Why cant car companies put smaller engines into SUV's?

Question

why cant they put a 1.7 liter engine from honda to get great mileage?

Answer 1

You won't have all the convenience you presently have including take off power, a.c etc. Suv's are heavy and require a powerful engine.

Answer 2

They are. Some of the crossovers have little 4 cylinder engines. But when you do that you run into one problem. A small engine makes less power, so it needs to work harder to pull the same mass and uses more fuel. Size of the engine is not the only factor when calculating gas mileage. For example, my dad had a Suburban with a V8. One of his friends had a little crossover with a V6. Both SUVs got the same mileage because the V6 had to work much harder to move the vehicle.

If you were to put a 1.7L 4 cyl in the same truck as you did a 5.3L 8 cyl, that little 1.7 would work much harder than the 5.3L to move the same weight, thus using more fuel. The 1.7 may need to be at 7000 RPM to reach cruising speed while the 5.3 may be at less than 2500 RPM.

Answer 3

actually with the smaller motor, your highway mileage might be the same or a tad better, but the city mileage would be awful.  the little honda motor would have to work a whole lot harder to lug a 6,000 lb. SUV around than say the 5.3L V8 in a Chevy Tahoe.  GM currently has technology in their SUV's that can shut down half the motor to save gas once cruising speed is reached.