What Proper 4x4 for mud/snow/ICE?

[sidekickdmr]

I'm after a 5 door 4x4 that can handle some decent snow and ice as our new house is out in the sticks with some very steep roads that will not see any Salt or snowploughs in the winter.

I Like the Discovery 2 but the wife thinks it's a bit big, so what options do I have?

It should be Manual, diesel, 5 door and a decent boot.

But the main thing again is not a soft roader, does a smaller decent 4wd car exist?

Buget is about £3,500

Thanks

[CAPP0]

I was at Defender 110 until you said budget; you're not going to get much for that. If not it's probably the Landcruiser, but if the missus thinks the Disco is too big, that's not going to work either.

I can't think of anything which is really going to meet your needs that's smaller. The little Suzukis are said to be very capable offroad but they're not 5 door.

[GravelBen]

CAPP0 said:

I can't think of anything which is really going to meet your needs that's smaller. The little Suzukis are said to be very capable offroad but they're not 5 door.

Vitaras are 5 door and still pretty capable.

[sidekickdmr]

CAPP0 said:

I was at Defender 110 until you said budget; you're not going to get much for that. If not it's probably the Landcruiser, but if the missus thinks the Disco is too big, that's not going to work either.

I can't think of anything which is really going to meet your needs that's smaller. The little Suzukis are said to be very capable offroad but they're not 5 door.

Only just sold my defender 110, reason being it was too valuable to bash around as a winter hack/backup vehicle.

There is lots of choice in that budget, just don't know how capable they are

Freelander

X-trail

Shogun

Xc90

[sybaseian]

Tyres are the most important thing.

[CAPP0]

Sorry, when I said "not much for that" I meant in Defender terms, that was all.

I've driven a Freelander 2 in quite deep snow and was very impressed by it's capabilities. Haven't driven a FL1, don't know if the FL2 is in budget?

I'd have said an XC90 is bigger than a Disco?

[mybrainhurts]

GravelBen said:

CAPP0 said:

I can't think of anything which is really going to meet your needs that's smaller. The little Suzukis are said to be very capable offroad but they're not 5 door.

Vitaras are 5 door and still pretty capable.

Diff locks in low and high range, but not needed them yet. It gets up steep hills on snow and ice in the Peak District with no trouble at all. I've had it two years now and am mightily impressed.

Boot not massive, though, and you need to be a monkey with a broken arm to get at the oil filter...

[Hainey]

A friend had a similar question and his answer was an Audi Allroad.

It hasn't been trouble free but that is to be expected on that budget. It has got his wife where she needs to be in some proper cold and awful weather though.

[ScoobyChris]

Panda 4x4 always gets good reviews.

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=...

Chris

[battered]

FWD hatch of choice, winter tyres, chains for when it gets really bad. I know a mountaineering instructor who works in the Pyrenees all winter and uses an ancient Pug 405 with this combination. He goes everywhere, it's his job. He's seen more snow in a weekend than you have in your life, and his 405 delivers everything he needs when properly equipped.

[sidekickdmr]

Audi allroad - our other car is an Audi Quattro, so would be a bit too similar.

And after having some building work done this week our driveway looked like this:



So it needs to be a proper off roader with decent ground clearance etc

I couldn't get a freelander 2 for that money no, but a decent freelander one:

I just found my dream car... Search for yours via Auto Trader #DrivenByMe
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

And then get some decent winter wheels and tyres.

[Hainey]

That freelander looks lovely, nothing like it's age at all and would eat that in the winter.

Go for it!

[richs2891]

Old shape Kia sorrento ?
The one with the proper ladder chassis and low range gear box
Maybe a little low out of the factory but a decent set of tyres makes up for it

[veccy208]

Hmm. If its just ice and snow on hilly roads (if ground clearance not too much of an issue) I would seriously consider 4x4 car with good tyres. Reason for this is.. you have to come down the hill again and I've had some hairy toboggan rides in heavy 4x4's. The lighter the better in downhill ice.

