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What car for mtb owners?

70 posts & 48 voices | Started 2 years ago by GolfChick | Latest reply from hora

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juan - Member

Hi
I think you need to tell us a bit more about what you want the car for.
Only for bike purposes? Off road or only on road (by of road I mean really off road).
Daily commute too etc etc;
Are you bothered by taking the wheels off? Bike carriage? Ont the boot? On the roof?
On a trailer ball (best system actually).

Contrary to lots of people here I have a 106. Could fit 2 people and the whole kit needed for MM without any problem (just needed to remove the front wheels) or 3 people and 3 bike + all the kit for one day trip to wales (using a boot rack).

So I don't think there is a bad car for bikes, it's just a question of how organized (organised?) you are.

We just need to know more about how you are going to use the car.

Posted 2 years ago #
woodey - Member

My 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee will take 3x 5" full sussers in the back with the wheels on (Back seats fold down completely flat). I believe it has a wider entrance at the back than other 4x4s. 2.7 CRD is reasonably efficient too if you drive smoothly, very comfy too.

With the back seats up I can get the wife, 2 kids, one dog, luggage for all of us, two full sussers and a trailer bike, all inside.

Posted 2 years ago #
NW Alps Jeyer aka Boz - Member

Bear in mind that with non car derived vans, ie Transporter/Transit types they have restricted speed limits on them - 60 on a dual track, 50 single track.

Posted 2 years ago #
Sandwich - Member

Diesel Fiat Multipla, latest type if you want reasonable looks or the 04 pig ugly one if you don't care. Should hold 4 bikes and people inside with careful packing.

Posted 2 years ago #
mike_check - Member

Almost wrote my car off last week thanks to poor tomtom which could of been prevented if i had something higher and more 4x4

sorry, but what the?!

Mates Focus Estate has a good ammount of room for bikes and kit and has been reliable and reasonably economical. Drives OK too given the size.

Posted 2 years ago #
djglover - Member

I can get a bike in the boot of the Octavia Estate with the seats up, wheels off the luggage cover even goes over. 3 on the roof means I could take 4 people and bikes in one

Posted 2 years ago #
montylikesbeer - Member

My A6 avant works for me, bikes on the roof via Thule what have you and Monty in the rear.............drinks all round

Posted 2 years ago #
buly79 - Member

Well you already know what I think hun van all the way, very easy to get bikes in without removing wheels or anything else, as you say you can get changed in the bike out of sight and weather and once everything is in it can be locked up safely out of sight too, dont have to worry about getting the interior dirty either you just sweep it out after a ride, plus there is still loads of room for all the rest of your kit. Pickups in my oppinion aren't anywhere near as good as a van for bikes they dont really fit in properley not as easy to secure so they dont get dammaged on route and they have to be lifted higher to get them into the back. Do you really wanna lift my bike that high LOL.

Posted 2 years ago #
thomthumb - Member

what 4x4 for trail centre car park!!

has to be a troll!

Posted 2 years ago #
hora - Member

thomthumb, I would have agreed but on my last visit to Llandegla I used my 4wd system to climb up the relief carpark where other drivers were slithering with their front wheel drives on the ice/snow!

Posted 2 years ago #
Shandy - Member

Delica-lovers beware. I had a very expensive experience with mine!!!!

Best bike solution for pickups is a lockable Mountain Top with Thule 59whatevers or a full height box on the load bay. You need a boot of some kind. I used to have a Hilux and I massively regret selling it.

Since our darling daughter arrived I have been thinking about changing to a family estate, I might have to give the Octavia 4x4 a rip. Just tried a 330d touring and I'm quite surprised to find that my slump into too-comfortable middle age has definitely reached its limit.

Posted 2 years ago #
spooky_b329 - Member

You got up there Hora but then you have to get back down again, and a 4x4 ain't much better than a 2wd car on an icy descent unless the gradient is shallow enough to descend under engine braking only! As soon as you touch the brakes you are in no more control than mr fwd.

