Lord B - I have to make comment that you have an elloquent way with words whereby you can make a boring subject which has been killed seem once again interesting. I trust that your input has not now woken up too many other contributors and reignited the fuse on this topic.
I may be wrong, but I think the fitting of bull bars is now illegal. My 4x4 (Daihatsu Fourtrack) is also used by my son as he is employed in the construction industry and is often on site.
ho well i soppose i may be becoming anti 4x4,why because of the
general reasons that are given for there uses.
people have been towing caravans for decades using plain and simple 2wd cars,cars today are starting to get heavier again and
are packed with such wonders as abs and traction control to help
people overcome there lack of skills or conditions.
we generally have a milder climate here so are winters are no
where near as bad as the general continent. how many people have
snow tyres or chains, bet its nowhere near as many as the people
in southern italy, nevermind northern europe or the alpine areas
generally they say an heavier car is better for towing and that a
good selling point for 4x4s, yet if you use that whatotowcar site
[something like that] where they give you the chance to see how
a car/caravan match up, i am surprised that no one takes note of
how some of these vehicles match up on the road, what i mean is
some are so slow as to be a hindrence to others, and yet are still seen as excellent towers? hows that?plainly you should want
to be able to get up to a good towing speed as quickly as possible. or is it a question of, hell i am in no hurry and people can wait. how on earth can a car win tow car of the year
when even the judges point out it could do with more power?
statements like my son also uses the diahatsu as he is in contruction? whats your piont. i drive a 2wd 7.5 or 12 tonne lorry i deliever to the construction industries, have you seen where some of those water sub station sites are?
do ford do a 4x4 transit van? they seem to be able to deliever
anywhere.
obviously if you live in the highlands then 4x4s are life savers
now one day i will own a 4x4 it will be big and heavy,because i have forgotten how to drive with full consentration or
read the road like i can now, one day i will have a 4x4, but
hopefully its a good 20 years away.
happy caravaning.