Interesting topic this one... I sold a perfectly good "real" 4x4 Pajero to buy my first XC last year. Since then I've not had chance to even get close to trying to go off-road, however - i bought a 2.5 Se Lux petrol manual and in comparison to the old bus I had, I'm not even partially convinced it'll be any good on anything more than some slightly loose cobbles!
Sure - it doesn't have the dirty great big mud grabbers my Paj did, or the ground clearance, or the low ratio box but when the damm thing wont even drive on a slightly damp tarmac road without spinning the wheels up with the slightest of throttle application, how on earth would it cope elsewhere?
I'm resigned now to not daring to risk getting stuck anywhere in the XC, and have drawn a line on tarmac only and just enjoy the XC for what it is - a steroid induced V70 with a little extra ground clearance because 4x4 mud slinger it certainly aint!
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