Myths and rumors can be started very easily, can last a long time, and are often stretched or exaggerated the longer they exist. This doesn’t necessarily mean that every one of them is wrong. Both rumors and myths often start with at least a small backbone of truth.
They are different in that a myth is generally more widely accepted than a rumor, which is usually much less long-lived. Myths are everywhere. Most have been around for years, and many have roots in truth. But, things change. In the automotive industry, change happens quickly and frequently. Because of this, many myths that you may have heard about vehicles may have been true before but aren’t anymore.
Whether or not a given myth about vehicles is rooted in truth or just something made up that seems to be true, we are going to break down some of the more common ones, explain them, then give you truth behind them. Regardless of which one of these you have or haven’t heard, let us know in the comments which ones you thought were true or false, and let us know which ones you want to know more about.
SUVs can go off road because they are SUVs:
Most SUVs aren’t made like they used to be years ago. That may sound like what your grandpa constantly tells you, but it is true. Though most SUV buyers don’t have any intention to take their Nissan Rogue, Toyota RAV4, or Hyundai Tucson out into the desert or straight up a mountain, the perception still exists that they are vastly more capable of handling adverse conditions than cars.
While all-wheel-drive-equipped SUVs are better able to handle poor weather conditions than many front or rear-wheel drive vehicles, the notion than they are capable of “going anywhere” if the situation necessitates is far from true.
Advanced off-road systems like those found in the Land Rover Discovery aren’t as extensively equipped to most regular SUVs. A few SUVs, like the Jeep Wrangler and Toyota 4Runner, are equipped with four-wheel-drive systems which are generally favored over all-wheel-drive systems when tough terrain is on the menu.
Additionally, most SUVs are manufactured with a monocoque chassis design rather than a traditional body-on-frame design like in days past. This certainly isn’t the criteria for a truly rugged SUV, but designing an SUV the same way as a car – with a monocoque chassis – certainly doesn’t always help. The additional ground clearance SUVs provide can sometimes help, but this doesn’t always make that much of a difference either.
The Truth: Some SUVs like the Jeep Wrangler, Toyota 4Runner, and Land Rover Discovery are built to be tough and go most places, but the majority of SUVs aren’t built to do this. Most only provide marginal advantages at best over regular cars in most “go-anywhere” situations or in adverse conditions.
Smaller engines are more efficient than larger ones:
It’s no secret that automakers are looking to make their vehicles more efficient. One popular way to accomplish this – besides developing electric vehicles – is to develop smaller internal combustion engines. V12 engines are being replaced by V8s. V8s are being replaced with V6s, inline six, and four-cylinders. Naturally-aspirated engines are being given turbochargers to boost power and make up for the potential performance losses experienced when downsizing engine displacement.
Generally speaking, large displacement engines require more fuel than smaller ones. This doesn’t mean that large engines can’t be efficient, though. A good example of this is the 2015 Ford Mustang GT. Its 5.0-liter V8 engine cranks out a healthy 435 horsepower and 400 lb-ft of torque is rated to 25 miles per gallon on the highway.
That might not sound that impressive at face value, but consider the 2015 Honda Pilot. It may be a larger vehicle, but its smaller 3.5-liter V6 engine only produces only 250 horsepower and 253 lb-ft of torque while returning the exact same highway fuel economy rating as the Mustang. This isn’t exactly and apples-to-apples comparison, but it does demonstrate two things that are important when considering engine size.
The first is that just because one engine might technically be larger than another one, it will automatically be less efficient than a smaller one. The second is that the amount of work an engine has to do will affect it efficiency. A good example of this is when a vehicle has to tow a trailer. The engine must pull more weight, and thus, its efficiency will go down.
As strange as it sounds, there is a point where engines can become too small to truly as efficient as possible for the weight it must pull. Take for example the smallest road legal vehicle you can think about. What would happen if you put a lawnmower engine into it rather than a regular vehicle engine? It would either be too slow to be safe, or it wouldn’t move at all. In either case, the engine would be so small that you would have to keep the vehicle at full throttle at all times to make it go, if it did at all. The vehicle would use so much fuel trying to keep up, that its efficiency would plummet.
