Why do you need 4 wheel drive?

You can't apply the word "STYLE" to anything over 50" high, it's like a applying the words "high fashion" to long johns.

Sod, it seems Vauxhall did.

I used to do this, with some of the biggest 4x4s going - LandCruiser, Shogun, Discovery, etc. At the time there were not many 4x4 about, so having one was useful and I could help other people too.

Then I discovered the Toyota Previa as a towcar. It is, IMO, a better towcar than any of the 4x4 I had - more stable, more comfortable, just as capacious, just as powerful (and I'm towing 22ft of Hobby) and only lacks 4wd for the muddy pitches. There's so many 4x4s around now I can get someone else to give me a tow out anyway. Should I wish to I could get the two mountain bikes and the dog on the back and still have 5 seats in use (the boot is more often home to two childrens' hockey goalie kit these days).

I'm on my 3rd Previa and haven't had a 4x4 since. 'Nuff said.

Well people want the rear diffs all the time for kitcars.

Or seemingly the fact that drivers of 4x4s have a higher than average death rate in accidents. I don't know where the idea they are safer comes from other than the "it's bigger so must be better".

Or the Conservative Party or the Liberal Democrats or the Greens.

Very few cars from 40 years ago will be remotely comfortable. Indeed, it was only in the 80s or so that car seats and ventilation systems were effective enough for more than an hour at a time.

"DervMan" gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

That really is complete bollocks, Dervy.

What complete and utter twaddle!

I remember my dad buying a brand new Renault 16 in the 60's. The seats were absolutely brilliant - much better than many of the solid seats that give you a numb bum like modern BMWs. The heating and ventilation was very good too. We used it for family holidays driving from Cheshire to the Adriatic in excellent comfort. I really don't know what prompts you to post such fiction?

Julian.

So it needs 2W RWD for that, preferable mid or rear engined car like a Porsche 911.

Yes, like the Highway Agency patrol cars which plow up and down the motorways; they need a sturdy and high vehicle with good view. But why on earth do you need 4WD on a motorway?

To pull cars out of the ditch/way, to get around obstacles using the gravelly bits etc. etc.

That's quite correct. I've witnessed the cops pulling dead artics onto the hard shoulder with Range Rovers. Nearly three tons of 4WD and it's just possible - a wouldn't think you'd have much hope with an Astra!

Julian.

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember johannes saying something like:

I just like running over fluffy kittens.

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember "Julian" saying something like:

Ditto the Renault 10 and 12 - dead basic seats but fantastically well designed, especially compared to the s**te available in British cars of the same price. Didn't the R4 or the 2CV have a pair of what looked like deckchairs in the front? Dead comfy they were, surprisingly.