IT WOULD appear that many people were so severely inconvenienced by what the daily newspapers referred to as a ‘cold snap’, they have given an emphatic two-fingered salute to the Government-led anti-4 x 4 brigade by turning up in droves to outlets selling four-wheel-drive vehicles.

Aside from the fact that a ‘cold snap’ lasts for two days and what we experienced went on for weeks, it also hammers it home how, once again, the Government (in Westminster that is) seems intent on taxing the rural community to death by raising the annual car tax to specifically hit those who rely on 4 x 4s not for lifestyle reasons, but out of necessity.

Those heading off to buy a new Range Rover should be aware of a new ‘first year’ tax burden on such vehicles. As an example, some of the Land Rover stable which do not get under certain CO2 levels will cost £950 to tax in the first year (for an automatic gearbox version), though it drops to ‘just’ £405 for the second and subsequent years.

The thinking behind the money grab is simplistic. It’s trying to hit those who use large 4 x 4s for whom the most green they will ever likely see is from their envy when somebody next door gets an even bigger one. But this punitive tax is a catch-all and so it hits those in rural areas who really need the mud/snow/ice/hauling capability that they offer as much as it hits the co-salled ‘Chelsea tractor’ brigade.

But those encouraged to be safer in the snow and ice by buying a 4 x 4 don’t actually have to trade up to the bank-busting heights of a Range Rover or Porsche Cayenne. Recently, two more sensibly priced and practical diesel options came my way via the road test rota that we have in Scotland.

Take a bow then, the Subaru Forester 2.0D XSn and the Mazda CX-7 diesel. Both are worthy contenders for any rural person moving away from their BMWs (which are really crap in snow and ice) and even the top end of the Ford Mondeo and Vauxhall Insignia ranges – and for a comparable price.

The Mazda CX-7

A FIRST taste of Mazda’s fairly hefty ‘crossover’ vehicle at launch a couple of years ago left me with huge admiration for it after a thrilling journey up and over the Pass of the Cattle from Applecross, heading for Torridon.

At the time, they said that there were ‘no plans’ to introduce a diesel variant to the 2.3-litre easy breathing petrol which managed to produce a fairly stunning performance on that twisting, demanding route.

Then, last year, they did us all a favour by doing a ‘u’-ey with the introduction of a 2.2-litre turbo-charged diesel, consigning the petrol model to the one-hit wonder league. And it’s a stormer.

On paper, its 171bhp looks a bit measly when up against the 256bhp which was available in the ‘old’ 2.3-litre MPS petrol engined version. With that 75bhp drop in power (even with the greater torque from a diesel) you couldn’t expect this newcomer to match the petrol-head’s 0-62mph of eight seconds. The oily one will do the same run in 11.3 seconds, but while that seems a yawning gap on paper, in actuality it didn’t feel too unimpressive to me.

For those who are changing to the CX-7 from, say, a family-sized saloon or estate car, and expecting to have to compromise on the handling of what will be a significantly heftier vehicle – it weighs 1790kg – will be delighted to know that, generally, that will not be the case.

For its size, the CX-7 is surprisingly nimble about the park – as the late Bill McLaren would have been wont to say in his rugby commentary – and that has been achieved by retuning the suspension to cope with the heavier diesel engine and changing the gear ratios slightly from the outgoing petrol-engined model.

But the obvious plus point is in fuel economy (and tax economy!) as the diesel comes close to giving you 40 miles for every gallon, whereas the petrol one struggled to get close to 30mpg. On the taxing issue, the petrol model would have been in the wallet-whacking top bracket of £405, while the diesel qualifies for a £215 thanks to much better CO2 emmissions.

But buying a CX-7 certainly doesn’t tax the brain as there’s only one option to the standard spec’ – and that’s metallic paint at +£460. The one and only standard model hits the road at £26,340.

For that you get leather seats, climate control air-conditioning, cruise control, heated front seats, a Bose surround-sound audio system with nine speakers and a six-CD autochanger, satellite navigation and Bluetooth connectivity. Outside the cabin, there’s a wee facelift, including a larger grille and rear spoiler, plus larger 19-inch alloy wheels, xenon headlights and a few more silvery bits and pieces.

