which cheap 4x4 for winter?

[i_am_me]

i dont know why people hate fronteras so much.
a friend of mine had one throught the winter and it was pretty good.
2" lift takes about 20 mins and costs about £40
add a decent set of mud tyres and it wll do things discoverys wouldnt dream of.
main problems are front torsion beam suspension doesnt allow much articulation but the rear leaf spring axel makes up for that alot,they do have a bit of a rough bouncy ride.and the petrols will misfire at the slightest hint of damp.
and the best part of a frontera is they should have substantial steel sump and fuel tank guards fitted from the factory which means you can throw them into anything with minimal risk of damage.
and if you take of the lower half of the front bumper they look awesome.

plus there cheap cos no one else likes them

[Jay]

Had one. No one liked it, except my eldest daughter but she has no sense, at all. My passengers that sat in the rear were scared even when I was driving normally, thanks to the leaf spring suspension. It was slow, thirsty and more boat like than a MK3. My wife battled getting in and out of it being short. It developed a nasty problem after only 3 months of ownership, got rid of it as a garage said it'll cost more to put right than what the car was worth. The number plate ended in WHY - that is what I asked myself every time I jumped in it, and when I see one or someone mentions it I ask myself the same again...

WHY?!

[danny_p]

most 4X4 aren't that brilliant on snow and worse on ICE

excluding syncros, 4 motions or quattros my weapon of choice is ........



 a sh!tty littel 2wd  saxo, bang some bargin basement remould snow tyers on it, and put a set of snow chains in the boot.?   the problem with discos ect is they are heavy so they need so much more grip to get up hills a saxo will get places a disco wont.   worst but with big 4wd's is going down hill, when a disco starts skating on ice your f**ked,   littel hatchback you can controll more and use the undriven on snow on verges to slow yourself


 deal with that not a bother doing probs 100 - 150 ml a day on roads like that or worse  also much fun pissing about sideways

[Misky]

I had a insurance quote for a 90 disco, and adrian flux quoted me £49 a month!! Im still pretty tempted to ditch the mk3 as month insurance on that is £150 
Its just having around £3k to find a decent disco which i dont have. 

[F17BAD]

I had a insurance quote for a 90 disco, and adrian flux quoted me £49 a month!! Im still pretty tempted to ditch the mk3 as month insurance on that is £150 
Its just having around £3k to find a decent disco which i dont have. 

and then another 3k a month on repaires

they are crap, one of my neighbours owns a land rover repair centre

Defender FTW

[Misky]

I had a insurance quote for a 90 disco, and adrian flux quoted me £49 a month!! Im still pretty tempted to ditch the mk3 as month insurance on that is £150 
Its just having around £3k to find a decent disco which i dont have. 

and then another 3k a month on repaires

they are crap, one of my neighbours owns a land rover repair centre

Defender FTW

Really?! I have read nothing but praise online.  Maybe i will stick to the mk3! At least I have a jack that will lift it up 

[raptorSE]

Im gonna get some snow chains was a nightmare when we had that snow and this year is going to be bad me tinks

[rob.043]

well, im going to be doing a 160 mile round trip twice a week to uni over winter, up and over hills to Edinburgh which is Guarnateed several snowy days. Rather than bankrupt myself in my Hilux (which does well on its mud tyres), ive got my eye on a mk3 diesel. bang some fresh snow treads on it and off i go!

As danny p mentioned a suitably prepared wee car will be great (yes a mk3 probably weight twice that of a saxo), a 4x4 only lets you deal with deeper snow, which is not likely on a major road- unless the jack-knifed lorry is blocking it anyway!

[Diamond Hell]

I had a insurance quote for a 90 disco, and adrian flux quoted me £49 a month!! Im still pretty tempted to ditch the mk3 as month insurance on that is £150 
Its just having around £3k to find a decent disco which i dont have. 

and then another 3k a month on repaires

they are crap, one of my neighbours owns a land rover repair centre

Defender FTW

Oh right, same axles, same gearboxes, same transfer boxes, same engines, yet a Disco is junk and a Defender is 'FTW'?

That really doesn't make any sense.

Signature from difflock.com - Daihatsu: because life's too short to be fixing Land Rovers 

Go find a cheap Audi 80 Avant quattro - that'd be a big win.

[LowlifeDubber]

Vitaras are a bit gay but ive been working on a mates the past few months.
Just dont a disc conversion on the rear with rover 600 calipers,he did the lift himself and then i adapted the prop and retro fitted power steering for him.Put new brake lines front to back.In the process of making a swing out rear bumper to house the spare wheel,i made the side steps/rock sliders and skid pan and he got the front bumper from the Armour something or other.
The snorkel looks nice and was a pig to re route but should do its job.
Just about to finish wiring up the front and rear winch, second battery under the bonnet,split charger system,cb etc.
Made him a centre console that he can operate his winch from in the cab or by plugging a lead in and doing it near a tree etc.

Just ordered a pipe bender and gunna make him a nice roof bar for the lights/jerrycans etc.

Then using a Hilux back axle and fitting a locker in it.The next one when we get a unit is having a Calmini kit and im trying to talk him out of having air lockers as they are pants if you ask me.

Fun project although its not my thing anymore.I used to have a D21 pick up i jacked up and could go anywhere in.I loved that thing!
Heres his project which is ongoing atm.





Only trouble is it has a 1.6 petrol lump in it he wants a 1.9td pug lump in it but im trying to talk him into a vag lump.