I welcomed the heavy snow this morning on the West Wales Coast, as in a months time I am scheduled to take my 07 Sedici 1.9 on a journey to the Swiss Alps.
So already fitted with winter tyres I set off on my one hour journey into the hills around where I live; which basically was my first snow experience of any consequence in this car. I was more than pleased with the experience; occasionally switching out of 4 wheel drive to get an idea as to how important that facility was in such conditions. My early reaction was that snow tyres provide brilliant traction and would be of great assistance even without 4 wheel drive. Ambitiously I headed for a 1 in 4 narrow hill coated in approximately 10 cm of snow; I knew that I would never be able to get up this without switching on the auto 4 wheel drive; indeed no other vehicle had trod the route at the time I tried. To my pleasure Sedici went up the hill in auto 4 wheel drive, responding to pokes on the throttle which indicated this was a task accomplished with something to spare.
Having owned a series 3 Land Rover Discovery in the past, and a Freelander 2, I have to say that the Sedici came through the test with commendable credit. Put together my Landrovers were sixty thousand quids worth of motor cars, and without doubt second to none as regards mobility in snow. But we do not have todays conditions very often, and my Sedici is probably now worth about five grand, some two thousand less than I paid for it last year. But it does 50 m.p.g. in normal driving, and does not encounter the high maintenance costs of Landrover. And now I know that anything Landrover can do, Sedici can match it !!!!
So already fitted with winter tyres I set off on my one hour journey into the hills around where I live; which basically was my first snow experience of any consequence in this car. I was more than pleased with the experience; occasionally switching out of 4 wheel drive to get an idea as to how important that facility was in such conditions. My early reaction was that snow tyres provide brilliant traction and would be of great assistance even without 4 wheel drive. Ambitiously I headed for a 1 in 4 narrow hill coated in approximately 10 cm of snow; I knew that I would never be able to get up this without switching on the auto 4 wheel drive; indeed no other vehicle had trod the route at the time I tried. To my pleasure Sedici went up the hill in auto 4 wheel drive, responding to pokes on the throttle which indicated this was a task accomplished with something to spare.
Having owned a series 3 Land Rover Discovery in the past, and a Freelander 2, I have to say that the Sedici came through the test with commendable credit. Put together my Landrovers were sixty thousand quids worth of motor cars, and without doubt second to none as regards mobility in snow. But we do not have todays conditions very often, and my Sedici is probably now worth about five grand, some two thousand less than I paid for it last year. But it does 50 m.p.g. in normal driving, and does not encounter the high maintenance costs of Landrover. And now I know that anything Landrover can do, Sedici can match it !!!!
