Today we're
looking at the SUV versus the Sedan. How do SUVs and Sedans compare in purchase
price, fuel economy, safety, drivability, space and comfort? What are the
best-selling SUVs and Sedans right now? And what types of people are buying
which?
Today, we'll
hop in and let's go for a drive
When someone
says “car”, people typically tend to think of a Sedan, the word has become
synonymous because traditionally the Sedan was the common choice for a
passenger vehicle. But in the last decade SUVs have risen in popularity, so
much so that SUVs have been outselling Sedans each year since 2015. Of course
there are many types of SUVs nowadays, including the compact crossover, crossover,
mid-size and full-size. It's as varied as the types of sedans which come in
sub-compact, compact, mid-size and full-size. Of course, that's not even
mentioned in the luxury sub-categories, so what is an SUV?
You probably
think you can visually identify one on the road, but the standard definition
for this type of vehicle is one that combines elements of a road car with
off-road capabilities as in sports utility vehicle. But interestingly enough,
there is no solid definitive agreed-upon definition of an SUV and in lieu of
this you can see that when you consider, the term varies between countries,
some countries say an SUV must be built on a light truck chassis, countries
with broader definitions allow any vehicle with off-road features to be called
an SUV.
In the U.S,
SUVs have been classified as “light trucks”, which means they qualify for more lenient
regulations, one of the key reasons why SUVs are so popular is because they're
taller and heavier, drivers just feel safer inside. You also have better ride
height so you feel you have a better view and therefore you feel you have more control.
There's a three-year study that was done by IIHS, a safety research
organization that's funded by the insurance industry, it surprises no one that
small cars have the highest death rate but what's interesting, is the study
showed that luxury SUVs as a class had the lowest death rates. That's because
of pure physics: when it comes to car crashes, larger and heavier masses are
generally safer and do more damage to the lighter vehicles, but not all SUVs
perform better in safety than cars. For example, small two-wheel drive SUVs actually
had about the same fatality rate as mid-sized Sedans. There are lots of other safety
studies and crash tests that have been done by other organizations, one study
showed that when you pick two cars of a similar size, say a sedan versus a
sedan or an SUV versus an SUV and so forth, then the sedan proves safest in an
accident. In fact, when an SUV hits an SUV of similar size there can actually
be much greater risk of injury, since the impact of two large objects will lead
to greater damage from all that extra energy, but in the real world when you're
on the road, you're driving along cars of all sizes and categories are there,
and not just the same category as your own car. In general, SUVs hold up better
than sedans in front end or head-on crashes. One study showed that the driver
and passengers and SUVs are 50 percent more likely to survive a crash without
suffering as many injuries as individuals riding in a sedan in head-on crashes.
Between an SUV and a Sedan, SUVs had a much lower fatality rate, head-on
crashes account for about half of all passenger deaths on American road, but
you cannot say a blanket statement that SUVs are always safer than sedans, that's
not true. That's because when it comes to rollover accidents, SUV drivers have
a higher risk of being killed because they're higher up in the air and they tip
over easier, SUVs also have a higher risk of being in rollover accidents due to
wind or weather because they have a higher center of gravity.
So you're probably wondering, what's the chance of a rollover accident?
NHTSA did a study, they found that of all passenger vehicle crashes 3% were
rollovers, so rollovers in general are not that common but that said if you
were ever in a rollover accident an HDSA study showed that you have a 20% chance
of fatality. Whether you're thinking of buying an SUV or a sedan, you should
consider each vehicle safety rating, crash test rating, as well as the driving
behaviors, road conditions and traffic in your local area. If you do choose an
SUV, don't think you can relax on your driving, you should always be attentive and
maintain safe driving speed even if you have the safest vehicle on the planet
and you think you're driving a tank because there are other lives on the road
that are at stake too not just your own. But let's talk space, it's obvious
that the larger the car the more driver and passenger space and cargo space you
have, even compact SUVs offer impressive cargo capacity and much more comfort
than sedans it's a no-brainer that SUVs have a leg up here, they're just more convenient,
practical and comfortable. But what about fuel economy? Sedans generally offer
better fuel economy, that's because most sedans come with four-cylinder engines
which generally are more fuel efficient than the V6 or V8 engines of an SUV,
even sedans with V6 engines are still on average more fuel efficient than an
SUV, since the sedan is smaller, lower to the ground and the engine doesn't
need to expend as much power for that same size and weight. And how do SUVs and
sedans compare in drivability and vehicle handling? Well, sedans aren't as top
heavy as SUVs, they have lower center of gravity and are generally easier to
drive and maneuver, also if you're cornering, sedans have a less chance of a
rollover and of course, sedans can be easier to park since they're smaller than
SUVs. On the other hand, SUVs often come with all-wheel drive whereas many
sedans don't offer this. So the SUV may be relatively better equipped in severe
weather conditions if you want to off-road, an SUV will give you a better ride experience
since it has higher ground clearance than the sedan, plus expansive tires, rough
terrain abilities and generally more muscle to drive off-road