Car recommendations for floods snow etc

[Gimli174]

Hello, looking for some recommendations for what car to buy. I drive 20-25k miles a year on A and B roads and need something that will be better in floods mainly but also needs to be ok mpg. Have been looking at freelander 2 or nissan x-trail. My budget is 4-5k
Any help appreciated

[Muzzer79]

Hello

It's your choice obviously, but do the roads you drive on really flood regularly enough to force you into buying a car with a main function being the ability to drive through said floods?

[Gimli174]

It floods quite often around where I live and have had to miss some time off work from not being able to get through floods. I have a ford focus at the moment and it's just too low.

[blueg33]

I was going to suggest a Unimog but I think the mpg may put you off.

We found Subaru Outback pretty good especially in snow, but most 4x4 cross overs and SUV's should be fine

[300bhp/ton]

Gimli174 said:

Hello, looking for some recommendations for what car to buy. I drive 20-25k miles a year on A and B roads and need something that will be better in floods mainly but also needs to be ok mpg. Have been looking at freelander 2 or nissan x-trail. My budget is 4-5k
Any help appreciated

Any Land Rover or Jeep product mostly likely. You need to look for something that has published wading depths. Or maybe a late model Shogun.

Some models you may be able to increase wading ability by fitting a raised air intake (aka a "snorkel"). However, if you plan to drive through deep water I'd highly advise spending some time looking up and or training to do this. It isn't always about the depth of water.

Regular deep water wading can have other detrimental effects on cars too. So some preventative maintenance might be in order.

[InitialDave]

How deep are we talking about?

[blueg33]

Quite a few 4x4's have diff breathers and diff oil changes are recommended after wading

But I wonder is the Op really going to be doing extreme stuff? If so you are into big compromise, the real off roaders that can wade deep etc tend to be pretty average the rest of the time

[stevemcs]

I didn't think the freelander had a very high wading depth, possibly 400mm and there are no options that i've seen to fit a snorkle. I'd guess a Range Rover or Disco 3 would be your better choice but i guess it depends on how deep you want to go.

[Danny4494]

Can't go far wrong with a Toyota Land cruiser, Subaru forester would be on my list too had one a for a month or so last winter and were much more capable in the snow than many of my mates Discovery's obviously it doesn't have to ground clearance but not like your planning on pay to play days and can get high up intake relocation for them and even snorkels so they can safely Wade

[ZX10R NIN]

It sounds like you need just a bit more height so something like a Ford Kuga should do the job:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202101268...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202101258...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202012217...

A proper AWD Freelander/X Trail will be high on fuel.

[Glosphil]

Need to take the height of the engine air intake into account. Some vehicles seem to have this set rather low.

[300bhp/ton]

ZX10R NIN said:

It sounds like you need just a bit more height so something like a Ford Kuga should do the job:

This would depend exactly where the air intake is and other vulnerable items. I don't know specifically about the Kuga, but as it is built off of a hatchback platform. I doubt it has superior wading ability.

ZX10R NIN said:

A proper AWD Freelander/X Trail will be high on fuel.

Why?

Diesel ones will do in the 40's.

[300bhp/ton]

Danny4494 said:

Can't go far wrong with a Toyota Land cruiser, Subaru forester would be on my list too had one a for a month or so last winter and were much more capable in the snow than many of my mates Discovery's

Sorry, but that has to be utter nonsense.

[300bhp/ton]

stevemcs said:

I didn't think the freelander had a very high wading depth, possibly 400mm and there are no options that i've seen to fit a snorkle. I'd guess a Range Rover or Disco 3 would be your better choice but i guess it depends on how deep you want to go.

IIRC the FL2 is 500mm, which is massively more than most cars. In fact I don't think you'll find published depths for most normal cars, which means they are only suited for puddles.

500mm is pretty deep, if you are going through deeper you really need to know what you are doing and know what you are driving on, before heading through. And even then, 500mm is more than enough to get you into serious trouble.

Plenty deep enough:


It appears there are snorkels available too, although fitting one doesn't automatically mean you can wade deeper.

[stevemcs]

I was just going off what i found on landy zone regarding the FL2, i did read you need to move the diff breather lines higher up if you wanted to go higher than 400mm, it was on the internet so assume its true

FL2 should get low 40's around town, dad would get high 20's around town and 40's on a run with a rib on a trailer behind it.

[MC Bodge]

Dacia Duster wades to 350mm. I doubt that you'd really want to be regularly doing more than that.

I drove through some fairly deep water in one in Iceland (one river was deeper than expected in the middle, but we got a way with it...).

Given the number of flood days per year, is it worth driving a car prepared for it for the remaining 360 days?

[ZX10R NIN]

300bhp/ton said:

Why?

Diesel ones will do in the 40's.

Real world they're low 30's

[300bhp/ton]

I can’t see that driving a Freelander 2 or even Dacia Duster is any kind of compromise. Both are probably nicer to ride in than the cast majority of hatchback available.

[Chris32345]

Floods?
You want the hovervan
Pattent pending. Topgear

[InitialDave]

300bhp/ton said:

Sorry, but that has to be utter nonsense.

It probably isn't, it depends on how deep the snow is. Generally, until you start running out of ground clearance, a car with a decent awd system is a better choice than a "proper" 4x4 for snow covered roads.