Robert Pepper
No matter what new car I drive, my 2004 TD5 Defender continues to impress me. It really is a vehicle that epitomises the cliché, “when the going gets tough, the tough get going”. I’ve had it since new, and over eight years it’s performed faultlessly, carrying my family around Australia and me on navigation exercises and recce work around my home state of Victoria. I think what’s most impressive is its off-road ability, as all I’ve done is add a 2inch suspension lift and rear cross-axle locking differential. Land Rover really did get the basic suspension design very much right, and the way it flexes over rough ground is unsurpassed by any vehicle short of a rock crawler. The huge clearances – ramp, approach, departure – and relatively large tyres help too, and while the traction control isn’t market-leading it certainly does give the car an edge over those without.
Sue Loy 
Good to do something for the environment this month – helped by the versatility of the Rav4. Our sister magazine, Coast, was having its annual Beach Clean, this year in Bridport in Dorset, and since I was involved with the organisation of the event, that meant the Rav4 was also drummed into service.
Hils Everitt – Editor at Large
Last month I needed to have my Grand’s front brake pads replaced as they were down to 20 per cent. I took the Jeep to my mate’s garage to have it sorted, but when they took the old ones off the mechanic found that my discs were badly corroded and said there was no point in replacing the pads with the discs in that condition.
Bob Cooke – contributor 
I told you you’d have a laugh, because it all went exactly as I expected it would. That’s not to say it went to plan, if you consider the plan to be as laid out in the workshop manual, which describes the removal of the Cherokee’s leaf spring in not many more words than: “Remove the four nuts securing the U-bolts to the axle, remove the two bolts securing the spring to the chassis, and remove the spring.” There is no reference at all to that bane of anyone who chooses to work on old cars – the WCS (Worst Case Scenario.)
With the new Range Rover reputedly going to have a potential £100,000 price tag, how does the prestigious German competitor Mercedes-Benz ML 63 AMG stack up? It’s a snip at only £94,255… 
THE LATEST PORSCHE Cayenne S Diesel has a 4.2-litre twin-turbocharged V8 engine delivering an astonishing 850Nm of torque, and 371bhp, offering it the most pulling power in the range. It also has a claimed 34mpg and 218g/km CO2 emissions figure, while still managing a very rapid 0-62mph in only 5.2 seconds. Porsche believes that this is the only SUV V8 diesel in the world to offer such figures. The Cayenne has the Porsche Traction Management (PTM) system which means the vehicle has rear-wheel drive handling characteristics – in keeping with the company’s sports car image – while driving the front wheels as and when traction is demanded. The optional Porsche Torque Vectoring Plus (PTV Plus) ‘further hones this dynamic performance’. We hope to get behind the wheel of this new Cayenne soon, to find out exactly what that means. The model will be available in the UK from January 2013,with a basic starting price of £58,243.
It would perhaps be understandable, but wrong, just to think of LINE-X as a top quality bedliner product. Well established as the company is in protecting the working areas for truck beds and van interiors, there’s a lot more uses that seem to grow each time we hear from these guys! LINE-X is actually a spray-applied coating that is amazingly tough, stone chip and scratch resistant and very easy to clean. It is also touch dry in three to five seconds… “careful with that spray can, mate!”
SUZUKI’S NEW CONCEPT VEHICLE was launched at the Paris Motor Show. The S-Cross, which is apparently ‘a concept car heralding a C-segment crossover model’. While this will undoubtedly be an important model for Suzuki, the better news is that we have heard there will be 2013 versions of the Grand Vitara and – stand by to cheer – the Jimny. How great it is that like most manufacturers, Suzuki is looking to produce ‘crossover’ models yet never forgetting its roots and keeping the amazing Jimny alive. Long live the Jimny we say, and we look forward to driving the updated 2013 model.
CLAIMED TO BE THE WORLD’S first plug-in hybrid SUV, the new Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV made its world debut at the Paris Motor Show. This version of the Outlander actually has three driving modes: EV Drive – all electric using drive to all four wheels from the drive battery; Series Hybrid Mode – the vehicle’s engine generates electricity for the electric motors; Parallel Hybrid – the engine provides the motive power, assisted by the electric motors as required. The Outlander PHEV uses a twin motor 4×4 system, which has independent motors driving each of the four wheels. This means that as well as having decreased frictional losses to each wheel, Mitsubishi claims that the response and dynamic control of this power distribution can be more finely deployed, when compared to a standard, conventional mechanical system. Another advantage of electric motors is that they can deliver maximum torque immediately, rather than wait as the engine revs rise for this power to be deployed. The Outlander’s conventional petrol engine is a 2-litre, four cylinder. The model will go on to the Japanese market in early 2013, but it is expected that this will then be made available in other global markets.
WE HAVE OFTEN MENTIONED our disappointment at the loss from the UK market of the Ford Explorer, and even the rebadged Nissan, the Maverick. The very latest Ranger pick-up is an impressive machine, so it’s not as if the company has ignored the world of 4×4. Indeed, in the States, the Escape is a massive seller, then there’s the premium Edge model, which sells well globally… just not in Europe and certainly not in the UK. Good news then from the Paris Motor Show in September, that there is actually a plan to bring 4×4 models back to Europe. It’s just not going to happen overnight…
Prev