Originally Posted by J4CKO

Interesting responses, I can sort of see the point from what a lot of you are saying, I do actually like the X5, big handsome beast, just in Cheshire its a bit of a predictable purchase, we went for a traditional people carrier and got a Ford Galaxy Ghia, could have gone for an XC90 or X5 but it didnt do anything extra that we need.

Sometimes I do get p1ssed off at four by four drivers, most are driven ok but when you are on a bike they are that bit more intimidating so perhaps thats my issue, also some of the crew cab pickups and Range Rover Sports etc are driven very badly round our way, saw a woman fly past our kids school, so fast she overshot the turn and went onto the unmade road and reversed without looking, I see them aiming between lines of parked cars at 40 mph with no regard for safety as long as they are safe, so perhaps the problem is the drivers, not the cars as they would behave badly in anything, its just that these things weigh up to 3 tonnes and have a lot of easily accessed power, long travel suspension so it allows you to fly over speed bumps safe in the knowledge that if you hit something you will bash it out of the way. I think they are a bit too isolating, high up, well insulated and very simple to operate, a Land Rover 110 requires several miles, a slight slope and a tail wind to reach 60 wheras some of these things will do it in six seconds or not much more just by flexing your right foot, all very quiet and serene from the cabin but alarming from outside, nothing like a faceful of turbo diesel fumes when on a push bike.

Originally Posted by J4CKO

Yes, I do think that once the 4 by 4's are dealt with it will be anything with superfluous horsepower that will come in for stick. That said, the Tesla looks ace and emits 40g/km and runs on volts.

Originally Posted by Klaatu

Well, the 4x4 version of the "Panda" is at least 20 pounds more costly than the "normal" version, given that the 4x4 version is hardly a "gas guzzler". The point is that focusing on "4x4's" really is a "pollitical point" scorecard for the greenie types. I get better ecconomy out of my 2.0l 4x4 Impreza than I did out of my 1.6l 2x4 VW Golf! Better ecconomy = lower Co2 emissions (Not that Co2 is really an issue anyway form an AGW PoV anyway).

Originally Posted by Klaatu

Modern, direct inject, diesels aren't like that, well not when I got my 1994 Disco D anyway. Having lived in countries where the sulfur count is upto 30 times that which is available in the UK and Europe, there is a smoke (PM10) problem. But put it into perspective, it's NOTHING like Africa!

Originally Posted by ^Qwerty^

I'm looking to swap my A8 for a ML, Touareg, Disco, Range Rover etc. Reason being, I want to be able to tow a modern twin axle caravan, and you can't do it in anything but one of these.

Originally Posted by J4CKO

Twin axle, nah, you need a two tone gold and brown Pajero for that authentic traveler stylee.

Originally Posted by ^Qwerty^

LOL - My Mrs would quite happily take up the pikey lifestyle given half the chance, and once the kids leave home, I suspect she'll want to live on a caravan site/park for 10 months of the year.

I'd need to get a Hobby anyway, but we are looking at an Elddis

Originally Posted by ^Qwerty^

I'm looking to swap my A8 for a ML, Touareg, Disco, Range Rover etc. Reason being, I want to be able to tow a modern twin axle caravan, and you can't do it in anything but one of these.

Originally Posted by shaunywrx

I looked at all of those, but if you want to tow anything out of a wet muddy field, i would look at Landcruisers, Shoguns or Landrovers,