Nigel Fryatt – editor

It’s a case of almost, but not quite, this month. Haven’t actually managed much with the Hilux in the last few weeks; apart from the collection taxi for the daughter’s Springer Spaniel. But despite this, there has been some excitement in the Editor’s 4×4 garage with the arrival of some super chunky new off-road tyres.

The Hilux original equipment rubber are Bridgestone Dueller H/T. OK for the road, although care has to be taken when the truck bed’s empty that even on bone-dry tarmac a little too much right foot exiting roundabouts can make the rear skip and loose grip. Off-road they are… well, they are on-road tyres and we have been thinking of improving the situation as soon as we can, and thanks to the guys at Cooper Tires, we now have a set of Discoverer S/T Maxx rubber.

Phil Weeden

While some people are horrified at the idea of a large MINI, let there be no doubt: the Countryman fulfils a crucial gap in the market. While these vehicles will never be classed as true off-roaders, they have formed a valuable new market sector, catering for people with busy and varied lifestyles who need to stay mobile whatever the weather, and so it was great to spend some time behind the wheel to see what this ‘Dakar-winner’ is like in the real world.

Ian Seabrook

Having sold my Range Rover Classic just before winter, as the heater blower motor wasn’t working and I didn’t fancy the dash-removal job to extract and repair it. I soon missed 4×4 ownership though, even if winter snow was in short supply.

The problem was, my 4×4 budget was on the low side. I set myself the challenge of buying a 4×4 at the height of winter for £800. Choosing which one was a challenge. This is the very bottom of the market, and there’s an awful lot of rusty junk out there. I fancied a Land Rover Discovery – they’re very popular around here as they are cheap and very capable in the mucky stuff. My budget would only get me a very tired and rotten one though.

Bob Cooke – contributor

Derek, whose spatial awareness verges on the incredible, said it would go. I, whose off-roading experience verges on the historic, said it wouldn’t. But Derek is persuasive, so I relented. The thing is, the Cherokee’s ground clearance isn’t that good and it was a rather deep hole in the ground, and there was also something of a twist in the terrain that I reckoned would get the Cherokee cross-axled on the way up even if it didn’t plant its belly in the mud.

Hils Everitt – Editor at Large

This month has marked a rather sad day for me and my Jeep. One of the reasons I bought it in the first place five years ago, apart from the fact that it would be far more economical than my outgoing 3.2-litre V6 Frontera Estate – and that I’d always wanted a WJ since Jeep first introduced the diesel and auto ‘box mating in 1999(!) – was for its payload and cargo-carrying capacity.

Apart from the fact that holidays often mean lots of camping, backpacking, mountain biking or rock climbing kit or skiing gear needing to be ferried around, one of my off 4×4 duty jobs is the manager of my local rugby club’s 1st XV. And that means lugging a huge kit bag, tackle shields, training balls, water bottles, water canisters, my own kit bag and various other bits and pieces, plus the physio bench on occasion, to all the away games.

Robert Pepper

This time last month I was writing just before heading out on a day trip to parts unknown. That trip turned out to be straightforward, until the fabled ‘Four o’clock Track’ – the “one last drive” to round off a triumphant day, which the group decided to tackle at the inauspicious time of 4:05pm.  Well, let’s just say three hours later and four recoveries we towed one of the now-dead cars out of the bush. But that’s what off-roading is about, if you want a predictable drive then motor on down to the local shops.

We’ve done a couple more trips since then and right now I’m sat in a camp chair in shade provided by the Discovery, next to our family tent. We’re away again, this time with some Land Rover Series owners on a three-day event. Apart from writing this column, I’m also looking up the best places to buy batteries, as the D3’s main battery has suddenly started failing to hold charge, running down to around 10v overnight. We have a dual battery system and the second battery runs all the accessories such as the CB radio, fridge, navigation devices and laptop power so that’s all fine. But before that we need to get the D3 started, and it’s an automatic, so no jump-starting! It’s not usually a good idea to connect the starter car battery directly to the dead car’s battery then start it, but in the case of the D3 the service techs assured me that’s what you can do.  However, we play safe and just use a Discovery 2 to charge the D3’s battery up to 12.5 volts before starting it, and off she goes. 

Robert Pepper

It’s 06:55 in the morning and I’m just about to have the first coffee of the day. In about an hour I’ll be loading the family into our Discovery 3 along with my camera gear. The Disco is ready to roll as I was under it last night replacing a bashplate and checking it over. It’s full of fuel, but we don’t plan on using it all today even though we’re off on a day trip. We’ll be meeting some friends in Geelong, south-west of Melbourne and wandering off in the Otway National Park to just drive some tracks and see what happens. We’ll probably stop for morning tea, maybe do a short bushwalk or two, enjoy the scenery and drop out onto the Great Ocean Road. Or maybe not. Could be we spend five hours recovering a vehicle or two chain sawing trees off tracks.

Nigel Fryatt – editor

It always strikes me that when off-roading, you need eyes all over the place. You’re looking ahead, both sides and in the case of a long wheelbase truck like my Hilux, it’s worth watching the tail too. Of course, one of the most important areas is under the vehicle. Yes, you can look ahead, but drive over an obstacle, dislodge rocks and rubble and the track underneath your vehicle will be a bit different than what you last saw. Wading too, can be difficult. Again, you can follow all the rules, wade out and check the depth and poke and prod the ground to see if it’s firm, but you’ll never know exactly what’s there. Which is where underbody protection comes in.

Bob Cooke – contributor

The ground was soft, calling for careful progress to prevent the bar grip tyres from sinking deep into the boggy earth below; something big had passed by this way, probably during the previous summer, churning the ground into a ripple of humps and hollows among the closely-packed trees, so the effect was almost like fighting a Hobie cat through the waves on the way to the beach, attempting not to run down any of the mass of swimmers in the process. Eugene made steady progress, avoiding the deeper ruts, steering gently among the trees… until suddenly and inexplicably the Hotchkiss came to a dead stop. There seemed to be no obvious reason – the Hotchkiss hadn’t bellied down in the soft stuff, it hadn’t become cross-axled… and then someone called out: “Oy – you’ve caught it on a tree!”

Hils Everitt – Editor at Large

After two severe winters, the South East escaped relatively unscathed this time. Here on my Greensand ridge we had a light dusting one day, which didn’t last and we thought that we may have escaped after all the warnings. The weather was mild, and then we hit a really cold snap, but still no precipitation.

Temperatures dropped to well below freezing and I was glad that I had my General Grabber ATs holding up the silver machine’s four corners. The feeling of reassurance you get with a decent set of tyres in poor conditions is priceless. When the heavy snow did finally arrive on Saturday night – as predicted – in early February while I was having dinner at a friend’s house in the countryside I was very glad of my ‘GGs’.