170 cr elegance or 4x4?

[theherbster]

Hi guys,

I am switching from my trusty 56 plate Passat to a Superb Estate soon. Looking around the £12-13k price range. I see a few elegance estates which is the spec I want, but can't decide whether the 4x4 is worth the bit extra time and money to source.

Can I have your opinion's whether it's worth the extra cash? Those of you who own a 4x4 version - how many times has it got you out of trouble etc?

Thanks in advance

[Polo6n1600i]

I'm in the same boat. I've tried both on test drives. There is very little separating them on handling, and I'm sure if you are towing of live in the middle of no where - then the 4x4 makes sense. But I'll be sticking to FWD - better mpg, cheaper, less to go wrong, if you're worried about snow - get so e 16" steels with winter tyres.

Happy hunting! I found a 62k "10" plate 170 elegance locally for £12500. But I've been looking for a good few weeks now.

[MoogleAssassin]

I paid 9k for my '10 plate 170CR elegance with 80k. Had to drive 100miles to get it though.

[LS108]

It is my first AWD car and not so many miles done yet, but I have some comments. 

 

Handling is a bit different from FWD car - when accelerating fast you can feel different type of push. Also in corners you can feel car is more balanced, not so front heavy. And you can feel additional weight in the back. 

 

I had no good snowy conditions to test it properly, but on some snowy spots car was setting of the same way as on dry road. Which is very good, because with my previous car I was kind of suffering during winter time, as it had 245 wide tires and to high torque for front wheels only.

[stevehg]

Ultimately, it's a personal choice. I like the extra traction 4x4 gives over fwd in most conditions, and occasionally like to boot it out of roundabout This more than outweighs the additional cost and max 10% penalty you pay at the pumps for me. It's essentially the same choice between going for a greenline or a 170. If economy is your main priority then a greenline makes most sense, and so does a fwd over awd.

As for snow and ice. Personally most of the issues with ice in UK are stopping or going in the direction you want to go. Obviously the 4x4 doesn't help much here. For compacted snow, then the traction is much better. Couple 4x4 with winters and there's really only deep drifts that are going to stop you in the UK.

Frankly, if you live south of the Pennines, the 4x4 and summers will be be more than adequate, in my personal opinion, for the majority of people. I've driven 4x4's of various guises on summers and mid season tyres for the last 15 years and never been caught out once. I've only had to air down tyres on the road once in that time. When I bought the superb, I did consider winters, but decided to buy a set of snow socks instead. They stay in the boot, just in case, and remain unused. I put winters on my wife's fwd, and understand the benefits of winters fully, it's just that where I live they don't warrant the expense on the Superb. I realise this is just a personal choice though.

In that same time I've spent plenty of time in various 4x4's in deep snow and treacherous ice on road biased, all terrains, mud terrains and simex tyres, got stuck, slide down a few mountains a number of times, glanced off a few trees and rocks, but that's another story

I don't use the Superb for towing, but if you plan to then benefits of 4x4 are obvious, especially if you occasionally venture onto wet grass, muddy fields etc. I used my Defender for towing duties.

Hope this helps

Cheers

Steve

[Huwcymru]

I think the last two comments are spot on. The last bad snow here failed to stop my every day car, a Saab diesel auto convertible with a good set of Conti tyres.

Our Superb is AWD because it was the only L&K available within 200 miles to our budget/spec. Ideally it would have been a 170 DSG 2wd. I have a suspicion if we didn't have AWD our consumption might be better.

On consumption some people on this seem to get hugely better fuel consumption than me ( see below) but if you look on the Fuelly website the consumption of my car is broadly that of Superbs using Fuelly.

I have driven a number of Passats, both DSG and manual hire cars, they helped me confirm how god the DSG box is. I think you'll find the Superb is a more capacious car and mine certainly has more toys - good luck.

On the basis of legroom, SWMBO is off to Devon with three friends her offer to drive was rejected on the basis that the BMW X3 one of the drives is roomier, I assume they were comparing it with Helen's Focus Convertble not the Superb she was going to take. As she said - it'll save us wear tear and fuel but be less comfortable.

[Always time for a car]

My previous superb was FWD and as usual it was a bit of a pain getting away from junctions /roundabouts etc in wet and greasy conditions.None of that with the 4x4, sure in snow it was fantastic, especially with the winter tyres fitted. All in all the extra feeling of security and reliable grip in almost all conditions far outweighs the slightly lower MPG. I don't know what my next car will be in about a years time will be, but I reckon it will be a 4x4 again.

