Bob Cooke – contributor

The Cherokee launched over the crest so quickly and came down with such a thump that I banged my head on the roof – I didn’t think the seatbelt would stretch that much.

I blame the Trailmaster suspension – it’s given the Cherokee an extra two inches of ride height and is hard enough to absorb the worst of shocks from ruts and ridges taken a little too quickly. The result is that I find myself tempted to tackle increasingly difficult obstacles, safe in the knowledge that the lifted Cherokee has the clearance and beefed-up suspension to make it all seem easy.

I am actually a firm believer in the ‘tread softly’ approach, and I’m usually able to ease the Cherokee over even quite tortuous obstacles simply by getting the approach right so the old truck doesn’t have to lift a wheel, with consequent loss of traction. I can’t really afford that, because although the Cherokee’s Limited specification includes a limited-slip differential, it’s reached an age where there’s more slip than limit so there are times when the only way to clear an axle-crossing section is to floor it.

Garry Stuart – contributor

The beginning of March is when the new season for off-road sports events gets underway and that means lots of motorway driving, or at least it did before diesel became so flipping expensive. I had to go and shoot the AWDC new XL Challenge at the Walter’s Arena site near Seven Sisters in South Wales. From my starting point in Preston, the Via Michelin Guide on the internet recommended going via Chester, Wrexham, Welshpool, Brecon; a nice drive through the Welsh Marches. My instinct would have been to bomb down the M6/M5 and take the M50 across to Monmouth and Merthyr Tydfil.

I opted for the scenic route thinking that the lower average speed might be more economical on fuel. Arriving at Seven Sisters five and a half hours and 199 miles later, I appeared to have a third of a tank of diesel left.

The Walter’s Arena site is a huge area covering 1600 acres, and AWDC’s Neil Whitford and his band of marshals had used all corners setting up 20 long sections. Normally I walk around all the sections, but, in this instance, it was obvious that the Terrano needed to do some mild off-road work and cart me around the enormous site.

Louise Limb – contributor

As I was writing this I put aside my fussing and fretting about whether to risk the wrath of the walkers and farmers by driving a gentle Lakeland BOAT above Windermere, to witness in absolute horror on the glowing screen in the corner, the well-built Suzukis, just like mine, being tossed in the waves of the Tsunami, that overwhelmed north eastern Japan, like little tin boxes in a biblical flood.

It’s as good a reminder as any of the fragility of our highly-developed world and my thoughts, as I’m sure yours are too, are with their owners and drivers, even if, by the time this is printed, the devastation will have faded from our televisions.

Hils Everitt – Editor

My beloved Jimny nears the end of its time with us at 4×4 Magazine just as the rugby season ends, and it has proved an excellent manager’s kit lugger over the course of the season.

I have extolled the virtues of its surprisingly good carrying capacity despite being a diminutive 4×4 in previous reports. You have to put the rear seats down to make the best use of the space – that is obvious – and the seats don’t actually fold down flat, but there is still a good area for stowing an enormous shirt bag, two sets of water carriers and bottles, a large water carrier for fill-ups, a bag of balls, and various other bags full of kit that 18, hefty muscle-bound rugby players need to get them out on the pitch every Saturday.

Due to the poor weather we have had during the season I have had to protect the Suzuki’s rear with some plastic sheeting to make sure that the excessively muddy kit has not soiled the leather upholstery or the carpet-backed rear seats.