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Screen shot 2012-04-05 at 15.17.51Robert Pepper

Land Rover Discovery 3Perhaps the most commonly discussed topic in Discovery circles is that of tyres, and on that front I have news. Back in the April 2013 edition I reported that the D3’s BFGoodrich KM2 mud tyres had worn out, and I was replacing them with the least aggressive tyre I’ve ever owned on a 4×4; Cooper AT3s. The logic behind this was simple; after years of driving stock-standard press cars with standard tyres I’ve still managed to have a lot of fun and get pretty much anywhere I want to go. This is because over time vehicles are becoming more capable, with ever-more effective traction control, power delivery and suspension. Even today, my 2008 Discovery 3 can hold its head high, and while it is modified the mods are all about touring, not off-road capability. Tyre technology has also progressed, with punctures becoming so rare road cars are omitting spare tyres entirely, and traction has improved across all surfaces.  Yet for all that progress punctures are still entirely possible and in the ongoing war of sharp mallee roots against tyres it is fair to say nature is still well head.

BobCookeBob Cooke – contributor

Jeep Cherokee Ignominy. The dictionary defines it as a feeling of disgrace, public shame. That’s exactly how I felt; though at least there wasn’t any public around when it happened. Being a reasonably experienced and competent off-road driver, I’m usually quite good at reading the way ahead and deciding whether or not the Cherokee will get through. There is the argument that even if the way ahead looks doubtful the whole idea of having some off-road fun is to have a go, and no shame attached if you don’t make it, getting stuck does, after all, provide an excellent opportunity to exercise your recovery skills.

It’s just that on this occasion it wasn’t one of those challenging obstacles like a steep and rutted climb or a pile of rocks. It was just that the surface of the muddy track got softer and softer along its length. And I could see that it was getting even softer up ahead, to the extent that my brain said: “Time to stop and go back, old chap.” Unfortunately I ignored that advice, mainly because there was another car up ahead and it seemed to have no trouble at all in spite of its relatively narrow tyres. So I drove on – for another 20 metres or so, at which point the Cherokee simply sank into the soft mud and wedged its floorpan into the gloop.

Floating 4x4 As we all know, 4x4s come in all shapes and sizes, but few can actually float. We meet with Tim Dutton, an endearing character, and founding father of the this country’s kit car industry, with his latest 4×4 creation. Let’s go off-road Surf-ing in the UK…

Words and photography: Nigel Fryatt

For most people, an amphibious car answers a question that never gets asked. Surely you only ever want one or the other; a road vehicle, or a boat. Strange, therefore, that when Tim Dutton asks the simple question, “Would you like a coffee?” the only answer is an amphibious four-wheel drive.

When the cappuccino in question awaits you on the other side of the River Arun in Littlehampton, logic says you take the road away from the river to search out the nearest bridge. Not so, of course, when you have a Dutton Surf, since the journey to the local barista merely involves negotiating the gluttonous mud of the river bank, before ploughing into the water, deselecting the four-wheel drive, initiating the jet motor and powering across the fast flowing river to the somewhat slippery slipway, where four-wheel drive is re-engaged for the effortless, and remarkably drama free, exit from the water up to the café.

The Range Rover threw off its agricultural heritage in 2002 and reappeared as a thoroughly modern, exceptionally refined and superbly luxurious world-beater. With the all-new model now on sale, older examples are becoming more affordable

Price range  £10,000 – £15,000

 

RANGE ROVER (2002-2012)When the all-new Range Rover of 2002 appeared it was a stunning departure from the original concept. Gone was the separate steel chassis, gone were the beam axles, and gone was the trusty old Buick V8 engine. With its all-independent suspension and sleek new styling it was the starkest indication yet that the Range Rover was no longer the estate manager’s town car, it was intended to be one of the world’s best luxury limousines with four-wheel drive, almost an incidental fop to the growing interest in all-wheel drive SUVs. The transformation was fuelled by financial and technical input from BMW and Ford, which had sequentially owned the Land Rover brand at that time; hence there was also a quantum leap in the build quality and the promise of better performance, economy and reliability from new engines and transmissions.

