A new global colour called Ginger Ale announced the arrival of the latest version of Ford’s best-selling Kuga SUV. Apparently Ginger Ale has a ‘subtle green hue to reflect its active outdoor capabilities’. You couldn’t make this up, could you – well, actually someone obviously has. More useful is the hands-free automatic tailgate lift and rear seats that fold flat at the touch of a button, and gives the vehicle an increased luggage capacity of 82 litres – a development that seems highly sensible for a family car like the Kuga. Ford’s voice-activated in-car connectivity system SYNC is also now available on the Kuga. This features the Emergency Assistance option, which enables SYNC to help occupants place a call to the emergency services directly in the event of an accident. The new Kuga will be on sale in the UK by the end of the year.
KELSEYAdmin
Race 2 Recovery auction success
Members from ALRC affiliated Land Rover clubs as far away as Germany reached deep into their pockets to support an evening auction for Race2Recovery, raising a total of £2700. Held during the ALRC National Rally at Belvoir over the Jubilee weekend, the auction featured, among other goodies such as the original 2012 National Rally artwork by Pete Wilford, the first of a limited edition of prints from her drawing of the R2R Wildcat Land Rovers (pictured) by 4×4 Magazine’s own contributor Louise Limb. The framed, signed print raised a whopping £260 for R2R but if you missed out, you can still buy one of the remaining 24 A3 sized giclee reproductions, signed and numbered, from Louise’s website for £50 including UK post and packing, with £10 from each sale going straight to Race2Recovery. Hurry before they all go and do your bit to help these amazing guys. www.louiselimb.com
Hils at Large – Demanding times
It’s been a while coming and we’ve waited way too long, but finally this month we have managed to bring you the twin test pitching the Volkswagen Amarok against the lesser-spotted Ford Ranger. If you want to buy either, you’ll have to wait…
After a long wait, the Amarok finally came out in 2011, its arrival dates having been put back by VW. We loved it for its incredible hi-tech off-road ability, improved cab experience over long-standing competitors, excellent build-quality and reasonable road ride for a rear leaf-sprung truck.
A year ago, Ford showed off its brand new Ranger at the Commercial Vehicle Show at the NEC and attracted swarms of interested commercial fleet buyers, eager for production and delivery dates.
We have waited a year since then to get our hands on one from the press fleet as, although built in South Africa, many parts are manufactured in Asia and, due to the various terrible disasters in that region, getting them across to Africa and delivered into Europe and the UK is proving somewhat difficult.
I had an online chat with a dealer offering a full list of new Rangers with nice discounts. I asked the question: if I was interested in ordering a Ford Ranger 4×4, no specific spec details as yet but just enquiring, what’s the delivery date roughly? My online chat window sprung back immediately in red text: ‘Eight months, we have no stock at all’. Wow! We all knew that supply was difficult, but eight months? That is astounding. I certainly wasn’t quite expecting that. And, of course, you can always take estimated delivery times with a very large pinch of salt anyway, so maybe 10 months might be nearer the mark?
LR DISCOVERY 3
Robert Pepper
Human beings need a certain level of stress to perform at their best. If they find a situation too difficult, needing to process too much information too quickly, demanding a level of skill and concentration beyond their abilities then fatigue and distress is the result, leading to underperformance. On the other hand, a very easy task or boring that requires little focus means boredom and complacency, leading to mistakes and again underperformance. The answer is eustress, a stress level enough to keep the human interested, engaged and in the zone of best performance.
Driving on long, straight, bitumen roads in a D3 is for me, boring. The car needs little attention and there’s not much to do. It’s not exciting, and after a few hours I feel tired, in the same way you’d feel tired after doing nothing on an airliner for half a day. But dirt roads are different. These are a constant challenge, not a difficult one, but enough to put me into the eustress zone as there are frequent corners, changing surfaces, different cambers, rocks to avoid and much more. I once drove all day on dirt roads to Australia’s northernmost point with people unused to such conditions, and they couldn’t believe how fresh they felt after spending that amount of time in the car. It was because we were never bored.
VW TIGUAN BLUEMOTION ES 2.0TDI 4MOTION
Hils Everitt – Editor at Large
The latest revamp to VW’s Tiguan has created a more stylish and luxury feel to the baby brother to the mighty Touareg. And it certainly feels it when you’re cosily cosseted in the supportive and satisfying leather driver’s seat propelled by the effortless 2.0-litre 138bhp engine.
