Steering wheel
A steering wheel is a type of steering control in vehicles and vessels. Steering wheels are used in most modern land vehicles, including all mass-production automobiles, as well as buses and heavy trucks, tractors; the steering wheel is the part of the steering system, manipulated by the driver. This can be through direct mechanical contact as in recirculating ball or rack and pinion steering gears, without or with the assistance of hydraulic power steering, HPS, or as in some modern production cars with the assistance of computer-controlled motors, known as Electric Power Steering. Near the start of the 18th century, a large number of sea vessels appeared using the ship's wheel design, but historians are unclear when that approach to steering was first used; the first automobiles were steered with a tiller, but in 1894, Alfred Vacheron took part in the Paris–Rouen race with a Panhard 4 hp model which he had fitted with a steering wheel. That is believed to be one of the earliest employments of the principle.
From 1898, the Panhard et Levassor cars were equipped as standard with steering wheels. Charles Rolls introduced the first car in Britain fitted with a steering wheel when he imported a 6 hp Panhard from France in 1898. Arthur Constantin Krebs replaced the tiller with an inclined steering wheel for the Panhard car he designed for the 1898 Paris–Amsterdam–Paris race which ran 7–13 July 1898. In 1898, Thomas B. Jeffery and his son, Charles T. Jeffery, developed two advanced experimental cars featuring a front-mounted engine, as well as a steering wheel, mounted on the left-hand side. However, the early automaker adopted a more "conventional" rear-engine and tiller-steering layout for its first mass-produced Ramblers in 1902; the following year, the Rambler Model E was unchanged, except that it came equipped with a tiller early in the year, but with a steering wheel by the end of 1903. By 1904, all Ramblers featured steering wheels. Within a decade, the steering wheel had replaced the tiller in automobiles.
At the insistence of Thomas B. Jeffery, the position of the driver was moved to the left-hand side of the car during the 1903 Rambler production. Most other car makers began offering cars with left-hand drive in 1910. Soon after, most cars in the U. S. converted to left hand drive. Steering wheels for passenger automobiles are circular, are mounted to the steering column by a hub connected to the outer ring of the steering wheel by one or more spokes. Other types of vehicles may use a butterfly shape, or some other shape. In countries where cars must drive on the left side of the road, the steering wheel is on the right side of the car. In addition to its use in steering, the steering wheel is the usual location for a button to activate the car's horn. Modern automobiles may have other controls, such as cruise control, audio system and telephone controls, as well as paddle shifters, built into the steering wheel to minimize the extent to which the driver must take their hands off the wheel; the steering wheels mounted on non-collapsible steering columns.
This arrangement increased the risk of impaling the driver in case of a severe crash. The first collapsible steering column was invented in 1934 but was never marketed. By 1956, Ford came out with a safety steering wheel, set high above the post with spokes that would flex, but the column was still rigid. In 1968, United States regulations were implemented concerning the acceptable rearward movement of the steering wheel in case of crash. Collapsible steering columns were required to meet that standard. Power steering gives the driver an easier means. Modern power steering has universally relied on a hydraulic system, although electrical systems are replacing this technology. Mechanical power steering systems have been invented, but their weight and complexity negate the benefits that they provide. While other methods of steering passenger cars have resulted from experiments, for example the "wrist-twist" steering of the 1965 Mercury Park Lane concept car was controlled by two 5-inch rings, none have yet been deployed as as the conventional large steering wheel.
Passenger automobile regulations implemented by the U. S. Department of Transportation required the locking of steering wheel rotation to hinder motor vehicle theft. See steering lock; the driver's seat, therefore the steering wheel, is centrally located on certain high-performance sports cars, such as the McLaren F1, in the majority of single-seat racing cars. As a driver may have his hands on the steering wheel for hours at a time these are designed with ergonomics in mind. However, the most important concern is that the driver can convey torque to the steering system. A typical design for circular steering wheels is a steel or magnesium rim with a plastic or rubberized grip molded over and around it; some drivers purchase vinyl or textile steering wheel covers to enhance grip or comfort, or as decoration. Another device used to make steering easier is the brodie knob. A similar device in aircraft is the yoke. Water vessels not steered fro
Suspension (vehicle)
This article is about four-wheeled vehicle suspension. For information on two wheeled vehicles' suspensions see Suspension, Motorcycle fork, Bicycle suspension, Bicycle fork. Suspension is the system of tires, tire air, shock absorbers and linkages that connects a vehicle to its wheels and allows relative motion between the two. Suspension systems must support both road holding/handling and ride quality, which are at odds with each other; the tuning of suspensions involves finding the right compromise. It is important for the suspension to keep the road wheel in contact with the road surface as much as possible, because all the road or ground forces acting on the vehicle do so through the contact patches of the tires; the suspension protects the vehicle itself and any cargo or luggage from damage and wear. The design of front and rear suspension of a car may be different. An early form of suspension on ox-drawn carts had the platform swing on iron chains attached to the wheeled frame of the carriage.
