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Monthly Archives: September 2010

The new generation Porsche Cayenne has become the biggest selling Porsche in the company’s history. In the UK, over 1000 orders have already been placed across all model series – Diesel, Hybrid and petrol. Due to this demand customers can expect to wait on average four months between placing their order and taking delivery – a fact that will aid residual values.

At 193 g/km CO2, it is also the cleanest Porsche and returns fuel consumption of 34.4mpg and offers a new Tiptronic S eight-speed auto transmission featuring a wider spread of gear ratios, plus an Auto Start/Stop function.

 

autogasOn September 9th, 22 assorted vehicles all running on LPG/Autogas, will be setting off from Land’s End in Cornwall to John ‘O’ Groats on a challenge to drive economically, so that the percentage difference between petrol and LPG is as small as possible. OEMs, main dealers, autogas converters and the general public can all take part.

The idea is to raise awareness of the LPG industry and to prove how inexpensive LPG is, and dispel the myth that there is a lack of filling stations.

After the trip is completed, data will show the average motorist, who is looking at alternative fuels, how easy was it to find and what is the national average price.

The entrance fee is £250 and covers accommodation, breakfast and coaches to the evening events. Any profit made will be donated to Help For Heroes. Visit www.wcrlpg.com for details

qashqaiStop/Start features for the first time as an option on 1.6-litre petrol variants of Nissan’s Qashqai. This fuel-saving and emissions-reducing system not only makes the Qashqai a greener choice, it also drops it down one VED tax band.

In the diesel line-up every model now benefits from diesel particulate filter technology, and the 1.5 dCi’s output has increased from 105bhp to 109bhp.

Previously a £400 option, 18inch alloys are now fitted as standard to all n-tec models, trimmed in a black and silver finish. Drivers can also choose a new Chrome Pack option. For £250, the Qashqai and Qashqai+2 n-tec feature chrome door handles, chrome fog lamp surrounds and chrome side strips. Inside, the pack also includes door and tailgate entry guards and carpet mats.

 

FACELIGTFrom October Nissan’s X-Trail will benefit from a series of extensive updates with the most obvious changes made to the frontal aspect. The grille is of higher quality and flows down into the bumper assembly and retains the twin-angled struts either side of the Nissan logo.

The lights are sleeker and more technical in appearance, with either Xenon or halogen projectors (depending on grade) for the main lights and halogen parabole for the high beam.

In profile, the X-Trail’s stance has been improved, thanks to an increase in wheel size, with a 10-spoke 18in alloy design, which is also wider, now up to 225/55/18.

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The AA is warning learner drivers over online ‘booking services’ that add surcharges of up to 65 per cent to arrange a driving test which learners can easily book themselves. A number of young learners alerted the AA after they unwittingly booked their test through third-party commercial websites that invite learners to enter their details and preferred dates for a Driving Standards Agency test.

 

The Twilight Saga is again in the spotlight as the third film ‘Eclipse’ in the series has just screed its premiere in the UK with vampire, Edward Cullen, driving a silver Volvo XC60. In the books, the hero drives a silver S60R, but when making the films Volvo was not producing the S60R so a Volvo C30 was used and then a Volvo XC60 in the final two films.

 

September 2010 Issue of 4×4 Magazine

As you’ll have seen from the front cover and our contents pages, our main feature this month is the amazing Carbon Neutral Expedition that set off from Heber, south of Salt Lake City in Utah and ended at the Overland Expo in Amado in southern Arizona.blogSept

I was extremely lucky to be invited to tag along on this event in regular contributor Ann Lockley’s Range Rover Classic. To be part of an environmentallysensitive global first was privilege enough, but to have driven through some of the world’s most spectacular scenery while doing so was the true icing on the cake.

Anyone who has been to Utah and Arizona will appreciate what I am enthusing about. From cruising along the Buckhorn Wash Road where Butch Cassidy used to hang out, the spectacularly-coloured rock formations towering over us, to bouncing over rollercoaster tracks that looked like something out of a moonscape, against a backdrop of snowcapped mountains glistening in the distance, to camping beneath the most amazing rock structures imaginable was a breathtaking experience and something I will never forget.

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