[300bhp/ton]

sidekickdmr said:

I'm after a 5 door 4x4 that can handle some decent snow and ice as our new house is out in the sticks with some very steep roads that will not see any Salt or snowploughs in the winter.

I Like the Discovery 2 but the wife thinks it's a bit big, so what options do I have?

It should be Manual, diesel, 5 door and a decent boot.

But the main thing again is not a soft roader, does a smaller decent 4wd car exist?

Buget is about £3,500

Thanks

Your profile says Berkshire. How much snow and ice do you really expect??

I'm also not sure I understand what you want. You say big boot, but imply a large vehicle is a no go, so it must be small. You can't have big on the inside and small on the outside without defying the laws of physics.

You've also said not a soft roader, but then haven't listed a load of soft roaders later on??


Something fairly light, with traction control and the RIGHT tyres will work well in the snow. Ground clearance or lack of it is usually what stops most AWD cars in deeper snow.

A Freelander 1 with TCS would be a capable snow vehicle. Boot is moderate rather than large. Although you may be surprised that they aren't massively smaller on the outside than a Disco 2.

Vitara's are ok and capable. But have a traditional 4wd system with open axle diffs. In the snow, something like a TCS equipped Freelander would be superior.

Some of the Jeep models would be quite up to the task, as would something like a Forrester or Legacy Outback.

[sidekickdmr]

300bhp/ton said:

Your profile says Berkshire. How much snow and ice do you really expect??

I'm also not sure I understand what you want. You say big boot, but imply a large vehicle is a no go, so it must be small. You can't have big on the inside and small on the outside without defying the laws of physics.

You've also said not a soft roader, but then haven't listed a load of soft roaders later on??


Something fairly light, with traction control and the RIGHT tyres will work well in the snow. Ground clearance or lack of it is usually what stops most AWD cars in deeper snow.

A Freelander 1 with TCS would be a capable snow vehicle. Boot is moderate rather than large. Although you may be surprised that they aren't massively smaller on the outside than a Disco 2.

Vitara's are ok and capable. But have a traditional 4wd system with open axle diffs. In the snow, something like a TCS equipped Freelander would be superior.

Some of the Jeep models would be quite up to the task, as would something like a Forrester or Legacy Outback.

I need to update that, I’m in deepest darkest north Devon now, my driveway is about 200-300 meters long and about 20-30% incline, that's before I even hit the single track road that takes you out the village.

When I say "soft roader" I mean fake off roaders, things like Nissan jukes, vauxhall mocca etc, although I believe they are 2wd anyway.

And size wise, a 110, pathfinder or disco is bigger than we need, but a freelander/xtrail is just the right size. I don’t want anything smaller than that, so Jimmy's/pandas/Vitara's are out.

Basically, want a medium size 4x4 with good ground clearance and a proper 4wd system, that’s it.

Ill check out the Forrester, that could work, Father in-law has one and seems ok.

[techguyone]

5 door Grand Vitara meets that criteria

[300bhp/ton]

The Subaru's are ok. I have an Impreza, in the snow it's much better than 2wd. But nowhere near as good as a Land Rover or a Jeep.

Good winter tyres will make a difference.

Jeep XJ/KJ Cherokee or ZJ/WJ Grand Cherokee would work well.

But tbh, I think you'll struggle to better a Freelander 1 for this application.

[sidekickdmr]

Thats handy as the freelander is my favorate so far.

The one I've linked to above look good?

I'll get a set of proper winter wheels and tyres for it too of course.

Is hill start and traction a must for the type of driving ive reffered to? I'll phone and ask if it has them if so.

[3DP]

I'd forget winter tyres with that sort of slope and in the sticks. If you have snow, you want spare wheels with proper mud and snow tyres. At the very least, decent A/Ts. More important than TC or locking diffs in my view. If it looks like snow - put them on the car, but M/S are not much fun at speed the rest of the time.