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I never owned a CUV personally, and never sought anything like that out until being in a relationship. I was a CAR guy, anything other than a wagon was a no-no, and don't even get '90s or 2000s young me started on the "entruckening of America." Last year I turned 40, traded a turbo Outback for the Bronco, and have shaken my head and laughed at old me a couple of times for how far I've fallen from grace. There is some cred, with it being BOF and manual with a removable roof, but its basically a Ford Wrangler, which means young me would've hidden in a room full of Sport Compact Car and 5w-40 had I been able to anticipate that.
I started paying attention to cars early enough to know what the Ford Explorer was, and to notice it became extremely popular (thanks Jurassic Park!). The origami egg that was the Lexus RX300 deorbited from the mothership a few years later, many in pearl white with the optional gold package, so obviously the BOF SUV's popularity was already doomed. The RAV4 and CR-V jumped into the shallow end of the pool, Subaru birthed out a couple of mutants, and over the course of time just about every company hacked up car platforms in the name of chasing sales glory. The sports sedan/wagon/coupe market would never be the same.
CUVs have become more carlike to address many of the complaints mentioned in this thread, and have aquired power and handling that would've been thought impossible when the market segment first opened up. The originals were soft, with the dynamics you would expect from taller, top-heavy cars, so they sold well but weren't respected. BMW introducing the X5 changed things, that made people realize CUVs could be, like, actually good. That splintered the market and lead us to where CUVs are today, which is basically one of three segments: 1) regular CUVs, 2) performance CUVs, and 3) lifestyle CUVs. Pricing used to dictate those market segments, but its become more muddled as the whole market segment has matured. There is more cross-pollination, with performance and handling improving across the board, and something like the Hyundai Santa Cruz can only exist when the market is mature for it.
We bought a 2nd-gen 2014 Kia Soul several years ago, and that was a really great little hatch. It looked like a small bulldog CUV, but it didn't offer AWD and was essentially a 5/4ths VW Golf on the inside, so what actually was it? It drove surprisingly well, and we only let it go because wifey wanted AWD and something that felt a bit more substantial. We ended up with the Jeep Renegade, and I am still impressed by that little trucklet. Its based on the Fiat 500, is built in Italy, and has a 1.3 turbo, so it doesn't immediately strike you as something that has a lot of substance. However, we got the Jeep in 2019 and took it on an East Coast roadtrip, and let me tell you its a great vehicle. I won't ever forget driving that thing through the Allegany National Forest, the backroads are AMAZING since they are nothing but curves, camber, and scenery. The Renegade handled all of it with grip, long-travel suspension, and turbo punt. My wife uses it as her daily driver, her only complaint is that it needs to be detailed in the spring, but has otherwise been a great vehicle that was our primary until I got the Bronco.
What normal vehicles do you have, and what do you secretly like about them?
![Tire Wheel Plant Car Vehicle]()
I started paying attention to cars early enough to know what the Ford Explorer was, and to notice it became extremely popular (thanks Jurassic Park!). The origami egg that was the Lexus RX300 deorbited from the mothership a few years later, many in pearl white with the optional gold package, so obviously the BOF SUV's popularity was already doomed. The RAV4 and CR-V jumped into the shallow end of the pool, Subaru birthed out a couple of mutants, and over the course of time just about every company hacked up car platforms in the name of chasing sales glory. The sports sedan/wagon/coupe market would never be the same.
CUVs have become more carlike to address many of the complaints mentioned in this thread, and have aquired power and handling that would've been thought impossible when the market segment first opened up. The originals were soft, with the dynamics you would expect from taller, top-heavy cars, so they sold well but weren't respected. BMW introducing the X5 changed things, that made people realize CUVs could be, like, actually good. That splintered the market and lead us to where CUVs are today, which is basically one of three segments: 1) regular CUVs, 2) performance CUVs, and 3) lifestyle CUVs. Pricing used to dictate those market segments, but its become more muddled as the whole market segment has matured. There is more cross-pollination, with performance and handling improving across the board, and something like the Hyundai Santa Cruz can only exist when the market is mature for it.
We bought a 2nd-gen 2014 Kia Soul several years ago, and that was a really great little hatch. It looked like a small bulldog CUV, but it didn't offer AWD and was essentially a 5/4ths VW Golf on the inside, so what actually was it? It drove surprisingly well, and we only let it go because wifey wanted AWD and something that felt a bit more substantial. We ended up with the Jeep Renegade, and I am still impressed by that little trucklet. Its based on the Fiat 500, is built in Italy, and has a 1.3 turbo, so it doesn't immediately strike you as something that has a lot of substance. However, we got the Jeep in 2019 and took it on an East Coast roadtrip, and let me tell you its a great vehicle. I won't ever forget driving that thing through the Allegany National Forest, the backroads are AMAZING since they are nothing but curves, camber, and scenery. The Renegade handled all of it with grip, long-travel suspension, and turbo punt. My wife uses it as her daily driver, her only complaint is that it needs to be detailed in the spring, but has otherwise been a great vehicle that was our primary until I got the Bronco.
What normal vehicles do you have, and what do you secretly like about them?
