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Today's motorist is after something different and distinctive. Hence the proliferation of niche market sectors - mini-class, MPV, 4WD and SUV to name but three. SUV? Yes, the sports utility vehicle - the latest acronym from the US and Japan.
SUV describes the Suzuki Vitara, Toyota RAV, Honda CR-V, Kia Sportage and now Daihatsu's Terios, a five-door, 1.3 litre, permanent four-wheel drive which stands 185mm off the ground on 205/70 R15 rubber. `The sports utility vehicle is one which doesn't compromise everyday use by being cumbersome and uneconomic; it is for those who prefer economy, ease of driving and versatility at a more affordable price than traditional 4x4s,' says the PR blurb.
Although developed primarily as a road car and despite being a source of great amusement to the hardy mud-pluggers of the London 4x4 Club, Terios' off-road ability was limited more by my reticence to dent its flimsy body or to shatter its hideous contrasting coloured resin bumpers, wheel arch extensions and lower door covers than its lowish ground clearance and road tyres.
In that urban jungle know as Thamesmead and with diff-lock activated (by a simple push-button on the fascia) the Terios shrugged off wet sand, deep ruts, blind, perilous and muddy inclines and descents with relative ease given its diminutive power (82bhp). Here the Terios encountered extremes and, in requiring just two tows (bottoming out on a sandy ridge and loss of traction in black, oozing, odorous gunge which sucked up...