This system remained the basis for all suspension systems until the turn of the 19th century, although the iron chains were replaced with the use of leather straps by the 17th century. No modern automobiles use the'strap suspension' system. Automobiles were developed as self-propelled versions of horse-drawn vehicles. However, horse-drawn vehicles had been designed for slow speeds, their suspension was not well suited to the higher speeds permitted by the internal combustion engine; the first workable spring-suspension required advanced metallurgical knowledge and skill, only became possible with the advent of industrialisation. Obadiah Elliott registered the first patent for a spring-suspension vehicle. Within a decade, most British horse carriages were equipped with springs; these were made of low-carbon steel and took the form of multiple layer leaf springs. Leaf springs have been around since the early Egyptians. Ancient military engineers used leaf springs in the form of bows to power their siege engines, with little success at first.
The use of leaf springs in catapults was refined and made to work years later. Springs were not only made of metal. Horse-drawn carriages and the Ford Model T used this system, it is still used today in larger vehicles mounted in the rear suspension. Leaf springs were the first modern suspension system and, along with advances in the construction of roads, heralded the single greatest improvement in road transport until the advent of the automobile; the British steel springs were not well-suited for use on America's rough roads of the time, so the Abbot-Downing Company of Concord, New Hampshire re-introduced leather strap suspension, which gave a swinging motion instead of the jolting up and down of a spring suspension. In 1901 Mors of Paris first fitted an automobile with shock absorbers. With the advantage of a damped suspension system on his'Mors Machine', Henri Fournier won the prestigious Paris-to-Berlin race on 20 June 1901. Fournier's superior time was 11 hrs 46 min 10 sec, while the best competitor was Léonce Girardot in a Panhard with a time of 12 hrs 15 min 40 sec.
Coil springs first appeared on a production vehicle in 1906 in the Brush Runabout made by the Brush Motor Company. Today, coil springs are used in most cars. In 1920, Leyland Motors used torsion bars in a suspension system. In 1922, independent front suspension was pioneered on the Lancia Lambda and became more common in mass market cars from 1932. Today, most cars have independent suspension on all four wheels. In 2002, a new passive suspension component was invented by Malcolm C. Smith, the inerter; this has the ability to increase the effective inertia of a wheel suspension using a geared flywheel, but without adding significant mass. It was employed in Formula One in secrecy but has since spread to other motorsport. Any four wheel vehicle needs suspension for both the front wheels and the rear suspension, but in two wheel drive vehicles there can be a different configuration. For front-wheel drive cars, rear suspension has few constraints and a variety of beam axles and independent suspensions are used.
For rear-wheel drive cars, rear suspension has many constraints and the development of the superior but more expensive independent suspension layout has been difficult. Four-wheel drive has suspensions that are similar for both the front and rear wheels. Henry Ford's Model T used a torque tube to restrain this force, for his differential was attached to the chassis by a lateral leaf spring and two narrow rods; the torque tube surrounded the true driveshaft and exerted the force to its ball joint at the extreme rear of the transmission, attached to the engine. A similar method was used in the late 1930s by Buick and by Hudson's bathtub car in 1948, which used helical springs which could not take fore-and-aft thrust; the Hotchkiss drive, invented by Albert Hotchkiss, was the most popular rear suspension system used in American cars from the 1930s to the 1970s. The system uses longitudinal leaf springs attached both forward and behind the differential of the live axle; these springs transmit the torque to the frame.
