Stalking vehicles….

I had an idea last night for the really good mechanical types on here.
Imagine a small suv like the Opel Mokka as it seems to sit high enough but is only in FWD, now if the rear brake handbrake and wheel bearing units were to be replaced by two small electric motors on the ends of the suspension legs and then with an extra battery on board to power them up and some smart controllers talking to the front wheels for when they spin on mud it could kick in like a haldex unit to give a short range AWD capability.
Discuss.
Mokka is definitely not an SUV. It might be an 'SUV looking object', but they are next to useless.
 
Mokka is definitely not an SUV. It might be an 'SUV looking object', but they are next to useless.
Not just the Mokka any of those type of vehicles converted by just hanging on the electro units onto the ends of the trailing arms.
After 52 years in car designing but mainly on body & interior it was some lateral thinking on my part. Apart from the Jimny there seems no newish offerings in the smaller sized vehicles, all the 4x4s seem to be on steroids these days.
 
Not just the Mokka any of those type of vehicles converted by just hanging on the electro units onto the ends of the trailing arms.
After 52 years in car designing but mainly on body & interior it was some lateral thinking on my part. Apart from the Jimny there seems no newish offerings in the smaller sized vehicles, all the 4x4s seem to be on steroids these days.
Seems like every single smaller car at the moment has had a 150% growth spurt. They're all massive in comparison to a decade or two ago.
 
I had an idea last night for the really good mechanical types on here.
Imagine a small suv like the Opel Mokka as it seems to sit high enough but is only in FWD, now if the rear brake handbrake and wheel bearing units were to be replaced by two small electric motors on the ends of the suspension legs and then with an extra battery on board to power them up and some smart controllers talking to the front wheels for when they spin on mud it could kick in like a haldex unit to give a short range AWD capability.
Discuss.
I have been told that Peugeot Partners and Citroen Birlingos are available in France with AWD, perhaps that's how it's done.
 
A Citroën Berlingo in the OFF ROAD? What's that about? In fact, the Alsatian company Dangel 4x4 equips the high-roof sedans with all-wheel drive and higher chassis. And that is a tradition.

It is thanks to one man's passion for racing that these special, rough-road transporters even exist. Henry Dangel built single-seater racing vehicles in the 1960s and developed the first all-wheel drive model based on a Peugeot 504 at the end of the 1970s. The company no longer operates as its own brand, but only as a converter of existing models. The Citroën is Dangel's latest model and features automatic four-wheel drive, a raised suspension and a rear differential lock. That sounds very promising and just calls for an off-road test.

Looks like the wheel arches might have room for nice wide tyres!
 
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Take a look at a Subaru forester. Great cars (older ones are anyway - not sure about the new models) AWD - hi and lo range, you can put chunky off roady tires on, genuine off road performance without having to climb in and out of a truck. They will go most places a pickup will, only downside is slightly lower ground clearance if you have really deep ruts on your patch. Tough and dependable , the interiors are like a care home but then you wont care if oil, mud, blood etc gets on the inside. If your doing lots of motorway they can be a bit thirsty in comparison to faux off roaders.
 
The later Freelander 1 diesels were fine. It was the petrols that blew head gaskets for a pastime. If an AWD car like a Forrester is an option have a look at the Honda CRVs. Loads about, cheap to run and a boot bigger than a Freelander 2
 
Yep 1.8 petrol engine in a freelander is 💩💩.Avoid like the plauge .
Brother in law worked on quite a few .The alloy head warps a treat and as jimo says then it's new gasket time .The original single layer gasket was too thin .

Older Rav 4 has reasonable clearance and decent economy but hard to find lower milage atb
 
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