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They sell and sell and sell, they’re so popular they’re ubiquitous on our roads, some of them may never be used on the dirt and yet they’ve all become the people-movers of choice in the 21st Century – but are utes and 4WDs actually any good for families?
Utes and 4WD wagons have swiftly become the go-to conveyances nowadays for everyone from city-based families to mumpreneurs, from adventure-sport loving weekend warriors to tech big-wigs.
That’s all well and good but are utes and 4WDs well suited to families?
Read on.
In terms of day-to-day performance, comfort and practicality as family vehicles, utes and wagons are fairly even.
Let’s look at some of the positive and not-so-positive factors of both vehicle types.
A ute has a lot going for it as a family vehicle and it has one very obvious major point of difference with wagons and passenger cars: its open tray or tub. This versatile load space means that the extent of your packing is not restricted by your vehicle’s roof-line (as it is in a wagon), because the tub doesn’t have one.
You can load beyond the top edge of a ute’s tub if needed, and tall or awkwardly shaped loads aren’t a problem either – think flat-packed furniture, building materials, cement mixers, pinball machines … you get the idea.
The flip side of that major positive though is that the load is not covered and so it is not protected from the weather (rain etc) and it is not secure (from opportunistic thieves and the like). The remedy to these issues is getting a lockable tub cover that provides protection and security for whatever you choose to load into the tray. However, those solutions mean that the tub then becomes a uniform load space, i.e. you won’t be able to load tall or awkwardly shaped equipment or materials into the tub unless you leave the cover open.
There’s a huge variety of OEM and aftermarket tray/tub coverings (hard or soft tonneau covers, roller shutters, aluminium lids etc) from which to choose. Or you can buy an aftermarket canopy to be fixed to your ute tub to protect your loaded gear, and many of those options are lockable and feature-packed. However, a canopy is not an engineered-at-vehicle-origin solution, so while it offers much better security, water- and dust-proofing than having no tub cover at all, it’s no match for a wagon’s built-in load space.
But, once again, by affixing a cover to a ute’s tub – whether it’s a tonneau, roller shutter, canopy, or simply a bit of tarp over the top – defeats the original purpose of owning an open-topped ute anyway, because by doing so you’re instantly robbing the ute tub of its load-carrying versatility.
In other ways, utes have come a long away over the past decade or so and, though still wearing leaf-spring suspension set-ups engineered to cope with any anticipated work gear or leisure equipment, they are generally regarded as being at least in the vicinity of passenger cars, in terms of comfort, cabin amenities and driver-assist technology.
Whereas ride quality and handling in unladen utes was once severely compromised due to the leaf-spring suspension, those issues have largely been addressed if not resolved, and contemporary utes are now generally more composed and predictable on sealed surfaces and corrugated dirt tracks than they once were – even without a load onboard.
Wagons also have plenty of positives in their favour as family conveyances, even as standard, and those may make them more appealing than a 2WD passenger car or van in a buyer’s eyes.
4WD wagons offer flexibility in terms of passenger-carrying capabilities because a wagon may have five, seven or eight seats.
They also, most importantly, offer families based in the city, suburbs or rural areas the peace of mind that a vehicle lacking 4WD, genuine country-tough robustness and decent ground clearance simply doesn’t.
Your valuables (people, pets, camping gear, collection of Star Wars action figures etc) are afforded safety and security in a wagon because it is a fully enclosed and lockable load space, accessible from the main cabin.
Another plus in their favour: 4WD wagons have coil-spring set-ups, so ride quality and handling is composed and predictable on sealed surfaces and corrugated dirt tracks.
Utes and wagons make great choices as family vehicles – hence they’re overwhelming popularity.
They’re versatile people- and load-carrying vehicles; they’re comfortable, roomy, robust and offer the driver a peace of mind not possible in a passenger car.
You may never take your family 4WD off the actual road, but at least you know you can if you want to.
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