Interesting four-wheel-drive saloons we forgot all about

But others offer a more muted way to enjoy the all-weather benefits of this set-up. Here are some 4x4 saloons you may not have known about, listed in alphabetical order:

While Audi has built a brand around its four-wheel drive models, Alfa Romeo barely mentioned its all-wheel drive 159 Q4 models. In Sportwagon estate form, the Italian is rare enough, but the saloon makes hens’ teeth seem like common currency. Alfa offered the 159 Q4 saloon with the 2.4 JTDm turbodiesel engine, which offered near-40mpg average economy, but performance was only fair with 0-60mph in 8.3 seconds.

The 159 Q4 saloon to have is the 3.2 JTS V6, if you can afford the 25mpg economy. It’s a peach of an engine where you can use all of its 256bhp easily thanks to the four-wheel drive traction. Find one for sale today in good shape and with reasonable miles, and you’ll likely have to spend upwards of £8000. But you’ll have to hunt: there are just eight surviving on UK roads today.

BMW is a relative latecomer to the all-wheel drive luxury saloon market. Where Audi and Bentley have being at it for years, it took BMW until the 2015 G11 generation of its luxury saloon to send power to all four wheels. It was offered across the range and is now standard on the latest G70 model of 7 Series.

Four-wheel drive was a key feature of The Final V12 model of the G11 7 Series, which marked the end of BMW building V12 engines. The twin-turbo 6.6-litre V12 engine produced 601bhp and, with all-wheel drive, this long wheelbase luxury leviathan could see off 0-62mph in 3.6 seconds.

Reassuring handling is a cornerstone of the Jaguar experience, so four-wheel drive should be high on the agenda for the XF. However, the British firm didn’t introduce this until 2016, using the same system as the one in the F-type sports car.

However, the all-wheel drive XF remains a rare sight even if it does deliver noticeably better levels of grip in wet and slippery conditions. The problem lies in the AWD model tipping the scales at 105kg more than the rear-drive model, which impacts on fuel economy and emissions and that’s a no-no in a sector dominated by company sales.

The Jaguar XJ AWD slipped into being almost without being noticed. Intended to appeal to buyers in the colder parts of North America, it made little impact on sales from its launch in 2013 despite being a very good car to drive with plenty of traction in bad weather. The 3.0-litre V6 supercharged engine was also well suited to the job, but sadly Jaguar only offered the XJ AWD in left-hand drive, so UK buyers were denied the pleasure of this model.

Mazda’s most recent four-wheel drive offerings have all come wrapped in SUV bodies, but the Mazda6 MPS was a very different beast. Here was a family saloon that few would grace with a second glance, yet it had all-wheel drive and a 256bhp to offer 0-60mph in 6.6 second and 150mph.

As an under the radar Audi and BMW beater, the MPS was very appealing and had handling and body control very well suited to back road fun. However, a hefty price tag sealed its rarity – 320 are on the road today, down from nearly 1000 a decade ago - and decent examples command £8000 today.

Like its rivals Audi and BMW, Mercedes has offered four-wheel drive on its cars for German buyers to deal with the harsh winters found there, as well as selling these models in some other countries such as the US. For the C-Class, 4Matic all-wheel drive was offered from the C203 model launched in 2000, most often in estate models and usually only with the larger petrol and diesel engines.

In 2014, Mercedes made 4Matic more widely available in its then-new W205 C-Class saloon and estate models with the C200 and C220d. The best use of the 4Matic system is in the C43 AMG model, where the 3.0-litre V6 with 362bhp, or 385bhp in later versions, can make full use of its power and torque. These understated saloons can be parked on your drive from £25,000.

The leaner, lighter W220 generation of Mercedes S-Class was the first in this line of luxury saloons to be offered with all-wheel drive. The 4Matic system was only ever fitted as an option to the petrol models, so buyers in some but not all markets could have an S350, S430 or S500 with drive to all corners.

The following W221 generation added diesel to the 4Matic line-up in 2006, but S-Class customers in the UK had to wait for the 2014 W222 model enjoy all-wheel drive.

Unlike Peugeot’s latest 508 PSE Hybrid4, the first 508 to come with hybrid power and all-wheel drive back in 2012 only had a single electric motor. It provided power to the rear wheels when required, leaving the 2.0-litre turbodiesel motor to drive the front pair. It was also capable of driving for short distances on electric power alone up to 40mph.

Compromised as this four-wheel drive hybrid saloon was, with a smaller boot and higher price than the standard diesel version, it did offer 78.5mpg combined economy and 95g/km carbon dioxide emissions. These would be the only reasons to buy one now should you ever find one for sale.

