4 x 4, bet you wish you had one now (with this weather)

[4x4Owner]

So now the weather is setting in, I bet all those who hate them, secretly wish they had one, I know I love mine.

DH has asked if he can go out in mine tonight as his sports car would be all over the place.

So they do have their uses then, maybe only for 4 months of the year and off roading, but hey I know what I would prefer to drive !!!!!

Back to main point of thread ... I grew up in the Pennines, surrounded by roads that were frequently closed in winter due to snow and ice. My mother's Cortina and my father's equally normal car (can't remember what) coped quite well. Dad frequently drove across closed roads from Lancs to Yorks (much to my mother's annoyance). Unless you actually live up a mountain you don't need a 4x4 (and even if you did you shouldn't as you'd be destroying the local ecosystem).

I liked Jeremy Clarkson's (yes, ok hes an idiot) bit in the Times about the rubbishness of 4 x 4's and how he was driving up one of the alps in one then when they finally got to the top there was a beautiful french couple already there eating a picnic next to their Renault Clio

Thinking about it, my parents do actually know how to drive on snow. Given that we lived somewhere where it happened a lot in winter. Maybe if people learnt how to drive on snow they wouldn't need 4x4s?

I have snow chains, front wheel drive, and keep a snow shovel in the boot - which has always got me anywhere I need to go, except when the roads get blocked by other vehicles which aren't as well equipped. But then that would stop most 4x4's too, unless you were prepared to knock down hedges or walls to actually get off the road. I do remember one snowy night last year driving home and every time I saw a BMW it was mid-spin. Not sure if it was the drivers, or the cars (or just being rear wheel drive) but nothing would encourage me to take a BMW out in snowy conditions.

I live in similar circs to Enid, though less remote but much further north. We trundle about quite happily in bad weather in an Astra and a Citroen AX, soon to be replaced by a Polo. I agree with Edam about learning to drive properly in snow. I also agree that BMW's are cr*p in the snow!! One solution is to have two large bags of compost (peat-free, of course) in the boot, above each wheel area, to weigh it down. Btw, none of the local farmers have Chelsea tractors, they all drive Subarus or Mitsubishis.

Well at a risk of being shouted at I love my 4X4. It is great in the snow. Last winter I did the school run round the villages and collected all the kids when the mums couldn't get out. Thats not to say I think its necessary in the snow - yes other cars do cope fine. Although I missed the landie this morning stuck in my mums horrible automatic corsa which was hopeless. I found our old mini was brill in the stow. Kind of slid along the top like a sledge

I don't like it when people who live in town bulldoze round in 4x4s - seems a bit extreme. But ours is handy. I would like to think I am actually benefitting the environment giving my neighbours kids lift thus reducing the number of cars on the road. Its also got many other uses like collecting wood, shofting furniture and all those other jobs. I'm not trying to be holier than thou but 4x4s do have their place and they can have benefits too.

Also much nicer to drive than an automatic corsa whatever the conditions!

We I for one was very glad dh has a 4x4 as he left for work at 6.30am this morning to drive 50 miles through slush and black ice.

Have to say though, its an Audi A4 quattro, so normal car size, not jeep style

SueDonim, your comment about chelsea tractors brought to mind my grandad's views on "designer" 4x4s -"well you couldn't get a calf in the back of that".

Needless to say he was the proud owner of an incredibly battered Landcruiser!

Ditto iota have hatchback 4x4

marialuisa - range rovers were built originally to carry pigs to market! (presumably calfs too). And the design has remained fundamentally the same.

Suedonim - do they drive Subarus and Mitsubishi 4x4s or the regular normal cars? Cos if its the 4x4 variety then presumably its not the size that bothers you?

LOL Marialuisa!

The farmers drive cars and open-back van thingies(pickups?) Jampot, not 4x4's. The latter are what townsfolk drive.

Lol, Marialuisa. Mind you, having seen goats ferried about on mopeds in Indonesia, I reckon nothing's impossible.

BTW, what weather have you all got, to need a 4x4? It's been brilliant sunshine and cloudless blue skies here, gorgeous.

Well today its been lovely with a smattering of snow left over from last night - not that I need a 4x4 - I just want it