Getting close to car replacement time and one on the list I'm looking at is the Hyundai Santa Fe. Considering others like the MUX/Colorado7 type suv's based on utes but dont really need a proper 4WD. I only do the occasional light off road to campgrounds and my boat is only 600kg total. It would be my daily drive to work, so I'd prefer a more car like ride and handling. I keep coming back to the hyundai, seems a good value package. If any owners out there could provide some feed back about the on demand AWD system and how it handles slippery alpine roads, that would be very much appreciated.
For car-like ride and handling your options are to go European or Ford Territory. Subaru have lost the plot to some extent with the last couple of Liberty/Outback models and are giving us US suspension tunes. Too mushy and inclined to let go without warning at the limit. Fine if you only drive up to 7 tenths all the time. But if you swerve suddenly to avoid a roo??? OTOH probably still safer than the Hyundai which would have a higher centre of gravity. I'd rate Octavia Scout, Territory and Outback ahead of the Santa Fe.
Had a Santa Fe for several years now, as a daily drive and a mode of shipping around the +1 and extras can't speaking highly enough. In fact just breaking in my second one now. Up and down to PV for last 3 seasons in most conditions (except in first row carpark powder day) without drama. Have done the occasional bush track without issue, even witnessed one push through a sand dune track to access beach driving. BTW - First post after many years lurking.....
While you may not drive on "slippery alpine roads" enough to justify purchasing a set of winter tyres this video explains the limits of AWD vehicles when using summer tyres when driving in low ambient temperatures or in snow and icy conditions. http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/car-news/66692/winter-tyres-4x4-grip-test-video The Hyundai Santa Fe can be supplied with 17", 18" or 19" wheels but there are no clearance issues when using diamond pattern snow chains on any of these tyre sizes. Remember the performance of any vehicle, AWD, 4WD or 2WD on "slippery alpine roads" is determined by the grip of the tyres and not the AWD/4WD drive system.
I have a Ford Kuga Mark 2. 178 kW, from 2 litre Turbo Engine. So gets about 10.5 L/100km combined for me. And the power driving up the mountain is awesome. Had one in Canada when I was there in January. And it performed the best out the the 5 AWD's I've rented in the last 5 years. It just had All Season Tyres. They worked fine. Got caught in the biggest storm in 35 years in Kamloops. And whilst other AWD's were getting stuck. I just ploughed on. I can't speak highly enough about it. It displays power to each wheel on the dash. It always delivers power to all wheels when taking off. Then goes back to 2WD once in motion. But reverts back to AWD if traction is lost. Previous AWD's I drove were. Subie Forester, GMC Tahoe, Mitsubishi Outlander and Ford Edge.
Nik and I rented the Kuga in February and it was a great little car, but it was a bit on the smaller side if you need more, bigger bums on seats
Thanks for all the info so far. Outback seems to be a pretty popular vehicle. What I would like to know in regards to AWD is, do you notice the change from FWD to AWD, or is it pretty seemless with these type of vehicles ? Ive never owned a FWD or AWD vehicle so just curious what they are like to live with each day. Driven plenty of full time 4WD's and current old car is RWD. Old work car was a FWD Kluger, lovely vehicle put had a pretty savage torque pull when you put the boot into it. Looks like I might spend some time test driving a few options suggested on here that I hadn't really looked at before. Cheers
Subies are full time AWD. Up until the current models the split has been 50/50. I think the most recent models have varied this a little, maybe 60/40 or thereabouts.
These posts have become plain tedious.....could everybody who starts any thread with any connection to cars and snow please cut and paste some Nokian snowtyre propaganda in the opening post to avoid Roof Carrier Systems (aka Snowtyres) doing it?
It would be good if ST campaigned for no chains for 2WD with snow tyres .... that might advance the clusterfck of chain rules and application.
The video show how well Astro's Kuga can drive when fitted with winter tyres http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/car-news/66692/winter-tyres-4x4-grip-test-video
So in conclusion. If you drive 100% in snow. Get snow tyres on your AWD Kuga. If you never drive in the snow. Get summer tyres on a FWD Kuga. If you drive 99% off snow and 1% on snow. Which is my situation. In my actual tested opinion. I'd go with my setup of All Season M+S Tyres on an AWD Kuga. It's also the setup I had in Canada. Though if I was offers snowtyres in a Canadian Winter. I would have taken it.
You could wait for the Ford Everest to come out and see if a small price war comes with it but it is 4wd. Toyota are also planning the Fortuner SUV to come out later this year as well.
I never had an issue with it in some tricky conditions over there on multiple trips. I'd love an extended version of it over here or a model over here that offered the extended boot.
In all seriousness, depends on the size vehicle you are looking at, I currently drive a kluger AWD probably the best car I have ever owned, and often get down around 9l/100 on the way home from the snow. I have owned Subis too, these would be my other choice, additionally the wife has a CRV also a good AWD car. Pretty much anything Japanese unless you have money to piss away on servicing a Euro car, and time to piss away on your Euro car being in for warranty work Tyres ? Meh just learn how to drive
I have a 2011 Forester. It works very well on snow & ice. The first time I drove on snowy roads was the Friday morning of the June 2012 dump, 2wd in chains from Wilson's valley. At first i was a bit nervous because it was the first time I had ever driven on snow/ice without chains. It handled really really well. By the time I got to Perisher I felt very comfortable and in control. I did the same snowy drive 3 more times in 2012, and every time it was very easy. Last year I drove to the Smiggins car park on the bank holiday Sunday and it was full so I drove onto the Link road exit and turned around on the snow. It handled the deeper snow off road very well. No slippage and steered precisely. It wasn't soft powder but its wasn't fully compacted either. Last month I drove it up to Mt Franklin on the long weekend after the early snowfall. There were several long sections of snow & ice on the dirt road and they presented no problem at all. The Forester traversed it surely and safely both uphill and down. All this with the standard Bridgestone on-road/off-road compromise tyres. Also you can buy chains to use if you think you might get stuck in really deep stuff. Subaru advise fitting them to the front wheels. Sometimes even 4wd need extra traction I read a lot of reviews before deciding on the Forester and 2 other factors that led to my decision were the size of the storage space and the ground clearance being the highest in the class. I intended to do some other rough road & light off road driving and wanted the extra height.
Japan. would be one of the snowiest nations on earth...its interesting to see what everyone drives Subies are king in the snowy areas....they are common as. Along with 4WD Keis
You have a large family so 5 seater SUV really isn't an option. Re Tahoe: I found it wandered sideways the most, when loose snow on the road. Perhaps just different snow.
Might be good in the snow, but build quality is not their forte. Mate of mine owned one. Carried a spare High CCA battery, with welding leads attached, for running repairs. True Story.
hence why when you are in Hokkaido, those Russian coastal traders are full of Japanese cars and snow tyres.
I just hired a Jeep Compass, glad I did not buy a Jeep Compass. Very cheap build quality. Would not want it for daily driver / snow trips.
Are the current jeeps pieces of carp? My missus wants bigger (yeah yeah) and has seen the ads cherokee etc Versus...?
Definitely agree on the Subaru Outback. Been taking mine to the snow for 10 years now and it has been dug out of Hotham, driven through snow storm after snow storm - Jindy, Perisher, Thredbo, you name it, the Outback just loves it. Wouldn't mind an upgrade though for a few extra mod con's.
