Is a 4x4/SUV now the most sensible car to own?
 

I am in the market for a new car, and was at first considering a fast estate such as an Audi A4 Avant or BMW 3 series touring. But now I am thinking that they aren't suitable for today's roads.

I live in Guildford and the roads here are appalling. There are potholes like you wouldn't believe, and the roads are cracked and covered in what looks like ballast. I know the recent snow has probably made things worse, but I haven't seen anyone rushing to repair them. I can only assume they are going to get worse as the anti-car movement gains strength. I also spend time driving in London where a lot of side streets have huge speed bumps with visible scrapes on them where low cars have grounded.

With all of these factors, I think a 4x4 is more sensible as it would deal with the condition of our roads better than an ordinary car with 18/19" alloys. What do you think?

I've just bought one primarily for the 7 seats but also because the roads round here are appalling not just in condition right now but generally and prone to flooding/icing over especially down the very narrow lane down to my son's primary school. My Passat has very nearly been flooded at door sill height on many occasions.

My 4x4 is 2005 so avoids the high tax bracket, it's 2.5 diesel and getting 30mpg+ and 35-40mpg on a run. Only needs servicing every 18k or 2 years and so far i'm finding it the best car i've ever had for practicality and comfort.

I'd had enough with my last scoob when every time I took it out I never got above 40-50mph and was just a waste. If I have to travel slowly then I will do it in something big and comfortable that can go anywhere in any conditions and can fit the whole family in including the dog.

I don't see how a 4x4 is any more equipped to deal with potholes than a normal car. If you want higher profile tyres just spec smaller wheels. Most current 4x4s seem to have big rims and low profile tyres anyway.

I am seriously looking at an Octavia Scout to replace my vRS with. Use able 4x4 ability but without being a huge, thirsty hate magnet.

Steve

Volvo XC70 - V70 estate but taller (softer) suspension, off-roady ability (great in snow) and I get 40-45mpg no problem.

I really like the Audi Q5. There's a Q3 on the way too.

A few reasons

Even with big rims and low profile tyres, they will generally be a larger diameter than a normal car, therefore less chance of dropping a wheel into the hole

Those that don't have oversized wheels will have high profile tyres of the same larger diameter so much less chance of rim damage.

Higher ground clearance = less chance of bottoming out when dropping a wheel into a pothole.

And last but most importantly, 4x4s (proper ones, at any rate) will have significantly stronger wheels, suspension components and load bearing chassis/body members and therefore be able to handle the abuse over time better than a normal car.

:)

This! For the poor of SNet.

1999 JEEP CHEROKEE ORVIS AUTO LPG on eBay (end time 16-Feb-10 14:45:30 GMT)

And this one is overpriced. I've put an offer in on a non-LPG and have asked the owner of the above to contact me if it isn't picked up tomorrow.

4.0L on LPG. Probably works out to about 90p litre with a full tank of gas and petrol or 35MPG ish. Think road tax is also reduced by about £20. Electric everything and bullet proof engine.

The wife has got a Q7, lovely car. She is now upgrading to the V8 for extra punch :D

Meh, depends on the SUV/4x4:

Couple of examples:

An X5 M-sport on 20" run flats is not going to cope any better in terms of comfort and likely worse than a 5 series SE on normal tyres with smaller wheels and a more sensible profile. And if its hits a big pot hole, it'll damage and wear suspension and wheels just like a 5 series, as the suspension is not really any different in design to a 5 series touring (Believe it or not, a common mod on 5 series is to use X5 bushings on the front control arms to firm up the ride! ).

The old Land Rovers aren't happy (defender etc.); Live axles front and rear, means it hops and skips everytime it hits a bump mid-bend. And the steering is too slow to avoid potholes and little roll control is somewhat sea-sick inducing. Newer ones with independant suspension and active roll control fare much better, but any large bits of grit (from the decaying road surface) on the road accumulates and gets lodged in the crevices of the air springs, rubbing into the rubber and eventually punctures them! (RR tip: wash off the air springs regularly with it set at max height, especially the rear ones).


I can understand the sentiments though, my Golf is taking a hammering.

The best car for potholes IMO is an old Jag. :D Seriously; ours can take speed bumps at 30mph without even noticing :lol1: Problem with using it at this time of year is it'll be a pile of brown dust before I reach the end of the road. :(

Old Rolls Royces/Bentleys were good too; I hooned about in a rust bucket 1982 £5K Spirit for a couple of weeks. The only time you would feel a bump is if you inadvertantly fell asleep (quite easy seeing it was a mobile sofa) and mounted the curb and hit some pedestrians. ;)

Not practical; just a different take on things :thumb:

Anyone who can't manage to spot and then drive around a pothole big enough to swallow an entire wheel to a depth great enough to ground a normal car out probably shouldn't be driving. does anyone know the axle articulation requirements to clear the average pillow hump? ;)

Rev, you say that but i've had it where roadworks have been not lit and down a country lane and the road surface just disappeared down to the hardcore underneath due to the tarmac completely missing. This was also on a bend so the car headlights did not light it up until it was too late. My Octavia vRS grounded out on the drivers side where there was effectively no road whilst the passenger side was still on the road surface.

