QOTD: Soft Roader or No Go?

Tim Healey
by Tim Healey

Today's minor Ford Bronco Sport news got me thinking -- where do you stand on the concept of the soft-roader?


I'm not talking about the crossover that is clearly not meant to leave the pavement or the ones that have real off-road chops (like the Bronco Sport Badlands). I am talking about the 'tweeners. The ones that, when Chris or I review them, the review has a sentence that reads like this: "This vehicle won't do serious boulder bashing, but it can get you to the campground just fine." You also see this when we do a first drive and there is a fairly easy off-road course that's mostly just a dirt trail setup.

I'm not trying to blast the OEMs here, even if we do sometimes roll our eyes at the use of "off-road." People really do use crossovers for light off-roading that isn't super challenging and doesn't require skid plates. What I am doing is asking you, the B and B, if it matters when you're buying a crossover.

I can't imagine that crossover shopping breaks down to a simple binary between crossovers that are meant for the street and true off-roaders like a Bronco Sport Badlands. There's obviously an in-between. What I wonder is does that ability matter?

I suspect it does. People who don't haul or tow buy pickups because they might need to do those things every so often. So maybe the Kia Sportage buyer gets the X-Line trim because it has a bit more ground clearance and this person thinks they'll camp every so often. Maybe the Bronco Sport buyer gets one over an Escape because Ford markets it as an adventure crossover.

What do you think?

[Image: Ford]

Become a TTAC insider. Get the latest news, features, TTAC takes, and everything else that gets to the truth about cars first by subscribing to our newsletter.

Tim Healey
Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

More by Tim Healey

Comments
Join the conversation
7 of 18 comments
  • EBFlex EBFlex on Nov 15, 2022

    A Ford Escape with a boxy body is not even a soft roader. But, I will take this SUV capable of handling some wet leaves as an admission that I was right. Ford should have never stopped making the Escape with a boxy body. In 2013, Ford was incredibly stupid in ruining the Escape by introducing the Kuga here (and it had 17 recalls). Now, they have the Escape and the boxy Escape and all they do is take sales from the other. It's ridiculous. And the boxy version of the Escape is already losing interest with customers. Down almost 20% last month and down almost 3.5% for the year.

    • See 1 previous
    • EBFlex EBFlex on Nov 16, 2022

      "But guess what- the swoops make for better crash safety, less ind noise, and much bigger windows and windshield. Neither is perfect, or utterly bad."

      There's plenty of boxy SUVs that are very safe. Body design has nothing to do with vehicle safety.



  • DungBeetle62 DungBeetle62 on Nov 15, 2022

    Heck, there's plenty of people with hardcore off-roaders using it for a fashion statement and maybe to climb curbs if the drop-off line at school's too long. Wife had a friend owned a nail salon - couldn't stomach an RX330 - "looks too much like an egg". Got a GX - never once went off road.


    As for voting with my own dollars, well...

  • 3SpeedAutomatic 3SpeedAutomatic on Nov 16, 2022

    Owned a BOXY '05 Escape with AWD while living in upstate NY. Came in very handy for snow days and camping in Pennsylvania.

    Moved south and bought another BOXY '12 Escape with just FWD which is fine. Mostly grocery getter and big box hardware store runs.

    Considered 3rd Gen Escape, but no V6. Fourth Gen looks like a guppy that escaped the Walmart pet shop. The Bronco Sport is BOXY which I like, but no V6.

    Will get a Jeep Cherokee which has V6 available; last of the Mohegan's. Turbos give me heartache 😒😒😒


    • EBFlex EBFlex on Nov 16, 2022

      "Will get a Jeep Cherokee which has V6 available;"

      Good choice. Capable and amazingly fuel efficient. Full LED lighting is nice too. Not sure why Ford can't figure that out.



  • Wheatridger Wheatridger on Nov 16, 2022

    For me, the CUV is the default choice. With a short, steep driveway in snow country, anything without AWD is a fair-weather friend. Cars have become so specialized towards high performance or EPA efficiency that they would only be appealing as second or third vehicles.

Next