Star cars of 2008 - part 3 - 4x4s

Audi Q5
Price From £30,000 (est)
On sale Summer
What's new? Smaller version of the Q7

The Q5 (image courtesy of Schulte) is the third car to use the platform, suspension and transmission layout first seen on the A5 coupe, and which has also been adopted for the A4 saloon.

It will also have the latest quattro four-wheel-drive system, which sends 60% of the driving effort to the rear wheels until necessary.

Don't expect serious off-road prowess, though.

The car looks like a scaled-down Q7, but with five seats, so it will have more manageable proportions than its five metre-long stablemate, and is less likely to annoy the anti-4x4 brigade.

A high-quality interior with lots of optional extras is more than likely to be present, too.

The engines will be the same as those in the A4: 1.8-litre petrol turbo and 2.0-litre turbodiesel four-cylinder units, a 3.2-litre petrol V6, and V6 diesels of 2.7- and 3.0-litres, all offering great performance and economy.

Manual, auto and continuously variable auto gearboxes will be offered.

The car is due to go public at the Geneva show in March, so it's probably going to be available here by the summer, pitched at the BMW X3.


BMW X6
Price From £50,000
On sale Summer
What's new? Mix of 6 coupe and X5

BMW has taken the 4x4-coupe crossover idea to extremes with the X6, which comes to the UK in the summer.

Its flat front and rakish rear look rather strange together, to say the least.

The car will sit in BMW's range between the 6 coupe and the X5 4x4, whose platform and engines it shares, and there'll be a petrol-electric hybrid in 2009.

Two battery packs will allow the hybrid car to run on electric power at higher speeds, improving overall economy and emissions.

You'll love or hate the looks of the X6, but there is no doubt that it has plenty of presence.

If blurring the lines between sports cars and 4x4s is the future, then BMW has got it tapped with this car.


Ford Kuga
Price £20,000
On sale May
What's new? Based on the Focus, it's Ford's first proper 4x4

Ford's first homemade compact 4x4 (previous Nissan and Mazda clones were built in Japan) looks like being a benchmark car.

Its stop-you-in-your-tracks looks already make rivals seem staid, and we're promised it will out-drive any opposition on the road, and will give the best a run for their money off it.

The Kuga fuses elements of the Focus with Volvo off-road hardware. Power comes from Ford's 135bhp 2.0-litre diesel, although a 198bhp Volvo five-cylinder 2.5-litre petrol turbo will be added in 2009.

The Focus underpinnings pretty much guarantee a fine drive in any car, but what's said to be clever is the way they've been adapted to work with the four-wheel-drive system and loftier stance of the Kuga.

Drive goes to only the front wheels when you're cruising, but the rear end helps out when necessary and without any intervention from the driver.

Ford insiders insist that the Kuga has performed well on Land Rover's demanding off-road course.

Ford says the Kuga will be a premium product starting at about £20,000, with Zetec and Titanium versions also available.

Lots of tech from the revised Focus will make it on to the car, too, including push-button starting, and tyre-pressure monitoring.

Best of all, the funky interior of the show car will make it into production next May.


Infiniti EX35 and FX45
Price £32k and £38k (est)
On sale Late 2008
What's new? Two more luxury 4x4s

Nissan's luxury brand, Infiniti, will have two 4x4s among its four-car armoury arriving in the UK during 2008.

The most popular of the two will be the EX35, a sporty 4x4-coupe crossover similar in size to BMW's X3 but lower, supposedly to give crisper handling.

It's powered by a 290bhp 3.5-litre V6 driving through a five-speed auto gearbox, so don't expect great fuel economy.

Still, four cameras giving surround vision and a lane-departure warning system should spare you any bills for scrapes and bumps.

The FX45 is close to BMW's X5 in size and is rowed along by a 320bhp 4.5-litre V8.


Jeep Cherokee
Price £24,595-25,595
On sale May
What's new? Uses Nitro and Patriot platform

Jeep's new Cherokee, which shares much of its mechanical hardware with Dodge's bluff-fronted Nitro, will be with us in May.

Unlike some of the company's more recent offerings - the Compass and Patriot - the Cherokee is very much a go-anywhere car rather than a modern soft-roader.

With a nod to on-road comfort, there's a new suspension and more refined steering, while a better-quality cabin has more supportive seats and lots of storage areas.

A 2.8-litre four-cylinder diesel will snap up the majority of sales, but for people who just can't stay away from filling station forecourts, Jeep will offer a 3.8-litre petrol V6.

However, it's noisy, it doesn't handle very well and it's not particularly comfortable.

The interior's a bit low rent and the steering adjusts for height only, and not for reach.

Good points? Not many. It's roomy in the back.


Kia Soul
Price £18,000 (est)
On sale Late 2008
What's new? Supermini-sized 4x4

Kia's supermini-sized Soul will share an all-new platform with the next Rio hatchback, as well with as a small MPV it plans to introduce in 2009.

The Soul is aimed at the youth market, particularly in America, and will look a lot like the concept car from the 2006 Detroit Auto Show.