Turbocharged, four-wheel drive saloon immediately conjures up ideas of Subaru and Mitsubishi. But what about Saab? That’s right, the Swedish maker offered the 9-3 with not one, but two turbocharged petrol engines and all-wheel drive. The first was a 2.8-litre V6 giving 276bhp that was good for 155mph and 0-60mph in 5.4 seconds.

The V6 also came with mid-20s average fuel economy, so the four-cylinder 2.0-litre turbo in the Aero model found more favour thanks to its 33mpg. It made do with a more modest 207bhp, so 0-60mph took a little longer at 7.9 seconds and top speed dropped to 146mph. Either way, both sold in penny numbers and you’ll need to spend at least £8000 to own one now.

Suzuki was rightly modest in its sales expectations for the short-lived Kizashi. It reckoned it would only sell 500 in the UK and even that proved ambitious. The problems were that this all-wheel drive saloon was not powerful or quick enough to draw in keen drivers, and there was no diesel option to appeal to company drivers.

As a result, the 2.4-litre V6-powered Kizashi with its CVT gearbox fell between too many stools. It’s still a decent steer, but one that will cost you at least £7000 to try nowadays. 300 are left on our roads, and they’re surviving well.

It’s easy to forget that among the Tesla Model S’s many other talents that it’s also available with four-wheel drive. Most new buyers choose this option and it means used models with all-wheel drive are more common than rear-drive only versions, so expect to pay from £35,000 for a decent used 85D 4WD version.

Admittedly, the Model S is a hatch rather than strictly a saloon, but when it can dash off 0-60mph in 4.4 seconds in 85D form and manage 260 miles on a single charge, we’re not going to quibble.

Most Vauxhall Insignia saloons with four-wheel drive come in full-blooded VXR form with a turbocharged 321bhp 2.8-litre V6 petrol engine. Choose the VXR and you can have 0-60mph in a claimed 5.8 second and a top speed of 155mph, putting the Griffin-badged four-door on a par with an Audi S4 for pace but with prices from just £5000.

However, less noticed was that Vauxhall also offered the Insignia with four-wheel drive and its 2.0-litre turbodiesel engine. A more modest 158bhp won’t get you down the road as quickly as the VXR, but 48mpg is a lot easier to stomach than the faster version’s consumption that works out at half that figure.

There have been four-wheel drive Volkswagen Passat saloons since 1997 when the German firm offered its 4Motion system with the 2.8-litre V6 engine. The rare W8 model followed in 2002, but more recently VW has fitted all-wheel drive to its current Passat using the 2.0 BiTDI turbodiesel engine.

The 2.0 BiTDI is VW’s most powerful production 2.0-litre diesel engine with 237bhp. It’s well suited to the latest 4Motion all-wheel drive set-up and offers 0-62mph in just 6.1 seconds while also giving a decent 53.3mpg for something this brisk.

Born out of then-VW boss Ferdinand Piëch’s desire to build the ultimate luxury saloon, the Phaeton was a brilliant car in many ways. However, the VW badge couldn’t compete with rivals from sister firm Audi, nor BMW, Jaguar, Lexus or Mercedes, so sales were always sluggish. Most were sold with the 4Motion all-wheel drive, whether you chose the 3.6 V6, 4.2 V8, 6.0 W12, or the 3.0 V6 turbodiesel. Only the base 3.2 V6 petrol made do with front-wheel drive.

With used prices from as little as £3000, the Phaeton is a tempting way into a four-wheel drive limo, especially when the VW’s underpinnings are the same as those used for the first-generation Bentley Continental GT.

The Volvo S60 is a decent alternative to German compact executive saloons, and when you add all-wheel drive to the mix it becomes a perfect any weather machine. Volvo offered the S60 with four-wheel drive from the car’s launch in 2011 with a choice of five-cylinder turbodiesel engines or the rapid T6 with its 302bhp 2.0-litre turbo petrol. The T6 could also be uprated to 350bhp with a Polestar tuning option.

The Swedish firm also offered the Twin Engine hybrid model with 2.4-litre 215bhp diesel engine and 70bhp electric motor. It can cover up to 31 miles on battery power alone and has a claimed 155mpg average fuel economy, all while offering 0-60mph in 6.7 seconds. Little wonder good used examples are still £13,000 and up.

We’re used to the idea of an all-wheel drive large Volvo estate, but the V90’s saloon sister is also available with this traction-giving system. The S90 comes with four-wheel drive either as an option or standard in all but the entry-point T4 petrol model, which sticks to front-drive.

You can find an all-wheel drive S90 from £17,000, but if you want the T8 Recharge with its petrol-electric hybrid power and rapid performance, you’ll need to budget from £25,000. That gets you a car capable of 117mpg and 49g/km CO2 emissions, and it will also knock off 0-60mph in 4.8 seconds as it the four-wheel drive makes easy work of putting down the T8’s 385bhp.