Can anyone suggest why the 463 is generally regarded as being clearly superior to the 460 off road? At the G Center in Holland, one of the top G garages in Europe, the then co-owner assured me the 463 performed better. Apparently having an open center diff is an advantage sometimes. Also Total Off Road Magazine in the UK expressed the same view that 463's are much better off road than their 460 ancetors. Why should this be??
Can anyone suggest why the 463 is generally regarded as being clearly superior to the 460 off road? At the G Center in Holland, one of the top G garages in Europe,
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Not everyone, if any one would agree with either of those sentiments.
I take your point. I own a 460 myself, but it is something I have heard many times. Personally, with all the electrics, and the option to lock the front and rear diffs in any order, I would far prefer to take a 460 in the rough. But the G garage guys off roaded regularly in competitions and they had a huge choice of G's and they were clear the 463 was better. Weird.
I don't know 463's very well, but as far as I know the full-time 4wd is the biggest technical change.
The ability to have open diff in center is an advantage when having to make tight turns. The car turns much better. In (trial) competition reversing or stopping usually carries penalty points, so if you are calculating points, it does matter. Now, if you can reverse a few times to clear a tight corner, then it doesn't matter which you have.
The only downside (that I know of) with 463 is the plastics hanging in the front and back (the bumbers). If you are running competition (seriously), you will need to modify those anyway, so for competition it doesn't matter.
I don't know 463's very well, but as far as I know the full-time 4wd is the biggest technical change.
The ability to have open diff in center is an advantage when having to make tight turns. The car turns much better. In (trial) competition reversing or stopping usually carries penalty points, so if you are calculating points, it does matter. Now, if you can reverse a few times to clear a tight corner, then it doesn't matter which you have.
-UG-
You got it.
And for daily drive, the much lower noise.
I've got 2ΒΆ to spare. Having had both concurrently, I can say that each has its strengths.
It can be argued that the simpler diff-lock system of the 460 is more robust and less apt to leave you in a lurch.
The tighter turning circle of the 463 is a major convenience.
The absence of carpet makes the 460 much easier to "rehab" after an outing. A thorough wipe-down with a wet sponge is all it takes to make the interior look great again. With the 463, it takes a little more work.
FWIW, once I got my 463, the 460 rarely saw dirt. That comparison is a little bit apples-to-oranges, though, because the 463 is a SWB - just plain more fun to drive.
i think the only real distinction that could be drawn between them based on the statement at hand is that it's because there is a tighter turning circle in a 463 and becuase it has full time 4 wheel drive. The shorter overhang of the 460 bumpers however lend themselves some benefit, which is real because we've seen a number of damaged 463 bumpers here.
For me the value in full time 4wd is in high speed slippery driving where you specifically want unlocked differentials to minimize wheel slip and for more balanced engine breaking.
The rest is a little unrelated becuase the statement doesn't include things like reliability, creature comforts, or on the fly serviceability... it is a statement which more or less assumes all other things being equal (which we know isn't really the case).
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