What us the best offroadet for £2500 or less
Discussion
Hi, I've recently got a massive interest in offloading and greenlaning. And look to purchase my own vehicle. I will still for using this as my daily car. But want something that is more then capable offload. And possibly with lift kits and snorkels already on it. And want to know what my best options are for that price bracet? Any help is much appreciated
Regards Sam
Regards Sam
Pealey27 said:
Hi, I've recently got a massive interest in offloading and greenlaning. And look to purchase my own vehicle. I will still for using this as my daily car. But want something that is more then capable offload. And possibly with lift kits and snorkels already on it. And want to know what my best options are for that price bracet? Any help is much appreciated
Regards Sam
Best is difficult to answer.Regards Sam
Best at what? For instance?
That said. In the UK you'd have to be pretty daft to not consider a Land Rover of some type. Loads about, loads of parts availability and loads of modding potential and aftermarket.
That and they are also very capable machines and generally good vehicles.
But it will depend how much off road and how much on road you want. A Freelander for example is in budget and in their own right they are brilliant vehicles. But there are some major limiting factors for 'serious' off road use. For general easy green laning they are more than capable however.
Other Land Rovers like Series (leaf sprung), Disco 1/2, RRC and 90/110's. These are all built very differently to a car. And are supremely capable off road, even in 100% standard trim.
Other vehicles I'd suggest you consider are Jeeps. Remember Land Rover's came from the idea and inspiration of Jeeps.
Most Jeeps are also very good off road and very comparable to Land Rover's in their ability. Parts supply is also ok in the UK and there is a vast aftermarket for them, albeit USA centric.
As a rule you'll buy more Jeep than Land Rover for your money in the UK.
Now there are plenty of other vehicles you might want to consider. There are literally hundreds of Jap 4x4's. But be warned, while many are good vehicles, a lot of them are dynamically less capable than Land Rover and Jeeps (IMO).
I would advise looking at the Suzuki Jimny. It's a bit like a modern Land Rover Series 1, but with Defender suspension. Very capable machines.
The Vitara's (especially the older ones) are quite good too. Although their front suspension is inferior to that of the Jimny for proper off road use.
As for the rest of the Jap offerings, there are still many I like. But in the UK you'll find less aftermarket for all of them compared to Land Rovers. And parts supply is likely to be more pricey and maybe more difficult on oddball models, especially if parts need to be sourced from Japan.
Some things to consider off road:
-live axles are generally better than IFS or IRS off road
-smaller vehicles are more nimble and often better in the UK
-coils are more supple than lead suspension
-lots of plastic trim can easily be damaged off road
Other things to consider:
-comfort. Bigger vehicle often nicer on the road, but plush interiors a pain when you are covered in mud climbing in and out of it
-on road performance if you will be driving from place to place
-mpg
-hauling and seating ability
-durability
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Best vfm 4x4, I'd be looking at a Jeep Cherokee (XJ) or a Grand Cherokee (ZJ or WJ).
But consider what you'll use it for. Large owners clubs will offer a wide variety of off roading events. And some do off road competitions which are a lot of fun.
Land Rover wins hands down in the UK for this.
Thanks for the reply. Yeah my friends are saying go with a discovery as all round will be better then a jimny apart from mpg. It's just hard finding the right one. I am swayed more towards a disco. Then anything else. But know of people who got them and they a constant nightmare breaking on them. What sort of things do you suggest looking for when looking to buy 4x4's and if ones already have offload parts on, what would you look for? I would start off with greenlaning and then moving on to bigger stuff with more experience. Start off slow and build up when use to it more. I only driven offload once so far in a discovery and got a massive buzz from it.
Pealey27 said:
Thanks for the reply. Yeah my friends are saying go with a discovery as all round will be better then a jimny apart from mpg. It's just hard finding the right one. I am swayed more towards a disco. Then anything else. But know of people who got them and they a constant nightmare breaking on them. What sort of things do you suggest looking for when looking to buy 4x4's and if ones already have offload parts on, what would you look for? I would start off with greenlaning and then moving on to bigger stuff with more experience. Start off slow and build up when use to it more. I only driven offload once so far in a discovery and got a massive buzz from it.