The original engines were sourced from BMW in the form of the 4.4-litre V8 and 3.0-litre turbodiesel as used in the BMW X5. The new Range Rover was longer and taller than the previous model, but not much heavier because aluminium played a major role with the bonnet, front wings and side door assemblies all fabricated from the lightweight alloy, a first for a volume vehicle in this class.

Tackling the question of which is the best pick-up available in the UK today is difficult. The choice is wide ranging, in terms of price, character and ability, but only one can win our 4×4 Pick-up Of The Year 2014, but even the runners up often impress

Words: Nigel Fryatt   Photography: Wayne Mitchelson   Second opinion: Howard Sherren

pick upAfter our annual 4×4 Of The Year test in the last issue, we turn our attention to the pick-up market. With models from China, Korea, Japan (and Japan via the USA) this is a small, but highly competitive selection of 4x4s, and it’s a market enjoying some growth. From the adjoining table, you can see that since 2009, UK pick-up registrations have risen significantly, and this year looks like being particularly strong. Now all these pick-ups have important characteristics in common; all diesel powered, all double cab, and all but one with selectable 4WD. They do, however, have very different characteristics and achieve the common aim of carrying four passengers, significant payload, and being able to tow, in very different ways. Prices too, vary widely. We have reported the manufacturer’s claimed basic prices, which all exclude VAT (since in most cases, this is reclaimable), and that means the most expensive model here, the VW Amarok, is close to twice the cost of the cheapest, the Great Wall Steed. For vehicles that are so matched in their main raison d’etre, this is a significant difference. Is it worth that extra expense?

Of course, we also have to deal with the elephant in the room. On this test we have seven of the pick-ups available to the UK market; astute readers will notice that there is one missing. We have no Ford Ranger, our winner from the same event last year, but significantly absent for 2014. The reason for this is simple. If you place an order for a new Ford Ranger today, evidence is that it could take over a year for that order to be fulfilled. In our opinion therefore, it’s effectively not available to the UK market, and certainly not available for our 4×4 Pick-up Of The Year 2014 test. What we have therefore, is the current available UK pick-up market, ready and waiting to be tested.

It’s become a mini-classic in its own lifetime, with cute styling that suits it just as well for the city as for hardcore mud-plugging. A true off-roader with separate chassis and low range gearing and a reputation for reliability that ensures continued popularity

TARGET PRICE: £500 – £13,000

BUYING USED: SUZUKI JIMNY Oh, sure, we laughed at the Jimny when it appeared in 1998, far too small to be a useful SUV, too puny and low-slung to be a competent off-roader, surely it was nothing more than a nippy, traffic-dodging, easy-park city car, a little kinky in the styling department but hardly more desirable than a Mini…

Yet the Jimny has endured, and although its diminutive dimensions still can’t make it a sensible family SUV, it’s proven to be a great fun car for enthusiasts who wish to be part of the SUV lifestyle without having the need for a full-sized family off-roader. Meanwhile the Jimny’s off-road ability continues to astound as more and more older examples find their way into weekend pay ‘n’ play off-road sites where they can be seen mixing it on equal terms with Jeeps and Land Rovers.

It is an oddball little car, boasting a rugged separate chassis and rigid axles at a time when even the most serious of off-roading SUVs were switching to monocoque bodyshells and independent suspension, in consequence of which, the Jimny is relatively heavy for its size and the ride quality isn’t as good as it could be. Performance is hardly exciting, especially with the original 1298cc engine, which although seemingly right up-to-date at the time with its 16-valve head is a single-cam type that needs to be revved close to its 6000rpm power peak to deliver anything like meaningful acceleration, and works hard with much use of the five-speed manual transmission to keep the Jimny in touch with general traffic. Countering this is the fact that it was never intended to be a long-haul highway cruiser, and the uprated variable valve timing unit installed after 2005 sounds a little less frenetic and returns better fuel consumption.

