thinking about off roading...
Discussion
Hi folks, I am toying with the idea of making my next work-plodder a 4x4 and having a wee bash at off roading, nothing too serious, just a bit of fun really. I was wondering as to the viability of such a plan?
I do a fair few miles, so it would need to be a diseasel (35+mpg if poss), and I would want to keep off road mods to knobbly tyres and that's it.
what say you? are there suitable wagons out there for such a task? I was thinking along the lines of an x trail or somesuch...
cheers
JakeR
I do a fair few miles, so it would need to be a diseasel (35+mpg if poss), and I would want to keep off road mods to knobbly tyres and that's it.
what say you? are there suitable wagons out there for such a task? I was thinking along the lines of an x trail or somesuch...
cheers
JakeR
havent got one my self but if you want a offroad toy and a ruggid work horse the Shogun Pajero 2.8 Turbo Diesels tend to be quite good but you cant go wrong with a land rover discovery or Defender as im sure you have already been told. Might be worth signing up with www.difflock.com like PH but for the Offroaders really helpful and people selling cars on there. Worth a shot.
Sloppy Samurai
Sloppy Samurai
Just done exactly the same!
Bought an old series 3 Landrover, most of the off road bits already done, finished up selling it after a couple of months as it just wasn't fast enough on ordinary roads, max at 54mph.
So have bought a 200TDI (1991) have spent a few hundred on the "bits" and absolutely love it! it's a completely different bus than the series 3, and it'll cruise at 70mph, with a top speed over 80mph.
MPG is around 30, so I have a diesel saloon car for day to day use, the Landy is one of the "Toys"
Most spares are cheap as chips, insurance less than £100, and if you get your breakdown service with your insurance, I've just paid £46 for 12 months, full recovery, and can drive any vehicle with it, including european cover as well!! The RAC or AA couldn't come close to twice that price!
Going to the south of France in July with it, 4x4 driving, see here; http://www.mudplug.co.uk/alliertours.html
Bought an old series 3 Landrover, most of the off road bits already done, finished up selling it after a couple of months as it just wasn't fast enough on ordinary roads, max at 54mph.
So have bought a 200TDI (1991) have spent a few hundred on the "bits" and absolutely love it! it's a completely different bus than the series 3, and it'll cruise at 70mph, with a top speed over 80mph.
MPG is around 30, so I have a diesel saloon car for day to day use, the Landy is one of the "Toys"
Most spares are cheap as chips, insurance less than £100, and if you get your breakdown service with your insurance, I've just paid £46 for 12 months, full recovery, and can drive any vehicle with it, including european cover as well!! The RAC or AA couldn't come close to twice that price!
Going to the south of France in July with it, 4x4 driving, see here; http://www.mudplug.co.uk/alliertours.html
sadly, I dont have room, and my wife doesnt have the patience 
for any more 'toys'. Hence the car will need to replace current smoker (skoda octavia) when I sell that to a minicab driver. Some of the diesel Jap 4x4s (eg x trail) can do the mpg required, but not sure if they can cut it in the mud. The idea is that if my daily grot box can also be a toy, then job will very much be a goodun.
for any more 'toys'. Hence the car will need to replace current smoker (skoda octavia) when I sell that to a minicab driver. Some of the diesel Jap 4x4s (eg x trail) can do the mpg required, but not sure if they can cut it in the mud. The idea is that if my daily grot box can also be a toy, then job will very much be a goodun.
Run a Cherokee 4.0ltr not the diesel the engines are s
t. You want something that parts are readly available as you will break it at some point 
. Jeep run's 15" tires (cheaper)
Not really a good idea your road motor as your toy its alway a sunday afternoon you break it and know way of fixing it by monday morning ha ha ha ha.
t. You want something that parts are readly available as you will break it at some point . Jeep run's 15" tires (cheaper)Not really a good idea your road motor as your toy its alway a sunday afternoon you break it and know way of fixing it by monday morning ha ha ha ha.
This is exactly what I've been doing recently. 3rd kid required more space, so I got a LWB Shogun. Mine's a 3.0 Petrol, but as has been said elsewhere, you could improve the fuel economy somewhat with a diesel, although maybe not quite as far as 35mpg average.
