4Motion or not, your advice please!

4M all day long. We have the rear axel diff lock, not sure if I need that bit to be honest; but well you know, One Life, Live it. As proper off-roaders say:thumbsup:
 
Towing, muddy fields, forestry tracks, 4 motion. For everything else 2wd and winter tyres. Unless you're one of those people who have to have a Chelsea tractor because.
 
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Towing, muddy fields, forestry tracks, 4 motion. For everything else 2wd and winter tyres. Unless you're one of those people who have to have a Chelsea track because.
Guilty as charged!! T6 is seeing more mud than my Defender :-(
 
Towing, muddy fields, forestry tracks, 4 motion. For everything else 2wd and winter tyres. Unless you're one of those people who have to have a Chelsea track because.
4motion massively improves the van on the road too; better handling, grip, no understeer, way better in the wet, etc.
Dedicated Winter tyres are awful; ruin the handling, sidewalls way too soft.
Decent All Weathers are far better.
 
Hi if it helps this is my view
I've had 2 Twd transporters and only ever got 1 stuck towning out our caravan from a camping trip at a friends remote place.
I always hankered after a 4x4 and now am the very proud owner of a 180 4motion diff locked kombi. I am as happy as a pig in sh@!t!!!
If I use the 4motion or not I've justified it to myself and the family and we are all happy. If you want it and can afford it , go for it it's sad I know but it makes me smile when I see the 4motion badge on my van. This year I will put it through its paces and go places I probably shouldn't but every journey I make I can think I could go up that lane if I wanted to.
Just my view
Enjoy it
 
At the beginning of each month (If I remember), I work the 4WD system; Diff lock; Hill Decent because in our daily summer use of the T6, they don't often come into play.
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The bank is about 4m high, and very rutted (LHS) soft sand and pretty steep.
With Traction control Off; DSG locked into 1st; Hill decent on; it's time to play;
From a standing start at the very bottom of the bank, and not heavily gunning it, maybe around 3k revs; it goes straight up no problem with diff lock On; or indeed diff lock Off.
But if I stop and park half way up; there is no chance of setting off again to the top, unless diff lock is On. It goes nowhere with diff lock Off.

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Had no problems with 2wd in beast from the east, don’t miss not having 4wd, never having had it. Thank goodness we’re all different (cue Life of Bryan)
 
I think it all depends what you want to do with your van as to 4motion or not.
The previous owner of my van lowered it and put slick road tyres on it but never took it off road at all.
I tow a twin axle caravan, next week I tow it to Glastonbury festival as I'm working on infrastructure for 2 weeks and having 4motion and a difflock will make a huge difference if its wet. I have had standard t32 springs back on it and today its having latitude cross tyres fitted to Improve its traction ability ( going on 17 inch rather than the 18s on it now )
Having driven a pick up with bf goodritch tyres and having had it dance out on me on 3 roundabouts I would much rather drive a 4motion with good cross tyres than a 2wd with off road tyres .
I had towed with a 2wd 174 for 5 years before and the concern about wet fields or even greasy grass fields isn't nice . 4motion almost the way for me , but horses for courses I guess
 
I think it all depends what you want to do with your van as to 4motion or not.
The previous owner of my van lowered it and put slick road tyres on it but never took it off road at all.
I tow a twin axle caravan, next week I tow it to Glastonbury festival as I'm working on infrastructure for 2 weeks and having 4motion and a difflock will make a huge difference if its wet. I have had standard t32 springs back on it and today its having latitude cross tyres fitted to Improve its traction ability ( going on 17 inch rather than the 18s on it now )
Having driven a pick up with bf goodritch tyres and having had it dance out on me on 3 roundabouts I would much rather drive a 4motion with good cross tyres than a 2wd with off road tyres .
I had towed with a 2wd 174 for 5 years before and the concern about wet fields or even greasy grass fields isn't nice . 4motion almost the way for me , but horses for courses I guess
I can pretty much ditto your story, I had my T5 2wd 174 with AT tyres (for some of the time) for 12 years, the T6 204 4mo diff lock with Nokian weather proof for 3 years.
 
64D64576-1DE0-4B40-8EC4-3FD6E82E34C0.jpeg 423A7F57-A487-4894-A995-B407C036AAE0.jpeg 423A7F57-A487-4894-A995-B407C036AAE0.jpeg 64D64576-1DE0-4B40-8EC4-3FD6E82E34C0.jpeg D4E220B6-56E5-4CA3-867B-73E4C71A9980.jpeg As people have said it depends what you are going to use it for. . . We have just returned from a nine week trip crossing the Northern Route in Mongolia and I very much doubt if we could have made the crossing without four wheel drive. I have lots of videos and photos where you can see various wheels off the ground due to the rough terrain, and from the inside you could hear all four wheels scrabbling for grip on some slopes. We fitted BF Goodrich All Terrain Tyres (6) for the trip, no punctures, and they were brilliant so we have decided to keep them on all year round.
 
View attachment 56938 View attachment 56937 View attachment 56937 View attachment 56938 View attachment 56939 As people have said it depends what you are going to use it for. . . We have just returned from a nine week trip crossing the Northern Route in Mongolia and I very much doubt if we could have made the crossing without four wheel drive. I have lots of videos and photos where you can see various wheels off the ground due to the rough terrain, and from the inside you could hear all four wheels scrabbling for grip on some slopes. We fitted BF Goodrich All Terrain Tyres (6) for the trip, no punctures, and they were brilliant so we have decided to keep them on all year round.
Hi don’t suppose you have a YouTube channel? Looks like you have been on quite an adventure!!
just seen that you are attending camper mart in telford I will look forward to seeing the van!
 
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Hi Stuart
We don’t have a U tube channel but I will be at CamperMart and will be happy to chat to anyone about the trip.
 
4wd for me
Put it it test on many of the sites that I was working on this year.
It went through 1.5 ft of mud no problem in a quarry,so yes its worth it for me.
 
I always thought that slogan was for Land Rovers, but have just found this..
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It's the motto of my Mum's over 70s ramblers club :rofl:
The guy that started it (now dead) said it was a common phrase with Aussie surfers and rock climbers in the early 1970s when he lived there. It's probably one of those sayings that communities all over the world think they coined.
 
If your budget stretches to it then definitely 4Motion. It'll give you some peace of mind if your ever in a tricky situation and it will also help increase re-sale value
 
I’m planning to order a 199 6.1 DSG van but I really can’t make my mind up on weather to spec a 4motion or just keep the 2wd as standard. All the reviews only talk about it’s ability off road, not how they handle on the road. It’s a work van and also my only vehicle, it won’t really be used off road but I’m interested to hear your real world reviews on how the 4M handles on the road compared to the 2wd. Has anyone changed from a 2wd to 4M?
Your advice will be much appreciated. Cheers
 
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