There are two engine options, and we have the lower powered of the two, but, quite frankly, I am more than happy with our lot. This 138bhp version is a schmooze of a cruise even from the lowly depths of third gear when it really starts to enjoy itself. As I mentioned in my intro report on our new long-termer last month, I clocked up 800 miles in a week and have to say that I have rarely enjoyed such a comfortable, sporty and relaxing experience in any other compact SUV.
TOYOTA HILUX HL3
Nigel Fryatt – editor
Couple of firsts this month; a fully loaded load bed, and serious tyres fitted at last. The new Cooper Discoverer S/T Maxx tyres arrived and so it was time to load them up with the ‘pepper pot’ wheels to get them fitted.
The Cooper Maxx tyres are M+S rated and available in sizes from 16 to 18inch, which was a problem in that the OE wheels for the Hilux are 15inch – and small and weedy they look too. After some investigation it seems that I can use a 16x8inch steel wheel with a -7mm offset, which is said to give a better fit than a zero offset. That then means that Cooper 245/75R16 tyres would fit, so everything was going to be OK, wasn’t it?
Isuzu D-Max
At last we have the long overdue successor to the ageing Isuzu Rodeo. The all-new D-Max, is bigger, butcher and more in line with the extremely tough competition. But can it really become the UK’s best seller?
Words: Hils Everitt Photography: Hils Everitt and Isuzu
Paul Tunnicliffe, managing director Isuzu (UK) said at the outset of the D-Max presentation: “Our five-year plan is to be the No 1 pick-up in the UK.” A wave of raised eyebrows and tight smiles followed, reacting to the sheer bravado of this statement, and then a look of nodding respect as it sunk in that he really meant it.
To achieve this remarkable feat, Isuzu needs to double sales of its brand new pick-up truck. Sales hit around 2400 in 2011 which isn’t setting-the-world-on-fire territory and to double that some serious marketing and distribution improvements need to happen.
Highland Patrol to return
Here’s an interesting 60 year celebration to come out of our Diamond Jubilee shenanigans. The AA is to reintroduce the Highland Patrol to Scotland. Originally started in 1953, the Highland Patrol were known as ‘the troopers of the north’ and were introduced due to the increasing tourist traffic to the north of Scotland. Traffic, it would seem, that would have a propensity to break down or get stuck in the snow!
Working north of the Caledonian Canal, it was the bad weather and difficult road conditions that took up most of the Patrol’s time – there not being any other 4x4s on the roads apart from the AA’s Land Rovers or Austin Gypsys one can assume. Hard to believe that, back in the Fifties, motorists in difficulty would gain assistance by calling from an AA telephone box, which would be put through to the Road Service Centre… which was actually a large static caravan at Millburn, Inverness.
Limited edition Mitsubishi L200
With new models arriving on the scene, Mitsubishi has a job on its hands keeping the successful L200 pick-up in the news. The answer it seems is to underline the L200’s ‘lifestyle’ pick-up characteristics, rather than the utility working side of things targeted by the new Isuzu D-Max. Enter the limited edition L200 Barbarian Black and its ‘striking new moody image’. This model has a black satin roof, sports grille, resin guard, wing mirrors and door handles. The limited edition is topped off with black 17inch alloy wheels and new ‘carbon effect’ leather seats. This model is £1000 (ex VAT) over the standard price of the L200, making the manual version £23,899 and the automatic £25,299.
Egyptian Expedition 2
This must be one to the most ambitious expeditions ever mounted in a pair of 1943 Jeeps. Seven intrepid souls had clubbed together to ship their Jeeps from UK to Egypt and embark on a trip that would take them from Cairo to the borders of Sudan and Libya following routes used by the legendary Long Range Desert Group in World War II
Words and photography: Toby Savage
The vague punctuality of international shipping was starting to bite as I sat in Cairo tracking our container ship, Cap Harvey, as it dithered about mid Mediterranean. The ETA of 2nd April eventually became a real date of 5th April, just a day before our planned drive south into the Desert. Our full team had assembled at the Mena House Hotel, a favourite haunt for the officers of the Long Range Desert Group – the famous unit of the British Army, that had inspired the trip (see separate panel page 44). All was set for our adventure, except for a noticeable lack of two Jeeps. To make matters worse, the following day was Friday, the Arab worlds’ equivalent of our Sunday. In a great ‘Plan B’ move, Sam Watson, our Cairo based LRDG expert, came up with a tour of relevant sites around Cairo enlisting his pal, Darrell Hardman and his three Land Rovers.
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