Taking a FWD compact SUV off the road is NOT a good idea: Proof [Video]

Sub-4 meter compact SUVs are one of the most popular segment in India. Ford EcoSport was one of the vehicle that had kickstarted this segment in India. All the other manufacturers later followed this path. All the SUVs in this segment are actually are front wheel drive SUVs. This is ideal for city usage but, driving it off the road is actually a tricky affair. We have seen several videos of people driving compact SUVs on rough road or off-road conditions and getting stuck. Here we have another video that shows why one should not drive a front wheel drive SUV off-road.

The video has been uploaded by AutoWheels India – Cars & RoadTrips on their YouTube channel. Video starts with almost 45 Ford EcoSport SUVs. The group is actually on a weekend breakfast drive and were driving in a convoy. All the Ford EcoSport in the group came from Delhi NCR region and they were driving to a breakfast point.

Also read: Ford EcoSport shows off its segment-best water wading ability like a BOSS (Video)

The convoy started moving and kept of stopping at places where it found suitable spots for clicking pictures. After driving for some time, the tarmac suddenly disappeared and the whole group was now driving through a mud road. Just 1.5 kms before their spot, they discovered that the road that they were travelling has been blocked. Someone had built a wall and that had completely closed the road ahead. The group turns around and the group looses around 10-15 mins there. Till this point everything was working fine for the group.

The group then reaches their breakfast point and after some time, the whether completely changes and it starts raining. Some of the EcoSports had been parked on an open field where the soil was quite sticky. Vlogger rushes with couple of other people from the group and start driving the EcoSports out.

The driver tries to move the car forward as the front wheels were already on the grass where it has bit of traction. The soil was so sticky that the rear wheels got stuck in the mud and the EcoSport was not going anywhere. The driver then reverses the car and luckily it moved. Once he was free from the sticky mud portion, he accelerates and drives through the mud and joins the road.

Another Ford EcoSport however was not that lucky. It driver tried accelerating the car forward but, the wheels had no traction and were spinning at the same spot. When nothing worked out, they got help from a local and tried pulling out the EcoSport using a tractor. The SUV was so badly stuck that even the rope broke couple of times.

The tractor then pulled the SUV out from the rear. The group had not intentionally done this but, it was the whether that worked against the group. This is why it is not recommended to take front wheel drive SUVs off-road. If it was a 4WD or an AWD SUV, then the power would have been sent to all the wheels and it would have come off the spot without much drama. Even if one of the wheels get stuck, other wheels have power and they can move the vehicle out which is not possible in a front wheel drive SUV.

Also read: Tata Nexon goes off roading in the Himalayas (Video)