Bob Cooke – contributor
I did say, didn’t I, that I wasn’t going to let Ivor loose in the Hotchkiss again, on account of his somewhat over-enthusiastic manner with the gearstick and the accelerator? Still, I’m a soft touch, so when he turned up at Boxgrove Pit again looking apologetic and promising not to do anything daft I relented, especially as he’d brought his nine-year old son Hayden along.
After pressure from farmers and estate workers Polaris rewarded their pleas and has launched the first Ranger side by side diesel-powered ATV.
Words & photos: Hils Everitt
When the invitation came through to view the hot-off-the-factory-floor new Polaris Ranger Diesel side by side ATV at the Soltex – the show for everyone who works in the estate and sports ground management industry – the first thought was, not much we can tell about it sat on an immaculate trade stand bustling with smart management and no mud in sight.
So, it was with delighted surprise that we learned Polaris had secured the use of Soltex’s venue, the Royal Windsor Racecourse’s purpose-built offroad route secreted in the trees. The downside was that I wasn’t allowed to drive the Ranger in the mud, despite my off-roading credentials, but a quick blast on a stretch of tarmac was the best I’d get, although it did demonstrate the excellent top speed of 35mph. Okay, so that is 5mph less than the previous 455cc single cylinder four-stroke petrol unit, but this isn’t a vehicle built for speed.
Our long-term Jeep Wrangler has showed off its superiority on plenty of off-roading adventures, but it was time to see how it would fare on a real test of skill and precision, and so we entered it into a club trial… no pressure.
Words & photos: Toby Savage, with additional photography by Matt Savage
Looking forward out of the windscreen of the Wrangler, all we could see was blue sky. The view to the left and right was similar, but through the rear window was confirmation that we were still earth bound on the unforgiving surface of Yarwell Quarry in Leicestershire, a popular trials site with many Midland-based 4×4 Clubs. We were stationary, and from the advice I was hearing none of the Jeep’s wheels were actually touching the ground! It was not the grand return to competition I had envisaged − collecting a maximum 10 points on the very first section of eight.
Hils Everitt – editor
It’s been a while since my Grand has graced the pages of the magazine. That’s because it’s been subject to a fair amount of repair, spending some quality time in the garage. The last instalment, regular readers may remember, was when I noticed that it was feeling particularly sluggish – ie felt as if it was not firing on all cylinders.
My mate, who owns a garage and does all my servicing etc, thought it could be the turbo – a look under the bonnet didn’t reveal anything obviously untoward and his computer wasn’t picking up any faults. Now a new turbo was something that I wanted to be sure about; after all, having recently shelled out a huge wad of cash for a recon Mercedes auto ‘box last year I wasn’t going to part with any more money lightly. I left it for a while and only used the Grand for short journeys as I was in full denial and just didn’t want to come to terms with the idea of a new turbo!
But on one particular journey things just weren’t right and I was now getting a sensation of fumes inside the Jeep and looking under the bonnet could finally see what the problem was.
Nigel Fryatt – contributor
You always have some interesting adventures with a 4×4, and, recently, we were driving the RAV down a remote country lane on the south coast, near Pagham, and completely out of the blue we came across, rather appropriately, a ‘Blue Plaque’. Strangely, there were no buildings around, all appeared to be rather uninspiring, bleak and very flat farmland.
Stopping to check it out, we found we were actually driving over RAF Selsey and that from these fields, Spitfires and Typhoons, piloted by English, Belgian, French and Kiwi pilots, took off to give cover for the Allied D-Day invasion forces in 1944. Looking over these innocuous fields, on a very peaceful autumn day, it makes you stop and think, that’s for sure, especially as when we were there it was very close to the date of the Battle of Britain anniversary. As we say, you have some interesting drives in a 4×4.
John-Joe Vollans – Golf/Classic Car Buyer
I need to come clean straight away: my four-wheel-drive experience normally revolves around performance classic saloons like the Audi Quattro, Lancia Delta etc… I have, however, had the pleasure of attending a press launch for the Mitsubishi Outlander (I know it’s an SUV, not a ‘real’ offroader) exploring the vehicle’s capabilities in the mucky stuff, and I spent a day off-road with Kubota’s RTV900. All that was required from the BT-50 on this occasion was to hitch up a trailer and collect a 1982 Mk1 VW Golf from Kent and deliver it safely to my home in Stamford, Lincolnshire.