Although scorned by many European car makers of the time, it was accepted by American car makers because it was inexpensive to manufacture. The dynamic defects of this design were suppressed by the enormous weight of US passenger vehicles before implementation of the Corporate Average Fuel Economy
Nitrogen
Nitrogen is a chemical element with symbol N and atomic number 7. It was first discovered and isolated by Scottish physician Daniel Rutherford in 1772. Although Carl Wilhelm Scheele and Henry Cavendish had independently done so at about the same time, Rutherford is accorded the credit because his work was published first; the name nitrogène was suggested by French chemist Jean-Antoine-Claude Chaptal in 1790, when it was found that nitrogen was present in nitric acid and nitrates. Antoine Lavoisier suggested instead the name azote, from the Greek ἀζωτικός "no life", as it is an asphyxiant gas. Nitrogen is the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table called the pnictogens; the name comes from the Greek πνίγειν "to choke", directly referencing nitrogen's asphyxiating properties. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at about seventh in total abundance in the Milky Way and the Solar System. At standard temperature and pressure, two atoms of the element bind to form dinitrogen, a colourless and odorless diatomic gas with the formula N2.
Dinitrogen forms about 78 % of Earth's atmosphere. Nitrogen occurs in all organisms in amino acids, in the nucleic acids and in the energy transfer molecule adenosine triphosphate; the human body contains about 3% nitrogen by mass, the fourth most abundant element in the body after oxygen and hydrogen. The nitrogen cycle describes movement of the element from the air, into the biosphere and organic compounds back into the atmosphere. Many industrially important compounds, such as ammonia, nitric acid, organic nitrates, cyanides, contain nitrogen; the strong triple bond in elemental nitrogen, the second strongest bond in any diatomic molecule after carbon monoxide, dominates nitrogen chemistry. This causes difficulty for both organisms and industry in converting N2 into useful compounds, but at the same time means that burning, exploding, or decomposing nitrogen compounds to form nitrogen gas releases large amounts of useful energy. Synthetically produced ammonia and nitrates are key industrial fertilisers, fertiliser nitrates are key pollutants in the eutrophication of water systems.
Apart from its use in fertilisers and energy-stores, nitrogen is a constituent of organic compounds as diverse as Kevlar used in high-strength fabric and cyanoacrylate used in superglue. Nitrogen is a constituent including antibiotics. Many drugs are mimics or prodrugs of natural nitrogen-containing signal molecules: for example, the organic nitrates nitroglycerin and nitroprusside control blood pressure by metabolizing into nitric oxide. Many notable nitrogen-containing drugs, such as the natural caffeine and morphine or the synthetic amphetamines, act on receptors of animal neurotransmitters. Nitrogen compounds have a long history, ammonium chloride having been known to Herodotus, they were well known by the Middle Ages. Alchemists knew nitric acid as aqua fortis, as well as other nitrogen compounds such as ammonium salts and nitrate salts; the mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acids was known as aqua regia, celebrated for its ability to dissolve gold, the king of metals. The discovery of nitrogen is attributed to the Scottish physician Daniel Rutherford in 1772, who called it noxious air.
Though he did not recognise it as an different chemical substance, he distinguished it from Joseph Black's "fixed air", or carbon dioxide. The fact that there was a component of air that does not support combustion was clear to Rutherford, although he was not aware that it was an element. Nitrogen was studied at about the same time by Carl Wilhelm Scheele, Henry Cavendish, Joseph Priestley, who referred to it as burnt air or phlogisticated air. Nitrogen gas was inert enough that Antoine Lavoisier referred to it as "mephitic air" or azote, from the Greek word άζωτικός, "no life". In an atmosphere of pure nitrogen, animals died and flames were extinguished. Though Lavoisier's name was not accepted in English, since it was pointed out that all gases are mephitic, it is used in many languages and still remains in English in the common names of many nitrogen compounds, such as hydrazine and compounds of the azide ion, it led to the name "pnictogens" for the group headed by nitrogen, from the Greek πνίγειν "to choke".
