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Phil Weeden

 

Range Rover EvoqueOk, so not technically my 4×4, but I’ve been lucky to pilot a Range Rover Evoque recently for a trip to the Coronation Festival at Buckingham Palace and then down to Goodwood for the Festival of Speed. By sheer coincidence, it was the exact same example that I borrowed at Christmas – a 2012 Prestige model in Fuji White. Nothing informs you more about how good a car is than living with it day in, day out: and the good news is the Evoque in this 188bhp 2.2-litre diesel manual guise is really rather good. It feels reassuring on the road, yet we also know from past experience that it’s excellent off-road. The interior is well appointed, stylish and in this spec well equipped. With its Grey Oak Wood and brushed aluminium trim, the Evoque’s interior has a contemporary flair. The dark leather interior and narrow side window graphic could have meant a gloomy cabin, but the panoramic sunroof soon alleviates that (optional as part of a £4425 Lux Pack). The dials have a jewel like quality that read well and look good.

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BobCookeBob Cooke – contributor

 

SandstormingJust for a moment there I thought we’d trashed the transmission. As the Cherokee charged up the rutted sandy slope it lurched, bounced and suddenly came to a stop with a loud clattering sound. In horror I thought – damn, I’ve wrecked the transfer case!

But then from outside came Simon Butcher’s booming voice: “It’s all right, it’s just the tyres rubbing against the wheelarch!”

Oh, that’s all right then, I thought. However, I’d naturally backed off when I heard the clatter and the Cherokee was well and truly sunk into the big ruts, so there was no going forwards. We backed gently down to the bottom of the climb, allowed ourselves a longer run up to the start of the slope and booted it. The Cherokee bounced, lurched and swayed up the slope again, and when we got to the deeper ruts the clattering started again, but this time I just kept the pedal down and, in a shower of sand, the Cherokee nosed its way through and eventually lurched its way up and over the top.

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November 2013 Issue of 4×4 Magazine

november coverYou can now buy a production hybrid Range Rover and Range Rover Sport. As you read this, order books will have opened at the dealers, and three such models will have left Solihull, journeying to the head office of the company’s parent company in Mumbai, India on a massive 9950-mile promotional tour. Now, it’s not many years ago that such a statement would have been thought ridiculous, on a number of levels!

The Range Rover is claimed to be the world’s first premium hybrid SUV, (see page 14) yet BMW has launched a similar option at the recent Frankfurt Motor Show. There’s also a new crossover hybrid from Peugeot, among others. Hybrids are cool, even for SUVs. In electric EV mode, the Range Rover’s electric motor provides 170Nm of ‘instant’ torque. The motor also works as a generator and ‘harvests’ the kinetic energy generated under braking, thereby charging the battery as the vehicle slows. In EV mode, it will actually travel at speeds up to 30mph, for around a mile, before the diesel engine automatically takes over. So the Range Rover Hybrid is capable of travelling for a mile without any help from the standard diesel engine. And the point of that is what exactly?

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JAGUAR JOINS THE PARTYNormally associated with saloons and sports cars, Jaguar chose the Frankfurt Motor Show to reveal a radical SUV concept, dubbed C-X17, writes Phil Weeden. The stylish new concept is signifying the company’s new iQ-Ai aluminium intensive architecture, which is different from that used for the new Range Rover. This new modular construction technique, developing many of the advanced aerospace-inspired aluminium construction methods Jaguar has established over the past 10 years, will enable the brand to expand the model range dramatically, venturing into new markets not previously considered economically possible. Jaguar also believes this smart way of designing and developing cars will also ensure that expansion does not come at the expense of quality or through a cheapening of the core brand values.

While Jaguar is unwilling to confirm that the C-X17 will ultimately make production, the chances of it doing so are surely very high. With an estimated 20 million SUV sales up for grabs worldwide by 2020, Jaguar would be well placed to offer a model that blended F-TYPE inspired styling with Land Rover derived engineering. The C-X17 concept shows what that final product could look like.

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Hils BlogWhen will we have had enough of all these luxury, pseudo, 4x4s? Bring back real off-roaders…

Visiting Bickers Action this month for a Professional User story (see feature on page 20) was one of the most impressive jobs I have had the privilege to cover. Not only have these guys built some incredible vehicles, but the driving skill that they demonstrate on filming jobs in some difficult locations is quite astounding. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance to join them on a film or TV shoot. Also during my visit, some of the magnificent trucks were out in Canada doing what they do best – I was not allowed to know where exactly or what on – so I didn’t see the complete and vast array of vehicles on offer.

But just being next to a Chevy Cheyenne or Silverado was enough to enable me to revel in the sheer magnificence of these American trucks. Yes, our Land Rovers are getting ever bigger. The new Range Rover is humongous; even if I could afford one I couldn’t possibly own one because it wouldn’t fit into my garage and probably be just too tight a squeeze on the driveway. I would actually need to move house to accommodate my new 4×4 – madness! But in the US everything is bigger and therefore for this kind of work powerful engines that can cope with huge amounts of kit at high speeds is paramount.

