MOTORING

Audi Allroad Quattro 4.2

By Phil Panon

To judge from the new crop of vehicles arriving on the automothre scene, manufacrurers must be big fans of John Edward,

whose television show Crossing Ovtr chalUlels the souls of the departed. Crru:r· over is the new buzzword in Detroit . Mo,"-ing beyond trucks and SUVs, cross­overs channel our favorite vehicles of the past-station wagons, pickups-in varying proportions.

Some look like cars but drive like trucks; others look like trucks and drive like cars. Most are somewhere in be­tween. Maybe iI's Nickelodeon's cartoon ClltDog auto designers are watching. Crossovers arc a stnlnge breed thai marks the next stage in automotive evolution.

Like Luther Burbank, automakers are not content to leave evolution in narure's hands. They are impatiently cross· breed­ing our favorite vehicles and hastening the process. Fundamentally, while trucks and traditional SUVs are buih of bodies attached to rugged frames, crosso,·ers use unibodv construction, like cars, and have softer·rides and bener handling.

Examples include Chrysler 'S Pacifica­part wagon, part minivan, part SUV­which arrived last summer, and Cadillac's new SRX, '"~th three rows of seats and a \'ast sunroof. Tbe Lexus RX 330 (suc­cessor to the pioneer of the class, the RX 300) brings elegance- an optional air suspension system, an optional navi· gation unit, real mapl e or walnut on the dash- to the crossover. lnfiniti 's FX4S, whose striking body style, with a hunt­er's face and muscular bauncbes that make it seem poised to leap, is described by its designers as a "bionic cheetah." Nissan offers the Murano, which looks like a less fearsome Infiniti, and Ford will bring out its Freestyle this year.

Porsche's Clilyenne looks more like 1iI

crossover than the rugged SUV itis under the skin. The Volkswagen Touareg is the milder sibling of the Cayenne. Pikes Peak, Audi's wagonlike concept car, has the likely shape of the sibling to come.

In 2002 crossovers accounted for only about 8 percent of North Americliln light-vehicle sales, but the figure is pre­dicted to grow to nearly 20 percent over the next five vears. SUV sales continue

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MOTORING

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to rise, but more and more of us are finding fault with them.

This is not because of "$UV guilt, n it should be noted, before Arianna Huf­fiugton and Bill Maher start congratu­lating themselves on theif persuasive powers. SUVbuyers tell auto researchers they still like four-wheel drive, generous interior space and high, or "command, n

searing; they are tired of the noise, rough ride, difficult access and poor fuel econ­omy-the last not necessarily because they want to save the planet but because rising gas prices and frequent fill-ups crimp their lifestyles.

Psychology as well as practicality plays a role in the change. A recent research report from Strategic Vision, a San Diego finn that tracks driver preferences. found that basic SUVs "fell short of meeting owners' emotional needs." According to Daniel Gorrell, the company's vice president, people want luxury and a sense of control, along with a sense of fun and freedom.

But, Gorrell says, the SUV has had a profound impact on all vehicles---even future family car~. Now, for instance, "command" seating arrives in future fam­ily sedans such as Ford's upcoming 500. SUVs reminded drivers of the pleasures of riding high..once noted by E. B. White, when he declared that the tall seat of the Ford Model T made him feel "a man enthroned"- a king of the road.

Crossovers will multiply, Gorrell says, but will follow no simple recipe. "We're going to get a lot of arranged marriages," he predicts. "Some will be the Princess Bride, some the Bride of Frankenstein."

Whatever the result, the name will likely remain elusive. Few makers actu­ally call their vehicles crossovers.

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Crossovers will multiply, says Strategic Vision's Daniel Gorrell, but will follow no simple recipe. "Some will be the Princess Bride, some the Bride of Frankenstein."

CUV-for crossover utilirv-is clum­sy, and hybrid leads to confusion with hybrid power plants, combining gaso­line engines and electric motors, as in Toyota's Prius or Ford's upcoming Es­cape. (Lexus plans a hybrid hybrid: a ver­sion of its RX 330 crossover with both electric power and a gas engine.)

The Pacifica-designed in Derroit but named for the West Coast-is "a ca t­egory buster," according to president and CEO of Chrysler Group Dieter Zetsche. "It's too cool to categorize. It 's unpinnable." Pressed, Chrysler officials call it a sports tourer, the same name given their Dodge Magnum, due Out this year, which the casual observer would swear is a station wagon.

The Pacifica may look to some like a macho minivan, b~t miniwn carries the soccer mom stigma. And statiqn wogqn is the one tenn no one in the auto business seems willing to take into his mouth­even though sporty station wagons are enjoying a renaissance.

