choice between off-road and on-road*

MaTaR

MaTaR

Active Member
Joined
Jan 31, 2011
Messages
276
Location
Middletown , PA
Car(s)
06' Subaru Wrx STI
Im going to get a car soon , , problem is i like both off-roading and driving in an agile car on tracks . i have to choose , if off road ill get a jeep wrangler and work my way up , if not then im gonna get a normal daily/track car . my budget aint gr8 but its enough to get me something decent , i just dunno which is more expense and high maintenance and i cant go back once i choose .

this will be the only car i have for a while , so its a daily car aswell . sry if i didnt explain myself well enough i just want an opinion.
 
The only cars that are good at both on-road handling and off-road ability are the ones that weigh and cost as much as a sports car and off-roader put together. See: Porsche Cayenne, and to a lesser extent Range Rover Sport.
 
Labcoatguy said:
The only cars that are good at both on-road handling and off-road ability are the ones that weigh and cost as much as a sports car and off-roader put together you wouldn't actually want to offroad. See: Porsche Cayenne, and to a lesser extent Range Rover Sport.
Click to expand...
FTFY. A friend of mine who is an avid offroader wanted a nicer car and bought an RR Sport. That thing hasn't seen a speck of mud because he doesn't want to scratch it. He did, however, recently pick up a cheap S10 that is now lifted to the sky; nice offroad toy.
 
I just had to make the same decision.

I had the choice between a new Mustang GT and a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon. I ended up buying the Jeep and I couldn't be happier. I've already been on two 4x4ing trips and I have my Caballero as my "go fast" project.

I did love the way the Mustang drove, and 411hp was hard to turn down, but I still get to drive a stick with the Jeep and frankly I'm not a super fast driver so I'd just get myself into trouble with the law because the mustang would be too tempting all the time.

Just my 2cents
 
788px-KTM_990_Adventure_White_mountains.jpg
 
You guys are thinking too big.

jeep-patriot-2.jpg
:lol:

EDIT.

However.....


sema_ppp_1280.jpg
 
Last edited:
Let's look at it this way. Good on-road handling usually involves low stiff independent suspension, low-profile tires, and 2WD. Good off-road vehicles have long-travel suspension and solid axles, big tires, and heavy 4WD systems; I'm guessing you're not talking about rally cars, but vehicles for off-road trails and things like that. My point is that the requirements are almost complete opposites, and it's hard to find a car with both that's in any way cheap. Light weight is one of the few things that makes cars fun to drive both on and off-road, so a lightweight pickup truck or old Jeep CJ might be more fun on the road while still having off-road ability, but those things are definitely not trackable unless you lower them and screw up the suspension. One way to get around it is to get a 4WD vehicle that doubles as a tow rig for your track car, but that's two cars, and that can get expensive. So if you want cheap, on-road performance, and off-road performance all in the same vehicle, you can only have two of the three at the same time.
 
Doh, reading comprehension fail. OP, is a motorcycle an option for you? That'll give the most bang for the buck on-road.
 
Since it's going to be your only car and an everyday car I'd suggest forgetting the off road portion for now. I'm willing to bet that if you bought an "off road" type vehicle it'll spend over 90% of it's time on the road. And add to the fact that if you take said car off road and break something now your only car is leaving you in a lerch for work and daily use. Lets be honest if you don't break something while off roading your just not having fun. Get something that will satisfy your track days and get the off road vehicle later.
 
If you can, the best way to solve your problem would be to get a very old car (preferably Mercedes or Audi) and take it completely appart. than reinforce the chasis, install a new engine, gearbox, truck axes , lockable diferentials (for example from a defender), pretty much, build your own car. a friend of mine did this with an old w123.123 Benz, with the parts of a crashed Firefighter Unimog, and a new engine. It looks very ugly, but it's good on-road, and better than my devender off-road, but it takes time, and is very hard to be done.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top