SUVs are quite popular in Indian market but, most of the SUVs that are currently available in Indian market are 2WD SUVs. There are not many takers for a 4×4 SUV as they are expensive and most of the buyers who purchase an SUV hardly take it off-road. Toyota Fortuner is one of the SUV in the market that has been very popular in the segment and is available with both 4×4 and 2WD setup. Here we have a video that shows why it is important to have a 4×4 or AWD vehicle while doing off-roading.
The video has been uploaded by Arun Panwar on their YouTube channel. In this video, vlogger and his friends are seen in a piece of land that has been thoroughly ploughed. When the video started, a Toyota Fortuner was already in the field and the driver tried driving the SUV first without actually engaging 4×4. He managed to do that without any problem but, when he came for the second round, he engaged 4 high and started driving around.
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The Fortuner was handling the terrain effortlessly It was gliding over the loose soil without getting stuck anywhere. After seeing this, Mahindra XUV500 driver who was at the spot got tempted and drove his SUV into the field. Mahindra XUV500 was available with an AWD setup but, the one seen here in the video is the regular front wheel drive version.
He drove into the loose soil and immediately realised that he should not have done that. The XUV500 is a heavy front wheel drive SUV. The power was only being sent to the front wheels and just after covering few metres, the front wheel got stuck in the soil. The XUV500 driver was trying hard to get the SUV out but, all his efforts were in vain. As the field was ploughed recently, the soil was very loose and it was proving to be tricky for a front wheel drive SUV to find grip.
Fortunately, the XUV500 was not beached and the owner got out and removed soil around the wheels and then tried driving it out. The SUV was not moving forward as it was digging more and more into it. Vlogger then guided him to drive the SUV in reverse to get it out from the situation. XUV500 driver did just that and after several trials, the SUV finally got out. All this time, Toyota Fortuner was smoothly driven on the field.
The video is once again an example that proves why it is not recommended to go off-road in a 2WD SUV. The owner of the XUV500 can be heard saying that the clutch on his SUV feels a lot more lighter after coming out from the field. The clutch on the SUV might have burned as it was under lot of pressure while the SUV got stuck. 4×4 or an AWD SUV sends power to all the wheels which helps it while off-roading but, in the case of a 2WD SUV, power is only send to a set of wheels and if any one of them gets stuck, the vehicle cannot recover itself.
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