Thread: Compact 4WDs, which one?

I have a Nissan Navara twin cab turbo diesel, I love it, it tows my reasonably heavy boat like a dream and also my tool trailer during the week. Economy is excellent, comfort is good, ride is fine, leg room in the rear is ordinary. My parents have a Suby Forester which has just returned on Sunday from 'doing' the Eastern half of the continent towing a grossly overloaded caravan. Last year it did the western half.... it has not missed a beat and is in perfect order. Great little car, I emphasise "Little!", not much chop if your tinlids are any bigger than dwarves. We have a couple of old Subys as well which tear around the sand hills, tow sailing dinghies and get generally abused by sons, they, the cars, have proved bloody hard to kill. SWMBO is a bit keen on quitting her Calais because the local Holden dealers have had a major lend of us and she likes the look of the X-trail, it has had good writeups and seems to be a good road car if you want 95% on road and 5% off.... I have also had a good close look at the Grand Vitara and it is a very nice piece of gear and if need be, a serious off roader. Give it some better rubber, OME shocks and she would be hard to stop while still being a very nice day to day road car.

Hey Jdub, I've got a good(?) 1960 series 2a Landrover you can have for $1500
if you are prepared to come to FNQ to get it.
It's got a timber tray back & 4 new tyres. (they are worth $600 alone)

It's been supersceeded by an 18HP low profile 4WD Kubota Diesel Tractor. :eek:
The tractor doesn't go quiet as fast as the Landrover but it goes a whole lot
more places & a whole lot further.

Kluger forever! Leather essential for off-road work, old boy. Tally ho!

Mum's got a Mitsubishi Delica
2.8 Turbo
Seats 7 WITH all their luggage

Goes anywhere a Std Nissan Patrol goes.

Ivan in Oz

Jdub,

Of the two you have mentioned I would go for the X-trail. There are people with both of these in my office and the one with the Honda says tha power just disapears when she has to tow anything.

If you are still looking around then the subarus a great, the forester in particular is a good vehicle, but it depends on how heavy your boat is.

What ever you buy make sure you get some after market springs and shockers all round, the stuff they fit at the factory is great for city driving or getting over the pine bark in the front yard. However when you hook up a boat to it or take it onto some serious dirt it just doesn't perform.

If you do get a "real" 4WD do a driving course, I've seen many people that have got them selfs in all sort of bother by trying to drive one of these as they would a "normal" family sedan. We're talking roll-overs, bogged and driving into ditches.

BTW before anybody asks, no I am not an instructor, I just do a lot of K's in my 4runner and have yet to get bogged, have never gotten close to rolling it and apart from getting hit by a very angry Emu I've never had an accident in this vehicle (touch wood).

Himzo.

What did you do to the Emu to make him hit you Himzol?

It was down in one of the pine plantations near Mt Gambier, All I did was drive around the corner and I had this thing running straight at me wit it's feathers and wings all ruffled. I suspect it had some young ones in the scrub and was trying to protect them, luckely I wasn't going too fast and was able to stop, he gave the car a few kicks and went on his way.

The guy that was in the car with me at the time tells the story much better than I do, I was there and every time he tells it, I P**s my self laughing.

Some of my colleagues in Pommy Land refer to us in Australia as convicts. Naturally we refer to them as gentlemen and not low life slimey Pommy B@%&ards.

They unkindly doctored up a photo of my old Subaru when SWMBO and myself were clagged up with mud for 2 days near Arrabury - between Haddon's corner and the Dig Tree in QLD. This was a couple of years ago.

Many of you will know when it gets a bit damp up there the mud sticks badly to anything (except the flies). To clear the mud you have to remove each wheel and dig the mud out.

When we got down to 50m between clearing out the mud, we stopped and waited for 2 days for the road to dry out a bit. Couldn't pitch a tent there because of the gibbers.

- Wood Borer

Gibbers?

Question from a pommy gentleman...

HH.

Happy,

Gibbers are gibber stones which are found in the outback especially in Sturt's Stony desert where I was at the time. They go for miles and miles and....

- Wood Borer

Thanks.....BTW I bet a "proper" 4WD wouldn't have got stuck there

Ooohh, I'm gonna regret that....

HH.

Happy,

I wasn't bogged. The mud sticks to everything in those conditions including your boots, if you take 3 steps you are 3 inches taller because of the mud.

What happens is the mud sticks to the tyres and the mudguards and keeps building up until the two meet and then you stop. It sticks to the sidewalls of the tyres and the mudguards too.

Any vehicle with mudguards comes to a halt, the more mudguard clearance, the longer it takes to clag up and the longer it takes to remedy.

Do yourself a favour and visit the area to see it first hand - after you have mastered your plane. Some good timber up there too (not very many trees) but the timber is hard so you would need to sharpen your honing skills.

- Wood Borer

Just trying to get a rise out of you borer

HH.

Found the Forum
http://morini.com.au/phpBB2/

They're as NUTTY as you lot.
They just get 'muddy'.....and I MEAN Muddy!!

where you get [wood] DUSTY.

Ivan in Oz