SUV best option on city roads

Colombo's clogged drainage system remains unsolved and after a heavy shower the city goes under water. During the recent floods two people died.

The authorities and the government institutions accuse each other and there is no sign of a mega scale project to solve the problem.

Micro Cars Ltd., chairman Dr. Lawrence Perera said that with no signs of improvement, in the near future the best option is to go for a suitable Sports Utility Vehicle - SUV.

Five years ago the city got flooded after two days of rain. Now in a matter of twenty minutes most of the city roads go under water.

The problem with cars is that the air intake through the engine is rather low. Cars are designed with very little ground clearance. So naturally the air intake is also lower than any other vehicle.

The danger is when water gets 'sucked in' via the air intake and freezes the engine. Engineers call this the hydraulic lock, he said. Given the conditions, an SUV would be the ideal solution for a busy professional or for anybody for whom time is critical in Colombo.

Customers need to be knowledgeable in assessing the value of a vehicle which is highly technical, he said.

According to Dr. Perera, a veteran automobile engineer who manufactured Sri Lanka's first micro car and worked for the world's leading auto makers such as Volkswagen, a proper SUV should have a ladder chassis.

"The term chassis means the frame plus the running gear such as engine, transmission driveshaft differential, and suspension. When using a powerful engine and a low torque the high power vehicle chassis is important as the vehicle will have to bear very high forces, he said.