Since the Dacia Duster went on sale in Britain, we’ve bought enough of them for every single resident of St Albans to have one. There’s a factoid to reckon with. Our editor was in St Albans a couple of
months ago, taking photographs of a hot rod for Custom Car magazine (never a dull moment in this job), and he can confirm that that would be a lot of Dacia Dusters.

Apparently the actual number is around 105,000; the boss man from Dacia told us that at the UK launch of the all-new one, before dropping the St Albans thing to drive the point home. He also told us that since orders opened for the new model, 1000 punters have put down a deposit for one.

And that’s before any actual vehicles have arrived in the
company’s showrooms. They’ll be doing that very soon, though – and in such numbers that despite having all those orders ahead of you in the queue, at the time of writing you’d still be able to stump up and get one on your
drive by Christmas. Hint, etc.

Read the full article in the Winter issue of Overlander 4×4 –

https://shop.assignmnetmedia.co.uk/issue/4×4202413

It’s a symbol of modern excess. And it’s forever being dropped by rap stars who don’t have the imagination to spec up a lowrider instead. But the Mercedes-Benz G-Class is also a legendary off-roader – and the new G 580 EQ promises to build on that legend, not just trade on it.

Yes, EQ is Merc’s code for electric. Not a hybrid: all-electric. And no you can’t carry spare electricity in a jerry can to get you across the Sahara. So take to the forums and fulminate on, o worthy soldier of diesel. None of us wanted it to change. But it has. And you know what, it might mean our grandchildren will get to live until they too are old enough to hate everything that’s new and unfamiliar, and there’s an outside chance that that’s worth a bit of inconvenience to us lot now.

Anyway. Whether you like EVs or think they’re the devil, the technology has come an incredibly long way in a short space of time – and it’s still developing as quickly as ever. So while it’s true that you can’t put electricity in a jerry can, it’s equally true that the equivalent is on its way.

In the meantime, the G 580 EQ is possibly the most convincing sounding electric off-roader yet to come from a
mainstream manufacturer.

Read the full article in the Winter issue of Overlander 4×4 –

https://shop.assignmnetmedia.co.uk/issue/4×4202413

We’ve always been huge fans of the Touareg, all the way back to when the original model arrived on the scene with its thumping great 5.0-litre V10 engine.

Now here we are on the fourth generation of Volkswagen’s premium SUV, and what started out smooth is, predictably, smoother than ever. There are currently three models in the Touareg range: Elegance, Black Edition and R. Each has an engine of its own. The Elegance and R have 3.0 TSI plug-in hybrid units with 381 and 462bhp respectively, while the Black Edition has a 3.0 TDI with 286bhp and 442lbf.ft.

We added the torque figure there because it’s the Black Edition we’re testing here. You can have it in any colour you want so long as it’s black (or white, silver, grey, beige, brown, blue or red) and of course you can have it with an almost limitless range of options. Ours came with an on-the-road price of £68,215 and an extras list befitting what was after all a press demo vehicle; were you to tick all the same boxes, you’d be paying £80,470.

Read the full article in the Winter issue of Overlander 4×4 –

https://shop.assignmnetmedia.co.uk/issue/4×4202413

DAVANTI HAS BEEN IN THE UK FOR SEVERAL YEARS with its Terratoura All-Terrain, a solid all-round performer that
does a sterling job of bridging the gap between the premium and budget ends of the market. It’s a good bit of kit at prices that don’t make you cringe, in other words.

Now there’s another good bit of kit to go alongside it, because Davanti has followed it up with the new Terratoura Mud-Terrain (M/T). This has a more aggressive tread pattern along with a rugged construction
designed to let it get you where you want to go off-road without getting wrecked in the process.

Most are classified as Professional Off-Road, making them exempt from certification, however a few sizes do carry
the EU label.

Read the full article in the Winter issue of Overlander 4×4 –

https://shop.assignmnetmedia.co.uk/issue/4×4202413

As was widely expected, the government’s autumn budget statement introduced a set of new rules for double-cab pick-ups. These are essentially the same as those brought in earlier in the year by the previous government but then hastily abandoned in the face of protests by the farming industry.

From April 2025, double-cabs (even those with a payload of 1000kg or more) will be treated as cars for most taxation
purposes – though not for VAT. This means employees choosing them as company cars will no longer enjoy the minimal benefit-in-kind (BIK) allowance that comes with driving what has previously been classified as a van. If you’re already in this situation, there’s no need to panic. Existing company car drivers with double-cabs will continue to
be taxed at the current rate until April 2029 – though if you sell the vehicle or its lease ends before that date, the exemption won’t roll over to its replacement.

Prior to the budget, double-cabs were classed as light commercial vehicles for income tax purposes, meaning they were subject to a flat BIK rate of £3960 a year. This meant employees would pay £66 or £132 a month, depending on their tax bracket. Under the new rules, the rate will be based on the truck’s P11D value – to all intents and purposes, what it would cost if you were to buy it yourself.

Everyday cars (and indeed SUVs, and double-cabs not capable of carrying more than 1000kg) are already taxed this way; for a typical one-tonner, it will see your tax bill rising by around 350%.

Read the full article in the Winter issue of Overlander 4×4 –

https://shop.assignmnetmedia.co.uk/issue/4×4202413