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I need a 4WD petrol estate with a manual gearbox - what are my options?

We have a Mazda 6 petrol estate which we like, but would like to have the option for 4wd. We use the car largely to drive heavily laden between the Home Counties and Scotland. The other issue with the Mazda is that it lacks acceleration for overtaking. When we replace it, it would be good to have 4wd for winter, but options seem to be quite limited. Given 10 hour + journeys, its replacement absolutely needs to be untiring (reasonably quiet and definitely “unfidgety”) on a motorway. Other requirements are petrol, manual, good luggage space, reliable and roof bars. Is there anything out there to think about?

Asked on 23 March 2023 by John

Answered by David Ross
As you say, there are plenty of four-wheel-drive estates on the market, but not many of those are available with a petrol engine and a manual gearbox.

You don't mention your budget, but one option that springs to mind is the Skoda Octavia Scout. This was available with the 1.8-litre TSI engine, which provides 160PS and useful performance. It also has four-wheel-drive as standard, and because it is an on-demand system it will only send drive to the rear wheels when required, which means better fuel consumption than a permanent AWD system. The Octavia Scout also offers excellent boot space, comfort and comes with roof rails as standard.
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