About Us

Suffolk Four Wheel Drive Club was founded in 1986 by a small group of off-road enthusiasts aiming to cater for drivers of all makes of 4x4, not just Land Rovers.

From its beginnings, the emphasis has been on a friendly, fun approach to off-road events, with enough rules to maintain safety standards, without becoming bogged down with regulations for their own sake.

New members have always been welcomed, with friendly advice for novice drivers and the offer of a tow out whenever anyone gets stuck….once a photo or two has been taken.

Approximately once a month, we hold our most regular type of event, off-road trials.

Trials are competitive events where entrants take it in turn to drive relatively short courses negotiating a range of terrain. The intended route being between pairs of numbered canes, referred to as gates.

The idea is to drive as much of the route or section as possible without touching the canes or stopping.

It's not a speed event, and can therefore be attempted with minimal risk of vehicle damage (providing you drive the sections as intended).

Our competitive events can be entered with anything from a standard road going 4x4, providing it has a few minor safety features and good tow points, to purpose built specials with full roll cages, differential locks etc etc.

Over time, the competition element of the club has evolved to comprise four classes of competitive vehicles: for details see our Competition Rules page.

Motorsport UK permits us to run three Public Driving Days (colloquially known as "pay'n'play days") as promotional events to encourage newcomers to our sport.

These give drivers an opportunity to drive their 4x4 on challenging terrain, without the 'structure' of organised competition - although we still run with some 'common sense' rules for safety reason.

There is always help in the form of both friendly advice on off-road driving techniques and recovery, if necessary.

In addition to Trials and Public Driving Days, we're also involved in non-driving, social events - such as camping and attending shows, where we 'spread the word' regarding the club and its activities and have a little fun while we're at it.