[theherbster]

On the sum of it I think I would prefer the 4x4 version. .. maybe if Steve gets rid of his soon

The fuel consumption doesn't bother me so much, I am a low mileage driver who cycles to work. The trips I do are long distance but infrequent.

The 4x4's and rarer so my search is difficult, but I will get there in the end.

Thanks for your help guys. I will keep you updated on how I get on.

James

[Fred Bloggs]

I have a 170 CR 4x4 twin door, it returns 46 to 47mpg driven mostly on the motorway.  I've done 38k miles in it since November 2011.  I had a radiator failure a couple of months back but no other faults.  I would say that if you didn't know you were driving a 4x4 you'd never be able to tell by seat of the pants driving.  I can see no obvious downside to buying the 4x4 so I'd say go for it, but be happy with a FWD one if you can't get a 4x4 that you're happy with.  HTH.

[sjdavies47]

I would think that you would struggle to get a 4x4 estate for that money. You may get a saloon but estates have a premium and 4x4 are pretty rare. Personally I'd go for the 4x4 (I did :-) )...

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[Polo6n1600i]

Hey! I'm not sure if this is any use to you but I found an 170 elegance estate 4x4 in Falkirk for £13988. It's a bit dirty on the inside, and will need a bloody good valet. But it could do the job

[Polo6n1600i]

Link - http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201402141794016/sort/locasc/usedcars/radius/1500/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew/make/skoda/page/1/price-to/14000/price-from/500/postcode/ph73ja/quicksearch/true/model/superb?logcode=p

[Tankdave]

I've moved on to a 4x4 now but had a FWD loaner the other day, wheelspin like crazy every time I touched the accelerator. I forgot how gentle you need to be pulling away, "read" slow pulling away.  I love the way 4wd lets you use all of what you have, I don't want to go back to Fwd.

[Gizmo]

Sorry Dave but that must have been down to the tyres fitted.

Mine is FWD and rarely spins it's wheels, 4WD is fine if you are prepared for the extra running costs (increased fuel use and Haldex oil / filter changes etc) or you really need 4WD .... which most people do not, otherwise it is just a luxury

[theherbster]

Polo I looked at that Falkirk one and spoke to them. But its 240 miles from me in Waddington snd they wouldn't ship it to a closer arnold clark. They weren't that helpful at all really so I dismissed it. No sale for them. There are some more popping up on autotrader so I will bide my time while longer. Keep posting anything you see though mate, I appreciate it.

[Polo6n1600i]

I looked over it with a fine tooth comb - it was a dirty mess. But it was an honest enough car. If they had brought the price down to say £12500, then maybe it would be worth it.

There is a 4x4 hatch on autotrader for £9999, but you said you're after an estate though.

[Polo6n1600i]

Found you another 4x4

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201401060834074/sort/locasc/usedcars/postcode/ph73ja/model/superb/engine-size-cars/2l_to_2-5l/make/skoda/fuel-type/diesel/page/7/radius/1500/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew/maximum-age/up_to_5_years_old/price-to/12000?logcode=p

[theherbster]

Found you another 4x4

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201401060834074/sort/locasc/usedcars/postcode/ph73ja/model/superb/engine-size-cars/2l_to_2-5l/make/skoda/fuel-type/diesel/page/7/radius/1500/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew/maximum-age/up_to_5_years_old/price-to/12000?logcode=p

I admit it's my favourite colour combo and he spec I want, but I was hoping for something with less mileage.

[Polo6n1600i]

Its not that bad! I've seen one recently which was listed as low mieage - looked at it and dash said 155000 miles!!!

[Polo6n1600i]

Since saying I wasnt interested in a 4x4 i've found 3 4x4 hatchbacks!

[Tankdave]

Sorry Dave but that must have been down to the tyres fitted.

Mine is FWD and rarely spins it's wheels, 4WD is fine if you are prepared for the extra running costs (increased fuel use and Haldex oil / filter changes etc) or you really need 4WD .... which most people do not, otherwise it is just a luxury

 

It had Contact 3's on it, same as I had on my Superb, I agree most don't need 4WD, I don't need it, but now I've got it I sure prefer it. Try one & compare, then if it's a "tick in right box", go for it.