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Whether you need a workhorse for your business or a versatile luxury vehicle for recreational use, it’s worth making sure which double-cab pick-up is the most practical proposition for you

 

Top TrucksTARGET PRICE: £10,000 – £15,000

The lust for more power, a hunger for more aggressive style, a thirst for more comfort and refinement has for so long underlined competing manufacturers’ vision for the future of pick-up trucks, that they seem to have lost track of the reason for the existence of the pick-up – it’s supposed to be a working vehicle with aspects such as payload, towing capability and maintenance costs outweighing the cosmetic appeal of aerodynamic styling and shiny chrome-plated accessories. For many, the choice of which pick-up to buy depends more on image value than practicality – who would wish to be seen (and heard) driving around in a cheap and cheerful Great Wall Steed when they could be at the wheel of a highway-dominating Barbarian, and for all its muscular styling and Thunder graphics, who’d drive an old Ford Ranger when they could be one of the Invincibles in a Toyota Hilux? Are these high-image vehicles the most practical choice, however? Perhaps it’s time to take a closer look at the more prosaic values of the many makes of pick-up vying for attention on Britain’s roads. In this instance we’re looking at what’s available for under £15,000 – and what you can get for that much money depends largely on whether, as a business user, you’re able to reclaim the VAT. One-tonne pick-ups are classed as commercial vehicles, and the price asked is usually the basic price without the VAT. Private buyers seeking a comfortable and versatile family vehicle will have to pay the VAT, which means if your upper spending limit is £15,000 you’ll be looking for a vehicle priced at no more than £12,500. That would certainly put any of the newest contenders out of the frame – the new Ford Ranger, Isuzu D-Max and Volkswagen Amarok, for instance, where even nearly new and ex-demonstrator examples are rare at around the £15,000 mark. All the prices quoted in this article are without the VAT; so non-business buyers will have to add the extra 20 per cent.

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The specials – when ordinary isn’t enoughIf you find the idea of a brand new Land Rover Defender, Range Rover or Porsche Cayenne just that bit too ordinary, you might be in the market for a bespoke model created by one of the UK’s custom-build specialists. Paul Guinness takes a look at these exclusive, hand-built specials

There was a time when anybody cruising the leafier parts of Cheshire or the mean streets of Notting Hill in a brand new Range Rover would have turned heads. It was one of the ultimate ways of saying “I’ve arrived – and I want you to know it”. But times have changed. Oh sure, the Range Rover is still a superb choice, being highly praised by all those who come in contact with it; but no longer is a bog-standard example the ultimate way of announcing your success and wealth to passers-by.

The last few years have seen an increase in the numbers of custom-built 4x4s based around existing models, aimed at clients seeking the ultimate in exclusivity and individuality. We’re not talking about vehicles modified for off-road use, of course; no, we mean the 4x4s created for turning heads out on the street, as well as those built with supercar-like performance in mind.

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Louise LimbLouise Limb – contributor

 

Suzuki Grand Vitara 3dr 2.0 TDRecently, a 4×4 mate who hadn’t seen me in a while exclaimed as I drew up at his garage after a sedate blast down the M1; ‘blimey, you’ve had that Grand Vitara forever!’ It hasn’t seemed quite that long but as October fast approaches and I near the five-year mark in my caretakership I realise I’ve driven nearly 60,000 miles in the old girl. Now by comparison, the chap I was talking to had put 375,000 miles on his petrol (yes, petrol!) engined Land Rover Series III in the 30 years he’s been taking care of it, so my 60K over five years seem a little paltry, but even diesel Suzukis with heavy duty gearboxes can wear, and this plucky short wheelbase truck is still my daily driver, one tyre change, one cam and timing belt change and lots of servicing later.

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Wheel and tyre bonus

We have heard about a new consignment of steel wheels and Recip Mud tyres now available at 4x4tyres.com at Leeming Bar, North Yorks. This special delivery of some 1500 steel wheels range from 15×7 through to 16×10 and are available in silver or black finishes. Prices start from an amazing £29.00, so they are sure to sell well. The wheels would go well with the Portuguese Recip Mud terrain tyres. Sounds like some bargain off-road rubber as well.

Website: www.4x4tyres.com 

 

 

SUZUKI’S SX4 S-Cross ON SALESuzuki’s first venture into the C-segment ‘crossover’ class will go on sale in the UK in October. The new SX4 S-Cross model will get its full European debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show this September. The first models to the UK will be the SZ3 1.6-litre petrol version and the 1.6-litre DDiS diesel option. The 4WD version will have Suzuki’s ALLGRIP four-mode system. The driver selectable modes will be Auto, Sport, Snow and Lock. Prices start at £21,549, rising to £23,549 for the 1.6 DDiS SZ5 ALLGRIP version.

Frankfurt will also be the world premiere of the iV-4, Suzuki’s new concept compact SUV, said to be “an indication of the direction which will be taken with the future model to be added to the company’s renowned SUV line-up.”

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