Alps Options

MrMason

MrMason

MrMason

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Joined
11 Jun 2004
Posts
249
Location
UK
My only car at the moment is a 2003 Z4, which has been great fun, but recently has started impacting on my daily life - I've started doing activities which require kit to be lugged about, and we've now got a dog - so it's not the most practical.

I'm thinking of keeping the Z4 and getting another car along side to do practical things in.

I'm also hoping to start this year driving down to the Alps a number of times each winter ( let's say 5 ) with all my ski stuff. The round trip is 1500 miles, throw another few hundred in for driving around each time and we're looking at 8,500 miles just getting to (and up) the mountains and back per year. I currently do around 6,000 a year in the Z4.

I'm open to any ideas, but my requirements are:

- Good cruiser, as 750 mile trips on almost all motorway.
- Decent capacity for people and kit (skis, wake boards, computers).
- Ability to be able to get up and down mountains in snow conditions.
- Not terrible MPGs - 30+ would be ideal.

My initial feeling is some kind of Audi All Road Avant, but I've never really looked at this market before.

I'm looking to buy before December, so I'm in no massive rush and I'd like to spend less than £10,000 - the lower the better as it leaves more après-ski beer money :)

So, please shower me with your ideas!
 
One thing I would say is that you don't need AWD to get around in the alps. The passes which are so bad that you would need it are always closed, and the other snow covered roads can be navigated easily in a normal car with winter tyres. I used to go there quite a lot and was frequently overtaken by basic hatchbacks and saloons on snow and ice covered roads purely because they had better tyres than me.

That's not to say that there's anything wrong with getting an AWD car, but whatever you get be sure to invest in some very good winter tyres, as they'll make far more of a difference than your drivetrain will.
 
Strangely similar situation to mine. No matter how hard I tried I can't fit the wife and dog in to a Z4M. I didn't give myself the mpg constraints you have so went for a 5.7l hemi powered Jeep Gramd Cherokee.

If you can stretch the budget a little, you'll find nothing better than a TDV8 powered Range Rover Vogue. It's a wonderful machine to both cruise down to the Alps in and then get around once there with all your kit in tow. It meets all your requiremets except initial purchase budget unfortunately.

Failing that I think The Mercedes MLs ride well on the motorway. If you're more leaning towards the jacked up estate look then I think Volvo are probably the only people with something comparable to an All Road but I don't know too much about them.
 
Yeah, I'm not that fussed on AWD or not - I'd prefer it, but it's not essential.

I will be fitting winter tyres to whatever I end up with.
 
Looking at the BMWs - another option is that I am able to get a new 3 series touring from the BMW preferences staff scheme, at the cost of around £350/month (for 9months) for a 320d xDrive M Sport Auto plus I'd have to pay around £1,200 to get winter tyres ( which I think I then own ).

The only problem is there is a millage limit of 8,000 miles.

I also prefer owning the vehicle, but it could be a good stop gap for a year.
 
Definitely don't go all in thinking you need 4WD/AWD.

I drive to the Alps every year, and in that time I've done a fair number of journeys in my old RWD 330d. Decent set of winter tyres and some chains in the boot (you need the chains, as even with winter tyres, if chains are required due to conditions, the police WILL stop you if you don't have them - As firestar_3x will testify, we got stopped in a winter/snow tyre equipped taxi, the driver had no chains).
 
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