[dsmazdagtr]

Hi all,

I've recently moved to Newcastle in the last 12 months, and I've been wanting to get out and do some 4x4ing with the family.
Nothing too over the top, maybe out on to the beach / dunes and Barrington tops, and a bit of general offroading.
As a teen, I did a bit with my father, up Cape York in a Pajero, Fraser in Troopie and Straddie in a Cruiser so I'm not a total noob (but that was at least 16 years ago now)

With the sale of our old home, I'm hoping to replace our aging sedan with a GV.
As it will probably be a long term car, we were considering buying a new vehicle (possibly a 2014 model - though the plush pack in a few year old prestige may help sway the wife more).
I'm keen to get a 2.4l as don't want the added fuel use of the v6, and wife can't drive a manual anymore due to illness (so diesel is out also).

I've been doing some research, and I've seen mention (and a few example for sale) of around a 2011 model sport having Hill Descent control.
Is this a feature that is worthwhile selecting a vehicle for, or does it provide limited improvement to the ability of the car?
I'm surprised that the feature seems to have disappeared from the car, or is this something that has been integrated of moot due to the ESP system on later models?
Can anyone confirm exactly what model had this feature, as it seems to be a little hit and miss finding cars that have it.

Also, I'm keen to know if these later model GVs live up to the offroad reputation that early GV's built (I've always admired the GV and despite never driving one understood they were supposed to be pretty capable offroaders)
I understand that the lack of lockable diffs is a limitation, or does the inclusion of the traction control help alleviate this 'loss'.

Finally, as the 'wife' has requested alternatives to the GV to look at (I said it was the only one with 'real' 4x4 so has no real competitors), however on doing some research, I see that the Hyundai / Kia twins offer lockable diffs, but it appears they only lock at low speed (which I assume is pointless). Am I correct that there are no real direct competitors for the GV that we should look at?

Thanks for your advice.

[mut59]

Just a thought out of left field. I'm also a noob here as I was chasing info for an 06 GV I bought my daughter (with no responses so far). I have a dual cab Hilux D4D and find it gets around the same economy as the little Suzi and fits a lot more gear in when camping. I would guess that this would be the same for most of the diesel dual cabs. A mate has a BT50 which is even more economical and has a greater towing and carrying capacity, and he loves it. Also when I was looking for the GV they seemed to be rather expensive for a small 4x4. As I said, just food for thought.
Cheers

[vet 180]

This thread might be of interest to you. It's just a thread comparing traction control systems, but there are some vids comparing many of the newer brands and there TC. It also has a vid of the NGV highlighting it's TC.

viewtopic.php?f=37&t=49836

The forester only comes with low range in manual right?

Also here a build thread of a 2.4 NGV on this forum. maybe give the Op a PM or any of the other NGV owners in the thread

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=42253

Hope it is of some use to you