The maner of names is revealing. Sport utility seemed a useful phrase for auto· makers.ln Freudian tenns, spqrt inflamed the id, while utilit), placated the superego, and the ego signed the check. "It's a big Corvene," declared the proud owner of a new yellow Hummer H2 in a recent tele· vision show on SUVs. The SUV appeals as a sportS car- but a useful one. It is a tool, and, as Da\~d Brooks notes in Bobos in ParadiJr, boomers who avoid luxuries and toys will happily indulge in things they see as tools. They a\loid fine china

amtinutd qn pllgt 239

Porsche Cayenne S

THE STATS CadiUac SAX; 4.6·liter VB engine, 315 hp, seats"'~::::.'~:~: Audl AUroad Quattro 4.2: 4.2·liter VB engine. 3

Volvo XC90 T6 AWD: 6·cylinder engine, 268 hp, ,."'~ ,",.,~ . ..;: 8MW X3 3.01: 3·titer engine, 225 hp, seats five; www.bmw.com

Inflnltl FX45: 4.5·liter VB engine, 315 hp, seats five; ::~:;::::::;~ volkswagen louareg V6: 3.2·liter engine, 220 hp, seats five;

Chrysler Pacifica: 3.5·liter V6 engine. 250 hp. seats she www.duysler.com

Porsche Cayenne S: 4.5·liter VB engine, 340 hp, seats five: www.porschl.t.om

lexus AX 330: 3.3-liter'V6 engine, 230 hp, seats five; www.lexlIS.com

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THE SUV REDEFINED

((J1Itinutd from pllgt 177 in favor of professional stoves, fine fumi· ture in favor of woodworking tools­and sports cars in favor of sport utilities.

The early SUVs bore such western names as Scout, Bronco and Blaz.er, and they attracted people who thought of themselves as ahead of the pack, as risk­takers. No wonder the disdain for the term statirm UJagrm. Wagon suggests the wagon train and the hapless settlers who follow trails blazed by the scouts and pathfinders. To settle is to compromise.

The q\linte~~entjaJ American car is the getaway car, according to Eric Mot­tram in his Blood on the "rash Ambilliodor,

man~ Hybridity is the way life evolves for the bener," he savs.

Apparently, consu'mers are not both­ered by the lack of a simple categoriza­tion of the Pacifica. In fact, they enjoy it, "They don't define the vehicle as a type, They regard themselves as undefined as well-still in process, A car is a place where vou can redefine and reinvent vourself," Malefvt adds, "The Pacifica is a vehicle you 'define for yourself, in your own way,"

Cro~sing over is :lbout reinvention. Cadillac, Malefyt says, had been rein ~ vented as the company of the Escalade

In keeping with the American predilection for roughing it easy, SUVs are growing more carlike.

the classic interpretation of American popular culture, In films from They Drivr by Night and Bonnie and Clyde to 2 Fast 2 Furious, cars provide escape. A few years ago the PT Cruiser put a truck~ like body on the base of a Dodge Neon and channeled the image of a gangster getaway car.

What may be the first crossover­Suharu's Outback, "the first sport utility wagon" --came on the scene even earlier, and it's been more than twO decades since the minivan and the luxury SUV arrived, Today the Outback seems like a down·to·earth rugged all~wheel~drive wagon, but it wem on to inspire more luxurious wagons in the same vein, such as Audi's Allroad Quanro and Volvo's XC70, wagons with black·clad bonoms that make them seem to be wearing L. L. Bean boots with rolled~up khakis.

Timothy Malefyt, director of cultural discoveries for BBDO Advertising in New York, researches the crossover from an anthropological perspective. He re~ cently conducted an "ethnography" of customers for Chn'sler's Pacifica, and he has also charted the psychograph~ ics of buvers of Cadillac, whose SRX crossover" JUSt arrived.

Crossovers are natural to us, he ar­gues. '~erican ingenuity grows out of crossed cultures, \~'asn't the cowboy's best working horse a cross of breeds? Isn't our favorite character on 5wr Trek, Mr. Spock, a hybrid of Vulcan and bu~

SUV and the SRX crossover. "Ameri ­cans believe in reinvention and second chances and comebacks."

If actors can cross over into politics and reinvent themselves as governors, whv can't SUVs reinvent themselves the' same way: Arnold Schwarzenegger has promised to make his Hummer green . A hybrid Hummer?

SVVs can cross over as sports cars. The corners of once boxv SUVs have been softening in style fo; several years now, like blocks of chocolate passed gently through flame. In keeping with the Amer­ican predilection for roughing it easy, SUVs have heen growing more carlike in perfonnance and appearance. BM\~T's X5 and new X3 and Mercedes M-Class have soft lines and sporty handling.

Concerned that loyal911 owners would bristle at the idea of a Porsche Suv, the sales staff at Beverly Hills Porsche were instructed to present the vehicle as a "big rally car," like those on the exdting and popular European road rally cir~ cuit-and equally popular video games,

Crossovers mav be an evolution, but isn't a crossover ohen an awkward mix­e\'en homely: Isn 't rrossover a polite word for, well, mongrel or mun?

"MuttS!" Malefvt exclaims. '~mericans love mutts. Re~ember Lad" and the Tramp? Always look to the fairy taJe to

find the meanine-.ln the Disnev version, the mutt outdo'es the purebr~ds-and !leIs lht.: girl. " 0

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