Voyage of discovery

Strong and tough, they're going where only the heavyweights used to tread. Motoring editor ALASTAIR SLOANE looks at two new lifestyle vehicles.

Try it with a cardboard shoebox. Put the lid on, grab the box at both ends and give it a twist. There's a fair bit of resistance, right? Now take the lid off. There's a lot less resistance to twisting, isn't there?

It's the same with convertible cars. That juddering as the soft-top goes over bumpy ground is called scuttleshake, or torsion acting on the pillarless car's body. It's physics - carmakers have to live with it. A car with a fixed roof, like a shoebox with a lid, has more torsional resistance.

Drive an old convertible diagonally across a wide-ish ditch and you can almost see the body twisting. You can certainly hear it creaking. The big American two-door soft-tops of the 1960s twisted like the dance craze in such situations.

The stiffer a car's body the better it is to drive. That's why carmakers make such a big thing of the improved torsional strength of each new model. This is what Ford said of its new Mondeo last year: "The body shell is 60 per cent stronger torsionally than its predecessor, which helps handling and reduces noise, vibration and harshness."

Modern technology and materials have helped carmakers build stronger, stiffer vehicles without sacrificing too much weight and fuel usage. They have moved away from four-wheel-drives with separate truck-like chassis to monocoque off-road models. Part of this had to do with upcoming laws in the US banning four-wheel-drive passenger vehicles with truck-like chassis. Such vehicles are seen as too intrusive in accidents with conventional cars.

New technology helped create the "crossover" or "lifestyle" segment. The car that pretty much started it in the mid-1990s was the Subaru Outback, an all-wheel-drive station wagon with a higher ride height. It is strong and tough and goes where once only heavyweight four-wheel-drives feared to tread.

Since the Outback, everybody's got in on the act. Volvo, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, Land-Rover, Toyota, Ford, Mazda, Renault, Nissan ... the soft-road market is the fastest growing in the automotive world.

Lifestyle pioneer Subaru has added another such model to its American range this week. The Baja, a four-door utility based on the Outback platform and powered by a 2.5-litre engine, was unveiled at the Detroit motor show. It will be built at Subaru's plant in Indiana and go on sale later this year.

The Baja is not expected to appear in right-hand drive, although there is talk that Subaru Australia will import one for evaluation later this year. Australia is Subaru's biggest export market outside the United States.

Volkswagen is nibbling at the edges of the segment with its concept vehicle, the Magellan study - described as "a multi-talented travelling concept for tomorrow's world".

The concept, on show in Detroit, is named after the Portuguese navigator Magellan. The VW blurb says: "The Magellan reflects the wishes of drivers who cannot find the ideal vehicle for their complex needs in the classical sports utility, multi-purpose vehicle and estate car segments, but who appreciate the core characteristics of these vehicle types.

"These characteristics include high seat position, off-road capability, spaciousness in both the passenger compartment and the luggage compartment, and agile handling. Another essential element is individuality, expressed in an intelligent technical concept and design far away from the mainstream."

The Magellan is powered by a W8 engine producing 202kW. New Zealanders will see this powerplant in the upcoming W8 Passat. The Magellan has four-wheel drive and pneumatic suspension with active hydraulic shock absorption.

VW says the Magellan is 4685mm long, 1860mm wide and 1620 mm high. It rides on 19-inch six-spoke wheels with 245 Michelin tyres. The interior, good for six adults, is dominated by leather and aluminium. The instruments and controls give the impression that they are suspended in mid-air, says VW.

The front and middle rows have individual seats, whereas the third row has a bench seat. A monorail frame underneath the seat and the lengthways guide rail are integrated in the wooden floor and allow best-possible use of the available space.

It also creates the impression that the seats "float" in the same way as the instrument panel. The third row of seats can be stored in the floor when notin use.

Drivers can hitch up a caravan designed to match the Magellan. The trailer can also be extended by 2m. The Magellan's roof box can be turned over and used as a boat, too.

Just the thing to explore the outdoors.