The Truth: Generally speaking, larger engines use more fuel than smaller ones, but that does not necessarily mean they are less efficient than smaller ones. Greater fuel consumption doesn’t always equal worse fuel efficiency, but there is also a point where engine size compared to the amount of work the engine must complete does have an effect on how efficient engines are overall.
Modifications make vehicles faster:
Most people buy vehicles for the purpose of getting around. Some use them to get around, but want to do so with a little more flair. Adding modifications to a car or truck can be fun, expensive, troublesome, or rewarding depending on what modifications people buy and how they are installed.
It might make sense to most people that if you put a part on your car that is supposed to make it go faster, it would go faster. Experienced tuners know that isn’t necessarily the case. Quality parts and fine tuning a vehicle are often really what make a vehicle perform to the expectations of the buyer.
Slapping a cold air intake and a custom exhaust system on your 1996 Ford Mustang may make your car sound better, but it may take more than just installing the parts to make it actually perform better. In fact, depending on which parts you use, it could actually make your vehicle slower than it was from the factory.
Most vehicles are basically sold to perform as needed while also trying to be as efficient and reliable as possible. Many cars that could be modified to increase power can often be modified to do so but at the expense of reliability. That being said, some modifications can actually increase horsepower with no additional work needed, thus making a vehicle faster without having to do any additional tuning.
The Truth: Modifying a vehicle is not an uncommon thing, but most of the time, to truly get a noticeable speed increase, proper tuning will be required to get the best out of the new parts you buy and keep the remaining stock parts within safe and reliable operating limits. Newer vehicles are technologically advanced enough to adjust to some modifications and improve power output, though this is not always the case.
Bigger vehicles are safer than smaller ones:
Physics are a large, unseen part of each of our daily lives. Opening a door, getting out of bed, and even cooking dinner are, in part, governed by the laws of physics. Car accidents also happen to be an unfortunate and obvious lesson in physics.
In the case of a large versus a small vehicle in an accident, it might seem obvious that a Ford F-250 would always win the battle against a Hyundai Accent. Similarly, if the F-250 was pitted against a tractor trailer, the pickup would probably be tossed aside like a rag doll, especially if both vehicles are going the same speed when the collision happens.
In the event of a vehicle crash, physics dictates that it is not the force of the bodies that is different, but rather the change in velocity, or acceleration. Because the larger vehicle has a greater mass than the smaller one, change in velocity of the smaller vehicle is much greater, which in turn is why we see the truck basically bowl over the smaller car.
All other factors not taken into consideration, this would normally make the larger vehicle the safer option when considering a head on collision. Not everything in life is this straightforward, though. Not all collisions are head on collisions. Not every vehicle is equipped with the same amount of safety equipment or the same levels of safety technology as the next one. These are all things to consider when a vehicle’s safety is factored in its entirety.
It may not make that much of a difference if a brand new, fully-loaded Toyota Camry is involved in a head on collision with tractor trailer when both vehicles are traveling at 70 miles per hour simply because the tractor trailer’s massive size advantage may override any amount of safety technology in a vehicle as small as a Camry. However, if you consider the same Toyota Camry that collides with a 1980 Ford F-150, most would probably agree that the Camry is going to be the safer vehicle between the two even if the F-150 is larger.
The Truth: Under extreme circumstances, a large vehicle will generally be safer than a much smaller one. Because of the amount of technology and quality of materials used to build today’s vehicles, it is harder to say definitely that a large vehicle is automatically safer than a smaller one. Physics still dictates that this may be the case when vehicles of comparable technology, features, and materials collide with each other, but other factors must be considered under normal circumstances. Assuming that larger means safer all the time is a mistake.
Come back next week for part two.
