Not the best pic, since it's taken with my cell phone but it's finally here - my new car. I still have some bureaucracy stuff to do but if all goes as planned I get keys on Tuesday at 2 PM. Can't wait.

WHOO-HOO!! That´s a nice looking car!


Apprently things are going well for the good doctor Don´t recognize it though, what brand and model is it?

That is a sweet ride! Congrats!

Thanks!

It's Suzuki Vitara a.k.a. Escudo or Sidekick in some parts of the world.

I could see myself in that car. Or... a similar car..


Did you get the 4WD version?

Of course.

Once you go 4WD, you never go back


Still remember when I impressed my dad with what my Quattro could do so much he later bought a Subaru. He who always said "you don´t need that four wheel drive thing!"



Well...

This post has been edited by mirocu: Mar 3 2016, 09:57 PM

Congrats, Lopov! It looks great and extremely practical.

When I lived in Denver, I thought it was fun to go for a ride in winter and look at all the 4wd's off in the ditches at the side of the road. My behemoth Ford station-wagon only had 2wd but all four wheels had brakes. It's great to be able to really get rolling but you also need to be able to stop. Overconfident, 4wd'ers would just go too fast for conditions.

Yes indeed, and those 4WD´ers are not associated with me


Having 4WD doesn´t mean you can drive as if it´s summer, it merely means you have a better chance of not getting stuck or be hindered by an ice-covered road, although here having spiky tyres helps as well...

I have never gotten stuck or ended up in a ditch because my ego isn´t big enough for that to happen

This post has been edited by mirocu: Mar 4 2016, 08:10 AM

Mornin' all

Morn´

Thanks Acadian!



This time I've actually heard others say the same.

I for one wouldn´t buy a 2WD again unless I wanted to go drifting, and then it had to be RWD

This post has been edited by mirocu: Mar 4 2016, 01:08 PM

I insured it today, damn that was expensive. It was 850€ with a 50% discount so the full price would be 1700€. But I had some discounts because of being at the same insurance company for years and because I have other stuff insured at the same office. But still...I wonder how expensive are insurances for high-class cars like Mercedes.

Buy one and find out!


I think you´ll forget about all that though once you have a seat in your new car and drive away from the dealer

I prefer RWD as well; but have never driven a 4WD yet.

I used to spend some time up in the northern woods of Maine, near the Canadian border. My grandfather had a small hunting camp up there. The Great Northern Paper Company had a large and sustainable lumber operation in the area. They ran a fleet of pickup trucks and wrestled with various options/combinations to deal with the snow in the winter and mud in the spring.

They found the ‘sweet spot’ between cost and capability with a fleet of Ford F-150 pickups with 2WD, a limited slip rear end, winch on the front end and two-way radio in the cab. The limited slip rear end was a cheap way to reduce the number of times they got stuck and the winch (with plenty of trees) worked well when they did get stuck.

As late as the 1980’s, this was their solution. I have no idea what they do now or what technology has done in terms of cost/effectiveness of 4WD.

In the US of A, there's 4WD and AWD, and the vehicles everyone but Acadian is talking about are AWD (with differentials). Some of the hardcore Jeeps use a system where all wheels are driven at the same speed regardless of turn etc. which is typically turned off most of the time (or else it would break a lot). It's really for off-road only, and maybe not even needed there.

Jensen, Audi, Lamborghini et al. have embraced AWD as a way of getting MOAR POWWA down to the road through driving more of the wheels. Anyone remember the Jensen FF? All-wheel drive, anti-lock brakes, back in 1966. Very expensive and made only in right-hand drive, so it didn't sell a lot. The person I knew with one, also drove an original Shelby Cobra.

AWD didn't take off until the Audi Quattro group B rally cars, where they could run with higher power because all the wheels shared it. So Audi have always been big on it, and all the Subarus (except for the BRZ, which is sort of a Toyota anyway) use it.

*Pulse quickens, breathes a sigh, drools ... *