Best small car for rural lanes

EceniRising

Greetings, all

so, my car has died. Gone. Heading for the great cubic crusher in the sky. It was a Citroen C3 and I loved it dearly, but I live in the back end of nowhere with rough country lanes and spend a lot of time driving with the dog over forestry tracks and it wasn't coping. The front springs broke 3 times in the last 5 years and each time pierced a tyre.

So I need a replacement fast and want something small, sane, good fuel economy, not spewing vast quantities of CO2, but built to cope with something more than just tootling to Tesco and back over perfect tarmac. All and any suggestions welcome...

thanks

ER

jaydeeuk1

If the roads are that bad, you'll still need to replace springs, shocks, tyres etc a 4x4 type vehicle will be heavier than a c3, so even more punishing on suspension, poorer mpg and more CO2 produced. There aren't many cars that will cope with dirt pot holed rocky tracks, give a nice ride on smooth tarmac, be small and give good mpg/low CO2, in fact i'm struggling to suggest anything, you might have to identify which is your main priority.

worried_jim

Subaru Forester

Can be had from £1k upwards. Indestructible.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201504222820734/sort/default/model/forester/radius/40/postcode/bn424sn/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew/make/subaru/page/1/usedcars/channel/cars?logcode=p

loskie

suzuki sx4, panda(not just 4x4), skoda yeti, Subaru Impreza 5 dr GX(non turbo), Honda HRV(old model), kangoo trekka

Piggywiggy

How about a Suzuki Jimmy, still small but high off the ground.

forgotmyname

Broken springs are a common issue on lots of cars these days, Cars have got heavier and roads are worse, speedbumps don't help.

The average car now weighs 1/3rd or more than their equivalent models, Even though your C3 is small and made of paper mache it probably weighs more than the next size up car from the 90's.

WobblyDog

Perhaps selecting a bottom-of-the-range small hatchback, with relatively high-profile tyres might help? The idea being that there's more rubber and air to absorb bumps before they get to the expensive suspension components.

ali-t

I dont have any suggestions op but live up a shared pothole infested lane so interested in the recommendations.

Herzlos

WobblyDog wrote: »

Perhaps selecting a bottom-of-the-range small hatchback, with relatively high-profile tyres might help? The idea being that there's more rubber and air to absorb bumps before they get to the expensive suspension components.

This is a good point; the wheel choice could be more important than the car. small wheels with big tyres will take a lot of the impact out of it. It's a bizarre affliction people of the UK have with huge wheels and low profile tyres on everything.

Strider590

forgotmyname wrote: »

Broken springs are a common issue on lots of cars these days, Cars have got heavier and roads are worse, speedbumps don't help.

The average car now weighs 1/3rd or more than their equivalent models, Even though your C3 is small and made of paper mache it probably weighs more than the next size up car from the 90's.

Ain't that the truth.......

The current Vauxhall Corsa weights 200kg more than my 2004 Vectra and DOUBLE the weight of the Corsa A (known here as the Nova).

loskie

dacia sandero stepway