Choosing a car for off-roading

Off-roading means driving in a road where the surface is full of mud, stones, snow and pebbles. It is a very uneven surface and involves lots of risk. Choosing a car for off-roading is quite complicated. The driver must check if the cars have to be high powered version. The cars must have special characters to cope up with the surface.

Cars for off-roading

Cars for off-roading are designed in special ways. They have distinct features when compared to vehicles used off-highways. The cars for meant for off-road have large tires, sand drag, suspension constituents that help the car to jump while crossing coarse rocks and bumpy conduct. They also have brawny recovery points fixed for the vehicle to be dragged if stuck, extended hinge articulation, locked spin cage for the driver driving off-road cars, superchargers or nitrous oxide injection systems. Some advanced cars as, an addition to these features, also have open tread, stretchy suspension and maggot trails. The best known 4x4 cars designed for off-roading are Mercedes Benz, Motocross, Enduro, Baja 1000, etc. The most important quality required is low ground pressure so that the vehicle does not sink in the soft marshal areas. It needs ground clearance for being able to overcome all obstacles. Wheeled cars and tracked cars have these descriptions with suitable balance and elastic suspension of wheels according to the height and width. Famous cars that are meant only for off-roading are Ford F-Series, Toyota Hilux, Chevy Silverado, GMC Sierra, etc. Moreover, there are the Nissan Patrol Xterra, Dodge Ramcharger, FIAT Campagnola, Jeep Wrangler, International Scout, Mitsubishi Pajero, Isuzu Trooper, Mercedes-Benz G-Class, Ford Bronco, Land Rover Defender and Discovery, Jeep Cherokee, Range Rover, Chevrolet Blazer, Toyota Land Cruiser and 4Runner. A number of those models have now become luxury SUV's with reduced off-road capability. Military vehicles are also used for this purpose like Jeep CJ and the AM General Hummer.

Criticism on off-roading vehicles

The cars meant for off-roading are built with elevated ground clearance which gives a higher centre of gravity. Thus, this increases the risk of roll-over. There is a rift between vehicles' mass which defies turns and centripetal force which makes the vehicle move away from turn. A study has revealed that the SUV technology has been the cause of most of the accidents. SUV which forms a main component of such heavy vehicles has increased the fatality rate twice than the passenger cars. These cars have also caused dangers to the environment as the terrain is done in areas where there is abundance of natural vegetation and wildlife. Driving in such areas may lead to losses of natural habitat. This may result in erosion and hammering of many species.