Cars
Lifestyle 4WDs
Introduction
Our picks for safety and comfort in 4-wheel-drives suitable for use around town.
A “lifestyle” four-wheel-drive (4WD) is the way to get to our great outdoors – to ski fields and other backcountry places that are off-limits to a normal car. But they can also be used for everyday tasks like carting the kids and their friends around, shopping and commuting.
We compared safety, specifications and features for 22 models and came up with our top 5.
The vehicles
We took a look at petrol and diesel 4WDs with engines up to 3 litres, although we went slightly over that size in a couple of the petrol ones.
Models we looked at:
- Daihatsu/Toyota Terios 4WD
- Holden Captiva SX
- Honda CRV Rvi
- Hyundai Tucson
- Hyundai Santa Fe
- Jeep Cherokee
- Jeep Commander
- Jeep Patriot
- Kia Sportage
- Land Rover Freelander 3
- Mazda CX7
- Mitsubishi Outlander
- Nissan X-trail
- Renault Koleos
- SsangYong Kyron
- SsangYong Rexton II
- Subaru Forester
- Suzuki Jimny
- Suzuki Grand Vitara
- Toyota RAV4
- Volkswagen Tiguan
- Volvo XC60 D5
Manufacturers offer many versions of the same basic model, giving you various engine, transmission, trim, equipment and seating arrangements.
Most are 5-door vehicles and seat five people. But the small Suzuki Jimny comes only as a 3-door … the Suzuki Grand Vitara comes in 3- and 5-door versions … and the Holden Captiva and some versions of both the Hyundai Santa Fe and the Mitsubishi Outlander offer 7 seats.
Of the 22 models we surveyed, just 6 offered petrol-only engines. Diesel is a cheaper fuel and so reduces the running costs of these rather bulky and heavy vehicles.
If you want to tow a horse float or big boat – or venture far off the beaten track – a traditional 4WD would be more suitable. For around town, the only downside of our survey’s lifestyle 4WDs is their slightly higher fuel consumption (compared with a car of equivalent size).