Nigel FryattBob Cooke – contributor

Suzuki Grand VitaraIt wasn’t all that long ago that the name ‘rhino’ was pretty much synonymous with ‘Suzuki’ – the all-conquering little SJ made the rhino symbol its own, a fitting reference to the little Suzuki’s rugged and adventurous nature. It seemed fitting, therefore, that we should involve our long-term Grand Vitara in a more recent rhino-related event, a tough off-road challenge aimed at raising money for conservation projects in Africa.

The British Rhino Charge event traditionally includes some quite daunting off-road obstacles, and bearing in mind the limited ground clearance and unblemished body panels of our luxury-spec SZ4, there’s no way we’d have gone anywhere near the action had it not been for a decision to run a softer-road Safari Trail event alongside the main action. That idea was a good one – although most entrants tackle the event in rugged and sometimes heavily modified vehicles, there are many of us who are concerned enough about the fate of African rhinos to want to take part, but all we have to do it in might be the school-run Nissan Qashqai… or, in our case, the definitely low-riding road-biased 2.4-litre SZ4.

Ian Seabrook

Land Rover Discovery 1 200TdiNot everything has gone to plan lately. I spent a week preparing the car and loading it up for a green lane session in North Yorkshire with some friends. Having not done very much laning at all outside Wales, I was looking forward to a change of scenery. Sadly, only three miles into the 160-mile journey there, it all went wrong. There was a clank, a bang and the front left wheel locked up. Fortunately, it was wet and the wheel was on a white line at the time, so I slowed down with rather less drama than I might have. Reversing freed off the wheel and I could limp home. I hurled everything into the Volkswagen Golf Mk2 I owned at the time and headed north, feeling somewhat depressed.

As it happens, I had a great time as a passenger, especially aboard a Vauxhall Frontera Sport – surprisingly capable if a bit lacking in ground clearance. I also got to drive a friend’s Lada Niva – also very capable if somewhat agricultural.

Screen shot 2012-04-05 at 15.17.51Robert Pepper

Land Rover Discovery 3Every so often your brakes will wear out, and as is usual with any vehicle component the extra stress of off-roading means more frequent replacements. Brakes are no exception, as a touring off-road weighs more than a standard car, and then you’ve got grit and mud getting in the discs as well as extra use downhill. Traction control also wears a little, although that has much less effect on brake wear than might be thought.  This is because when a spinning wheel is braked to transfer torque to the other wheel on the axle there’s little force required to slow the spinning wheel – unlike the force required to brake a two or three tonne 4×4.

Anyway, off with the wheels and it was clear the Discovery needed a change of rear discs, and any time you change discs it’s a good idea to change the pads too. So that was done, but the electronic brake sensors weren’t the right ones so I left those off, and decided to just live with the dash light saying, now incorrectly, the pads were worn. So all was well until Mrs P reported a “funny noise” under braking.

Nigel FryattNigel Fryatt, Editor

Suzuki Grand Vitara Toyota RAV4It was somewhat appropriate that I drove our Toyota RAV4 to the dealer on what was obviously the coldest day of the winter so far. The temperature gauge actually said 2degC, but standing scrapping the ice from the windscreen, it certainly seemed a lot colder than that.

The journey to Toyota main dealer, Jemca, near Croydon was to have a set of winter tyres fitted to Sue’s RAV4, taking up the opportunity to test the manufacturer’s recommended options from Yokohama, the ‘W drive’ tyre, in 235/60 16. To be honest, this had not been our first choice as we had considered using winter tyres from either Pirelli or General Tire. We have had direct experience of the Pirelli Scorpion Verde, an excellent option, which made that first choice, the other option was that maybe General’s new Snow Grabber winter tyre would also be worth trying. Surprisingly, would you believe, neither are available in the UK in the 235/60 16 size suitable for (one of the most prolific SUVs in the UK) the Toyota RAV4! Odd, you have to admit. This problem was not going to put us off, however, and it led us to contact Toyota to find that the ‘official’ tyre choice for the company’s dealers is the Yokohama option.