I drove as far as I could up a snowy hill until I got stuck, spent a couple of minutes trying to turn round as the back of the car slid down the hill each time I attempted a 3 point turn, ended up turning diagonally and then spinning the front tyres so it slid down the hill faster than the rear. Once I got straight, I couldn't reduce my speed below jogging pace for the first 150 metres or so. Had I been in a 4x4, I'd have got round the next bend where the road steepens even more, and would probably have crashed through the fence when I came back down...

Posted 2 years ago #
hora - Member

spooky, true but it does have a high and low ratio box

Posted 2 years ago #
Shandy - Member

In a 4x4 there is a lot more potential to use the power to get yourself out of trouble because its very easy to control the car in a drift.

Posted 2 years ago #
timber - Member

have had a van, very good for lazy biking and camping, looking over hedges, not good for long drives, overtaking, going over the Severn bridges - I liked mine a lot, but was wanting to go a bit quicker, a bit cheaper and now have a mondeo tdci estate, it is a tool and moves kit places quickly and efficiently - plenty big enough, one of the few estates you can fit a harp in, you'd be amazed how small some big estates are when you try to fit a harp in

as for low ratio in snow, just gets you spinning sooner, most 4x4 with road tyres are no better than a fwd with something grippy, old boy round here gets his old caddy pick-up everywhere with some rallying based tyres

Posted 2 years ago #
GolfChick - Member

yeah llandegla trail centre carpark is a nightmare to get in and out of with the massive potholes. Not so bad now im not lowered but a nightmare before and still rough as houses now. I also recently destroyed my car sump on the road up to lee quarry which would of been prevented if i was further off the ground.

As to the problem last week I was sent down a landrover track because my tomtom couldnt see it was an unreasonable road and was unable to turn round or reverse before it was too late so i had to completely drag my car through it, sliding and scraping all the way and the track had a steep edge to it which i easily could of slid off.

I ideally want something where atleast two possibly three bikes can fit with wheels on. Or two bikes with wheels on plus two people and my woofer. It must be able to cope with driving to the alps and bike comfortably so enough stuff and room and maybe cruise control and climate control as I have that now. Also want it suitable for dogs and taking to forests and ditching on side. It must also be suitable for driving around small towns and parking on side of road easily as I work as a community carer

Posted 2 years ago #
oldagedpredator - Member

Octavia Estate or A4 Avant. Got into the realms trans dimensional millages with the A4 before I killed it on a gate post. Did 219,000 and it would have been good for 250,000 or about another year as it was just getting a bit tired towards the end. A 80-120 thou millage one comes in around £6-8000. Only real pain with the A4's is the belt changes, normally done around 80,000 miles, expensive (£400ish min) even when you use an independant. Only prob I had was front suspension arm wear - a prob on early models but now fixed. No other major mechanicals.

Posted 2 years ago #
GolfChick - Member

oh and i dont want roof mounted as imo its completely unsecure and destroys any decent mpg you can get.

Posted 2 years ago #
brant - Member

I also recently destroyed my car sump on the road up to lee quarry which would of been prevented if i was further off the ground.

Or alternatively, you could have parked at the bottom and ridden up?

Posted 2 years ago #
snowpaul - Member

hello

get a berlingo / partner / kangoo - up to 5 bikes in the bike ! My berlingo can take 3 adults / 3 bikes and camp kit away for a weekend no bother - ugly but very useful!

paul

Posted 2 years ago #
Dave - Moderator

Or alternatively, you could have parked at the bottom and ~~ridden~~ walked up?

Posted 2 years ago #
GolfChick - Member

yeah brant i could of but due to the most crappest sign posting in the world ie none, and going there completely on a whim with no idea where it was we drove up unawares that it was such a mad road.

Posted 2 years ago #
matthew_h - Member

Golfchick, do you have eyes? Those tracks you mention are rough but are obviously rough and hence require some thought before just ploughing on up them. Both are actually easily passable in most cars but require a little bit of line choice (Lee Quarry moreso than Llandegla). Blaming things like that on your SatNav is pathetic. You don't have to go where it tells you, you know.

Posted 2 years ago #
GolfChick - Member

Do you know what else, i didnt ask for opinions upon my driving or the situations ive gotten myself into driving wise lately. I wanted peoples opinions on a suitable car for the requirements ive stated, unless you have a suggestion or a recommendation upon the car you're driving then perhaps you should keep your opinion to yourself, must be a pretty brilliant world to be perfect in huh. Thanks for the suggestions on cars, think ill make my own mind up now as I can see the query was just too challenging for the internet world.

