More than a dozen concept and production-ready SUVs were unveiled at the Frankfurt Show this week… CARtoday.com has a round up of the show’s bold, brash and wacky off-roaders.
More than a dozen concept and production-ready SUVs were unveiled at the Frankfurt Show this week… CARtoday.com has a round up of the show’s bold, brash and wacky off-roaders.
Although the powerful Audi Q7 and Mercedes-Benz ML 63 AMG drew a lot of attention, Chrysler previewed the Patriot and Compass concepts, which were conceived to conquer the lower end of the softroader market, and Toyota pulled the wraps off the latest incarnation of its ever-popular RAV4. Renault looked boldly into the future with its sporty Egues off-roader and, on the more traditional end of the scale, Suzuki showcased its Grand Vitara.
The Opel Antara GTC concept previews the likely design direction that the forthcoming Frontera will take. It is based on GM’s Theta unibody that underpins the Chevrolet Equinox, the Saturn Vue, and the Pontiac Torrent and the first concept car to emerge from Opel under the leadership of Bryan Nesbitt, the new executive director of GM Design Europe.
However, the Antara, which is powered by a 158 kW twin-turbo version of Opel’s 1,9-litre four-cylinder diesel, incorporates many of the design elements introduced under his Nesbitt’s predecessor, Martin Smith, in the Insignia (circa 2003).
The Antara’s design is handsome and voluptuous by SUV standards, but not quite as feminine in execution as that seen on Renault’s Egues. Neat touches include a diving side feature line that finishes at an air outlet behind the front wheel arch, coupé-like C-pillar and small rear tailgate, and complex rear tail-lamp clusters.
Production versions of the Antara GTC are expected to be powered the 1,9-litre turbodiesel as well as 2,2-litre four-cylinder and 3,2-litre V6 petrol engines. GM’s design bossEd Welburn, GM’s design boss, says that the look of the Antara previews the form language of forthcoming Opel products.
The Daihatsu D-compact concept offers a preview a production SUV, which shares its components with another Frankfurt introduction, the RAV4. The as-yet unnamed vehicle will replace the aging Terios and will be powered by the same newly-developed 1,5-litre in-line four cylinder that’s fitted to the HVS. It drives all four wheels via a five-speed manual transmission.
Ssangyong Kyron, South Korea’s latest five-seater SUV, is powered by a 2,0-litre four-cylinder diesel (104 kW and 170 N.m of torque) mated with either a five-speed manual or five-speed automatic transmission. The Kyron’s drive system offers a choice of two-wheel drive, four-wheel high, or four-wheel low range. The suspension utilizes double wishbones at the front and a multilink design at the rear. Electronic aids include ABS, hill descent control, traction control, brake assist, and active rollover protection.
The follow-up to the cute-as-a-button Skoda Yeti, which débuted at the Geneva Show, the Yeti Convertible Pick-up has drawn rave reviews, not least because of the model in hot pants who was draped over it. The roof on this concept consists of two parts… a removable front hard top and fold-down canvas rear section. Remove the hard top, and you have a large sunroof-style aperture. By folding the canvas, or removing it completely, the vehicle turns into a full convertible and the rear side windows can be removed and load bed configured for a pick-up configuration.
Meanwhile, the Multi-S concept is Kia’s contribution to the burgeoning crossover/sport wagon market. The Multi-S, whose design has vague overtones of the BMW X3, is just under 4,5 metres long and rides on 2,7-metre wheelbase.
Its two-tone cream-and-gray, five-seat interior is attractive and is brightened by two multipaned sunroofs. Under the bonnet is a Euro-specification 2,0-litre turbodiesel mated with an automatic transmission with a dash-mounted gearshift.