The English word nitrogen entered the language from the French nitrogène, coined in 1790 by French chemist Jean-Antoine Chaptal, from the French nitre and the French suffix -gène, "producing", from the Greek -γενής. Chaptal's meaning was that nitrogen is the essential part of nitric acid, which in turn was produced from nitre. In earlier times, niter had been confused with Egyptian "natron" – called νίτρον in Greek – which, despite the name, contained no nitrate; the earliest military and agricultural applications of nitrogen compounds used saltpeter, most notably in gunpowder, as fertiliser. In 1910, Lord Rayleigh discovered that an electrical discharge in nitrogen gas produced "active nitrogen", a monatomic allotrope of nitrogen; the "whirling cloud of brilliant yellow light
Coilover
A coilover is an automobile suspension device. The name coilover is short for "coil-over shock absorber". A coilover consists of a shock absorber with a coil spring encircling it; the shock absorber and spring are assembled as a unit prior to installation, are replaced as a unit when the shock absorber has leaked. This provides damping without torsional loads; some coilovers allow adjustment of ride height and preload, using a simple threaded spring perch similar to a nut. More advanced adjustable coilover systems use a threaded shock body, along with an adjustable lower mount for ride height adjustment, while an adjustment knob is used to adjust damping. Stiffness can be changed by switching the spring for one with a different spring rate; the coilover style of spring placement is used in the double wishbone suspension, is a component of the MacPherson strut suspension system. Two of the main types of coilovers slip on coilovers. Full coilovers are matched up with a shock from the factory, while with slip on coilovers, the dampers and springs are bought separately and assembled.
Coilovers are found on many vehicles, from RC cars to normal passenger cars, race cars and 4x4 vehicles. They are sometimes used as a factory suspension option on new cars. Many aftermarket companies make coilovers for vehicles, many of which allow the customer to adjust various settings such as ride height, damping and camber angle; this high level of adjustment is. Coilovers can be used to lower the center of gravity of the vehicle to reduce weight transfer when the vehicle is going through turns at high speeds. Coilovers are made up of several components, including the shock absorber, coil spring, bumpstop and lower mount, jam nuts, various nuts and washers, threaded sleeve and collars. For adjustable coilovers, the bottom mount is a threaded sleeve with two adjuster nuts; the adjuster nuts are used to preload the coil to decrease ride height. A mono-tube coilover is a single piston and rod assembly in a damping case in which both compression and rebound occur. A larger mono-tube shock will be able to displace more hydraulic fluid, providing a more sensitive response to small suspension movements than twin-tube shocks.
A twin-tube coilover has more mechanics to it. Twin-tubes have an inner cylinder which moves up and down and an outer cylinder which serves as a hydraulic reserve; this design allows for an increase in piston stroke, which provides better ride quality and handling. Compression occurs when the piston inside the shock absorber is moved, increasing the pressure in the fluid in the chamber below. Adjusting compression changes the motion of the vehicle's unsprung weight, modifying how weight will shift downwards towards the wheel. Rebound is the result of the piston moving back after having been compressed, resulting in compression of the fluid once more. Adjustments made to rebound control the motion of the vehicle's sprung weight, changing how weight will be shifted away from the wheel; the purpose of coilover springs is to prevent the chassis from bottoming out, support each individual wheel on the vehicle, to mitigate or reduce body roll when taking turns and cornering at higher speeds. The springs help to reduce squatting when accelerating and diving when decelerating.
They are used to adjust the vehicle's ride height, which directly affects handling and comfort. Preload is the pressure exerted on a spring over the distance it is compressed. A higher preload means a stiffer spring and a lower preload results in a softer spring with more travel. More preload can increase grip. In coilovers without adjustable lower mounts, ride height must be adjusted through preload; this can present a problem for vehicles whose ride height needs to be lowered but whose springs are stiff enough. Automotive suspension design Chapman strut Strut bar http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/billavista/coilovers/Part_1/, in-depth explanation of coilovers and their function. "http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/billavista/coilovers/Part_2/" http://www.corbymotorsport.com/tuning_guide.php, article related to setting up coilovers http://accutuneoffroad.com/articles/shock-tuning-101/, how to tune rebuildable coilovers
Turbo-Hydramatic
Turbo-Hydramatic or Turbo Hydra-Matic is the registered tradename for a family of automatic transmissions developed and produced by General Motors. These transmissions mate a three-element turbine torque converter to a Simpson planetary geartrain, providing three forward speeds plus reverse; the Turbo-Hydramatic or Turbo Hydra-Matic series was developed to replace both the original Hydra-Matic models and the Buick Dynaflow. In its original incarnation as the Turbo-Hydramatic 400, it was first used in the 1964 model year in Cadillacs; the Buick version, which followed shortly thereafter, was known as the Super-Turbine 400. By 1973, THM units had replaced all of GM's other automatic transmissions including Chevrolet's Powerglide, Buick's Super Turbine 300, Oldsmobile's Jetaway. Starting in the early 1980s, the Turbo-Hydramatic was supplanted by four-speed automatics, some of which continue to use the "Hydramatic" trade name. Although the Turbo Hydra-Matic name alludes to the original Hydra-Matic developed by General Motors' Cadillac division in the late 1930s, the two transmissions were not mechanically related.
