Forum menu
My 4x4 of choice:
[IMG] 
[/IMG]
1995, battered, 223,000 miles & love it to bits.
Between the family we've had RangeRovers of various types, LR 90's & 110's, L200, G wagon, M Class, 2.8 & 3.1l Troopers & the Landcruiser beats them all as an all rounder. I bought this three years ago off my parents when they went for a slightly newer version & the only other thing I'd consider would be another Landcruiser.
Wife's family have had (and have still got) many LCs and while I do like them, they are just too big and thirsty for regular useage.
Plus go to any funfair - most of the vehicles used are LCs. Along with Shoguns, they are just a wee bit pikey 😆
Very good off road, comfy, mostly reliable.
I've driven a lot of 4 x 4's over the years both personally and for work.
The Mitsubishi L200 is a truly awful vehicle unless you fill the pick-up with wood or something heavy
Landrover 90 certainly gets my vote but as the Ozzies say 'for getting into the Bush you only need two vehicles ones a Landy and the other's a Land Cruiser to get back out again you'll only need the Land Cruiser!'
I saw a Khan Range Rover Sport earlier with a tricked up exhaust on it that actually ran below the level of the spare wheel, leaving the car with about 4 inches of ground clearance, total numptyism, had the worst blingy wheels Ive ever seen, you cant buy it.
Kahn stuff = as classy as an Alsation chained to a stainless steel carvan
My wife has a Freelander 1, does everything we need:
day-to-day commuting
easy to park
pulling box and 2 horses
Better check the weight of the box and 2 horses. probably over the towing limit which isn't a good idea.
catfood - Member
I saw a Khan Range Rover Sport earlier with a tricked up exhaust on it that actually ran below the level of the spare wheel, leaving the car with about 4 inches of ground clearance, total numptyism, had the worst blingy wheels Ive ever seen, you cant buy it.
Spotted an Orange Kahn Range Rover over a hedge near Welshpool last week....must say I did smirk....a bit
Another Defender vote here, and I'll say a 110 (not that I'm biased!) Doesn't lose out much to a 90 off road, but the added space is handy.
[IMG] 
[/IMG]
[IMG] 
[/IMG]
i drove lots of different 4 x 4s and the landcruiser or nissan patrol are the best ive used. infact when in the forces in bosnia when we wanted to do proper offroad we ditched the defenders and used landcruisers as they were so much better
for a little one the jimny is great fun
Anyone know who does the conversion to a 110 to put a fold out tent on top?
I've seen a few, mostly with Euro tourists and they look great, almost like a camper van with less downsides.. but I've yet to see one for sale or up close to see what you actually get (or how much you'd have to pay...)
[url= http://www.rooftent.co.uk/ ]http://www.rooftent.co.uk/[/url]
Part of Nene oveland, they sell expedition prepped vehicles too. Am considering a rooftent mounted to a converted Sankey trailer for my Ninety, saves me dragging all the weight around when I don't need it.
*cheap troll*
You mean you can use a 4x4 to drive [i]off[/i] road?!? Crikey, you people in the country have some funny ideas.
Our mates have a roof tent on theirs (the 110 on the left - ours is on the right):
[IMG] 
[/IMG]
Just be careful if drunk - easy to forget you're 6 ft in the air and fall out!
Some come down to the floor level - www.trekoverland.com do all sorts of types. Hit the "our products" tab.
Ta all, last time I saw one it was in the company of a German couple - the lady appeared to find the walk to the shower block too irksome and just stood under the solar shower in the nip. yet still it's the tent on top of a Landy I have stuck in my mind 🙂
I am now also trying to figure out how I didn't guess 'rooftent.co.uk'
😀
+1 for Freelander 1 TD4, just get the right tyres on it. I was talked into Dueler HT Sports as they were on offer, great when dry but b*****ks in snow. So i'm binning them for something with a more suitable tread pattern.
I miss mine 😥
[url= http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3016/2355475590_bf3456103a.jp g" target="_blank">
[img] 
[/img]
Ooh I like both that Defender and that Panda a LOT!
Anyone know who does the conversion to a 110 to put a fold out tent on top?I've seen a few, mostly with Euro tourists and they look great, almost like a camper van with less downsides.. but I've yet to see one for sale or up close to see what you actually get (or how much you'd have to pay...)
Our 110 with Howling Moon setup;
[URL= http://img704.imageshack.us/img704/1324/dsc00202large.jp g" target="_blank">
http://img704.imageshack.us/img704/1324/dsc00202large.jp g"/> [/IMG][/URL]
[URL= http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/529/dsc01497large.jp g" target="_blank">
http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/529/dsc01497large.jp g"/> [/IMG][/URL]
If the Lanny's a rockin-dont come knockin
[URL= http://img192.imageshack.us/img192/5990/dsc00152large.jp g" target="_blank">
http://img192.imageshack.us/img192/5990/dsc00152large.jp g"/> [/IMG][/URL]
^^^ Cheeky Monkey ^^^
MONKEY PJ's.....dear lord 😯
[quote=Hairychested]Any old off road car will have the new computers on wheels for breakfast I reckon.
Disco 4 if you value a luxury interior.
^^^ quite impressive video monkeyfudger
monkeyfudger, it's a great set but... the OP was talking mud, snow etc not slick rock climbing. Besides, was it the same driver? The same rock? You could put me in the RR and I wouldn't climb it for toffee, maybe the LR driver wasn't as good as the other guy?
IMO for mud etc the simpler the better.
Driven a fair amount of 4x4's, predominantly land rovers, some stock spec, some kitted up for off roading. Already said it recently on here, but the one thats impressed me most in its handling of the current conditions is the current style range rover. Its traction control, stability control and abs systems have made it consistently better at maintaining grip in the ice and snow than any of the others i've driven.
