4 x 4 car

Chris_VRS

I'd seriously consider a Skoda Octavia 4x4 estate!.....absolutely superb!....all the benefits of a normal octavia estate but with a slightly higher ride height and obviously 4wd!

boatman

Lexus RX..

basill

Subaru? Even the estates can be closely related to the scooby turbo fast ones, could be worth a look!

The top gear boys seem to rate them highly.

B

tomstickland

A 4x4 estate like the Subura / Octavia etc would fit the bill. The "redneck truck" type 4x4s combine the extra drive train losses of the 4wd system with extra weight and size, so on mways and A roads they're inefficient.

FakeIrish

Just picked up a brand new Nissan X-Trail for £21k. It's fantastic value for money plus you can drive it on 2wd to save on fuel in normal conditions. There are loads of good deals out there and you could easily pick up an 05 (diesel) for £16k, inc sat nav, cruise control etc.

MPG for diesels are generally around 40 - depends on how you drive it though!

FirstClassMale

A couple of people have mentioned Subaru. I live in rural Aberdeenshire and am on my fourth Subaru! Now the downside is that they do not do a diesel variant but the fuel economy is comparable for a petrol to that of some diesel land rovers.

My first was the original estate (L series) ugly as hell but when I towed a stuck nissan Sunny two miles through deep snow, it came into its own.

Second was a coupe (the predecessor of the Impreza) lets not speak about that one, it was cheap!

I have just replaced my Impreza which I ran for three years with a Legacy estate and it allows me to sail past all the other cars crawling along the dual carriageway when the snow falls.

I have just bought a cement mixer which fitted no problem into the back of the legacy.

None of the bad handling of a typical 4x4 either. They have a rally pedigree and I just cannot speak highly enough of them.

rrockettman

I agree about the Legacy, we've got two now.
Believe it or not, a council snow plough got stuck in a dip at the bottom of the hill on our little back lane. My partner, on her way to work, turned round and drove back up the steep ungritted section, no problem. Don't know how the gritter got out though!
Our 2004, 2.5 R estate averages 32 mpg. The older, 2001, 2.5 estate averages 27mpg, but I drive that one!

Murphy_The_Cat

If I had the same driveway as this guy, I'd have a 4 X 4 as well.

If anyones curious, it's a Chrysler 300C estate with a 5.7 Lt V8 and 4WD.

enjoy the vid

MTC

catkins

Be aware that the government are going to introduce a new tax for 4x4 or vehicles that exceed a stated co2 emission.

bunking_off

..or why not try a Jaguar X-Type estate? Anything 2.5L and above will be 4x4. You'd get a used one for £16-17k at a main dealer, considerably less elsewhere.