What is the 'statement' in driving a Toureg over a Corsa or an Aston or a Healy? This thread has descended into idiocy.

In fairness, it didn't exactly start on the highest intellectual plane.

I saw two children sitting on the bonnet of a van, bouncing up and down to get it up a hill the other day. They'd never had more fun by the look of it. Not convenient if part of the journey includes motorway I guess.

My favourite's are the X5's with 1 foot wide low profiles doing 80 in the fast lane that still has lying snow on it.

The trouble with the big "sport" 4×4's is they create a completely false comfort zone for the driver.

There are actually some fairly sensible posts on here. Not all 4 x 4s are equal. I've got a Honda CR-V and am very aware of it's limitations. It even says in the handbook it's not designed for off-road driving. It is however great in the current conditions where 2wd drive cars with normal tyres are struggling. It's been getting up snowy and icey hills no problem. However I am very aware I still need to keep the speed right down on hard pack snow bcause it's still easy to spin and going down steep hills usually involves braking before reaching the top of the hill and then dropping the gears to let the engine control the descent.

As has been said before it's down to the driver.

The CR-V has been a very good second car to our other one (a Touran) which is very fuel efficient but rubbish in the snow.

Mate with a expedition equipped Landcruiser towed a 7.5 ton lorry up a small hill, overtaking a Knobber in a BMW X5. The said Knobber was scrabbling about sideways with virtually no forward progress , whilst Ian pulled the TNT lorry past.

If lifting a 15kg mountain bike in and out of the boot of a car is likely to give you back problems, are you sure mountain biking is the right sport for you ?

Nice one smart arse! it's not the weight going into the car that the problem it's the awkward stoop, twist and stretch that could cause a problem. I'm yet to replicate that on a mountain or road bike.

I've read through this thread and there are some valid points made for & against 4wd + 2wd vehicles. There is a lot of trolling too. What amazes me though is that some people do get really wound up about what other people drive.

Now, I've been driving a lot of years and what someone else is driving hasn't really concerned me. I like the look of some vehicles, I'm impressed by the performance of some, I've lusted after some that have been beyond my means but I really cannot understand why some people are so vehemently and aggressively opposed to what others drive. Why? I thought I was moderately intelligent but where does this need to tell others what they should or shouldn't be driving come from? It's a metal box with a wheel at each corner and the civilised world appears to be totally dependant on it such that most families have more than one and that towns, shopping, industry, etc. are designed around its use and we can't seem to manage without them.

I can understand the argument that we shouldn't be so dependant on them and so on but why are we so concerned about what everyone else is driving and feel the need to refer to people as f*+ckwits because they choose something different and why do we feel the need to ask them to justify why they need something different to our own choice?

Is it because they DONT need it -it is a choice as other vehicles are available? The vehicle is less efficient on fuel,is useless in the snow , useless off road whilst making the driver feel safe enough to drive like a ****t as there 4 ton urban tank will crush you in a crash? 😆

That reminds me of travelling to school (strangely still open despite having a very large catchment area with most kids being bussed in) in what was presumably the last time we had weather a bit like this if that was 30 years ago. To get up one hill all of us went to the back of the bus and jumped up and down – it worked!

as a country bumpkin, 4×4 are pretty essential. Further more, having a decent one with a decent engine such as the defender we have atm is worthwhile… why?

1) used as a supply vehicle for the regular moor fires
2) used in a logging business
3) just about the only type of vehicle capable of launching a boat at the local 'free' slipway
4) diff lock and good driving skills get it out of snow, to drag/ winch you environmental wallies out of snow drifts, ditches, etc so that you can get to your internet-connecting device (presumably a blackberry)
5) it's made of scaffolding and sheet steel. Very little hydroforming operations, or niche coatings, or exotic materials here! So, manufacture is not half as environmentally harmful as your modern estates, hatchbacks, etc. It may produce more CO2/NOX/SO2 from combustion BUT simple manufacture means that less cyanates, cyanides, bromides/ bromates, lead compounds, Al- compounds and many more are released.

How's that?

amen brother. The biggest change we can make is to shed our consumer society. Oh, and get some cheap, renewable energy sources to tempt china/india/africa/USA/brazil away from oil and coal. Nuclear fission?