winter car options...
Discussion
I was going to fit my X5 with winter tyres but then got to thinking about a more fun option. Instead of spending the £1800 BMW want to re-shoe my E70 with 18" wheels and winter rubber (currently on 20" with no winter option and yes I realise there are probably cheaper options out there on ebay etc) what could I buy for £1500-2000 that would be at home in the hills of North Yorkshire in mud, snow and ice for the winter months and that I could use and abuse should conditions turn really nasty.
And before everyone starts saying I'm worrying unnecessarily about winter weather, I have been snowed in on occasion for the last 3 years and whilst the BMW has been ok on standard rubber once things have cleared a bit there is always the worry of bending expensive metal.
I put snow tyres on my van last year which were great and only overcome on a couple of occasions, however, its only has 2 seats and I could do with a hack for family/wife to use without the fear of an expensive off.
I'm thinking old Subaru Forester, Impreza 2.0, Landie of some description, Jeep, Isuzu. The vehicle only has to serve as a way of getting from a-b (ie down from the hills to the shops), no long distance travel.
Thoughts???
And before everyone starts saying I'm worrying unnecessarily about winter weather, I have been snowed in on occasion for the last 3 years and whilst the BMW has been ok on standard rubber once things have cleared a bit there is always the worry of bending expensive metal.
I put snow tyres on my van last year which were great and only overcome on a couple of occasions, however, its only has 2 seats and I could do with a hack for family/wife to use without the fear of an expensive off.
I'm thinking old Subaru Forester, Impreza 2.0, Landie of some description, Jeep, Isuzu. The vehicle only has to serve as a way of getting from a-b (ie down from the hills to the shops), no long distance travel.
Thoughts???
hi, we have a similar setup with E70 X5 with 21" wheels which aren't too great in the snow. We have the original 18" ones in the garage but didn't think to try them. Last Jan when Hampshire got over a foot of snow, it got stranded on our own drive and was pretty useless ;-(
but our Defender just drove through/over everything. Couldn't recommend one enough ;-) Have since added mud/snow tyres to her, so will have to see how much better they are over General Grabber tyres.
recommendation - find cheap TDi Landie, stick all terrain tyres on and then use it for a bit of offroading too.
but our Defender just drove through/over everything. Couldn't recommend one enough ;-) Have since added mud/snow tyres to her, so will have to see how much better they are over General Grabber tyres.
recommendation - find cheap TDi Landie, stick all terrain tyres on and then use it for a bit of offroading too.
t tyros is worse than a 2 wd car with good winter tyres. euroboy said:
I just picked up this 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0. 12 months ticket, 6 months tax, all the toys, permanent 4wd & lo range - still looks good IMO and only cost £950. Theres loads of them available too 
though you were our next door neighbour for a sec. similar looking property and exactly the same model, colour and age car. he got out in the snow in his car too, pretty good as he's over 70 
:My money would go on a Forester. You'd probably even get your money back on this one.
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1951275.htm
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1951275.htm
xPOW said:
hi, we have a similar setup with E70 X5 with 21" wheels which aren't too great in the snow. We have the original 18" ones in the garage but didn't think to try them. Last Jan when Hampshire got over a foot of snow, it got stranded on our own drive and was pretty useless ;-(
but our Defender just drove through/over everything. Couldn't recommend one enough ;-) Have since added mud/snow tyres to her, so will have to see how much better they are over General Grabber tyres.
recommendation - find cheap TDi Landie, stick all terrain tyres on and then use it for a bit of offroading too.
but our Defender just drove through/over everything. Couldn't recommend one enough ;-) Have since added mud/snow tyres to her, so will have to see how much better they are over General Grabber tyres.
recommendation - find cheap TDi Landie, stick all terrain tyres on and then use it for a bit of offroading too.
xPOW how many number plates do you have!?! do you still have these as well as 1,2,3,4 and 5 POW?
Definately Impreza or Forester however neither of the ones above as turbo models don't have high/low selectors and it appears that n/a Impreza doesn't have one either.
eta
this one is worth about a grand
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1918632.htm
eta
this one is worth about a grand
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1918632.htm
Edited by CaptainSlow on Saturday 16th October 16:56
Ben10 said:
xPOW how many number plates do you have!?! do you still have these as well as 1,2,3,4 and 5 POW?
xPOW said:
eh... lots! 
think it's 8 other POW ones, excl 1-5 POW. Two are on parents' cars, rest on retention.
lol fair enough think it's 8 other POW ones, excl 1-5 POW. Two are on parents' cars, rest on retention. good on you! Edit for formatting bodge
Edited by ben10 on Saturday 16th October 23:18
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