I tried to claim off the council and they would have none of it saying it was the contractors repairing the road who should be sued. Luckily the damage wasn't serious enough to pursue further.

Obviously the above was fairly unlucky and not a frequent occurence but it does happen. I like the fact my 4x4 eats such holes for breakfast where as before i'd have been seriously worried as to what damage had been done to the car.

LOL

Agreed, but then I've seen normal cars grinding lower wishbones/control arms when their hapless owners have thought the circle of water was just a puddle.

More seriosuly, the traffic calming humps round our way are severe enough to cause front valance to road contact in many normal cars.

If it were a 4x4 hitting such a deep hole on a bend at a speed greater than a fast walking pace, it may well have flipped over!

Having been party to a Freelander clipping a curb at 10mph and flipping on its side, I can happily vouch that if a Freelander had hit such a deep hole on a bend at anything greater than a manouvering speed, it would have flipped over.

I think that everyone should drive a 4.6 HSE p38 range rover. Luxury, fast enough, relaxing, good off road and a generous 12.7 mpg if driven carefully although I have heard rumours of 15mpg on the motorway. Can be bought for 3k, what more could you need from a car. A good alternative is the old 7 series 4.4 V8 great to drive available with sat nav from 2-6k and a ridiculously efficient 20 mpg.

Freelanders are crap, the old ones were not proper 4wd and the head gaskets go if you go over 10mph anyway. My old rangerover currently wears 20 inch wheels and it still cossets you over bumps and potholes smoother than a pair of silk boxers looks after your yoghurt slinger on a hot summers day.

Sounds suspiciously like trying to live up to an image to me :Suspiciou



YOu could always swop the 18's for 16's for the winter as i have !

My other Range with the blown up engine has normal wheels so I may do a swap over when the tyres have been worn down on the pimp wheels but being particulary tight I won't be ditching them untill they are close to the legal limit. Driving any car with rover in the name does usually require two of the same model to keep parts handy but its worth the sacifice. I really don't care about image I also have an MGF and may be buying a w reg toyota corolla this week. (i might have a look to see if the 20 inchers fit on the corrolla though)

Was responding to the op Luan , mainly

Sovereign Trading LTD : RR 4.6 HSE -- 1 OWNER -- BEST AVAILABLE?

Like new! How can you only do 12k in 11 years :o

Not at all. As I said I would rather have a fast estate, but this is England we're living in, not Germany. Our roads are an embarrassment.

And anyway, do people really look on at people with 4x4s in an envious way? They're pretty much within reach for anyone that wants one.

Perhaps like this?
http://tinyurl.com/6n8tam

I can't go round to my best mate's house in the Skyline because it catches the valance and exhaust on every one of the 18 speed humps on the way to his house.

I'll let you off on that one but if it happens again you have to promise to post me your licence ;)

:lol1: :lol1: Pervert.

:lol1: :razz:

Freelander 1s are crap, I'll second that :D Gossip round Solihull says it was deveolped from Maestro van put on stilts IIRC :D However, the one that rolled over was a BMW diesel version though, so it would have ingested its swirl flaps instead, although the viscous coupling would probably have failed and killed the gearbox box before that happens. :)

Talking of old Landies; the most comfortable ones I've driven are Disco IIs fitted with ACE (active cornering); they tended to have softer damping which was aided by electro-hydraulic rams to control the body roll, so it gave a pile massaging ride without making the passengers seasick. Worked like a dream (when it did work ;) ). Although when I first drove one, the whine it made when cornering did make me think a rear wheel bearing was dodgy :lol1:

That would be a fantastic buy, would have to do an LPG conversion but even so that is very nice

To be totally practical, with all the traffic etc on our roads these days, there seems to be little point in owning a high performnce car. Apart from the speed and acceleration, its difficult to even be able to enjoy it round corners any more now, although I still think good handling is always important. If you want to spend all that cash for image's sake-that is your choice of course.

The only way to enjoy driving a performance car now is either on a track day or in the middle of the night.

I very much regret that situation but it is unavoidable with today's heavy trafiic.

I think you just have to look at your own requirements as far as size and type of car etc is concerned. The roads are in a shocking state, years of neglect and the intense frosts have brought that out now and it is now going to be too expensive to put the roads back as they always used to be years ago, when local councils took a pride in maintaining good roads in their own areas.

All our road fund tax has been wasted. I know its not called that any more but that is still what it really is.

Les :(

THat looks like alot of money to me, some of the last ones made were special editions and can be had for less cash than that. MY pal had a 2000 4.6 with connoly leather with 27k and he was offered 7k trade in value. He decided to keep it.