Coupe SUVs – you either love them, or you hate them.
Popularised by the original BMW X6 launched towards the tail end of the 2000s, most car manufacturers eventually attempted their own spin on the concept. To varying degrees of aesthetic success of course.
How elegantly a manufacturer can integrate a curvaceous roofline to the body of a boxy, high-riding SUV is really down to the skill of its designers. And these changes typically prioritise form over function, as these cars have less usable space on the inside.
Typically, front row occupants aren’t affected though, as the changes to the roofline are usually from the B-pillar back. But this article isn’t here to talk about the cons of a Coupe SUV – there are many other articles online talking about their drawbacks.
Instead, the goal of this piece of literature is to run our readers through the overlooked advantages of driving a Coupe SUV. They are as follows:
1) No Need to Worry About Low Beams at HDB Car Parks
The older HDB MSCPs usually have low beams at the very end of your parking lot. This is no issue if you are driving a hatchback or a saloon. But vans and SUVs typically have higher overall rooflines, which means you may not be able to reverse fully into the space.
As the roofline tapers into the haunches from the B-Pillar back, a Coupe SUV will not suffer from this issue. There’s little to no metalwork that’d co-exist in the space occupied by said beam, so you’d be able to tuck the backend neatly underneath the car park structure.
2) Reduced Centre of Gravity
It is marginal, and something that you probably wouldn’t be able to feel at legal speeds on our roads. But from a physics perspective, a reduction in metalwork up top should, in theory at least, reduce the centre of gravity of your car.
This means you run a lower risk of having a rollover. And with less weight past the rear axle, the vehicle should be better balanced overall, meaning it’d be easier to regain control should you be unfortunate enough to lose control in the first place!
3) Improved Overall Efficiency
With less bulk up top, a coupe SUV suffers from overall reduced drag as compared to its regular SUV counterpart. The shape of the new roof also helps too, as it gradually tapers down into the rear end, helping guide the airflow smoothly into the low pressure pocket that forms naturally behind the car.
How significant is the difference? Well, using the new Audi Q8 e-tron as an example, the Sportback variants regularly see efficiency improvements of up to 10%. And that is a not-insignificant difference!
Being Fair to the Coupe SUV
Granted, there are some practicality trade-offs in the pursuit of better fulfilling form over function. But it isn’t fair to just say that these vehicles are compromised over their regular crossover cousins.
Sure, they offer less space on the inside, but what they lose in headroom and cargo capacity, they gain in the ease of parking and in overall efficiency. It is clear cut then, that the two vehicles are built for slightly different audiences, despite having a lot in common overall!
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