Which 4x4 vehicle?

stiv674

E*POWAH Elite
Mar 4, 2019
777
600
Wiltshire
VW Transporter 4motion is an option, very rare and very expensive though...

I used to have a mid sized SUV and a small van, got fed up with taking wheels off to get bike in the car and putting seats down etc, also expensive running two vehicles.

I've now got a Transit Custom, used for work and play, room for two bikes without taking wheels off, decent to drive, quick enough with 170bhp, and has useful kit like front and rear sensors, rear camera, cruise control, only three seats though which may be a problem for some.
 

Jimbo Vills

E*POWAH Master
Subscriber
May 15, 2020
805
1,429
Kent
I had a new discovery which was nice, but had to take front wheel off to get my levo in.

apprecite the security aspect but I’m not keen on lugging muddy bikes about inside the car. The interior gets covered.

I’ve got a new Ford ranger now (I don’t like paying tax on a company car) with a buzzrack as loading the bikes up back is a ball ache and still have to take wheels off etc.

easy to load and keeps back clear to sling all muddy kit in!

I’d like a t5/6 kombi but can’t justify it ontop of the truck, mrs car and a load of motorbikes ?
 

The Hodge

Mystic Meg
Subscriber
Sep 9, 2020
3,975
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North West Northumberland
Just a slight correction to a post further up the page ..
You won't get a bike in the back of an Audi A6 Allroad without taking a wheel off ..
I have the 3.0l V6 Diesel S-Tronic and its an awesome car ..I probably love it as much as my bike ..
 

Jimbo Vills

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Subscriber
May 15, 2020
805
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Kent
@carlbiker I've got a vw transporter and I put chunky goodrich all terrain tyres on it, as big as would fit. I love it. Not boring to drive in my opinion. They drive just like cars. They are cheap and easy to remap if you want more power. There are two things that go wrong with them.. the EGR and the PDF, both can be mapped out So neither are an issue.

Sorry mate, but all vans drive like vans. Decent VW’s and Customs do drive excellent for vans tho. And I happen to really like driving vans.

But they are vans.

just like my truck. Drives like a truck ?

a lovely to drive truck it may be. But it’ll never be as refined as a nice motor.
 

Mcharza

E*POWAH BOSS
Aug 10, 2018
2,617
5,393
Helsinki, Finland
Just a slight correction to a post further up the page ..
You won't get a bike in the back of an Audi A6 Allroad without taking a wheel off ..
I have the 3.0l V6 Diesel S-Tronic and its an awesome car ..I probably love it as much as my bike ..
You're right, it's one of the best station wagon. Lucky you
 

R120

Moderator
Subscriber
Apr 13, 2018
7,819
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Surrey
I know its about as exciting as following @Zimmerframe on the forum, but the LWB Rifter is pretty much unbeatable when it comes to carrying bikes around and you dont want a proper van



You can even "overland" it if you get carried away with the accespries

Screenshot 2020-12-23 at 14.05.44.png
 

MrSimmo

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
Apr 24, 2020
1,096
1,047
The Trail.
Can you get your bike in standing btw?

£1200, nope not a chance unfortunately; didnt matter having to take the front wheel off though as you could save the time to do that on the journey ?


Tbh if you’re after a solution where you can put the bike in assembled, the GL or GLE isnt it. I’d look at a van. A Ford Tourneo or VW Caravelle are quite nice and give you a much more comfy experience than a ‘normal’ van.
 
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Zimmerframe

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Subscriber
Jun 12, 2019
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Brittany, France
I've lost count of the amount of AWD cars and vans I've dragged out of muddy showfields in my Pathfinder!
I have to say I was never a fan and would only take Toyota's on overland trips, but on two occasions had no choice ..

They still get stuck, my co-pilot managed to find the only muddy hole in a zillion km's of drought country ...

path mud.JPG


That took several painful sweaty hours in 40+c to dig out..

These are both antiques by now I guess, but this one went all over and was trouble free .. we did van zyl's pass Namibia, but as you had to have 4x4 , I did it in 2 wheel drive just to prove you could ..