The THM400 can be visually identified by an oil pan number four shown at General Motors Transmission Pans. First introduced for the 1964 model year under the name "Turbo Hydra-Matic" in Cadillacs and "Super Turbine" in Buicks; the following year, application expanded to Oldsmobile and Pontiac and to some full-sized Chevrolets. Many of the Buick and Oldsmobile THM400s produced between 1964-67 were equipped with a "Switch-Pitch" torque converter with a variable-pitch stator, sought after by collectors and drag racers; these can be identified outside the vehicle by a narrow front pump spline. Externally the switch pitch version has two electrical connections, where the non-switch pitch THM400 has only one. GM used a Switch Pitch torque converter in the Buick twin turbine Dynaflow transmission between 1955–1963 and the Super Turbine 300 two speed transmissions used by Oldsmobile and Buick divisions between 1964-1967; this transmission is identified by the "Park R N D L2 L1" selector quadrant. The switch pitch is not the only THM400.
Other units to include the 2 prong connectors had an internal pressure switch, used to control spark timing retard. All THM400 units had a 32 spline output shaft with the exception of the THM375 that used a 27 spline output. A variant of the THM400 known as a THM375 is a THM400 with a mid length 27 spline output shaft that mates to the smaller THM350 27 spline drive shaft yoke, it can be identified by "375-THM" cast into the tailhousing. Internally the clutch packs had fewer friction plates. THM375s were found in some 1971-76 Buick Lesabres and Oldsmobile Delta 88s with the 5.7 liter V-8. Somewhere in the Mid-80's Chevrolet C10 Pickups could come equipped with a THM375, it is a THM400 Chevrolet bolt pattern case that has a longer 27 spline output shaft and matching extension housing with "TH375" cast into the housing. Some "Heavy Duty" THM350s were designated THM375-B. Another variant is the 3L80HD referred to as a Turbo 475; the 3L80HD has a straight-cut planetary gear set. There is no externally visible way to determine whether the transmission contains the straight-cut planetary gear set.
The THM425 front wheel drive transmission shares all its internal parts with the THM400. Checker Motors Corporation Motor Company used the Chevrolet version of the THM400 for its "A" series taxi and Marathon models until the end of production in 1982. By 1980, the heavy THM400 was being phased out of usage in passenger cars in response to demand for improved fuel economy; the THM 400 was utilized in the C- and K-series Chevrolet/GMC pickups and G-series vans until 1990 when GM switched over to the 4L80E. Today, the United States Army HMMWV is the only vehicle using the THM400; the civilian Hummer H1 had the 3L80s, but the current model has had a 4L80E since the mid-1990s. Through the end of the'70s more CBOP bellhousing THM400s were produced than any other THM400. Chevrolet bellhousing THM400s, while not rare, can be hard to find and are, as a result more expensive to buy - when used with passenger cars it was coupled to a Mark IV engine or some high performance small blocks; the THM400 was never produced with a multicase bell housing.
Other auto manufacturers have used its 4L80E successor, including Ferrari. Early Jeep THM400s used an adapter between the engine and transmission bell housing while models had an AMC specific housing - which bolted to its inline six and V8. Though identical except for the bell housing pattern used through the'60s and ending in 1979 the THM400 was mated to the Dana model 18,20 and was the only transmission used with the Borg-Warner 1305/1339 all-wheel-drive transfer case used only in Jeeps, It h
Mud bogging
Mud bogging is a form of off-road motorsport popular in Canada and the United States in which the goal is to drive a vehicle through a pit of mud or a track of a set length. Winners are determined by the distance traveled through the pit. However, if several vehicles are able to travel the entire length, the time taken to traverse the pit will determine the winner. Vehicles competing in mud bogs are four-wheel drives; the motor sport is overseen by sanctioning bodies like the American Mud Racing Association, the National Mud Racing Organization, that oversee each class and maintain the relationship with track owners to provide a racer and fan-friendly facility, ensure the sponsors get a good return, help govern the sport. A modern top level Class V or VI mud racer is a dragster-style "rail" design, with a supercharged engine and/or nitrous oxide injection. Engines may be in the rear of the vehicles. Vehicles are required to have four wheel drive, in order to assure that the vehicles have the best possibility of avoiding being stuck.
