SUV front ends [View all]

This past week or so I rented a car in CA. I had asked for a midsize and they didn't have what I ordered so they upgraded me to an SUV. A Volkswagen Atlas. 7 seats, fancy seats. Pain in the ass touch screen controls. Surprisingly it got over 26 mpg the way I drive. Power from a 2 liter turbo 4 rated at 267 HP mated to an 8 speed automatic. AWD.

What bothered me the most was the front end. I'm 6' 2" tall and the hood line is at my waist. There is at least an 8 inch gap from the top of thefenders tothe top of the engine. See pics. The front end could be redesigned to lower the front and make it safer if you hit a pedestrian or cyclist. It would be able to view more of the road infront of you and probably increase fuel economy. These things don't matter when you want that tough image though.

This isn't the worst. Larger SUV and pickups have walls in the front. One vehicle I walked by would hit me at the shoulders to the knees.