THE WRAP-UP
DRIVE TO THE CONDITIONS, YES ... BUT ALSO TO YOUR VEHICLE’S LIMITATIONS
respects the data gathered by the Vinfast team held few surprises. In terms of a general trend, the standard hatchbacks performed best, followed by the
SUVs and then the dual cabs. However, rather than simply identifying whether there was a difference, these tests were designed to clarify the size of those differences. To that end, we need to look at the grey rather than the simple black and white.
A key takeaway is that the Ford Escape ST-Line’s impressive showing is evidence that modern SUVs aren’t necessarily dynamically inferior to regular hatchbacks. Aside from its genre-busting power and acceleration, its braking – wet and dry – and outright grip were every bit the equal of the Mazda 3 and Ford Focus, while also trailing by only the smallest of margins in the difficult moose test.
Even with the CX-8’s unusual dimensions – as a stretched CX-5 it’s tall and narrow-tracked with skinny tyres in comparison to Mazda’s full-size CX-9 seven-seater – it still brakes well, though its compromises became apparent in emergency situations. Its ESC calibration, in particular, responded slowly to oversteer in the moose test and not at all to understeer in the lateral g test.
It’s also clear that while dual-cab utes have come a long way in terms of performance, dynamics and passive and active safety, they are still heavily compromised as on-road vehicles. As mentioned, that in itself isn’t particularly surprising, but the key message here is one of awareness. If you, like many Australians, have chosen a dual-cab as your primary family transport, then this data graphically shows that driving habits need to adjust accordingly.
For example, compared to a Focus Active, a Ranger Wildtrak takes an 11 percent greater distance to stop in the dry, 22 percent greater distance to stop in the wet, has 20 percent less lateral grip and its maximum evasive manoeuvre speed is 14.5 percent lower. In an emergency situation these figures could be the difference between a serious accident and avoiding one completely.
As stated at the outset, this isn’t about encouraging or discouraging consumers to buy certain types of vehicles, but just as the Australian motoring landscape has changed dramatically in the last two decades, it’s important that public awareness and driving habits follow suit.