The sole difference between Classes V and VI is the tire type. Class V racers have D. O. T. Street legal mudding tires for traction. Class VI vehicles have tractor tires. Early mud boggers were pickup trucks or sport utility vehicles modified with lifted suspensions and larger tires, classes exist for such vehicles today. Engine upgrades were common. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, large tractor tires became popular, the drive lines required to run such tires led to some of the first purpose-built mud bogging machines. By the late 1980s, many sanctioning bodies began giving precedence to vehicles with modified, lower, dragster-type "rail designs", as they had increased in popularity. At the same time, superchargers first became used, leading to the modern top-level racer. In the late 70's and most 80's mud bog events, there was a class, for running tractor tired trucks. Trucks like the Arizona Outlaw, Six Pack, Arizona Sidewinder, Instant Motion, Mud Lord, Mud Pup, Wild Thing, Nasty Habits, Unnamed & Untammed, the legendary Cyclops were frequent competitors.
Some of these trucks would be modified to be Monster Trucks. There are many types from Hill and Hole, Flat or Progressive Track, to Open Bog, they come in many sizes from 150 feet to over 300 feet. Hill and Hole is just as it sounds 60 feet wide 200 feet long, a series of hills and holes, is challenging to each truck. All NMRO tracks are more like a drag strip, or sand drag. Open bogs come from Florida and are natural; these tracks have little organization. Hill and Hole classes range from 4 and 6 Cylinder, Street Stock, Hot Street, Super Street, Small Tire Modified 36" and below, Big Tire Modified 37" and bigger tire, Unlimited, X Class, More. There are many class set but the tire size, engine. Most Unlimited and X classes are run with; these trucks have big power engines, built just for that class and are not limited to what can be added to the truck. The truck must be safe to put in a show and not hurt the crowd. National Mud Racing Organization is one of the only major professional championship series left.
Their rulebook is the general basis for most other mud racing competitions. The NMRO was founded by Gary Baker of Ohio. USA Motorsports and USHRA ran professional mud racing series, both referred to as the Indoor Series, for many years until it was phased out of events around 1995, they would have mud bogs as part of events, but not on the same scale as before. Years around 2006 a new era of Mud Bogging started to evolve and has since grown into a worldwide internet sensation. In present-day 2016 Mud Parks around the eastern half of the United States have events that draw in thousands of people who bring their Atvs, UTVs, lifted Jeeps, Mega Trucks to participate in the act of Mud bogging. Most Mega Trucks are built with a custom chassis, have 5 ton axles, upwards of 700 horsepower and have tractor tires; some drivers enter their Mega Truck in freestyle, Hill'n Hole, bounty hole and Tug of War competitions and compete with others for cash and or trophy's. Some Mega Trucks have a blower motor or an Alcohol injected motor that will bring upwards of 1500 horsepower.
In order to make competitions fair the trucks can be divided into different classes such as "Mega Truck Class", "1 Ton class" and "Super Truck Class". In March 2007, Mud Truck Television was created with the specific purpose of providing media coverage for the sport; the show airs nationwide on a weekly basis on the Untamed Sports TV Network and several cable networks across the midwest. The show is filmed and produced in Arkansas. Mud Truck TV features events across the United States; the Mississippi Off Road Race Park, a 30-acre race complex located 12 miles north of Natchez, is the home of "outlaw" mud racing and mud drags. Sanctioned by the Southwest Mississippi Mud Racing Association, the park draws crowds from all over Mississippi and Louisiana. Mud bogging has grown from a backyard pastime to events that host upward of 40,000 people in a weekend, it is no longer a participant sport, growing into a multimillion-dollar spectator sport with high paying sponsors. There are many annual and weekly events such as Barnyard All Terrain, Vermonster 4x4, Louisiana MudFest, South Florida Slingin', Howie's Mud Bog, Twittys Mud Bog, Michigan Mud Jam, West GA Mud Park, Iron Horse Mud Ranch Maximum Power Park and Truck Night at Yankee Lake.
