February 2014 Issue of 4×4 Magazine

Well, here we are in 2014. If it’s not too late, hopefully you will allow me to wish all readers and supporting advertisers a very happy New Year. Sitting in my office a few weeks before Christmas, such a comment seems ridiculously premature, but for that we can thank extraordinary printer publishing schedules. When I started as a journalist, we had manual typewriters. I thought myself jack-the-lad when I purchased a smart, slimline Olivetti portable version that allowed me to write my sports copy at an event. Typed pages, complete with Tipp-Ex corrections, were then sent to the printers. Rolls of film were developed (black and white, of course) so that galley proofs and pictures could be – manually – cut and pasted onto large design boards. Pasted with Cow Gum, which today would probably be classified as a Class B drug, such was its pungent aroma. Magazine production took forever.

Today, of course, it is all-instant; photos taken on smartphones are sent wirelessly to websites, to be live to the world in something called a nanosecond. Not so magazine printing, it seems. I am writing this long before Christmas, yet when you pick the magazine from the newsagent’s shelf, it will be some days after Twelfth Night, turkey dinners and unwanted socks will be long forgotten. Christmas will be over, and if we believe what is being clarion called from the Daily Stupid tabloids, we’ll probably be under several feet of snow.

January 2014 Issue of 4×4 Magazine

Perhaps it’s a little like the expression ‘after the Lord Mayor’s Show’, but this issue has been a refreshing return to down to earth four-wheel drives. Now, there’s nothing wrong with all the shiny, brand new polished metal and exclusive leather interiors of those mega-expensive luxury 4x4s we reported on in our 4×4 Of The Year issue last month, but for most of us, they will always remain just a dream machine. I must admit that I’d be tempted with a Range Rover Sport if those lottery numbers were to come in – very tempted to be honest – but I also know that I’ll survive without one. To be honest, getting the new Hankook winter tyres fitted to our long term test Grand Vitara gave me nearly as much pleasure this month.

It’s a great competent little 4×4, and given the panic scare stories appearing on the front pages of some newspapers – the north wind will blow and we are due to have snow – a winter tyre is a must. Since I hate the cold winter weather it would be a lie to say I can’t wait, but at least I’m prepared. It was interesting to hear two different stories from the Suzuki and Toyota dealers I visited this month; Jemca Toyota in Croydon are selling winter tyres, Suzuki in Bromley are not. What will it take to convince people? Maybe if a summer tyre shod 4×4 slides into the back of the Grand Vitara this winter when I manage to stop so much quicker, I’ll get one convert. Knowing your braking distances are so much shorter in a winter tyre shod 4×4 does lead to you keep a good look in that rear view mirror.

Winter 2013 Issue of 4×4 Magazine

Welcome to the 4×4 Of The Year issue. In many ways, this is the most important issue we produce, where we get as many of the latest 4×4 models to one venue and decide which one deserves our respected and coveted award. We’ve been doing this massive group test for a long time, some of us don’t even want to think how long, and this year was as good as ever with some highly significant models on test for the first time. When they were all parked up, we added the value and found that we now had a box of car keys (or key fobs) for vehicles with a total value of over £1.3million! Quite apart from blinking a little at the responsibility, and the fear that at some point we would surely mislay a set of keys, it was interesting not just to wonder at the total cost, but the variety. The enthusiasm for new 4x4s is indeed a broad church.

This year we had a number of new SUVs, together with a couple of brand new mini 4x4s and a couple of highly significant models at the very other end of the food chain. And that was despite the fact that we had no Toyota Land Cruiser this year, no BMW X5, and no popular Nissan X-Trail, all because brand new versions are on their way over the coming months but had not been released in time for our test. The world of the 4×4 is booming it would seem. Indeed we had hoped to have a new Chinese SUV for this year’s test, but it seems that will be next year, as will the new Jeep Cherokee… and probably half a dozen new offerings from Jaguar Land Rover!

December 2013 Issue of 4×4 Magazine

Given the great summer we have had this year, it’s a bit incongruous to have to produce an issue relating to winter preparation. It’s a bit like seeing the ‘book your Christmas lunch now’ signs outside pubs in late summer, but then my local newsagent already has a selection of Christmas cards on display and, whatever we might feel, winter is on its way. This can mean bad weather, and it will certainly mean that you’ll feel comfortable about your decision to drive a 4×4. Of course, owning a 4×4 doesn’t make you invincible. Even you cannot disprove the laws of physics. When the temperature drops, roads can get slippery and certainly, those summer tyres fitted to your 4×4 won’t work as well as they have done; grip and traction will drop, braking distances can increase alarmingly.

Now we bang on about winter tyres a lot in this magazine, yet it’s possible that for some owners, we are wasting our time. Last winter wasn’t that ‘bad’, why should I bother with the extra expense and inconvenience of changing my wheels and tyres? From our research, that seems to be what a lot of owners tell their local garages when the idea of having a set of winter tyres is raised. Maybe it doesn’t snow that much where you live – why should you bother?

November 2013 Issue of 4×4 Magazine

You 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?