We do historical re-enactment, which involves a loaded car plus a trailer with a MGW of 1 ton. For the last 10 years I have driven off-roaders, being stressed about the likelihood of get stuck on wet/muddy fields.

I have decided to buy an Octavia and am now debating whether to go for the added expense of a 4x4, on the offchance that I might need it, or go with standard 2wd, and get a better spec.

Anybody got any useful experience that they could share, please?

I think an Oct'y Scout would do the job for you.

yup, the scout is what you want. 4x4 octavia. also the mk1 is available as a 4x4

From what ive found so far, a 4x4 would be great for that. The added ground clearance over a 2wd would come in handy. As said, a Scout would be ideal, but your looking at quite a bit for one of those.

Kev

If the historical enactments are the ONLY time you MIGHT want 4WD, is there anyone else in your group with a proper 4WD that can pull the trailer into and out of the wet/muddy fields ?

That would let you buy a fwd which will be cheaper to buy and to run and handle better on the bitumen than either 4WD versions ( std clearance Octy or Scout).

I have to take issue with gregozedobe's comment about handling. One of the reasons I have a 4x4 is ever since my first Quattro I realized how much better the handling of a 4x4 road car is over a 2 wheel drive. I briefly had a MK1 VRs but changed it for a 4x4 soon after. I also go to military shows but usually in my ex-swiss army Pinzgauer as I show that from time to time. I am sure if the ONLY reason 4x4 is needed / wanted is to escape the occasional muddy field there will probably be enough military hardware around to pull you out. Unless of course you reenact medieval battles then you'll have to relay on the horses.

Skoda 4x4s are great and very capable cars, you would not know most of the time that they are 4x4 but push on in the wet, drive in snow or slush or that muddy field and they are well worth the extra. Trim levels on all the 4x4 models are pretty good as standard too. Have fun in whatever you choose.

few pics from the scout exerience they did a while back:)

?koda Auto - Scout Experience Mission

Hi Obadiah

The following link we posted some months back, maybe of interest if you go for a standard 4x4. We go in snow ice, mud, ( also pics on Briskoda) but a little less muddy and severe than L-Y-K has shown you. Good luck with your choice.

http://briskoda.net/forums/octavia-ii/4x4-mountains-snow-beach-1-day/107083/

This pic will at least show you the under body clearance on a bad track day. Taken with a mobile sorry on a very cold windy day.

------------------------------------

Octy 2, 1.9 TDI PD Ambiente 4x4 Combi and Nissan Sunny 2.0 DLX, Company Octy 1.9 TDI Tour Combi.

I've not managed to get mine stuck in any muddy fields and I have been to some VERY wet festivals where car's were stuck all around me so can confirm a Octy 4x4 is a good 'off roader' for that kinda use. And anyone who say's that the 4x4's ain't as good as the rest on road well may I remind you that even if your driving a vRS I can pull out of a damp or wet junction a lot faster and safer than you sitting there watching the ESP light happily flashing away whilst that lorry start to get very close to you!

You are so right - what is is they say? Power is nothing without control .... or grip!

And anyone who say's that the 4x4's ain't as good as the rest on road well may I remind you that even if your driving a vRS I can pull out of a damp or wet junction a lot faster and safer than you sitting there watching the ESP light happily flashing away whilst that lorry start to get very close to you!

OK, I can see I'll have to put in another 2p's worth (I do like a good debate )

I said (and I continue to believe) "a fwd which will be cheaper to buy and to run and handle better on the bitumen than either 4WD versions ( std clearance Octy or Scout)."

I'll add the qualifier - for most people, most of the time. And remember I was talking about handling, not acceleration from a stop (but if you really insist on talking about drag racing and I can choose the circumstances, who do you think would win the 0-100 race if you averaged times for both wet and dry conditions, the 140hp AWD diesel or the 200hp FWD petrol? ).

I have absolutely no problem with agreeing that either 4WD is better on wet grass, mud etc., as well as accelerating from a stop or as you go around a corner on slippery wet bitumen. I find it a lot safer to let the Lorry go and wait for a bigger gap before nosing out And in my dotage I have discovered this wonderful thing about the accelarator pedal - it allows you to modulate the power output of the engine, you don't always have to push it all the way to the floor if you only want (and need) a smaller amount of power

On bitumen the 2wd has less weight, so on dry bitumen it will almost always handle better than an AWD, and on wet bitumen I don't think there is that much difference in actual cornering speed, just that you shouldn't use full throttle until after you get around the corner in a fwd.

I have seen a number of AWD cars wrecked because the driver thought AWD somehow made them immune to the laws of physics as they apply to cars and wet roads. They can't go around corners at crazy speeds just because they are an AWD, and braking is worse than a FWD.

The cornering load a tyre can manage isn't increased because it is on an AWD, but if you want to accelerate while cornering the AWD can put some of its power to the rear tyres as well as the fronts, whereas a fwd has to apply cornering and accelerating forces through the front tyres.

I have always found it prudent to keep in mind the reduced traction available when it is wet, so by driving to the current road conditions I haven't felt the need to buy an AWD car. In fact I think the fwd version of an Octy II would stop quicker on wet bitumen due to its lighter weight (no heavy AWD components).

The higher centre of gravity of the Scout would do it no favours in an emergency "swerve and avoid" manouvre either, and if you had off road tyres it would have less tyre traction too, particularly on wet bitumen.

Still, it is good that we have all these options (engines, suspension, drive-trains etc) available to us in a great platform (Octy II), it allows us to buy the car we want to drive, that best suits our purposes and desires, without imposing our preferences on anyone else. In fact if the vRS 2.0TFSI had been available in AWD I would have been sorely tempted (but given the drought conditions prevailing here in Oz over the last 6 years I probably would have resisted, as I did with not choosing 4motion for my transporter).

Feel free to hold a totally different opinion to mine, I won't mind at all.

Like many soft-roaders I would watch what size of bumps and stuff you are likely to hit with it.

A proper SUV might be more up to the task. Thinking freelander, jeep type thing, which the latter can actually get a reported 40mpg in the diesel version