Posted 2 years ago #
anagallis_arvensis - Member

"nearly wrote my car off last week thanks to poor tomtom which could of been prevented if i had something higher and more 4x4 and it would also come in handy for getting into certain trail centre carparks"

WTF are you talking about?

Posted 2 years ago #
S_Works - Member

Ford Galaxy. Doubles up as an uplift as well!

Posted 2 years ago #
DickBarton - Member

New style Berlingo - still to new to get any decent second hand prices though - not quite as ugly as the first version and slightly bigger - slightly longer and wider so plenty of room.

Not sure, but when I've used a Tomtom, I've still had to look to see where I was driving...if the road was that dodgy, I'd have stopped before it got to the point of no return. Also, if you were scrapping the underside, what on? If it was grass then it's fine...if it was rocks then you should have stopped long before that point.

Decent mpg - forget 4wd as the equivalent 2wd drive car will get a much better mpg. If you are driving in seriously poor conditions i.e. snow/ice and mud then 4wd will help to a degree, but it won't save you from problems...that then leaves pick-ups...if driving to the Alps, I'd rather use a wheelchair and push it there...far comfier on long drives...unless you really need 4wd (and if that means driving the kind of tracks you have described then a car 4wd ain't going to help as it isn't much higher than a 2wd car), then look at a car or van-derived car like a Berlingo - if you can get a XTR new-style Berlingo the suspension has been raised a bit more for added clearance, but the van-derived cars generally have good clearance (although you will still scrape the bottom on tracks with things in the middle of the raod)...

Posted 2 years ago #
Lord Summerisle - Member

aye, never follow your sat nav blindly... you never know where it may be takening you (wrongly, thinking its a shorter route)

See this bloke for reasons why

Posted 2 years ago #
Hob Nob - Member

Cheap car for your day to day stuff and a van for riding.

We have an Audi A4 estate which my girlfriend drives, but like most cars, its wheels off, seats down etc. Bit of a pain in the arse really.

I recently came out of the car scheme at work for an allowance & we now have a Transporter T5 LWB. I just wished I had bought one sooner. Life is so much easier with a van. We race DH as well, so big bikes & a lot of kit for a weekend away, going from a complete faf of getting everything in the car & trashing the car every time it rained, to this, is brilliant

Posted 2 years ago #
fozzybear - Member

thomthumb

what 4x4 for trail centre car park!!

has to be a troll!

she didn't ask WHAT 4x4 for the trail centre she said it would help

and it would also come in handy for getting into certain trail centre carparks and roads

last week, when doing her job, she had to go help someone who is less fortunate than ALL of us, someone stuck at home with no one to look after them.
It was a muddy steep road and her golf couldn't really cope and she nearly got stuck and was very worried.
take a little more time to read the post there are AND's and ALSO's in there...

Almost wrote my car off last week thanks to poor tomtom which could of been prevented if i had something higher and more 4x4 and

not blaming Tomtom there.. blaming the car clearly.. and that tomtom was poor, not at fault..

Can we keep it on topic pls!?

I like the HR-v as we talked about, car like and still part time 4x4, higher off the ground and 1.6 honda engine..

Posted 2 years ago #
hora - Member

Lord Summerisle, thats funny as'. Me thinks he shouldnt be trusted with the company biro in future.

I remember a 08 X5 trying to get up the ice cream run at Rivi. Driver (middle aged with 3 older passengers) looking really distressed trying to reverse back down banging the underside (sump as well?) on everthing. Awful to watch mind.

Posted 2 years ago #
hora - Member

Now honestly? If I was to buy a car-based van? Well, it'd be a van.....a Toyota Hiace.

Posted 2 years ago #
fozzybear - Member

LOL hora like this one?

Posted 2 years ago #
buly79 - Member

Haha thats one piece of crazy looking crap, I much preffer my dented Traffic LOL

Posted 2 years ago #
hora - Member

fozzybear that looks like a Pokemon crossed with a Hi-Ace. Pokiace...or hiMon

Posted 2 years ago #