mmarshall

Some people (apparantly) never learn even grade-school physics...I sometimes wonder how they ever graduate. The concept of center-of-gravity is about as simple as physics can get, especially when it comes to automobile design. All else equal, the higher and narrower a vehicle is in relation to its length and width, the more unstable it is likely to be in hard cornering, and the more body-lean (sometimes to dangerous levels and a rollover) you are likely to have.

Of course, modern suspensions, steering systems, tires, lighter building-materials, weight-distribution tactics, electronic handling-aids.....all of that, of course, and more, have helped tame the once-horrendous SUV/minivan roll-over rate in accidents. I once, a number of years ago, watched a 16-year-old kid flip a Ford Aerostar minivan on its roof just a block or so from my house (I stopped to help, but he was able to climb out the window-opening by himself, and was fortunate that the roof didn't cave in on him).

But, even with all of these noted improvements (and the fact that today's car-based unibody, crossover/SUVs generally drive and handle much better than the older, full-frame truck-based models), the "Cute-Utes" and similiarly-styled vehicles that look so adorable in some TV or magazine-ads (like the Kia Soul and its hamsters) can still bite if mishandled or abused. This also applies, of course, to vehicles that are not true mini-SUVs but still have high-centers of gravity and are styled/shaped like them (Kia Soul, Nissan Cube, ScionxB, Ford C-Max, Mazda5, etc...).

Case in point....this morning, I was in my Verano, on a four-lane divided road, on my way to my usual daily tread-mill excersize and swim at the local recreation center. Approaching a traffic light, I saw a dune-colored Kia Soul, approaching from a side road on the left, try and beat what must have been a yellow light on his side. I say he (stereotype, maybe, but I'm assuming it was a young male.....females don't usually drive like this) barreled out clearly too fast for a tight 90-degree turn in an intersection like that, yanked the steering wheel left to try and make it, and almost lost control of the back end when the body leaned and careened. The car substantially oversteered the curb-lane, shot back towards the inner-lane, partially climbed the low concrete barrier in the center of the road (I don't know how much damage may have been done to its wheels/tires/suspension from that), and did a couple of more smaller wiggles before the driver got full control of it. I couldn't tell if his VSC/stability control system was switched on or off, because, even if it was on, he had come close to or exceeded its limits. As far as I know, the Kia Soul, though VSC-equipped (as all new American-market vehicles now are) does not have the added electronic Roll-Stability system, in addition to the regular VSC, that some Ford/Volvo-designed SUVs have.

So...did the guy learn his lesson? Probably not. Once he got full-control of the vehicle, he took off down the left lane, not necessarily at reckless-driving speeds, but substantially above the limit. I followed him for a short while, at maybe 5 MPH or so above the limit, just to watch him and be a witness for a police-report in case he did any further damage or had an accident. But he was obviously going faster than me, made it through the next green light ahead (I didn't), and soon disappeared out of sight. Needless to say, I wasn't going to speed and/or risk an accident or ticket just to keep an eye on this jack-a**....and that was that.

So, moral of the story........if you want to drive and corner like that, then go buy a Mazda Miata, Lotus Elise, a used Honda S2000, or something similiar. Dont try it in an automotive shoe-box.

kwr

Unfortunate story for sure. Not sure why one Kia driver has to be the poster child for all CUVs. I've seen plenty of drivers try to defy the laws of physics in their sedan. Same goes for these sedan drivers, get a sports car.

mmarshall

True to some extent. But, in general, sedans are lower-slung, handle better, and are more stable in sharp turns than boxy, high-center-of-gravity vehicles. For instance, when I'm reviewing, say, a BMW 3-series or or an Audi S4 with Quattro, I'll take substantially more liberties in a corner than with a Toyota Highlander or Hyundai Santa Fe.

ST430

Exactly, this is like saying all Lambo / Ferrari owners are good sports car drivers (they aren't). Besides, haven't you ever seen the Juke-R races?!!

cino

iTrader: (1)

Juke-R uses heavily modified GT-R chassis, so it drives like GT-R. Juke body is just a shell.

ST430

Incorrect, Juke-R is based on a reinforced Juke-R unibody chassis with GT-R powertrain:

http://www.djapanesecars.com/nissan/...e-chassis.html

BNR34

iTrader: (1)

When I used to drive really good handling sports cars...........Nissan GTR and WRX STi, I always love watching jackasses in their high center-of-gravity vehicles (Trucks, SUVs, minivans....etc) try to follow me thru the turns, I take them at full speed and they follow (usually young guys probably in their parent's fancy SUVs), in the middle of the turn, they realized they would crash if they keep it up, so they had to slow down.

One guy in an Escalade almost roll it when he was trying to pass me in a high speed turn when I was driving my Nissan GTR, he was really sure that his Escalade can pass a GTR turning at full speed.............he was really trying, it was fun seeing how much his high profile tires rolling onto it's sidewall.................I was getting ready to watch a truck roll over.......he got control of it at the end though, so no show for me

FrankReynoldsCPA

I miss the handling of my 1989 Pontiac Firebird. It wasn't particularly fast, but it was low, 800 lbs lighter than my LS, and went through the turns like a dream.

mikez

When fifth gear tested the Juke R, it was amazingly hard to drive even with their very good driver (jason plato) mainly due to its high center of gravity andf short wheel base.

Even for a car like Juke R, the GTR is better despite sharing similar component.

Case in point, a small SUV or cute utes are not sports cars.

Harbinger

Amen!

I wish nissan would just strip the shell off of the juke, replace it with a nice 2+2 coupe body and call it the next 240. Give the FRS/BRZ a legitimate run for its money.

cino

iTrader: (1)

My bad, you're correct. Either way, the chassis is modified to have much lower CoG and accept GT-R AWD system and the production cost is a few times more than GT-R.

mmarshall

I've been around awhile, and I've actually seen a good number of foolish driving-incidents with high-center-of-gravity vehicles. But I obviously don't have time to write them all up in detail like I did the two incidents here (the Soul and the 16-year-old kid with the Aerostar). The moral of the story remains the same in any case.

Kira X

iTrader: (24)

Every CUV and SUV I see on the road is driven like it's an M3 around corners and through the city. The drivers do stuff I wouldn't even try in a GTR or Porsche, but they somehow pull it off.

I noticed most accidents in my area are caused by someone driving a SUV/CUV too. I guess they think an RX350 is supposed to handle like an LFA?

<VENOM>

Can we add to this, flying through parking lots, stop signs and not even attempting to slow down over speed bumps, the usual people who drive these cars don't have a lot going on, far to many times I have had uncomfortable encounters with these dare devils

LexFather

He didn't say it was, he posted his example. Mike has been very complimentary of Kia/Hyundai cars. I do find these drivers/owners of the new ones thinking they are driving sports cars so his observation is similar to mine. Its like the VQ madness all over again circa 2002

We all will observe more CUV/SUV bad driving since they are selling more and more and there are more options out there for bad drivers to buy