Which 4x4?

I will look into them ;-)

Sent from my GT-I9505 using proboards

What size are you thinking?
Range Rover/Disco size or smaller?
Wouldnt IMO touch a early freelander with the Little Rover block in them K series (I think)
If you need a medium all wheel drive go anywhere in comfort wagon - Have a test drive in a Subaru Forester
AKA Tonka toy

Or, if you need something a bit bigger
A Toyota Surf, Both are very worthy and good wagons

After owning 5 Series, Defender, Disco and 3 Range Rovers I recommend a LWB Vitara.

Paul H

I've had a 6 foot industrial BBQ in the back of my pajero, and multiple scrap runs!



The seats unbolt quickly so it can be a van today and car tomorrow!

It's also for sale...
bit.ly/1mp84Hi

First model Kia Sportage. German built with proper 4 wheel drive using a combination of Mercedes and Peugeot transmission along with a Mazda engine. Very nippy and comfortable on road and exceptional offroad.

Nissan X Trail?

Fourtrak - they are really friendly - mine used to love going walkies



Seriously though they are excellent, strong, reliable...

Japanese all day for me. If you`re looking at a shogun/pajero, i`d personally go for a manual 2.8, not the 2.5, and certainly not the 2.5 with auto box! I`m a big fan of Troopers, especially the 3.0 DT. The run for ever, have way more grunt than other 4x4`s, will tow anything and are pretty comfortable. The only thing to watch out for is failed injectors. I`ve had a few of these though, and Isuzu are still replacing faulty injectors FOC, even on a 2000 TRooper commercial I had a couple of years ago with 200,000 miles on the clock!

IMHO, the only benefit to owning any Landy is the ease of working on them, and dirt cheap parts. Everything else is far inferior in them from ride quality, power, torque and certainly body rot.

There`s plenty out there, even with a fairly modest budget, a decent 4x4 can be found.

I have had a few 4x4s over the years.
First was a Defender 90 with a 200tdi. You know what? it was pish. Ok, it was pretty competent off road, but it was hellish to drive any distance on road. Noisy, cramped and uncomfortable. Rot is a big issue. On the plus side, it was simple and easy to work on mechanically - which is just as well as it always needed something. They are tragically over-priced for reasons I don't really understand and a high profile target for thieves. Lots of parts and accessories available.

After that I had a Discovery, 200tdi 3-door. Honestly, it would go pretty much everywhere the defender would, it would do anything the defender could and had the bonus of being pretty civilised on road even on long motorway journeys. Rot is still the massive problem on these and they often need lots of fettling to minor problems - typical Landrover really. I have had a couple of discos since and all were pretty much the same. IMO get a 200 or 300TDI. The later TD5 is delving into electronics, diagnostics and too much complexity compared to the older models for my liking.

Had a Sportrak 1.6 petrol. It was terrible. Ride on any less than perfect road was like a bucking bronco. It was slow, noisy, cramped and gave tragically bad fuel economy. Reliable though.

Had a Frontera. 2 litre petrol 3 door. It had a factory option LSD on the rear and would easily go anywhere the landies could go. Relatively economical considering it was a Cavalier engine powering a massive hunk of unaerodynamic steel. The interior rattled to the point of driving me crazy, but it was otherwise reliable. Plenty Cavaliers etc in the scrappy for parts. The removeable hardtop is a real faff....20 minutes, a few different torx bits, various screwdrivers and two people to get it on and off.

Had a Niva - Like the sportrak really, but more civilised on road. Very small and very uneconomical. Pretty much everything not directly needed for motive power, steering or suspension was broken, but it just kept on going no matter what. Surprisingly good off road too.

currently have a Freelander TD4. Its a 3 door commercial version so already panelled out in the rear. Yeah, its a girls car blah blah blah....you know what? its pretty good. Very car-like on road and will surprise many people off road. Mine has a roverRon tuning box on it and it fairly shifts. Only let down offroad by a lack of low-ratio gearbox though. On the downside, the usual Landrover problem of there ALWAYS being something needing fixed. Always. Mine has had injectors, VCU, alt, turbo, various ABS sensors and last week the ABS has shat itself again. You need to get a good one as many have been bodged badly or converted to 2wd to hide serious transmission problems. The hardtop just unclips and lifts off in seconds.

Also have a Mazda B2500 pickup. Its a re-badged Ford Ranger and is pretty good. Its more comfortable than a Defender, but still pretty bouncy. A pickup is nice for carrying large or dirty stuff about, but not secure unless you have a hardtop. Cant park it in town with anything valuable in the back. Unladen, its incredibly tail-happy in the wet and frankly not that great offroad. With no weight over the rear axle it spins up very easily - I have to engage 4wd just to reverse it up my gravel driveway! A couple of bags of cement in the rear make a huge difference to its driving manners. I bought it, changed the glow plugs as they were shafted and have abused the hell out of it for work and it has needed pretty much nothing but oil changes and tyres. Utterly reliable.

IMO - Go Japanese.