Agri Vehicles Insurance from Greenlands

Author Topic: 4wd??  (Read 3996 times)

Ghdp

  • Joined Aug 2014
  • Conwy
4wd??
« on: December 03, 2015, 08:04:47 pm »
Will probably reveal more ignorance than I should but hey.  We went looking for a 4WD vehicle as a car for Mrs Ghdp today - now we live towards the bottom of a 12% hill road at 750 feet above sea level. The helpful man at Nissan said that winter tyres on a 2wd diesel Ntec Nissan Quashqai would suit our purposes on metalled lanes and 4WD probably was not necessary.
Is that likely to be correct?
 :thinking:

blades

  • Joined Jun 2011
  • Huntly
Re: 4wd??
« Reply #1 on: December 04, 2015, 05:43:53 am »
Winter tyres will certainly be an improvement but in my honest opinion 4WD will be far superior.
My wife runs a 4WD Skoda Yeti... We have been stunned at just how good it is on all types of slippery surface from pulling a small livestock trailer into a wet field and getting out again, driving well in heavy snowfall and even coping with sheet ice. Previously, she ran a diesel fiesta on winter tyres... The difference is night and day.
Metal Detectorist

Backinwellies

  • Global Moderator
  • Joined Sep 2012
  • Llandeilo Carmarthenshire
    • Nantygroes
    • Facebook
Re: 4wd??
« Reply #2 on: December 04, 2015, 08:09:22 am »
Would think it rather depends on where you live ie north or south ............  not likely to be worth it in the south  .......... and if it really snows will she be going out?   (I've no idea about difference in cost which I guess is the reason for question) .......... we are 700ft up a steep hill too   but in south Wales .... actually a boat would be more useful at the moment!!!
Linda

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Marches Farmer

  • Joined Dec 2012
  • Herefordshire
Re: 4wd??
« Reply #3 on: December 04, 2015, 08:27:40 am »
Depends what you want the car to do.  Our elderly Diahatsu FourTrak has M&S tyres and can cope with pretty well anything, including pulling a trailer full of sheep up a muddy 1 in 5 field.  It's noisy, though, and the handling is very different to a car.  We used to have semi-offroad tyres on the rear but they just didn't hack it in very muddy conditions.

Foobar

  • Joined Mar 2012
  • South Wales
Re: 4wd??
« Reply #4 on: December 04, 2015, 10:03:54 am »
With a 12% hill, get a 4x4, you won't regret it. Even just in general driving you will notice the difference (improvement in handling).


I have a Subaru Forester 4x4 estate that's getting a bit long in the tooth now ('03, 145k miles) and will be replacing it with a Skoda Yeti Outdoor 4x4 next year.  Excellent mpg, build quality, reliability, and towing and off road capabilities.

Ghdp

  • Joined Aug 2014
  • Conwy
Re: 4wd??
« Reply #5 on: December 05, 2015, 06:58:36 pm »
 :thumbsup:thank you. What a helpful lot you are. 4x4 has now been chosen. A bit more expense now but i take on board all the comments. Really appreciate the help.

oor wullie

  • Joined Jun 2012
  • Strathnairn
Re: 4wd??
« Reply #6 on: December 07, 2015, 11:38:57 am »
Decent winter tyres make a big difference and I think people (at least in the highlands) should be required by law to have them in winter.

Our wee Kia Rio with winter tyres does slightly better in snow than the Hilux in 4wd.  The Hilux has more clearance so goes through deeper drifts and it improves if you put 1/2 ton of rocks in the back.

We live at 280m in the highlands and have 2km of dirt track to get to the tarred road.  My wife chooses to use the car with winter tyres for her daily commute unless the snow (or flood water!) is deep enough to hit the bumper.

Whatever you do do not get a car with wide low profile tyres.  In snow, even with 4wd, such tyres are worse than useless. A unicycle would be better (seriously narrow tyres cut through the snow)

Penninehillbilly

  • Joined Sep 2011
  • West Yorks
Re: 4wd??
« Reply #7 on: December 07, 2015, 12:41:45 pm »
Last winter we bought some wheels for our Citreon Berlingo and had winter tyres put on. Easy to just swap when bad weather starts / ends. Found a dealer who fits alloy wheels and sells the original wheels on so they were quite cheap.

Womble

  • Joined Mar 2009
  • Stirlingshire, Central Scotland
Re: 4wd??
« Reply #8 on: December 07, 2015, 02:10:59 pm »
Our wee Kia Rio with winter tyres does slightly better in snow than the Hilux in 4wd.  The Hilux has more clearance so goes through deeper drifts and it improves if you put 1/2 ton of rocks in the back.

Yes, I found the same - our diesel Focus was better in the snow than the Landy before I got its diff lock fixed.

The problem I had with the Focus was that unless my winter alloys were the exact same as the summer ones, the insurance company said it was a modified vehicle and wanted to up my premium. I changed insurers in the end, but it's worth being aware of this.
"All fungi are edible. Some fungi are only edible once." -Terry Pratchett

stufe35

  • Joined Jan 2013
Re: 4wd??
« Reply #9 on: December 07, 2015, 02:55:18 pm »
4wd will help you go in snow and ice but wont help you stop.

Winter tyres will help you go, stop and get round corners.


4wd with winter tyres and you've really cracked it !

 

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