Q If you are buggin in do you NEED.........

[Lightspeed]

NR Jimny vs Terios

I've owned both.

Terrios amazingly capable little permanent 4x4. monocoque, not chassis built. Good ride quality, confortable on long runs. 5 door. Road car type driving manners. Built out of incredibly thin tin. Heated windscreens expensive to replace if broken...and its a stone magnet so count on this happening. Aerodynamics of a brick make for abysmal fuel consumption.

Jimny. Aged design. Tried and tested. Proper 4x4 mechanics, hi and lo ratio box, ladder chassis,non permanent 4wd, shit fuel economy, but parts cheap as chips and completely home mechable. Ride harsh, engine revs high at all times to get any performance. In 4x4 mod and low ratio it'll go most place a Landy will go, and some that a Landy cant ( narrow gaps and weak bridges)

As a day to day car the Terios is better I think. As a 4x4 with our intent in mind, the Jimny is the better choice.

Good luck in finding a good un whatever you choose.

[NorthernRaider]

Best off road capable motor I ever had was a bloody Lada Niva Cossack 1.6 4x4 it would cross just about anything.

[Timelord]

The Jimny will do 40mpg on normal roads. That is the book rate and also the tried & tested mpg. 40mpg is very good for an old style 4x4 jeep. Most up until much more recent models from approx the year 2000 on would do quite a bit less than 30mpg. Also reflecting on this is that to get one of the much newer 4x4's that do better mpg, then you need to spend many thousands on the purchase price and then again on the running costs over the lifetime of the vehicle. the Jimny's cost very little to run. Beware though they are very uncomfortable in ride quality and seating comfort on normal roads. Offroad it would be an even more extreme version of feeling like being bounced around inside a washing machine. Very capable though but I wouldn't want to drive any great distance on normal roads and expect to get out the other end feeling relaxed. Positively tiring on motorways with the engine whining away at high revs and still a pretty slow pace.
If you drive short distances on road and want full on offroad capability, then they are a superb choice. For mid to long distance by road they are sadly lacking to the point I sold my otherwise super little Jimny as it was impractical pre SHTF. if you are only going to drive short distances then the fuel economy is not that important, so why not just get a full size 4x4 and reap the benefits. One final point, you can fit very little inside a Jimny besides the passengers. Take the rear seats out and it is the size of a large boot. Hauling a lot of kit or anything of length inside the machine is not possible unless you go the roof rack & trailer route but these decrease fuel economy and severely limit its primary ability which is offroad. Umm. Somewhat compromised in the real world for now before any event. Still it would be better than a micra. lol. ( but is even smaller inside

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40mpg at petrol literage prices too - not diesel. That would possible equate to about 42mpg at diesel prices per litre. :-) ....

[bigpaul]

we looked at a Jimny (also a Suzuki Wagon R) before we bought the Berlingo, blooming thing was so small inside my knees would have been up against the dashboard! and as for carrying capacity forget it! I can get more in my back pack!

[Scythe13]

If you plan to bug in, you just need a door to close and stay inside a building. You don't need a vehicle. I'm guessing it's a typo.

Okay, now we'll say we're bugging out.

You don't NEED a vehicle at all! Saturday saw me cover a total of 15 miles on foot. Friday saw me cover 482.2 miles. I see a huge advantage to having a vehicle.

I think there are enough petrol heads on here to recognise that Top Gear has answered whether you need a 4x4 to cross the deserts of Africa (for those that don't want Top Gear, the answer was a definite 'No'). However, for those that have continued to watch Top Gear, you got to see the amount of punishment a Toyota Hilux can put up with, and still keep driving! Oh my goodness, those are some strong vehicles!

The real issue is whether the suspension and other components on your vehicle are able to cope with the issues of the 'road' surfaces once you're off tarmac. A cute little street car will do fine, until a reasonable sized pothole decides to strip off some of the crank or the little gear thing that puts the power to your front wheels (or rear wheels if it's a rear wheel vehicle).

My first car was a little Vauxhall Nova, and I abused the hell of out it. But is did cope pretty well with it all. Poor little thing. My current Vauxhall has done 189'000 miles, and it's still running damn well.

But what you need, and what's worth having...very different questions.

One thought, many of the thin paths are still wide enough to fit a tractor down! I'd hazard a guess that 99.2% of cars are not as wide as a tractor.

If you're really concerned about getting down the paths, got a motorbike (touring style or motocross). Better yet, a pedal bike incase you run out of petrol, or even just use feet, incase you get a puncture.

[bigpaul]

Scythe actually you have mentioned the one vehicle that will go anywhere, on road, off road, through a hedge, down a dirt track....what is it?? A TRACTOR....there will be plenty standing idle post SHTF and I bet they still leave the keys in them!!!!!!

[Scythe13]

(30 March 2014, 14:38)bigpaul Wrote: Scythe actually you have mentioned the one vehicle that will go anywhere, on road, off road, through a hedge, down a dirt track....what is it?? A TRACTOR....there will be plenty standing idle post SHTF and I bet they still leave the keys in them!!!!!!

And a man with a shotgun not too far from it either!

[bigpaul]

(30 March 2014, 14:51)Scythe13 Wrote:

(30 March 2014, 14:38)bigpaul Wrote: Scythe actually you have mentioned the one vehicle that will go anywhere, on road, off road, through a hedge, down a dirt track....what is it?? A TRACTOR....there will be plenty standing idle post SHTF and I bet they still leave the keys in them!!!!!!

And a man with a shotgun not too far from it either!

probably not-I did mean POST SHTF.

[Midnitemo]

I love the jimny...have managed to get to some roight of the beaten track places with just town and country tyres on ... only been in arrid places though... i've been nothing but impressed with there capability but as has been said before they lack space...i would permanently remove the rear seats to give it more load space... people can pile in and sit on the floor post event...you're not going to get a ticket for it after the shit has hit and i suspect it wont go very far.

[Scythe13]

(30 March 2014, 15:00)bigpaul Wrote:

(30 March 2014, 14:51)Scythe13 Wrote:

(30 March 2014, 14:38)bigpaul Wrote: Scythe actually you have mentioned the one vehicle that will go anywhere, on road, off road, through a hedge, down a dirt track....what is it?? A TRACTOR....there will be plenty standing idle post SHTF and I bet they still leave the keys in them!!!!!!

And a man with a shotgun not too far from it either!

probably not-I did mean POST SHTF.

They'll be the last one's standing. More self sufficient than most. I'd put my money on a farmer surviving well Post SHTF over 95% of other people.