Quote:
Originally Posted by Luckypants
I have an X-trail and it is IMO the best baby 'soft-roader'. I bought it for similar reasons to you, a bit of snow, visiting friends farms, getting into the field with a trailer and coping with muddy lanes - so a full size 4x4 was not needed. I have had 3 full size 4x4 in the past so was able to make a valid comparison.
As a car it is fine, comfortable, roomy, reasonably quick but due to long (ish) travel suspension it rolls a bit in the bends. Up side to the suspension is it copes far better off-road than say a RAV4 which has more road bias. It is ok for fuel consumption but with the price of diesel relative to petrol, the 2.5 petrol would be my choice now. (not much in it though)
As a 4x4 the machine is good. I leave it in 'Auto' mode most of the time, which uses FWD unless wheel slip is detected. This makes it suprisingly grippy. Off-road it is limited by the lack of a low-box and the drive train. Drive to the rear is by an electronic clutch, so this can overheat when really off-roading. On rough tracks it is fine, but a lot of green lanes are beyond it's capabilities.
In snow it is superb. It is lighter than a full size 4x4 by a good ton, so has less inertia and so less likely to slide. Use the 'Lock' mode 4x4 to send power to rear wheels all the time and it just keeps going if you know how to use the throttle properly (be gentle and keep the engine off-boost). This week I have made it through 8-12 inch deep snow with no real drama. (see posts elsewhere)
The standard tyres are useless off tarmac (inc. snow) so change them.
Great motor for towing to.
HTH
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Cheers, just the sort of user review I was after. Sounds similar sort of usage to what I envisage. The most off roading it is ever likely to do is into a field with a trailer, and if really necessary I can call on a SWB Shogun with low ratio box and off road tyres if needed.