Best 4x4 for rural / remote living - UK

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spandit

Bushcrafter through and through
Jul 6, 2011
5,594
308
East Sussex, UK
Unimog would be my choice if I had the pennies.

Will they do the highway speeds the OP requires? That's why I didn't just barge in with "Pinzgauer!"

If we're talking serious money, Google "Fennek"

Defenders are OK but need locking diffs to be truly effective (& the 110/130 has lousy ground clearance due to the Salisbury diff).
 

Paul_B

Bushcrafter through and through
Jul 14, 2008
6,151
1,544
Cumbria
Some interesting choices.

Someone said the big pick-ups don't drive too well on the roads without weight in the back. That's something my Dad told me when he had to take on a hilux after his defender had a missing window on the highways site he worked on. On new build highways they always have a large 4x4 budget for contractors, consultants and other engineers. These were always, exclusively defenders in the long wheelbase (double cab) ones and standard front seats and inwards seats in the back. Anyway the missing window meant the defender he had assigned wasn't safe on site so they gave him a hilux as the only thing available. He promptly collared the contractor and got him to arrange a digger to dump a hundredweight in the back and he said that worked a treat. It felt like a car on the road and still handled well off road. He got quite some serious off-roading done on new builds. If you think about it mud, steep inclines, cuttings with vertical sides and a 45 plus degree track up the face which runs with mud and water over the bonnets of a defender!! What fun for a kid like me on school hols going to work with me old man.
BTW I used to always thing there was no other 4x4 to compare with a defender as that was what highways builders use. It took my Dad finding out personally that defenders ain't the only game in town and probably not the best neither. Is that blasphemy??
 

Dogoak

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Jan 24, 2009
2,285
286
Cairngorms
It is amazing that so many people up here in the Highlands just go about their normal life in winter without four wheel drive, winter tyres can be a big help though.

If you are living very remotely, reliability is a major requirement, for the winter good ground clearance is a big help, along with suitable tyres.

Many Defenders (TD5's) have had starting problems up here when it's really cold, due to fuel waxing and the position of the pump/filter thingy (can't remember which but its positioned underneath the off-side rear quarter).

Diff locks, either factory fitted (Merc G Wagon, Toyota Land Cruisers, etc) or retro fitted, can be a real bonus.

I did have a modded 2001 Nissan Patrol, reliable with a rear diff lock, not as good as the older models though. I now have a Land Cruiser 80 Series, 4.2 td, 3 diff locks. Ultra reliable, brilliant off road and a great motorway/long distance cruiser. Half a turn on the the key and it starts first time every time, even as low as -20!

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The heavier vehicles do have a disadvatage in deep snow as I found out when in the Patrol, trying to follow a mate in a Jeep Wrangler who had just skipped across the top, I just sunk in. This was partly rectified when bigger tyres were fitted.

If I had the lottery money I would get my Land Cruiser out to the guys at Arctic Trucks (http://www.arctictrucks.com) and let them loose on it!
 

Silverback 1

Native
Jun 27, 2009
1,216
0
64
WEST YORKSHIRE
Diahatsu Fourtrak is a good piece of kit if you can find a late one with low mileage.

Run one for 5 years including some pretty serious off roading when i lived in Scotland and was Deerstalking on a regular basis, took some right stick and was totally bulletproof,

it only let me down once in 5 years and that was with a flat battery and well into the minuses, wish i cold get another but it is not practical for me at the moment.
 

rik_uk3

Banned
Jun 10, 2006
13,320
24
69
south wales
" the lottery question came up" I've told this tale before but I had the same chat with a mate of mine who's worked for LR for about thirty years. "What would you buy Tony, disco, defender or RR" answer "Toyota" His rationale is that LR can't break Toyota's, they drive 4X4's into the ground but the Toyota out lives them all. So, performance, price and reliability I too would go for a Toyota.

Tony drives a fully restored Austin Marina (restored it himself) so his judgement may be off a tad lol.
 

santaman2000

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Jan 15, 2011
16,909
1,114
67
Florida
Some interesting choices.

Someone said the big pick-ups don't drive too well on the roads without weight in the back...

It's not so much that "they don't drive well" as it is that they just handle "differently. Once you're past the learning curve, it's really not a problem.
 

fast but dim

Nomad
Nov 23, 2005
317
6
52
lancs
some good answers, and some terrible ones.

defenders are ok. pretty good offroad, but terrible ( comparatively) on it, with too reliabilty and build qualty issues.
if money were no option it's got to be the g wagen. better off road than almost anything else, super build quality, and good on road, and unique.
if i had to watch the pennies it'd be a late 80 series landcruiser. jap quality, 3 difflocks, awsome off road, and super luxurious on it.

look to Oz and south africa, where roads are bad, distances huge, and the consequences of a breakdown are serious, you won't see many landrovers.
 

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