What Car? Q&A - Green cars with high ground clearance?

Q: My sister works in environmental education and wants to replace her ageing estate with something newer that has a bit more ground clearance. She is greener than Kermit and wants to avoid unnecessary running costs.

I believe the Volvo XC70 has around eight inches of clearance, but I can't find a star rating - the V70 gets only three out of five stars. Any ideas?
Richard Burns

A: We recently tested the new Volvo XC70 and gave it three out of five stars - the same as the V70 on which it is based.

You can read the full review by clicking here.

It's not particularly green, though - the least-polluting model, the 2.4 D5, pumps out 193g/km.

If your sister needs an estate that's capable off-road, a better option is the Audi A6 Allroad. However, it is more expensive to buy. The 'greenest' model is the 3.0 V6 TDI, so it still puffs out a large amount of CO2 (221g/km).

If your sister doesn't mind downsizing, she could save herself a lot of money and buy something much 'greener'.

A Fiat Panda 4x4 costs just £9855 (less if you're willing to haggle), and what it lacks in size, it more than makes up for in other areas. It costs peanuts to run and pumps out just 156g/km of CO2. Ground clearance is 165mm (6.5inches).

Less of a compromise on size is the Suzuki SX4. It's good off-road, has a ground clearance of 190mm (7.5 inches), and costs far less to buy and run than a Volvo XC70 or Audi Allroad.

We'd go for the 1.6 VVT GLX 4Grip (£12,999). It's fairly 'green' with a CO2 output of 173g/km, and is fairly spacious, too.

Perhaps the best all-rounder, though, is the Skoda Octavia Estate 4x4 Scout - it has 29mm more ground clearance than the standard car at 180mm, and relatively low emissions of 167g/km.