Where did the Dodge Nitro come from?

[280Z Turbo]

Are you trying to argue that rubber band tires are good for offroading? Because I'm sure that the Range Rovers can do SOME offroading with rubber band tires, but it is far from ideal. It's just common sense.

I know that you can drive a 1992 Chevy Suburban with blown shocks around Laguna Seca, but I'd have to guess that it would be far from ideal.

[SVT666]

What is your offroading experience Chris, because anyone who argues that low profile tires are good for offroading doesn't know what offroading is all about.  You give those same Land Rovers 15" wheels and even 31" tires and they would have a much easier time going through everything they were doing there.  Tall wheels and low profile tires DO suck ass offroad.

[sandertheshark]

G-Wagens do fine too with relatively thin tires climbing rocks and charging into mudholes and whatever.  It's obviously not ideal, but it works.

[TheIntrepid]

Try getting a Camry through this...

Can I track down my old '89 4WD Alltrac? That might have a bit of a shot.

[Raghavan]

Can I track down my old '89 4WD Alltrac? That might have a bit of a shot.

My bicycle has a better shot than your camry.
Actually, it's better than the Range Rover too.

[TheIntrepid]

My bicycle has a better shot than your camry.
Actually, it's better than the Range Rover too.

My bike's better than your bike!!!































Probably not. I ride a SuperCycle MBX-5000. 21-speeds of FURY. Though it's in the basement and I refuse to take it out to the shed. I generally ride my mom's 15-speed CCM ECCO. Also a beast.

[omicron]

I want a Range Rover.

[ChrisV]

What is your offroading experience Chris, because anyone who argues that low profile tires are good for offroading doesn't know what offroading is all about.  You give those same Land Rovers 15" wheels and even 31" tires and they would have a much easier time going through everything they were doing there.  Tall wheels and low profile tires DO suck ass offroad.

The point is you said they effectively COULD NOT do it, and I showed they can. Whether they are the BEST for it are not is not the argument, is it? The FACT is that they do not preclude the kind of offroad use you say they do. PERIOD.

Those big wheel, low profile tire wearing rigs went where regular cars would NOT go and survived. Thus they were not precluded from driving on "dirt roads and nothing more" as you stated. Can I make it any clearer?

Whether a different setup would be BETTER is not at issue, nor am I in disagreement with that sentiment.

Let me look up the quotes...

[ChrisV]

Too bad it can't go offroad.

Dirt roads and nothing more

And your basis is that it has slightly lower profile tires, like that Range Rover. But the Range Rover goes more than "dirt roads and nothing more" so therefore your ASSERTION of FACT is wrong.

Whether they are less than ideal is not the argument. Those two assertions are. PERIOD.

[SVT666]

And your basis is that it has slightly lower profile tires, like that Range Rover. But the Range Rover goes more than "dirt roads and nothing more" so therefore your ASSERTION of FACT is wrong.

Whether they are less than ideal is not the argument. Those two assertions are. PERIOD.

Have you ever heard of Sarcasm Chris?  Big wheels and low profile tires DO suck offroad.  The Nitro doesn't have very much ground clearance, it is FWD biased, and doesn't have a true 4x4 system, therefore it is relegated to dirt roads that get a little rough...but nothing more.

[MX793]

Have you ever heard of Sarcasm Chris?  Big wheels and low profile tires DO suck offroad.  The Nitro doesn't have very much ground clearance, it is FWD biased, and doesn't have a true 4x4 system, therefore it is relegated to dirt roads that get a little rough...but nothing more.

The Nitro, like the Jeep Liberty it's based on, is RWD biased, not FWD.  Manual 4x4 models have part time 4WD and are driven by the rear wheels when in 2WD mode.  It's not going to out match a Wrangler or more serious off roader where the pavement ends (given the lack of a low range in the transfer case and locking differentials), but it'll certainly handle more than a bumpy dirt road. 

[SVT666]

The Nitro, like the Jeep Liberty it's based on, is RWD biased, not FWD.? Manual 4x4 models have part time 4WD and are driven by the rear wheels when in 2WD mode.? It's not going to out match a Wrangler or more serious off roader where the pavement ends (given the lack of a low range in the transfer case and locking differentials), but it'll certainly handle more than a bumpy dirt road.?

Oops.  My bad.  It will still suck offroad.  As someone who does a lot of offroading, I can tell you there is nothing about this truck (except for the part-time 4x4 system) that makes it a good truck to take offroading.  This is also coming from a Dodge guy, so no one can say I'm biased.

[ifcar]

I think there's just a general underestimation of what vehicles can do off-road. Short of playing around, pretty much any truck-based SUV ought to be able to get where it needs to without much trouble.

[TBR]

Just about any car based suv can get where anyone would actually need to go. But, that isn't always the point of offroading, sometimes you just want to sling some mud or do the seemingly impossible, RWD based 4wd, small wheels, big tires, and lots of ground clearance is essential for that.

[ifcar]

But how many people actually do that? This is in the vein of the magazines who complain about stability control preventing them from sliding the car around on a track when it never activates on the road.

[SVT666]

But how many people actually do that? This is in the vein of the magazines who complain about stability control preventing them from sliding the car around on a track when it never activates on the road.

Stability control would piss me off on a regular basis, and so would the 4x4 capabilities of the Nitro.  When I go offroad, I really go offroad.

[TBR]

But how many people actually do that? This is in the vein of the magazines who complain about stability control preventing them from sliding the car around on a track when it never activates on the road.

Precisely my point, car based suvs will do pretty much anything that their buyers actually need them to do, but some people want more. That is where the Nitro falls short, it doesn't have the refinement of a crossover or the ability of a real suv.

[ifcar]

It should be able to do better than a CR-V or Forester, it just won't be in the Xterra league.

[TBR]

I don't know, the approach angles etc look pretty sucky.

[Ron From Regina]

The Liberty was "trail rated", so it's not completely useless off road.? Not going to be a serious rock crawler like a Wrangler, but it'll fare better than a Rav4.

Of course the Liberty is not a serious rock crawler like a wrangler, but next to the wrangler, the Liberty (equipped with the command track locking center dif) is the next most capable currently produced jeep out there. Of course, I haven't done any kind of serious off roading in my wife's Liberty, but I have bounced it though a few snowy ditches, and all the reviews I have read raved about its offroad ability.

Since the Nitro is essencially a re-skin (or am I mistaking?), I can't see how its off road ability would be so different?