If you do go this route, it is an extremely competent beast without mods. All I've done is fitted All Terrain tyres, which are absolutely fine on the road, and I've been able to cope with far, far more than I'd ever expected. There isn't a huge need for underbody armour, as what comes as standard is already pretty good, and if you get a Shogun rather than a Pajero you should (check for an orange warning label in the driver's side footwell telling you when to engage it and a switch saying R/D Lock on the bottom of the vertical section of the centre console) get a locking rear diff. This can make an amazing difference to how stuck or not you get, and you'll often see it as one of the first mods that people yearn to fit to their own trucks.
If you do go this route, it is an extremely competent beast without mods. All I've done is fitted All Terrain tyres, which are absolutely fine on the road, and I've been able to cope with far, far more than I'd ever expected. There isn't a huge need for underbody armour, as what comes as standard is already pretty good, and if you get a Shogun rather than a Pajero you should (check for an orange warning label in the driver's side footwell telling you when to engage it and a switch saying R/D Lock on the bottom of the vertical section of the centre console) get a locking rear diff. This can make an amazing difference to how stuck or not you get, and you'll often see it as one of the first mods that people yearn to fit to their own trucks.
Freelander Td4 would suit your needs. You will get 35 mpg around town and mid 40's on a long run - I did on mine. They are pretty good off road and there are more and more off orad goodies becoming available. Google Mad Freelanders (they have changed server and address) to see what they are capable of. A friend of mine has a 2" lift with bigger tyres which gave it a 4" height advantage over a standard vehicle.
One thing to be careful of if you choose a hippo - make sure that the rear prop is in place, removal of the rear prop is a cheap method of covering up a failed VC / IRD
Cheers
John
One thing to be careful of if you choose a hippo - make sure that the rear prop is in place, removal of the rear prop is a cheap method of covering up a failed VC / IRD
Cheers
John
JakeR said:
Hi folks, I am toying with the idea of making my next work-plodder a 4x4 and having a wee bash at off roading, nothing too serious, just a bit of fun really. I was wondering as to the viability of such a plan?
I do a fair few miles, so it would need to be a diseasel (35+mpg if poss), and I would want to keep off road mods to knobbly tyres and that's it.
what say you? are there suitable wagons out there for such a task? I was thinking along the lines of an x trail or somesuch...
cheers
JakeR
What sort of budget are you looking at?I do a fair few miles, so it would need to be a diseasel (35+mpg if poss), and I would want to keep off road mods to knobbly tyres and that's it.
what say you? are there suitable wagons out there for such a task? I was thinking along the lines of an x trail or somesuch...
cheers
JakeR
How many people does it need to carry?
How comfortable?
I think you'll struggle to find anything that can offer 35+mpg. Most will be lurking around mid 20's to low 30's on a run.
Also what type of off roading do you think you'll be doing? Going down a grass track would be fine in an Audi AllRoad,the Volvo equiverlent or A Subaru Forester/Legacey Outback.
But they are not going to be much good beyond that.
Many, if not all the soft roaders fall into the same category. Sure they have 4wd and look taller but apart from driving into a field at harvest time they are quite limited.
Even the mighty Land Rover Freelander. Sure its a good vehicle, but apart from some gentle laning it really isn't designed for off road work. No low range, limited ground clearnace and lack of axle articulation are some of the problems.
But again it goes back to what you want from it.
IMO a good off roader should be rugged, have a grunty engine, not too big, live axles, low range and a good 4wd system.
A Land Rover Defender, Discovery or Range Rover are all obvious choices.
All very capable stock. They won't be the cheapest to run, but you can work on them at home.
Jeep also offer some great off roaders. Wrangler and Cherokee mostly.
And I'm sure some of the Japanese 4x4's are very capable, although I've never driven them.
LPG is certainly an option, loads of filling stations across the UK.
However do be careful. A TDI Land Rover is a great engine off road. The Rover V8 is also good but being an engine from the 60's drinks fuel. So even on LPG it'll cost a lot to run. A 3.9 V8 Range Rover on LPG would probably do 14mpg or there abouts. So even at 60p/litre it won't really be any/much cheaper than a TDI one doing 28mpg.
My advice would be, if you want an off roader, buy a decent one. A soft roader IMO is more often a compromised on and off road vehicle and manages to fail at doing either very well.
Good luck
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