Which 4x4?

[Woody]

Guys,
Thinking about changing my car for something off-roader'ish.
Currently have a mondeo estate - need quite a bit of boot space as my wife is disabled and uses a wheelchair.

We looked at the Ford Kuga as the seating position is low enough for her to transfer from her chair, but the bootspace is a bit small.

So looking for something with the same sort of ground clearance/seat height but with a bit more bootspace, would like something that is OK off road - we live in Staffs and the Rangers on Cannock Chase offer guided off road tours which we'd like to participate in.

Thanks

Chris

[Snowboy]

Low slung 4x4 with boot that can go offroad.

Subaru forester.

[camel_landy]

If it is boot space you need, check out the Discovery 3 or 4... It is MASSIVE!!!

M

[Snowboy]

Disco is massive, but there is ni way a wheelchair user could get in one even with the suspension dropped.

I was given a courtesy freelander yesterday, it was suprisingly low slung so it might work for a wheelchair user.
It was an old 2 door model.

[camel_landy]

Snowboy said:

Disco is massive, but there is ni way a wheelchair user could get in one even with the suspension dropped.

Depends on the person, not the car...

The only way is to go & try them out.

M

[Woody]

Thanks guys.
Will check out the Freelander.
What are the engibes lije on these?

Disco is defo out as my mate had one - no way Mrs Woody can transfer as the seats are too high.

[camel_landy]

Woody said:

What are the engibes lije on these?

The 2.2 TD4/SD4 engines are really nice and have plenty of mid-range grunt.

Make sure you go for the Auto box though.

M

[Woody]

camel_landy said:

The 2.2 TD4/SD4 engines are really nice and have plenty of mid-range grunt.

Make sure you go for the Auto box though.

M

Thanks for the info - why the auto though?

[camel_landy]

The Freelander doesn't have low-range, so the auto will help compensate without having to slip the clutch. They're much nicer to drive and actually give you more control, not less.

On top of that, the autos maintain their residuals better.

M

[BFG TERRANO]

Skoda yeti would do the job?

[Konan]

There's a lot of boot space on the Subaru Outback. Very capable away from tarmac for something that's still essentially an estate car.

[camel_landy]

Konan said:

There's a lot of boot space on the Subaru Outback. Very capable away from tarmac for something that's still essentially an estate car.

...it's also quite delicate underneath. That's why it is marketed as a car with 4WD, rather than anything to go off-road with.

M

[Elroy Blue]

Check the eseating position on the Freelander. I've been driving one this week (I'm 6ft tall). Couldn't get the seat low enough and was staring at the very top of the windscreen. If I put the sunvisor down, I couldn't see a thing.

[Konan]

camel_landy said:

...it's also quite delicate underneath. That's why it is marketed as a car with 4WD, rather than anything to go off-road with.

M

Yup, It IS a car with AWD, just like the forester, x-fail, XC90 etc etc, so that's honest marketing.

I guess my suggestion is based on driving around cannock chase on a 'tour' - I just assumed it was mostly fire-road and track, which you can get a Rover Metro down without a fuss. If it's a built up 4x4 prooving ground, that's another matter, but 99% of the terrain around there isn't anthing more than mildly bumpy.

[camel_landy]

...where as the Freelander is designed for off-road and therefore has some resistance against those knocks & bumps.

M

[Sarge 4x4]

I quite fancy a Panda 4x4 and fit Winter tyres.

[Playsatan]

Sarge 4x4 said:

I quite fancy a Panda 4x4 and fit Winter tyres.

The new one comes with them already fitted.

[Tomo1971]

Mitsubishi Outlander?

Or, if buying second hand, the outlanders cousins the Citreon C-Crosser and the Peugeot 4007? They are all built by Mitsubishi, the first ones were built in Japan on the same line, although the later ones, I think were all made in Holland when destined for Europe.

I run the CC version, not a bad motor. Huge boot (as its a pretend 7 seater). Good for 40mpg. The outlander can have a VW sourced 2.0TDI lump in it that my bro in law was getting 48mpg from.

The 2.2 tdi of the Peugeot and Citreon are the same engine as is in the Freelander 2 (2.2).

The Mk1 and Mk2 Xtrails have decent boots too, but like the freelander are higher up.