5 places you should not take your ‘front wheel drive’ SUV to [Video]

The Indian market is full of compact SUVs at the moment. With the rising popularity of the SUVs, there is a wide range of choice in the market. However, most of these SUVs only offer 2WD, which is not sufficient for taking them to many challenging situations. It should be noted that high ground clearance alone saves the vehicle from underbody hits, but it does not make the vehicle more capable. Which are the five places where you should not take your 2WD if you don’t want to get stuck? Well, here are videos of five 2WD SUVs stuck in different situations which should be completely avoided in 2WD vehicles.

Banks of water bodies – Mud

While the SUVs may look like they will be able to overcome any challenging situation. However, taking them to soft and slippery surfaces like riverbanks or the bank of a lake can break that view. Seen here is a 2WD Mahindra XUV 500, which is stuck in such an area. The 2WD Mahindra XUV 500 is front-wheel-drive, which is why only the front wheel can be seen moving in this video. The heavy Mahindra XUV 500’s front wheels have dug deep in the soft area, and as there is no power in the rear wheels, the vehicle is stuck. In the video, it can be seen getting recovered by a tractor.

Sandy areas like beach

Again, the beach area can be tricky for even 4X4 vehicles and should be completely avoided by 2WD vehicles. This video again shows a Mahindra XUV 500 stuck in a beach area. It becomes difficult for a 2WD vehicle to get proper traction and if the front wheels get stuck, the 2WD cannot recover by themselves. This FWD Mahindra XUV 500 is in a similar situation, and after numerous efforts of freeing itself from the sand, it got recovered by a tractor in the end.

Snow

Unlike the Mahindra XUV 500 2WD, which gets the FWD set-up, the Scorpio 2WD gets an RWD set-up. This video shows a Mahindra Scorpio 2WD stuck in deep snow and the rear wheels spinning out of control without any traction. In 4X4 vehicles, traction on any of the front or rear wheels can bring the vehicle out, but it is not the case with the 2WD vehicles. This Scorpio was then pushed by a bunch of people out of the slippery snow surface after which it could move on its own. If you don’t get such helping hands in place and are alone, it can become impossible to recover the vehicle.

Slush

Slush may not look very intimidating, but they can trap the vehicles just like that. Here is a classic example of TUV 300 getting stuck in slippery slush. The slushy surfaces are incredibly slippery, and the 2WD and even 4WD vehicles fail to find traction to move forward in such situations. This video shows why one should stay away from the slushy surfaces, especially the 2WD vehicles. In 4WD vehicles, the constant power in all the wheels helps them to come out of such tricky situations. However, 2WD SUVs have no such tricks under the sleeve and mostly end up getting stuck.

Water crossings

The high flowing water crossings are frequent in the upper parts of the Himalayas. While the high flow of the water can be extremely dangerous, it also hides the surface underneath. Most of the times, water crossings make the surfaces below very slippery, and it becomes difficult for the vehicle to steer on such surfaces or find traction to move forward. This Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza has become stuck in such a water crossing, and it came out only after the help of the locals who pushed the vehicle out of the situation.