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Monthly Archives: December 2010

6denverTeisi Jenkins of Dyfed has won TV channel S4C’s ‘Fferm Factor’ reality show and the prize of a brand new Isuzu Rodeo 2.5 Denver pick-up.

The series to find Wales’s best agricultural worker saw 10 farmers go head-to-head in tasks that tested their practical skills as well as their knowledge of the industry. Every week one of the competitors was eliminated, and in the end Teisi, 27, from Newcastle Emlyn, was the last man standing. The prize pick-up, which was supplied by local dealer, Davis Isuzu, featured throughout the series.

Teisi said: “I’m extremely impressed with the Rodeo Denver truck. It’ll be very handy around the farm and when I have to take livestock to market. Fferm Ffactor is a very prestigious award here in Wales and it’s an honour for me to be an ambassador for the industry over the coming year.”

 

unA UN delegation to Tajikistan to assess the prospect of pioneering adventure tourism, found a convoy of Land Cruisers, plus a lone Mitsubishi Pajero, coping with strange customs and some interesting off-roading tests.

If creationist zealots ever mount an expedition to find where God hid his shovel after six days of hard yakka, Tajikistan’s Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast, with 93 per cent of it mountains and the remotest extent of the former USSR’s most distant republic, is likely to feature high on the list of potential sites. Cut adrift when lines of centralised control were severed and generally described as being on the losing side in a miserable post soviet civil war, the GBAO’s population has suffered years of hardship.

ssanThe original was panned for its rather ugly looks but it was a credible offroader. SsangYong’s 2011 update of its Korando model is labelled a ‘Classy Utility Vehicle’, but how much class does the new crossover really have?

The SsangYong Korando – these are names that don’t mean too much to us in the West, but there’s been a Korando model around since 1974 and SsangYong claims it as the longest running brand in Korea; the SsangYong element has seen rather less continuity.

gunMake gunk a thing of the past with this Gunson Ultrasonic Cleaner.

Ideal for small industrial parts like threads, electrical items and carburettors, the cleaner has a capacity of 660ml and a three-minute timer. Pop your mucky engine part into the cleaner and sit back while it does the rest.

Priced at £79.99, the cleaner is also suitable for gold and silver items. www.gunson.co.uk.

wiredExtreme 4×4 is now offering a full tow electric kit for use on the Land Rover Defender Td5 and Discovery 2.

The kit, which costs £58.28 including VAT, includes everything you need to hitch up a single electric trailer to the back of your Solihull machine.

www.extreme4x4.co.uk

turD44 has just launched this silver powder-coated turret, designed to replace the standard turret on a Discovery 2.

Manufactured out of 5mm spielautomaten steel lattice set on an 8mm base, the D44 turret is designed to enable owners to clean debris from the top of the shock absorber – helping prevent premature corrosion.

The price per turret is £89.99. www.d44.co.uk

kiaKia’s sexy new Sportage crossover is now on sale as a full 16-model range. The line-up includes four engines, including brand-new 1.6-litre direct-injection petrol and 1.7-litre turbodiesel units.

These engines come as standard with a six-speed manual gearbox and front-wheel drive, while the 2.0-litre engines offer the choice of fi vespeed manual or six-speed automatic on the petrol and six-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmissions on the diesel.

The new Dymax intelligent all-wheel-drive system, from Magna Powertrain, is standard on every 2.0-litre model while all 1.6 and 1.7-litre versions feature Kia’s Intelligent Stop and Go (ISG). The 16-model range is based on Kia’s 1, 2 and 3 trim designations, with all-wheel-drive versions given the ‘KX’ preface. There is also a special range-topping ‘sat nav’ grade availabe on new Sportage 3 and KX-3, featuring a fully integrated 7in touch screen satellite navigation with built-in reversing camera and upgraded audio sound system. Prices start from an attractive £16,645.

subThe new Subaru Impreza WRX STI 2011 model is now on sale and incorporates a wide range of developments. For this latest 2011 generation, the ‘Impreza’ moniker has been dropped and it will be known simply as the ‘Subaru WRX STI’.

In response to significant market demand the four-door saloon version of the Subaru WRX STI is once again available, after an absence of three years.

The hatchback variant will sit alongside the saloon, and this will consequently mark the first time that four- and five-door versions have been sold together in the UK. Tested at the notorious Nordschleife at the Nürburgring in Germany, the new WRX STI benefi ts from a stiffened bodyshell and an extensively reworked suspension system – based upon the marque’s widely praised ‘spec.

raptorThe Ford F-150 SVT Raptor is ensuring customers have even more power on demand for their off-road adventures by making the previously optional 6.2-litre V8 engine standard for 2011. With 411bhp and 434lb ft of torque, the engine makes the F-150 SVT Raptor the most powerful half-ton pick-up on the market.

Lowspeed manoeuvres, such as rock crawling, driving up a grade or accelerating through deep sand, require much less throttle input because of the engine’s increased torque.

The exhaust for the 6.2-litre engine was uniquely tuned to deliver the performance-oriented, high-horsepower sound customers want. Additionally, a unique firing order provides a distinctive roar. The V8 is similar to the engine used in the all-new 2011 Super Duty, but features unique tuning and a special cam profi le to produce more horsepower and torque. The engine was put to the test in its element – the desert of Borrego Springs, California.

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