But, as already said, it all pales into minority compared to the person behind the wheel and how they drive the thing.
My old boss used to have a ford ranger pickup that we used for festival work and another company I worked for had a mitsi l200 and a navara and they were great in all sorts of conditions. We used the things on Glastonbury even when it was super super muddy and that is a real test with mud axle deep! I took it over old Mac road in the peaks which is seriously rocky and it made it! It was even fine in the snow when we worked in Winter! Those kind of things are a lot cheaper than a defender and I reckon that unless your doing some serious off road enthusiast type stuff then a pickup or a generic off roader would be fine?
It's the same hill, somewhere in South Africa if I remember correctly, seem 'em ages ago and thought they proved a good point.
Did you see the Range Rover come down? It would take the best driver in the world to get the Defender down as safe. In your opinion, but I would disagree, most people don't have the skills. Driver aids and mode switches like the Range Rovers have can make you look like a god!
Life long Defender fan by the way, I'd choose a Defender every time 😉
Not failed me last, or this winter (*cough* minor mechanical excepted). I doubt it's anywhere near the best, but it's had me sailing up hills in the snow (without snow tyres) and on/off snow covered grass verges where rwd tranny vans were stuck with just two wheels on/two off. Bloody scary if you don't treat it with care in just RWD, but driven sensibly has been a great tool.
[IMG] 
[/IMG]
For what the OP asked, Defender evey time. I bought one off this very forum about 10 years ago, it's been brilliant.
I love my Defender to bits, but is it the best 4x4 ?
It has a wonderfully British imperfectness about it - it is stunningly capable in some ways, and yet leaky and noisy.
It can be easily repaired, and every bit of it is replaceable, but those parts occasionally seem to travel together in a rather loose formation.
A Discovery will do most of what a Defender will if you don't mind paying modern car prices for all the bits that you will catch on the scenery as you drive through it.
A Freelander will do more than you would imagine, but has it's limits.
Toyota make some very capable off-roaders, but they are dull.
If you need a 4x4 for the school run/keeping up with the Jones's and the tricky bit of Tesco's carpark then VW/Audi and BMW make some good vehicles.
Whatever you consider is the "best" depends on what you want to do with a class of vehicles in which all 4 wheels are driven.
monkeyfudger, I'm happy to disagree 🙂
BTW I really don't think any Western vehicle is as useful off road as the trusty UAZ the Red Army have been using for yonks. No maintenance other than a hammer and some wire, diesel in, off you go.
For me, the real off road in Europe is this:
Does it show I like mud?
And for a laugh:
I saw a Khan Range Rover Sport earlier with a tricked up exhaust on it that actually ran below the level of the spare wheel, leaving the car with about 4 inches of ground clearance, total numptyism, had the worst blingy wheels Ive ever seen, you cant buy it.
No you are wrong, look, classy qualitage, and Saltaire!!!:
[img] 
[/img]
Kahn stuff = as classy as an Alsation chained to a stainless steel carvan
Surf-Mat = as culturally ignorant as a traffic cone on the A34...
Look pon it; well hench:
[img] 
[/img]
hairychested, WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My L200 is fine offroad, and has been perfect in the snow/ice. When it had the standard tyres on, it got abit hairy in the wet sometimes, but only lost the back end once or twice and that was probably due to me going too fast into wet roundabouts. But got Cooper S/T's fitted a few months back and they've made a huge difference to road handling and I've hardly had to touch 4wd in the snow.
It's never going to be the best offroader, but it keeps up fine with all the lifted Discos and Defenders when we go green laning. It locks the centre diff when it's in 4wd and has a rear difflock, so it's pretty capable when it gets rough. The main drawback is the massive rear over hang, the towbar takes abit of a beating getting dragged around sometimes 😆
depends whos driving .....
just got me a defender - drove it down to my house and it took me 3 or 4 goes to get it back out ..... deep snow with compacted ice under neeth .... got it out though - didnt take it back in just left it at the top !
didnt take it back in just left it at the top
I thought you wanted something to get you up n down the hill at your place?
Could you have not done the same (left it at the top) with car you have already?
Monkey you don't need all the fancy pants stuff to get down that. Select the right gear get off the clutch and let it go. Most silly accidents on terrain like that is people not trusting the wagon and or papping it and dipping the clutch
Bruce car hasn't been this side of village in 2 weeks - van can't get up the hill it's 2 miles away at bottom of drive - the Landy is about 30 foot from my the house As the last hill is steep and has a 180 deg corner on it that's iced up ! Made mince meat of the straight steeeepest hill I could find even covered in snow ! ! Can live with that ! It will get up the hill with corner once I get confident - I got up last night but inexperience showed . Trying to get Kenneththecurtain to come show me how it's done and tow me out when i get stuck !
Pullin coal in for 2 miles on a sledge in foot deep snow gets wearing fast !
trail_rat - you did engage difflock didn't you ?
Thought 'whaaayy' when I saw a post on the Lada Niva above...
Then the price...
What the ****. 😐
Firestarter- Hence why I said most people don't have the skills, I agree! I've been up and down stuff in an old 110 that hurt my ankles walking up. That hill is stupidly steep tho (even after you've taken the positive camera angle into account 😉 ) and is bordering on impossible but the RR made it look easy, Defender wouldn't have done IMO.
@ Hairychested, not had a chance to watch the vids you posted yet, will do later. I spend waaaay to much time on here tho wishing I had a spare couple of grand!! Love the old Russian trucks!
http://www.russianmilitary.co.uk/list.php?headers=land&sub_headers=TRUCKS