Swamp bu
Sport utility vehicle
Sport-utility, SUV or sport-ute is an automotive classification a kind of station wagon / estate car with off-road vehicle features like raised ground clearance and ruggedness, available four-wheel drive. Many SUVs are built on a light-truck chassis but operated as a family vehicle, though designed to be used on rougher surfaces, most used on city streets or highways. In recent years, in some countries the term SUV has replaced terms like "Jeep" or "Land-Rover" in the popular lexicon as a generic description for light 4WD vehicles. Many SUVs have an upright built body and tall interior packaging, a high seating position and center of gravity, available all-wheel drive for off-road capability; some SUVs include the towing capacity of a pickup truck and the passenger-carrying space of a minivan or large sedan. The traditional truck-based SUV is more and more being supplanted by unitary body SUVs and crossovers based on regular automobile platforms for lighter weight and better fuel efficiency.
In some countries, notably the United States, SUVs are not classified as cars, but as light trucks. SUVs overtook lower medium segment cars to become the world's largest automotive segment in 2015, accounting for 22.9 percent of global light vehicle sales, or 36.8% of the world's passenger car market. Worldwide sales of SUVs grew from 5 million units in 2000 to 20 million in 2015 and are forecast to hit 42 million units by 2031. Becoming popular in the 1990s and early 2000s, SUVs combined with other light trucks, like pickups and minivans, supplanted many conventional large passenger cars and station wagons, changed the composition of America's vehicle fleet. SUV sales temporarily declined due to high oil prices and a declining economy, but by 2010, SUV sales around the world were growing again, in spite of gasoline prices; the market has overwhelmingly come to prefer 4/5-door models in favor of popular 2-door off-roaders. There is no universally accepted definition of the sport utility vehicle.
Dictionaries, automotive experts, journalists use varying wordings and defining characteristics, in addition to which there are regional variations of the use by both the media and the general public. The auto industry has not settled on one definition of the SUV either; the actual term "Sport Utility Vehicle" did not come into wide popular usage until the late 1980s — prior to such vehicles were marketed during their era as 4-wheel drives, station wagons, or other monikers. The American Merriam-Webster online dictionary offers three different definitions; the general definition of a "sport-utility vehicle", found under "SUV" reads: "a rugged automotive vehicle similar to a station wagon but built on a light-truck chassis", it is defined in the definition of sport-utility vehicle for students as: "an automobile similar to a station wagon but built on a light truck frame". However, the Merriam-Webster definition "for English Language Learners" reads: "a large vehicle, designed to be used on rough surfaces but, used on city roads or highways".
The Webster's New World Dictionary defines sport utility vehicle as "a passenger vehicle similar to a station wagon but with the chassis of a small truck and four-wheel drive". In recent years, the term SUV has come to replace the use of "jeep" as a generic trademark and description of these type of vehicles, a name that originated during World War II as slang for the light general purpose military truck. A Hemmings article defines the sport utility vehicle as bridging the gap between cars and trucks, "combining car-like appointments and wagon practicality with steadfast off-road capability". S. it only applies to the newer street oriented one, whereas "Jeep", "Land Rover" or 4x4 are used for the off-roader oriented ones. The German automaker BMW utilizes the term SAV to denote "Sport Activity Vehicles." Not all SUVs have four-wheel drive capabilities, not all four-wheel-drive passenger vehicles are SUVs. Although some SUVs have off-road capabilities, they play only a secondary role, SUVs do not have the ability to switch among two-wheel and four-wheel-drive high gearing and four-wheel-drive low gearing.
While automakers tout an SUV's off-road prowess with advertising and naming, the daily use of SUVs is on paved roads. In British English the terms "four-by-four" or "off-road vehicle" are preferred, for example the Chambers Dictionary has no entry for sport utility vehicle; the Collins English online dictionary defines sport utility vehicle as a "powerful vehicle with four-wheel drive that can be driven over rough ground" or "a high-powered car with four-wheel drive designed for off-road use", but the citations quoted by Collins are few. Other alternative terms are "four-wheel drive", or using the brand name to describe the vehicle. In the United States, many government regulations have categories for "off-highway vehicles" which are loosely defined and result in SUVs being classified as light trucks. For example, Corporate Average Fuel Economy regulations included "permit greater cargo-carrying capacity than passenger carrying volume" in the definition for trucks, resulting in SUVs being classified as light trucks.
This classification as trucks allowed SUVs to be regulated
