Nigel Fryatt – editor
Looking back on some of the more recent reports on the Toyota reminds you just how bad, and for how long, the snow was with us this winter. Just looking at the pages actually makes you feel cold, which makes the fact that it’s now spring as this is being written, all the more pleasing. The Rav4 performed brilliantly during the cold snap, but if I’m honest, it’s far more preferable having to switch the air-conditioning on because it’s too hot! Mind you, Sue and I argue about just how much fuel the air-con is burning up, and perhaps opening the windows would be cheaper. I then point out that opening the window greatly affects the aerodynamic flow around the vehicle, causing drag, and using more fuel. We tend to compromise, but we have certainly been grateful of the air-conditioning as this is being written just after that fabulous ‘early summer’ weather we experienced over Easter.
Proving you don’t need a fleet of Land Rovers to enjoy adventure driving, this month we have a Suzuki Jimny on an old smugglers’ route through the Pyrenees. Small car with a big heart, ideal for the rough tracks of Andorra 
After all the financial woes, the intervention of the US President, and the foresight of the headman at Fiat, Chrysler Jeep’s prospects look a lot healthier. Editor Nigel Fryatt has been to Italy to drive the new 2011 Jeep range coming to the UK. Things are still a bit rocky… but now in a good way!
Spotted up in Scotland this month was Iveco’s new ECODAILY 4×4. Iveco claims to be the world’s only manufacturer offering a full range of all-wheel drive vehicles, up to 8×8. 
The Shanghai Motor Show saw the debut of the Subaru XV Concept, claimed to be “a new generation of crossover vehicle” – which is surely a case of slicing a niche even smaller and it’s hard to look at the first photographs and see anything much different to what others are already doing. It does, certainly, have a more aggressive stance than some crossovers, much of that due to the large, dramatic wheels. Whether they made it to production is not known. The front is most definitely a Subaru with the hexagon grille and the ‘hawk-eye’ headlights. 
There are a claimed six million Jeeps on the road, and this year the iconic American 4×4 manufacturer celebrates its 70th year in a very different position to when it was launched back in 1941. In Europe, Jeep is now distributed by Fiat Group Automobiles due to the alliance signed between FGA and Chrysler Jeep in January 2009. Jeep is the American manufacturer’s top selling brand with 50% of sales outside the US, and the majority of those in Europe. Indeed, sales targets for the new range for Europe are very aggressive. At the launch of the new Jeep range (full details on page 36), held appropriately at Fiat’s Balocco test facility just outside Milan, President and CEO of the Jeep brand, Mike Manley, announced that over the next three years, European Jeep sales would grow no less than 10 times last year’s figures, to an impressive 125,000 European units.
Oxfordshire-based Frogs Island 4×4 is a well-known name in off-road vehicle preparation. The company sells equipment for all types of four-wheeler, and its team’s extensive experience benefits customers throughout the world.
It is sometimes necessary to deflate a vehicle’s tyres when traversing sand or deep mud – it helps improve traction, and is a valuable way of maintaining forward progress. And the job of releasing air from a 4×4’s rubber-wear just got a whole lot easier, thanks to LPI/Trekk 4×4 Adventure Stores. The Belgian accessories supplier has just launched this tyre deflator kit, which fits neatly in a glovebox and can be used quickly and simply.
Ensure you tighten fixings to just the right degree with ATEQ’s new Torque Tool. The tool is easy to handle, and enables precision tightening between one and eight Nm. It features an integral lock, which ensures that the torque setting remains even under heavy load, and comes in a hard-wearing case with 11mm and 12mm sockets and a Torx driver. A universal square driver also makes it possible to fit a variety of other fastening tools.
Experience the thrills and spills of the legendary Croatia Trophy in this new DVD, available from Devon 4×4. Last year saw the 10th anniversary of this hardcore challenge competition, and film crews were on hand to capture every moment of the muddy mayhem. A total of 52 teams lined up at the start of the event, and the DVD shows how the competition stayed close right until the final moments. With co-drivers struggling to keep on top of the challenging navigation, and drivers wrestling with extreme conditions, the action is compelling. The DVD provides a perfect way to while away a few idle moments on your couch – and it’ll certainly make you eager to get out in your own 4×4 and experience some off-road action.
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