For Europe, it will have the 1.6-litre diesels used in the Cee'd range, as well as 1.4- and 1.6-litre petrol options, but the 4x4 looks may just be a sham: it's highly likely those engines will drive only the front wheels.

It's possible that it could be built at Kia's European assembly plant, so it would probably get the same seven-year, 100,000-mile warranty as other Kia models built there.

Although the green lobby could have slowed sales in this area of the market, Kia believes that people are still hungry for lifestyle 4x4s that look the part.

The car will compete with rivals such as the Nissan Qashqai, Ford Kuga and Toyota RAV4, as Kia attempts to double its European sales to 500,000 a year by 2010.

It is also working on a model to run on E85 biofuel within the next three years.


Land Rover Freelander
Price £24,000 (est)
On sale Summer 2008
What's new? Stop-start system

The 'Greenification' of Land Rover will take another step forward during 2008 when diesel Freelanders with manual gearboxes get a stop-start system.

This will cut the engine when the car is stationary in traffic and restart it when you're ready to drive off.

The system will reduce the Freelander's carbon footprint in town and help owners save money on fuel.


Renault Koleos
Price From £22,000 (est)
On sale April
What's new? First of its kind from Renault

Renault will finally enter the 4x4 market when the Koleos goes on sale in April.

It's a multi-national effort: styled in France, built in Korea by Samsung and based on the platform and four-wheel drive system of the Japanese Nissan X-Trail.

Power is likely to be supplied by a mixture of Renault diesel and Nissan petrol engines.

The Koleos is being aimed at the Toyota RAV4, although we'd expect Renault to undercut its £19,000 base price.

It should be a lot better off-road, too, given our experience of the X-Trail drive system.

Ground clearance of 200mm matches that of the Land Rover Freelander, yet Renault says the Koleos will be marketed very much as a soft-roader rather than a genuine all-roads car.

The production car will look like the concept Renault has been showing for the past 15 months, but with five seats, not four.


Toyota Land Cruiser
Price £48,000 (est)
On sale February 2008
What's new? V8 diesel; chassis; suspension

Toyota will slot a V8 diesel into its all-new Land Cruiser, which comes to the UK at the start of 2008.

It's said to develop about 280bhp and 480lb ft of pull, yet it will return better economy than the current Land Cruiser's six-cylinder diesel.

The body, chassis, four-wheel-drive system and suspension are all new, too.

You'll get a lot of car for your money: the new version is big, offering loads of interior space - it can seat up to eight people.

There's also plenty of kit: equipment levels are a Land Cruiser forte. Even the base LC3 models have alloy wheels, cruise control, air-con and remote central locking.

This is a genuine off-roader: the new Land Cruiser has lost none of it's mud-plugging abilities. It will feel genuinely at home in the Sahara, but that doesn't come at the expense of its on-road skills.


VW Tiguan
Price £19,500-£20,400
On sale February
What's new? VW's first compact 4x4

The Tiguan, Volkswagen's answer to the Ford Kuga, is a conservative affair, sensible in every way.

This is a classic example of VW's mix-and-match policy: the four-wheel-drive system has been used in the Golf, Passat, Audi A3 and Skoda Octavia; the suspension is from the Passat; and the sliding and folding rear seats are lifted from the five-seat Golf Plus. It's also longer than a Touran, VW's seven-seat compact MPV.

Sales start in February and prices will begin at about £19,500 - which is similar to the Kuga - but there'll be a much wider engine range.

A 1.4 petrol turbo with 148bhp and a 2.0-litre diesel with 138bhp kick things off, but 168bhp petrols and diesels and a 198bhp petrol will soon be added.

The diesels use a new fuelling system that has largely banished the refinement issues that blighted the old units. They're also less peaky, making the car easier to drive.

It's hard to find fault with the chassis, but it comes across as competent rather than enjoyable.

There are two front body styles: the Escape model has a cut-away bumper, as well as underbody protection, so it can tackle steeper gradients off-road. It also has hill-descent control as standard.

The S, SE and Sport versions are more road-focused. All are roomier and more practical than the Kuga.

The options range includes a touch-screen sat-nav, a rear-view parking camera and automatic steering when backing into parking spaces - you just work the pedals. This is a first in a 4x4.


Volvo XC60
Price £30,000 (est)
On sale October 2008
What's new? Compact 4x4 from Swedish marque

Volvo's first compact, the XC60, will arrive in the UK at the end of 2008.

It will be targeted at BMW's X3, although Volvo insists that it will be 'better value' than its German rival, which suggests a starter price of less than £30,000.

It uses a lot of the technology from the XC70 estate, including its four-wheel-drive system.

Expect it to be available with Volvo's 2.4-litre five-cylinder turbodiesel engine and the 3.2-litre six-cylinder petrol unit - the one Land Rover borrows for the Freelander - as an absolute minimum choice.

A dual-fuel, 3.2-litre engine that can run on E85 biofuel is also a strong possibility.

The styling will be similar to the concept car, while the interior look and materials will ape those in the S80, V70 and XC70.