SUVs and CUVs are everywhere. They also range from "useless tall Corolla" to "truck with a box on it" to "just a lifted wagon" in general construction. Which ones have the engine pointing the right way? Bonus points for RWD, zillions of points for manual transmissions and reasonable weight. The Infiniti FX series comes to mind, and people have swapped manual transmissions into them, but I'm sure you guys can come up with all sorts of silly garbage.
Edit: (Rav4 comment based on bad pic from evilbay)
Isuzu Axiom, Ascender, Trooper, Rodeo, Amigo, and the Honda Passport.
S10, Envoy, Trailblazer, Bronco, Bronco 2, Ramcharger, Suburban, etc...
Kia Sorento offered a 3.5L V6 with manual trans and just rwd.
oldopelguy said:Earlier Rav4s had the engine going the right way, iirc.
Every one I've seen was transverse.
The only longitudinal small SUVs that I can think of are the first generation Sportage, and the Sidekick/XL7. And, of course, the Foresters, before they turned into mid sized SUVs.
My line of thinking is that the cutoff for "small" ends around the point of the original S10 Blazer. More of a tall wagon version of a compact car than an actual truck. Interestingly, the XL7 may actually fail this metric. And the Sidekick is a body on frame design, so it may be small but it is not particularly light.
Not exactly sporty or recent, but the suzuki samurai and sidekick/geo tracker. Longitudinal, manual option and real frame(if i remember right). Probably reasonable weight.
John Welsh said:Kia Sorento offered a 3.5L V6 with manual trans and just rwd.
wait, what? year?
In reply to sleepyhead :
The Sorento had the DOHC version of the 6G engine, too!
All of the BMW SUVs
re:Sorento...
looks like 2002-2009
and like the similar vintage Pathfinder/Frontier is double wishbone too
{scratches goatee} hrrmmm
If the Infiniti FX is the size we're considering then:
Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango
Jeep Cherokee (XJ) and both generations of Liberty
GM- Trailblazer/Envoy/9-7x/Ascent/Bravada/Ranier
BMW X5
Jaguar F-Pace
MB GL series
Land Rover/Range Rover
Porsche- Cayenne and Macan
Easy button is an LS 9Trailvoycentdaier-7X. Already built with a 5.3 or a 6.0 from the factory, TBSS was available RWD so good RWD suspension parts. SSR was available with a manual trans and used the same underpinnings so the manual trans parts are out there already. EFI Live can set up the stock computer to run a wild V8 and manual trans easy peasy.
Won't take long, it will just cost money.
sleepyhead said:re:Sorento...
looks like 2002-2009
and like the similar vintage Pathfinder/Frontier is double wishbone too
{scratches goatee} hrrmmm
Probably easiest visual clue is the lack of fog lights in this otherwise entry level trim.
But... be forewarned of mpg rating of 15/16/19
In reply to John Welsh :
also dug a smidge deeper, and realized the rear is a stick axle... so maybe better for DragWeek than some other more twisty-turny challenging events
Had no idea about the Sorento- defnitely the most surprising in this thread!
sleepyhead said:In reply to John Welsh :
also dug a smidge deeper, and realized the rear is a stick axle... so maybe better for DragWeek than some other more twisty-turny challenging events
Most of the stuff in this thread is way too tall to be used for twisty-turny stuff.
I would image the BMW and FX stuff would be best. FX has ~1:1 height vs track width from the factory.
Sorento 02-05 was the E36 M3ty 3.5L that was better used as a one time boat anchor. the 06-09 were the 3.8 Lambda's that are awesome. God those 3.5's were E36 M3 motors. V8 fuel economy and 4cyl power.
Also the Suzuki Grand VItara from 99-they left were all longitudinal and that little 2.5/2.7V6 was nice. bonus for manual trans and rwd only options.
bobzilla said:Sorento 02-05 was the E36 M3ty 3.5L that was better used as a one time boat anchor. the 06-09 were the 3.8 Lambda's that are awesome. God those 3.5's were E36 M3 motors. V8 fuel economy and 4cyl power.
Also the Suzuki Grand VItara from 99-they left were all longitudinal and that little 2.5/2.7V6 was nice. bonus for manual trans and rwd only options.
Looks like the later 3.8L did not offer a factory manual trans (at least in the US.)
Could a 3.5L be swapped for the 3.8L and still accept the manual trans?
or...just LSx swap!
The only CUV models I can think of would be a 1/2/3 gen 4Runner or the 80's and 90's Cherokee or Grand Cherokee - SUV's of their era, but more like a CUV by today's standards.
ProDarwin said:sleepyhead said:In reply to John Welsh :
also dug a smidge deeper, and realized the rear is a stick axle... so maybe better for DragWeek than some other more twisty-turny challenging events
Most of the stuff in this thread is way too tall to be used for twisty-turny stuff.
I would image the BMW and FX stuff would be best. FX has ~1:1 height vs track width from the factory.
The BMW SUVs came with manuals in the E53 and E83 versions of the X5 and X3.
I've got an E83, its a nice driving vehicle. Its basically a lifted E46 with an E60 front end. Its a lot sportier than it has any right to be given its 66" height and 60" track width. My E91s definitely were better handlers, but the E83 does a really nice job on unpaved roads.
Easy button is an early Cayenne Turbo. Huge performance potential right out of the box, decent examples can be had from $10K. Way more athletic than the SUV/CUVs you'll find with a manual transmission.
Audi Allroad had twin turbo V6 mounted longitudinaly, available 6 speed manual, and an excellent AWD system.
Came here to mention the early Kia Sportage. I see it was already mentioned so I will throw in… those cars had a detuned version of the Mazda FE3/FE-DOHC engine. Might even be pretty fun if you took some time to spice things up…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda_FE-DOHC_engine
Ian F said:The only CUV models I can think of would be a 1/2/3 gen 4Runner or the 80's and 90's Cherokee or Grand Cherokee - SUV's of their era, but more like a CUV by today's standards.
You take that back. Those things were proper SUVs, not this new crop of fat car abominations. Please.
Appleseed said:Ian F said:The only CUV models I can think of would be a 1/2/3 gen 4Runner or the 80's and 90's Cherokee or Grand Cherokee - SUV's of their era, but more like a CUV by today's standards.
You take that back. Those things were proper SUVs, not this new crop of fat car abominations. Please.
I meant more by physical size standards. SUVs of 20+ years ago are similar in size to CUVs of today.
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