was at best trying to make lemonade out of lemons, albeit probably pretty good in a very specific circumstance.
The Jimny comes into its own for hard-core off-roading, but with compromises on road as all such vehicles of any size do. -
I will accept that the 2CV ‘sahara’ was perhaps an unnecessary complication.
After all, the Royal Marines decided that the front-wheel-drive version was quite sufficient for their needs:
http://www.citroenet.org.uk/foreign/slough/rn-pickup/02.jpg
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It won’t be a mini Bronco, it will be a tall Focus on stilts.
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i’m with you. NO!
Imho the trouble with all -UVs is the uninspired “plop out one more” approach that leads to a sea of eerily similar, yet dang uninspired vehicles. The Germans think that way about manual diesel wagons. So everything that promises to be special – great design, real offroadability, comfiest ride ever, or even a dumb-SUV trying to break the laws of physics, like the Porsche-Bentley-Aston Martin-crowd, deserves some attention.
In theory.
When it comes to what I’d want to drive, I’d say the closest thing to an -UV of any sort I desire is the Ford Flex. Due to its weight and massive engine, that one is punitively unattainable for me here, so I’m not sure there is anything to drool after.
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My sister drives an Ecoboost Flex Limited, and I finally got to drive it (I’d previously only driven the naturally-aspirated Flex). It has impressive pep, but the weight is noticeable, and it feels even bigger than it is. I still love the styling, though, and I would much prefer it over our family minivan, had my wife allowed it. She thinks they look like hearses.
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Can’t you swing it around the kitchen assembly: Reliability, practicality, positive status? Honestly, though, I could imagine the weight to be its Achilles heel. That’s why I didn’t like the Tesla S – felt like a truck to me.
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My wife had the same reaction to the Flex. Although I like the styling and layout, a minivan is a more practical choice. More room, more flexibility and essentially the same capabilities. When we moved from a minivan to an SUV it was for better towing and none of the interesting options like the Flex or CX-9 were any better than a minivan.
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call me quite interested in this new Bronco II (they have to resurrect that name right?)
But not for me – my folks. They have 100k on their Escape and are looking at a replacement – the problem for them is that my Dad loves power and hates niceties like leather and technology and is bent that Ford only offers the 2.0 Ecoboost in Titanium trim. This might be just up their alley.
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I’m reserving my enthusiasm for the Bronco until I see it in metal. I was excited about the Bronco Concept in 2004, but nothing came of that. I was excited about the new Ranger until I realized it was automatic-only. Ford has let me down too often of late.
And, should the new one instead be called the Bronco III?-
Bronco II, II. So Bronco IV.
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I’m waiting for the Ford Escape RS with the 3.5L Ecoboost from the Raptor.
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IF and that’s a BIG IF… the 2.7 from the Focus/Edge would be my guess.
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A kid can dream, can’t he?
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It is interesting that the ‘big’ Bronco silhouette is not that short. Perhaps more mid than short wheelbase?
It’s a fairly big midsize but I find myself having a weirdly unexpected interest in the Ford Edge ST. Even though if I was actually in the market for a tall sporty-ish AWD station wagon I’d be more of a Durango R/T customer.
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I too am finding these to be way more compelling than I should.
If Ford can bring back the Bronco, I would be happy to see GMC bring out a modern Typhoon.
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Just drop the Cadillac ATS-V engine in an AWD Acadia and call it the Typhoon. Done.
Or maybe the new Silverado 4 cylinder in a Terrain.-
Or do something similarly interesting with that new “Blazer” thing they’re throwing out there.
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I get the feeling that most real car enthusiats aren’t excited about most suvs at all. There seems to be growing interest in restoring first gen Broncos and Scouts, S10 Blazer/Jimmys for the size and simplicity of design and actually use them on the road. The older second gen xj Jeep Cherokee is starting to look good to me. I see a lot of them in daily use where I live especially with rural mail carriers with old Subarus coming in second.
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I agree– I’ve been keeping my eyes out for a cheap manual XJ Sport. The inline six makes respectable power, and the simple design is nice.
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Even the Jimny, I can only get so excited about. I like that it’s a proper little off roader and all, and that’d be fun in the right context, but then I start thining about whether it could actually be a daily car or not, because the chances to use its off road ability are probably less than using the cappuccinos track ability oddly enough, not a lot of land round here you can just venture onto with incurring the wrath of an angry land owner.
I respect it more than get excited by it.-
Just a genuine Mercedes Benz star on the grille away from fooling everybody.
https://cdn.motor1.com/images/mgl/pybzJ/s3/suzuki-jimny-little-g-by-damd.jpg-
That might fool people if I were 5’2 instead of 6’2…
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I would like the Jimny featured in another post. Otherwise, no. I’d rather have a real car.
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