I'd buy on condition first, spec 2nd and not really worry too much about age or mileage.With Land Rover's, it's worth noting almost everything can be replaced on them. This means it is very easy to keep them going.
Sure they have niggles, but for the most part, most Land Rover's are reliable and durable. They will leak, oil out and water in. But it's all part of it.
Jeeps can be classed similar in many ways and largely employ similar construction to Land Rovers and similar design.
As for mods. Personally I'd probably look to buy without any. Unless you understand what the mod is and what it does, you could end up buying something that performs worse than stock.
All of the Land Rover's are incredibly capable stock, they don't even need a lift. All you'll want is some good off road tyres.
Jeeps are again similar, although the only exception is, you might want to fit a lift kit to some of them. But it's worth noting that Land Rover's don't. The key difference is most Land Rover's already ride higher in stock trim, so lifting a Jeep (or most Jap trucks) brings them in line with where a stock Land Rover is.
It's also worth noting, that lifting a vehicle can make it handle worse on road, and reduce suspension travel off road, effectively making it a worse off roader. This won't always be true, but that's why it's so fundamental to understand what mods actually do and why you'd want to perform such a mod or not.
I admit, I'm a Landy fan. But I've also been around a few Jeeps and I have a soft spot for the Jimny.
Here are some of my current/past vehicles and ones friends and family own. These are examples of what "stock" or mostly stock vehicles can do.
The Cherokee had a 2" budget lift kit fitted, this gave it similar ground clearance to a stock Discovery. Only other changes are tyres.
Pealey27 said:
Man pics look awesome got some real beasts there. What do you feel has been best served for what you do? I'm looking at standard discos now as I know they are battle tanks.
Disco's are nice. Very good all-rounder, seating for 5 in comfort (or 7 with boot seats). Ride well and refined, so nice for longer road trip or holidays. Big boot for hauling stuff and can tow 3500kg.But under the body they use the same suspension and running gear as a Defender and a very similar chassis. So are just as capable off road.
Only downside is, they are physically quite large. So more prone to body damage off road, especially in and among trees.
If you want to run bigger MT tyres expect to do some trimming to the arches and modify the front bumper a bit.
When buying, watch for rust in the sills and rear floor. Chassis' tend to be ok on these are a rule, but check them too.
I have had 2 grand jeep Cherokees, and found them to be very good value for money, especially the 4.7 V8 WJ, both 2001's with no rust (well very little), amazing off road and in the snow with the right tyres, and the build quality is extremely good, reliable and parts are very cheap.
Ditto for the Jeep, I've got a ZJ and WJ, both on LPG
Ran them for coming up 7 years, and they have been reliable,
comfortable beasts, and pretty good off road on standard tyres.
I'm about to upgrade my old ZJ with a lift kit and M/T tyres.
For £2500 you'll get a nice, high spec WJ with your choice of engine/fuel.
Ran them for coming up 7 years, and they have been reliable,
comfortable beasts, and pretty good off road on standard tyres.
I'm about to upgrade my old ZJ with a lift kit and M/T tyres.
For £2500 you'll get a nice, high spec WJ with your choice of engine/fuel.
Edited by sim16v on Sunday 6th September 21:11
All small Suzuki products...had most 4x4 and lived in the Caribbean...everyday is a form of offroading. Zuks are the standard weapon of choice. Light agile proper 4x4 systems simple easy to fix cheap to run. GV's upto 2006 better offroad that later GV's offroad.
Had one Vitara for 8 years never missed a beat.Sold, then its now done 3 years towing boats on a sandy beach for Abersoch sailing school for 3months solid a year in very soft sand the landie just used to sink in.
Had one Vitara for 8 years never missed a beat.Sold, then its now done 3 years towing boats on a sandy beach for Abersoch sailing school for 3months solid a year in very soft sand the landie just used to sink in.
Yes suzuki jimny if you want to off road, land rover if you want to be off the road and like tinkering and rebuilding!!! however there are lots of rover people and they seem to have fun with them
one was enough for me, jap or yank is the way forward if you need a 4x4 otherwise if you just want a 4x4 take your pick
one was enough for me, jap or yank is the way forward if you need a 4x4 otherwise if you just want a 4x4 take your pick
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