The first impression for me on collecting the BT-50 from our head office was its sheer size. Obviously being a double cab pick-up and incorporating an expansive rear enclosed deck, the BT needs some substantial proportions, but, nevertheless, when you spend your days writing about, and driving Morris Minors, a vehicle with an overall length of nearly five metres does make an impression!
Last month we followed Toby, and partner Jo, down the Autoroutes of France in our long-term Mitsubishi Shogun 4Work Van to their friends’ old farm house, high in the hills of Northern Italy. Following a wine-buying spree, Toby ventured off onto some of the tracks in the area to give the Shogun a chance to stretch its legs before an eventful drive home via the Alps
Words & photos: Toby Savage with additional photography by Leigh Hooper
Our plans took a bit of a knock as we gazed out of the window at almost zero visibility. A thick mist, bordering on light rain, had descended and enveloped the hills in autumnal damp. Regrettably, we only had that Sunday free to do our off-road driving in the Shogun and, judging by the distant sound of shotgun fire, the weather was not deterring the hunters who would be out in force on this, the first weekend of the hunting season. Wild Boar is their choice of target, but, to be honest, any other moving animal will do. The hunting is fairly well controlled; hunters require a license and work in small groups communicating by radio. A battered 4×4 is parked nearby ready to transport the hapless beast back to the farm, where it is apportioned out among the team. Our one hope was, that in the poor visibility, they would not mistake us for game and take a shot at us!
Hils Everitt – editor
Our Jimny has clocked up plenty of road miles on various trips to magazine shoots. One was up to Derbyshire to meet a 4×4 on the opposite end of the scale – Bowler’s new Nemesis EXR, see last month’s issue – then a trip to north Wales, to hook up with contributors Wayne in his Defender Td5 90 and Toby in his 1945 Jeep, was a real test of its on-road mettle.
Plenty has been said in the past about Suzuki’s rather under-damped suspension and lack of steering feedback, but it is a budget 4×4 and has excellent off-road credentials so it will never receive too much criticism in our books Cruising on the motorway you feel okay until the bad weather sets in and you have to share the tarmac with huge lorries. On the way back from one job in the dark, the heavens opened, the wind whipped up to a frenzy on the M40 and it was hellish every time me and the little grey SZ4 overtook a container lorry. This is where you really have to cling on as the Jimny is swept aside by the force of the lorries and the visibility is pretty awful which doesn’t really induce a feeling of total safety.
Bob Cooke – contributor
It was meant to be me giving Derek a masterclass on how to drive a moderately capable four-wheel drive over fairly serious terrain. It began with Derek putting my nose out of joint.
“It’ll never get up there,” I said, pointing to the steep climb up the bank at the far end of the Boxgrove Pit off-road site. “I mean it’ll make the climb, but with its long wheelbase it’ll scrape its underside as it goes over the top which might damage the exhaust or the catalyst, which we certainly don’t want to do.”
Derek has a keen sense of spatial awareness. He looked at the slope, then turned his gaze on the Rodeo pick-up and said: “It’ll get over easily.” He grinned and climbed into the Denver’s leather-and-chrome-trimmed cab, booted the Rodeo up the slope and cleared the top with centimetres to spare.
Garry Stuart – freelance photographer
The last month has been jam-packed with events that needed to be covered. In addition to the packed weekend schedules, the Terrano, Stella and I, together with two nephews and a bridesmaid, had to make a midweek trip to the Irish Republic where I had the honour of photographing my brother Michael’s marriage to Paula. Leaving from my hometown port of Holyhead we sailed with Stena Line to the port of Dublin. The last time I had made this crossing was way back in 1978 with Stella riding pillion on my Honda 400/4 motorbike. On both of these trips we were headed for roughly the same destination, Roscommon, on the banks of the meandering Shannon River.
The wedding was at Kilronan Castle, quite a grand venue for a Stuart wedding, and one which offered plenty of opportunity for some great wedding pics – I don’t always take pictures of massive challenge 4x4s in rip-roaring action. A brief recce of the area on the day before the wedding in the Terrano saw me exploring a few locations around the banks of the lake next to Kilronan Castle.
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