Weight kills tyres more.

Jimny – 23k miles, original tyres, loads of wear left.

Any of the massive SUV type 4×4 (Q7, X5, etc) eat tyres in under 10k miles. Some Q7s are getting 5k!!

But I get what you’re saying – ultimate off road ability is not needed.

My mum’s a community/rural nurse and uses a Jimny too!

Molgrips, I think you are right. I am not convinced of the ‘need’ for the 4WD but it is part of the deal for her agreeing to the house move that I want more than she does.

Well prepare to reach into your wallet for all that fuel then.

Buy a 4wd/AWD if it’s what you want.

Just to set some ‘facts’ straight about large 4wds & tyre wear, my (admittedly not hard-driven) XC90 does at least 25k from a set of tyres, and I don’t take them anywhere close to the legal limit. Obviously if you have a high power vehicle, boot it all the time, and do a lot of heavy braking, tyre wear will be higher.

The other thing to think about is size; if you’re in the sticks and there’s a lot of pootling along country roads, a smaller car is a definite advantage. Back to the Panda; I drove one a year or so back and was very pleasantly impressed. No idea how good the 4wd system is, but I still see a good number of Mk 1 Panda 4wds in the Alps, so I guess they’re well-proven.

i cant believe nobody has sugegsted the octavia 4×4

monkey_boy – Member
i cant believe nobody has sugegsted the octavia 4×4

I can’t believe you didn’t read ALL of the 3rd post……. 😉

I think there are two issues here whether you realise it or not! Firstly the all weather capability but probably just as important with the upcoming rises in vat, oil prices etc is the economy.

Also the laydees do prefer the trad 4 x 4, so think the Panda option will be a tough sell!

Therefore look at 2L diesels and below and see what options come up. Autotrader allows you to choose your cars based on fuel, age, cost etc and also provides detailed info on fuel economy.

Rockape63, you are right. I think I would struggle to sell her a panda 😀 even although she might think it is quite cute so I expect her preference to be more along the lines of a ‘proper’ vehicle. There are some good suggestions above and I will definitely try Autotrader for other ideas.

When I lived in Finland 4x4s were rarer than they are here. Winter tyres all round tho.

There is nothing scarier than landing in Turku in the depths of winter and finding your taxi is a Golf. Who then proceeds to drive at 60-70mph on what I perceive to be a big white sheet. Winter tyres are AMAZING.

Matt – does the Jimny get cheap(er) tax? Is it OK on petrol? It appeals to me on the ‘not having to clean it’ front, and I do spend an awful lot of my spare time parking in rain sodden fields for various events – if it’s cheap enough to run I reckon it’s goer. I wouldn’t expect to do big miles in it. Also planning on adding a kayak to my list of time sinks, a little 4×4 with ground clearance might be useful in getting to some launch spots.

Do XC90’s really do mid 30’s mpg? I’d like one, but I thought they were more like 27-29 to the gallon?

lodious – my trip computer (checked every so often on a brim-to-brim basis) shows 34.3 at the moment. That’s over the last few months, when the longest the car’s done is a trip of 40 miles or so, and there’s a fair amount of urban running in that. Long trips to the Alps (fully loaded with 4 bikes on a the back and a roofbox) still show about 36mpg

It helps that it’s a manual, mind you – the autos do about 5mpg less.

Bloody hell, that’s good. Might go and have a look at one.

Any of the massive SUV type 4×4 (Q7, X5, etc) eat tyres in under 10k miles. Some Q7s are getting 5k!!

Ok, not a large one, but, Freelander TD4 auto – 2 new tyres at 46k, other 2 have done nearly 70k

But then they are Michelins at £320 a pair…

Matt – does the Jimny get cheap(er) tax? Is it OK on petrol? It appeals to me on the ‘not having to clean it’ front, and I do spend an awful lot of my spare time parking in rain sodden fields for various events – if it’s cheap enough to run I reckon it’s goer. I wouldn’t expect to do big miles in it. Also planning on adding a kayak to my list of time sinks, a little 4×4 with ground clearance might be useful in getting to some launch spots.

It’s 179g/km for ours (post 2004 gets a newer and slightly cleaner vvt engine) so not the cheapest on tax. MPG is low 30s – certainly not great for a 1.3 but it’s boxy and I think the 4WD gubbins has some effect.

As for getting anywhere – they really do go anywhere. Proper low range gears, massive clearance and excellent approach and departure angles and nothing vital to break hanging off the bottom. Pushed ours very hard indeed and been amazed – tractor only tracks filled with mud have been fine and it’s so small and light that it’ll go where even a Defender wouldn’t fit/would be too heavy. Check a few YouTube vids to see what they can do. The press don’t like them because they are hardish work on road (loud, bumpy, etc) but only the niche mags know how good they are off road. Owners rave about them.

br – that’s quite encouraging. Looking more and more attractive as a next 4×4. Our BM ate it’s rear tyres in 8k miles – arrrggghhhh!!

Our BM ate it’s rear tyres in 8k miles

Surely YOU trashed your BM’s tyres in 8k miles? 🙂

It’s got a lot do to with how you drive innit.

Small: Panda 4×4
Bigger: Skoda Yeti
Pointless: All the style over substance SUVs

Mol – had the wheels laser aligned this tinm; they were quite out camber-wise. Hoping to get at least 10k out of this set… 😉

Wife drives the car a fair bit too so not all my fault 😆

FWD is plenty enough for snowy roads if you have the right tyres, saying that the Skoda Yeti looks like it might fit the bill. I used to have a Ford Kuga, crap mpg, low to mid 30’s and you could barely fit a 20″ wheel bike in the back. The standard conti tyres weren’t up to much when the snow fell. I now have a FWD Transporter and that gets further than the Kuga when it snows, 16″ steel wheels for the winter with m+s tyres, 20″ alloys for the summer. Plenty of room for bikes too 😉

We’ve got an Outlander at work. I rather like it. You can choose 2WD, on demand 4WD and permanent 4WD as required. You do see better fuel economy in 2WD, and you do see better roadholding in 4WD mode. It’s pretty quick, and compared to other 4×4’s we’ve had, drives very well, not unlike large estate car really. It won’t go as far off road as a Landie or Pathfinder, it’s not high enough, but it’s not bad. Do up to 200 miles a day in it and never found it uncomfortable. Downsides – If you’re heavy and lean on the armrest around fast corners, the centre console breaks off, and ours has to have new front tyres every 6-8 weeks. Ouch.

nickf – Member
lodious – my trip computer (checked every so often on a brim-to-brim basis) shows 34.3 at the moment. That’s over the last few months, when the longest the car’s done is a trip of 40 miles or so, and there’s a fair amount of urban running in that. Long trips to the Alps (fully loaded with 4 bikes on a the back and a roofbox) still show about 36mpg
It helps that it’s a manual, mind you – the autos do about 5mpg less.

Mines the auto and is currently showing 33.8 on the trip. That includes a fair bit of urban driving which does drive the mpg down as it’s a 2.4 5 cylinder engine. They are very good for transporting people as you can take 7 adults of 2 of them are under 5 foot 10. You can get 2 bikes in the boot minus the wheels with just the rear 2 seats down. I bought mine for the fact you can seat 3 kids in the middle row as the middle seat has a built in booster seat and room for the kids seats on in the outer 2. You can also fit a buggy behind the third row seats. I would have preferred it if it was a normal estate car but can’t complain at the cars go anywhere ability.
I ment to say that on the last long trip I got 38 mpg.