When it comes to external spare tires, many people definitely think of hardcore off-road models such as Wrangler, Mercedes-Benz Big G, toyota Prado and so on. In fact, there are also many urban SUVs that have adopted the design of external spare tires, but some have become a thing of the past, and some have continued to this day.
The first model, Toyota RAV4 Rongfang
The RAV4 is known as one of the pioneers of urban SUVs, with models dating back to 1989 and the meaning of the model can be translated as "four-wheel drive recreational sports car", which makes it different from the traditional SUVs that "do rough work" in the past. After another 5 years, the first generation of rav4 in mass production was finally officially launched.
(Pictured is the first generation OF RAV4)
In terms of design, the external spare tire is one of its highlights, this design has been maintained until the third generation of models, RAV4 is widely known by the Chinese people should also start from this generation, because this generation of models began to be introduced by FAW Toyota into domestic production, since then it has also a Chinese name - Rongfang. This generation of models has not been produced in China for a long time, only four years. In 2012, Toyota introduced the fourth generation of RAV4, and one of the biggest changes in this generation was the removal of the external spare tire design. So the RAV4 with spare tires on the street today is at least a decade old car. RAV4 has been constantly evolving, in 2018 based on the TNGA platform to build the fifth generation of models officially released, both design and functional configuration are moving closer to young, sporty, maintaining a strong competitiveness. It's just that for some old car owners with feelings, they may often miss the shape of the spare tire.
(Pictured is the third generation OF RAV4)
(Pictured is the fourth generation of RAV4)
The second paragraph, Skoda Yeti
The Skoda Yeti, the brand's first SUV model, first launched in China in November 2013, and seeing its exterior, in addition to the iconic forward grille, you might have a hard time associating it with today's Skoda models. In order to highlight the "hardcore style", Skoda provided a rear spare tire for some models. However, this move has not received obvious results, the trunk space performance is average, the ride comfort is not good and other product shortcomings, making its sales performance flat, only four years of production was discontinued, so the visibility on the road is very low, and even many people do not know its existence. If you can make up for some shortcomings in the product, it may be a model with full personality today.
The third paragraph, Chery Tiggo 3
Chery Tiggo 3 is one of the earliest models of its own car brands to adopt an external spare tire design, and it is also one of the urban SUVs that continue to adhere to this design. With a guided price of 59,900-80,900, the Tiggo 3 is the cheapest SUV model to use this design. It is also due to the use of external spare tires, the trunk of Tiggo 3 is a side open form, coupled with the rear seats can be put down, the ability to load luggage is still relatively strong, and the floor of the trunk is low, and it is more convenient to take enlarged luggage.
Although Chery is equipped with two powertrains of 1.6L and 1.5T for the Tiggo 3, due to the shortcomings in the riding space and the certain price overlap with other models such as the Tiggo 5X, the sales performance is not very good, and it is still unknown whether production will continue in the future. If the production is really stopped, will you feel sorry?
Fourth paragraph, BYD dollar
The BYD Yuan is the entry-level model in the Dynasty series, positioned like the Chery Tiggo 3, which is also a small SUV. Also because of the lack of rear space and trunk space and poor sales performance, so the fuel version of the BYD Yuan has long been discontinued, fortunately, the "successor" Yuan Pro still uses the design of the external spare tire, and the Yuan Pro is also one of the few pure electric SUV models that use this design.
(Pictured is BYD Pro)
In order to cater to the trend of consumption upgrades, BYD has launched a new metaPLUS model, the body size has been fully upgraded, and the new model has been promoted to a compact SUV. It may be that the trunk has enough space to lower the spare tire, or that the external spare tire is feeling that it hinders the positioning of the new model, and this design has been cancelled. With the launch of entry-level models such as Dolphin, yuan pro will also face the fate of being discontinued in the future.
(Pictured is the rear of the BYD Yuan Pro car)
Although the external spare tire is very helpful for improving the style of the vehicle, it also increases the manufacturing cost of the vehicle to a certain extent, and there are also shortcomings such as the fragile damage of the trunk tailgate hinge, so this design is gradually abandoned by urban SUV models. Those hardcore off-road vehicles with relatively high prices have enough cost space to strengthen the relevant components, and the external spare tire has slowly become one of the design characteristics of this type of model. Do you know which other urban SUVs have used the external spare tire design? Add to this in the comments section. (Text/Taming wind)