All-wheel drive minivans with high ground clearance: which one to buy

If you are looking for a car that is ideal for a large family and off-road driving, take a look at the high-clearance all-wheel drive minivans. The list of such cars officially presented in Russia is not too long, so you may have to turn to foreign car auctions, which we previously wrote about on Vodi.su. You can also bring used cars from Germany, Japan or any other country. Such a pleasure will cost a lot, but after a while the purchase will fully justify itself.

Hyundai H-1 (Starex)

Hyundai H-1, which is presented today in the showrooms of official dealers, comes with rear-wheel drive. This is a representative of the second generation of this minivan. However, the first generation of the minibus, called Stareks, was offered with both rear-wheel drive and all-wheel drive.

In addition, both the second and the first generation were distinguished by a rather high ground clearance - 190 millimeters. This is quite enough for a safe check-in on the curbs, and for driving on relatively light off-road conditions, such as along the beach or dirt rolled roads.

Hyundai H-1 Starex is available in several body styles:

• 4 door passenger minivan that can accommodate up to nine people, including the driver;
• cargo-passenger option;
• cargo double van with three doors and two seats.

The body length of this minivan is 5125 mm. It comes with 5 speed automatic and manual transmissions. During the entire existence of this minibus, it was equipped with a large number of power units.

Now it is sold with two types of engines:

• 2.5-liter diesel engine with 145 hp;
• 2.4-liter gasoline engine with 159 hp

One of the modifications of the passenger minivan was called the Hyundai H-1 Grand Starex, it can comfortably accommodate up to 12 people.

The new Hyundai H-1 with rear-wheel drive will cost about 1,9-2,2 million rubles. If you need an exclusively all-wheel drive option with high ground clearance, then you will have to look at classifieds sites that sell used cars. In this case, a car manufactured in 2007 or later can cost from 500 thousand to a million rubles.

Honda Odyssey

The first generation of this minivan, which is available in both all-wheel drive and front-wheel drive versions, appeared back in 1996. The car was designed specifically for the North American and Asian markets. It was not officially sold in Russia.

For a large family, this is the perfect car, it still enjoys well-deserved popularity and has reached the fourth generation. If you want to buy a Honda Odyssey in Russia, you will have to search on ad sites. These cars are especially popular in the Far East, as they were imported there in large quantities from South Korea and Japan. True, most cars are right-hand drive.

The price of a Honda Odyssey of earlier years of production starts from 500-600 thousand rubles. It will be a minivan imported from Asia, circa 2004-2005. If finances allow you to fork out for a brand new car, then in the USA for a 2015-2016 Honda Odyssey (5th generation) you will have to pay an amount from 29 to 45 thousand dollars.

In his most recent modification, Odysseus has the following characteristics:

• 5-door minivan for 7-8 seats;
• body length will be 5154 mm;
• ground clearance height - 155 millimeters;
• 3.5-liter diesel engine with 248 hp;
• front or plug-in all-wheel drive;
• fuel consumption of the order of 11 liters in the combined cycle.

The car is equipped with an automatic transmission, has good dynamic characteristics. True, it is sad that it is impossible to purchase it in Russia from an authorized dealer, you will have to place an order, paying at the same time, in addition to the high cost, also all related costs.

Toyota Sienna

Another four-wheel drive minivan targeted at the US, Western Europe and East Asian markets. In Russia, it is not officially represented. The car has been produced from 1997 to the present, while in 2010 the first sample of the third generation was released, and in 2015 a significant facelift was carried out as part of the third generation.

It was the second-generation Toyota Sienna cars that had the best performance for driving on bad roads:

• 5-door minivan with 8-seater saloon;
• ground clearance - 173,5 mm;
• the most powerful 3.5-liter turbodiesel engines with 266 horsepower;
• body length - 5080 or 5105 mm.

Since 2010, the characteristics have changed slightly: the ground clearance has been reduced to 157 mm, and the body has been shortened to 5080 mm. Nevertheless, it is still a powerful minivan, suitable for comfortable trips of 7-8 people, including the driver.

Unfortunately, it is unlikely that you will be able to buy a new Sienna in Russia. In the US, the prices for it are comparable to those for the Honda Odyssey, since these are cars of the same class - from 29 to 42 thousand dollars.

Dodge grand caravan

This minivan is also known under other names: Chrysler Town&Country, Plymouth Voyager, RAM C/V, Lancia Voyager. The model debuted for the first time in 1995. Since then, many modifications have been released both for the domestic American market and for Europe.

This is a 5-door minivan, designed for 7 seats. Body length is 5070 mm. Clearance in different models ranges from 145-160 mm. The car is equipped with powerful diesel and gasoline engines.

The Dodge Grand Caravan IV is equipped with a powerful 3.8-liter diesel engine and the same gasoline engine running on A-87 gasoline (USA). It is capable of squeezing out 283 horsepower. Used Caravan 2010-2012 release in the US will cost about 10-15 thousand dollars. In Russia, it is 650-900 thousand rubles. New models will cost from 30 thousand dollars and more.

Of the other all-wheel drive minivans with high ground clearance, you can pay attention to the following models:

• Mazda5;
• Volkswagen Multivan Panamericana - a cross-version of the popular California multivans, designed specifically for trips by noisy companies to nature;
• Volkswagen Sharan 4Motion;
• Kia Sedona.

We have already written about many of these models on our website Vodi.su.

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