It’ll also stow away a fair bit of kit, too, as the CX-7 has 455 litres of luggage space when the 60/40 split folding rear seats are up, but a single touch release mechanism folds them down to produce a 774-litres load space to the level of the parcel shelf.

* On another note, Scots have taken to the Mazda name so much that the company is now planning to bring its Scottish deliveries direct to here via port facilities at Rosyth, rather than through Grimsby.

The move will save 280,000 delivery miles, reduce the Scottish market’s carbon footprint by 493 tonnes of CO2. In percentage terms, Maxda takes 3.63% of the Scottish market, set against 2.4% for the UK as a whole. Last year, it sold a whopping 6642 vehicles in Scotland.

Subaru Forester 2.0D XSn

SUBARU’S VENTURE into the world of diesel engines is one that was overdue for far too long.

The Japanese maker’s Impreza, Legacy, Outback and Forester ranges have traditionally been a farmers’ favourite – but would arguably have been on many more rural people’s shopping list had a decent oil burner been available. In fact, Subaru expects 80% of its sales will now be with this new engine.

So how does the Forester shape up with that in the engine bay, instead of the more normal – or ‘normal’ as far as Subaru is concerned with their decidedly non-industry standard flat four, or Boxer-style engine – power unit?

First off, the parsimonious amongst you will be delighted to know that you can eke an almost incredible 45mpg out of it – even though it is full time ‘intelligent’ all-wheel-drive – and it falls into the £175 per year road tax bracket, which is just about ‘best in class’ for an SUV of this size.

It’ll also do 0-60 in 10 seconds dead and it has been credited with a full two-tonne towing capacity.

Unlike the Mazda, it comes in three variants – the standard 2.0D X model which costs £20,875, rising to £23,030 for the XC and £25,965 for the model tested, the XSn.

This third generation Forester has more space and better ride and handling than previous guises, but I’m not sure if that has been matched by build quality, as the tested model seemed to me to be a bit rattly and plasticky, despite being the one carrying all the goodies.

The engine, though is certainly a smooth runner and I’d even go as far as saying that, somehow, the engineers have managed to lose the famous drum-beat from the flat four petrol engine. It’s damped to such an extent, there is little noise difference between the petrol and the diesel – dare I say, the diesel may even be quieter.

Much as I liked the engine, the same cannot be said of the gear change for the transmission which, even after a week’s experience with it, proved difficult to live with. Even when I thought I had it cracked, I’d find the next gear difficult to find – like a spurtle in a porridge bowl.

Now that’s not very Subaru like and you would imagine that experience gained from the rally-derived Impreza would filter down to the more practical vehicles carrying the name. But not in the Forester it would seem – I did get rather fed up of fighting with the six-speed ‘box. It was disapointing to find a beast that lived up in so many other respects to its ‘best in class’ tags, but fell down on such a basic element of driver satisfaction.

But, back to the plus points. Although it will never win many beauty pageants, this latest incarnation of the Forester is definitely less of a ‘flying’ box and looks more like an elevated estate.

There’s much more space too. This latest model is 75mm longer and 45mm wider and 110mm taller than its predecessor, with the upshot being that there’s 95mm more rear legroom and the ground clearance has raised 10mm to 215mm. With the seats up, there’s now 450 litres of space (+63 litres).

Even the standard X model comes with an impressive array of goodies, including self-levelling rear suspension, electric power steering and even heated front seats mirrors and windscreen wipers – which would have been invaluable during the icy weather. Moving up through the spec range adds roof-rails, better audio systems, fancier wheels and headlights, while the XSn designation has leather seats, sat-nav, and electrically-powered driver’s seat.

Conclusion:

THERE’S NOT much to choose between the two in price, with the Forester edging the contest on fuel economy and lower tax. The Subaru also beats the Mazda on being a bit quicker off the mark. But – and it’s a big but – the Mazda has a quality feel about it that the Subaru just doesn’t have. Personally, I’d opt for the Mazda every time – though, had that gearbox been more user friendly on the Subaru, it would have been a much closer contest.