Pinging Elder

I'm just waiting for the inevitable post where he decides he wants a Tata Gurkha...

I reckon he'll bypass those and ask about Dacia Dusters.

You can still get Dacias in Italy. Obviously all Fiat owners see them as something to aspire to.

What are they like on the Mway? Seen a few on there, just wondered how they were.

Now there is one I hadn't considered. Just looking at Kia Sportage and Daihastsu Sportraks. Both of them look like right beasts.

Mate of mine had one. Bag of s**te.

Are you using some unknown definition of "beast"? Both of those are hairdresser's cars.

A Fourtrack is an OK offroader despite the nail on plastic tat. It's a good farm wagon, but s**te to drive on road for any length of time. If you want a good 4x4 it's worth looking at the Isuzu Trooper / Vauxhall Monterey which is reasonable on and off road, or the Landcruiser. If you want a good cruise on road then just about any big yank 4x4 other than the Grand Cherokee which is s**te. In fact any Jeep product is vile, cramped, tatty interiors and bad both on and off road.

Loud, rough, uncomfortable and iffy in a crosswind.

I was taking the piss out of SteveH. I am fully aware that one is a crap heap, the other as you say is a farm car. Like the Suzuki Rhino/SJ models OK as proper small engined offroaders. Not much good for owt else.

From personal experience? Not being funny, just trying to work out who has actually been inside what before they draw up their opinions. Seems some vehicles are cheap and nasty, but strong for their money (as declared by owners) instead of just shit because "everyone knows they are".

Wobbly, slow, uncomfortable and high sided. Owning one lets you aspire to double figure MPG. I think they are a bit lighter than steel bodied RRs and Discos as they use aluminium panels, but the same clunky, essentially 60yr old mechanicals.

A great car if you had to tow a trailer with the Octavia and perhaps another Land Rover on it to work up 7miles of steep muddy track every morning.

How the f*ck can anyone tell, given the lunatic content of your recent what car posts?

I haven't owned a 110, but a previous employer of mine always had a a couple of LRs he was in the middle of selling kicking about which were just put into general circulation. We used them for moving bouncy castles, marquees, paintballers and generally ferrying small plant. On the whole, vans are much better for this.

I've got current family experience of a 1996 Discovery 300TDi which I get to drive now and again.

Driving Land Rovers taught me exactly why you should never mix crossplies and radials. (c:

Dervy's summing up of the 110 is pretty accurate in my humble, never having owned a land rover experience. I'm well over 6' and the cab of a Land Rover is full of sharp pointy uncomfortable bits just ripe for smacking with your head, bum, knees and shins on. The seats don't really adjust. There is no sound deadening, and I've never seen a stereo satisfactorily installed in a Defender. It doesn't matter anyway because you won't be able to hear it above 50mph. They wander constantly at speed because of the 60yr old design, high sides and knobbly tyres. Standard V8s are slow (but have decent torque characteristics), tuned V8s break bits of the suspension and transmission you've never even heard of.

I don't really think they're s**te, but I wouldn't buy a unicycle if I wanted to use it for ice skating.

Cheers. So you are saying that there are better small all terrain estate vehicles for general use arround then? ;)

It's all in the bits you don't read.

I disagree, Jeep Cherokees are good off road (from extensive first-hand knowledge in the wilds of BC no less...). They aren't too bad on road, but they are a little small for my mighty bulk. Still, I drove to Calgary and back in one without it inducing back-ache. We had the 4 litre petrol. Dunno about the diesel models.

Driven plenty of Land Rovers courtesy of HM Forces. You can give them some real grief off road. On road, you don't want to be doing much above 60 but that may have been because of the tyres. Most of the noise is because of the tyres too. Depends what you want. If you want car type comfort go for a Landcruiser.

If you're looking to buy one though, check the outriggers because they're a common rot spot.

That would be the bits you don't write?

You have the right to be wrong.