That's not a pic of van Zyl's .. I can't find any pics of that, which is a shame as it's quite stunning and highly recommended to drive. Think this was on the northern border with Angola to the left of the river.

niss 2.jpg


Even a Nissan can look pretty at the right angle ...

nissan4.jpg
 

Voluptua

Active member
Oct 4, 2020
103
65
United Kingdom
A Trek Rail will fit in a Yeti upright with the front wheel removed - need to remove the middle rear seat. A wheel mount on a wooden batten at the back end of the car keeps it in place. So you can still hold four passengers.
 

Doomanic

🛠️Wrecker🛠️
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Founding Member
Jan 21, 2018
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5 Series estate isn't long enough to get a bike in with both wheels on and isn't tall enough to get a bike in upright.

I was looking as Nissan Pathfinders but autos are over £500 a year RFL...

All the crazy Japanese AWD SUVs are thirsty and the interiors are horrendously chinzy. Beige velour anyone?

Oh, and...
Sorry mate, but all vans drive like vans.
So much this.
 

flash

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
Patreon
Nov 24, 2018
1,050
986
Wamberal, NSW Australia
I had made a custom bike slide for my Landrover Discovery 4 that took two eBikes and folded the centre seat only. Front wheels off and locked to a bracket. It was great because it kept the rest of the car clean, loading was super easy and if I wanted I could carry 4 people/4bikes by adding my Thule carrier to the back. Or two bikes on the slide while towing a small hybrid van.

Last week I picked up a new Defender. Much smaller in the back and a different seating set up. I'm working on my new bike holder but it might be slightly too low for a slide, although bikes do fit upright, so might be a tray in the back. But with seats down and fork in a bracket I'll get two bikes in easy. I'll just knock up a tray to catch all the crap that fall off the bike and use a portable washer to get much of the crap off before loading. At least with the new Defender you can lower the back of the car by pushing a button. That makes loading quite easy.

If it were really only about a bike carrier then I'd probably get a Ford Transit Custom and switch out the tyres for something more suited to gravel roads.

Gordon
 

Zimmerframe

MUPPET
Subscriber
Jun 12, 2019
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20,818
Brittany, France
At least with the new Defender you can lower the back of the car by pushing a button. That makes loading quite easy.
That's going to be the stuff of dreams for arm restrictive peeps like @stiv674 who normally have to take the wheels off the car to get it low enough to load.

Though in fairness I think @stiv674 did it by pressing a button - on his phone marked AA ... :unsure::devilish: :ROFLMAO: ?????????

Didn't Vauxhall/open produce some cars in 2011/12/13 sometime ish ?!?! which had bike racks which popped out of the licence plate ?

I'm thinking @carlbiker has a difficult task on his hands at the moment deciding between 100hp van and 700hp zoom machine ?
 

stiv674

E*POWAH Elite
Mar 4, 2019
777
600
Wiltshire
That's going to be the stuff of dreams for arm restrictive peeps like @stiv674 who normally have to take the wheels off the car to get it low enough to load.

Though in fairness I think @stiv674 did it by pressing a button - on his phone marked AA ... :unsure::devilish: :ROFLMAO: ?????????

Didn't Vauxhall/open produce some cars in 2011/12/13 sometime ish ?!?! which had bike racks which popped out of the licence plate ?

I'm thinking @carlbiker has a difficult task on his hands at the moment deciding between 100hp van and 700hp zoom machine ?

As long as the lowering button is in a convenient place for arm restricted people such as myself ?
 

The Hodge

Mystic Meg
Subscriber
Sep 9, 2020
3,975
8,458
North West Northumberland
That's going to be the stuff of dreams for arm restrictive peeps like @stiv674 who normally have to take the wheels off the car to get it low enough to load.

Though in fairness I think @stiv674 did it by pressing a button - on his phone marked AA ... :unsure::devilish: :ROFLMAO: ?????????

Didn't Vauxhall/open produce some cars in 2011/12/13 sometime ish ?!?! which had bike racks which popped out of the licence plate ?

I'm thinking @carlbiker has a difficult task on his hands at the moment deciding between 100hp van and 700hp zoom machine ?
I'm sure those Vauxhall pop out bike racks were only on the Corsa ..possibly the Astra....putting an ebike on one of those would most probably tip the car back onto its rear wheels ..?
 

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