Nigel Fryatt – editor

Looking back on some of the more recent reports on the Toyota reminds you just how bad, and for how long, the snow was with us this winter. Just looking at the pages actually makes you feel cold, which makes the fact that it’s now spring as this is being written, all the more pleasing. The Rav4 performed brilliantly during the cold snap, but if I’m honest, it’s far more preferable having to switch the air-conditioning on because it’s too hot! Mind you, Sue and I argue about just how much fuel the air-con is burning up, and perhaps opening the windows would be cheaper. I then point out that opening the window greatly affects the aerodynamic flow around the vehicle, causing drag, and using more fuel. We tend to compromise, but we have certainly been grateful of the air-conditioning as this is being written just after that fabulous ‘early summer’ weather we experienced over Easter.

Nigel Fryatt – contributor

It’s quite odd letting a man you’ve never met start hitting your 4×4 with a hammer. Okay, so it was more gentle taps than full-blooded thumps, but it was still rather worrying. Did he really know what he was doing? Should we have taken the Toyota to the bodyshop?

Regular readers will remember that a few weeks ago we had the Toyota’s front bumper repaired at a cost of £370. The RAV was off the road for nearly three days; such was the palaver involved in removing the huge front bumper, prepping it, spraying and then re-fixing everything. Thankfully, the culprit had acknowledged the ‘bump’ and our costs were covered. The repair was excellently done, yet despite it not actually costing us anything, nearly £400 for a minor scuff seemed excessive.

You can imagine the language, therefore, when yet another errant parker, in the car park, sheepishly announced they too had ‘just nicked’ the front wing of the Toyota. So after a visit to the Tractor Show (pic above), off we went again to the bodyshop for an estimate; two days this time, at a cost of £367 (plus VAT).

Hils Everitt – editor

Well, so far so good. After a catalogue of problems in 2010, my Grand has behaved itself very well so far. With my brand new set of General Grabber AT rubberwear we conquered the deep snow last December and since then the beast has not put a foot wrong.
So, it was with a little trepidation that when the annual service and MoT time came up recently I couldn’t help a real feeling of dread, just in case.

So, I dropped my 51-plate, 90,555-mile Jeep off at my mate’s garage and didn’t hang around to watch proceedings and dashed off in the hideous and ancient Fiat Punto that he had lent me for the day. I was a bit disappointed that he didn’t hand me the keys of the Smart car that I usually get with its quirky sequential gearbox and left-hand drive. I love quirky cars and this one is the ultimate. The Punto was a poor substitute and I could feel the pitiful glances that were directed my way – everyone smiles at the Smart!

Ann Lockley – contributor

Christmas arrived a month late here in Canada but I am not complaining – not one bit! TerraFirma and Rock Island Rovers stepped up to the plate and sent along the promised parts to get my poor stricken Kelsey up and running; without the wobble, I hope.

So my lovely package from Santa included included: Big Bore Expedition Shocks, Heavy Load Front & Rear springs, Rear Spring Dislocation Cones, Rear Top Shock Mount Relocators, poly bushing kit, all from TerraFirma plus all three ball joints and an ignition coil purchased here in Victoria, so how good it will work is anyone’s guess!

Kevin Baldwin – contributor

I love cars, but the one thing I hate with a passion is the actual buying process, which is a big reason it’s taken so long for me to find a replacement for my 90 that was stolen in July 2010. Wasted journeys to look at glorified tat is no fun, but this time the delay in finding a suitable vehicle wasn’t down to a lack of interest but more the lack of choice available.

The 90’s replacement was always going to be a Defender, but this time I wanted to upsize to a 110, specifically the Utility Wagon model. The Defender 110 Utility Wagon was launched at the same time that the Defender range got its makeover in 2007. The new interior and 2.4-litre Transit engine and six-speed box were all new, as was the addition of the Utility Wagon based on the 110 Station Wagon, but with the rear windows and third row of seating deleted to create a more load-user-friendly and practical loadbed. The Utility Wagon is not a big seller, but is a hugely sought after secondhand buy; hence the reason it’s taken me so long to find a suitable vehicle.

Okay, so I’ll admit that, besides a strict Yorkshireman’s budget, my other exacting criteria did narrow down my choice of vehicles. It had to be silver, grey or black; I didn’t want the basic spec (there are three trim levels); the mileage had to be low-ish and, of course, it had to be straight and clean. The daily trawl of Auto Trader, eBay and various Land Rover-based internet sites became a tedious chore, but, in the end, a classified ad on the defender2.com website bagged me the 110 I’d been looking for.

Bob Cooke – contributor

The Cherokee launched over the crest so quickly and came down with such a thump that I banged my head on the roof – I didn’t think the seatbelt would stretch that much.

I blame the Trailmaster suspension – it’s given the Cherokee an extra two inches of ride height and is hard enough to absorb the worst of shocks from ruts and ridges taken a little too quickly. The result is that I find myself tempted to tackle increasingly difficult obstacles, safe in the knowledge that the lifted Cherokee has the clearance and beefed-up suspension to make it all seem easy.

I am actually a firm believer in the ‘tread softly’ approach, and I’m usually able to ease the Cherokee over even quite tortuous obstacles simply by getting the approach right so the old truck doesn’t have to lift a wheel, with consequent loss of traction. I can’t really afford that, because although the Cherokee’s Limited specification includes a limited-slip differential, it’s reached an age where there’s more slip than limit so there are times when the only way to clear an axle-crossing section is to floor it.

Garry Stuart – contributor

The beginning of March is when the new season for off-road sports events gets underway and that means lots of motorway driving, or at least it did before diesel became so flipping expensive. I had to go and shoot the AWDC new XL Challenge at the Walter’s Arena site near Seven Sisters in South Wales. From my starting point in Preston, the Via Michelin Guide on the internet recommended going via Chester, Wrexham, Welshpool, Brecon; a nice drive through the Welsh Marches. My instinct would have been to bomb down the M6/M5 and take the M50 across to Monmouth and Merthyr Tydfil.

I opted for the scenic route thinking that the lower average speed might be more economical on fuel. Arriving at Seven Sisters five and a half hours and 199 miles later, I appeared to have a third of a tank of diesel left.

The Walter’s Arena site is a huge area covering 1600 acres, and AWDC’s Neil Whitford and his band of marshals had used all corners setting up 20 long sections. Normally I walk around all the sections, but, in this instance, it was obvious that the Terrano needed to do some mild off-road work and cart me around the enormous site.

Louise Limb – contributor

As I was writing this I put aside my fussing and fretting about whether to risk the wrath of the walkers and farmers by driving a gentle Lakeland BOAT above Windermere, to witness in absolute horror on the glowing screen in the corner, the well-built Suzukis, just like mine, being tossed in the waves of the Tsunami, that overwhelmed north eastern Japan, like little tin boxes in a biblical flood.

It’s as good a reminder as any of the fragility of our highly-developed world and my thoughts, as I’m sure yours are too, are with their owners and drivers, even if, by the time this is printed, the devastation will have faded from our televisions.