4x4 Magazine - April 2022 by Assignment Media Ltd

4x4

NEWS • TECH • DEBATE • TRAVEL • MODIFIED VEHICLES • GREEN LANING PLUS Discovery D250: all the engine you’ll ever need?

THE UK’S ONLY 4X4 AND PICK-UP MAGAZINE

CLASSIC ADVENTURE

Great old trucks and gentleman racers take on the desert in the Dakar Classic

PLUS All-new Ranger Raptor: more hardcore than ever and on the road this summer

A top-quality brake upgrade and rear disc conversion for our Project D-Max

Pic: ASO / Fotop

Hardcore Hilux from back in the days before pick-ups were cool

£4.99

A green lane route to reckon with on Salisbury Plain

APR 2022

Early 90 restored into an Armymeets-civvy masterpiece 4x4 Cover Apr 22.indd 1

13/03/2022 21:41

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WORKSHOP TECHNICIAN required to join our busy workshop. Experience of welding with Mig essential. Metalwork fabrication and spray painting will give applicants a distinct advantage.

• Servicing and repair to main dealer standards • Automotive repair and welding with Mig • Auto-electrical work including diagnostics, fault-ﬁnding and making bespoke wiring harnesses • Modifying of 4x4s both cosmetically and extensively • Applying Dinitrol underbody wax treatments • Preparation and repair of bodywork to primer stage • Restoration work

Applicants must have the following qualities: • Positive can-do attitude • Keen eye for detail with pride in their work • Fully qualiﬁed motor vehicle technician, preferably with experience of working on 4x4s • Ability to work on their own initiative with minimal supervision • Openness to trying new methods of work to improve efﬁciency • Honesty and high levels of integrity Own comprehensive tools and toolbox required

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19785 Allmakes Ltd 4x4 Magazine - 3 page advert - Discovery.indd 1

21/08/2020 10:39

The World’s best accessories for Land Rover Discovery

At Terrafirma we stand behind every product we sell, we believe that quality is the definition of something superior, more than fit for purpose and that meets customer’s expectations. Terrafirma Serious 4x4 Accessories now come with a Certificate of Conformity, the ultimate statement of quality and an industry first!

19785 Allmakes Ltd 4x4 Magazine - 3 page advert - Discovery.indd 2

21/08/2020 10:39

Terrafirma accessories are available from over 100 distributors worldwide Wheels, Brakes and Drivetrain

Suspension

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19785 Allmakes Ltd 4x4 Magazine - 3 page advert - Discovery.indd 3

21/08/2020 10:43

EGR ROLLTRAC.

INTRODUCING THE WORLD’S BEST ELECTRIC ROLL TOP COVER.

EGR RollTrac is the all new roll top cover that keeps cargo fully protected, wherever your pickup truck is heading. Just the job for even the toughest of rides, it boasts a lightly textured black powder coating that’s water and scratch resistant to boot.

And if security’s top of mind, the EGR RollTrac simply won’t disappoint. With an aluminium interlocking slat system, it’s impossible to cut through, or pull apart.

Find out more and buy online at www.4x4ni.com 30 | AUGUST 2020 Ad spreads.indd 30

What’s more, the EGR RollTrac is fully integrated into your vehicle’s electrical system. No hassle. It opens or locks shut with just the click of your key fob.

EGR RollTrac. Bring it on.

4x4 30/06/2020 17:05

Available exclusively from

SMART TECH • SECURE • WATER-RESISTANT • TOUGH • CENTRAL LOCKING

4x4 Ad spreads.indd 31

AUGUST 2020 | 13

30/06/2020 17:05

April 2022

CONTENTS Pic: ASO / Fotop

‘We’ll be going in expedition mode. It’s all about not and keeping the car alive’

4 | APRIL 2022

Contents Mar.indd 4

4x4 13/03/2022 21:11

60 COOL TOOLS WHEN YOU SUBSCRIBE!

Right now you can get 4x4 delivered for a year for just £30 – and we’ll sweeten the deal by sending you a high-quality Sealey multi-tool worth £21.54! 4x4 Scene: News, Products and More… 6 10 14 16 22 22 24 25 26

Great British Land Rover Show Get set for a major new event on 1 May Ford Ranger Raptor 3.0-litre super-truck hits the road this summer Land Rover Defender Solihull goes stargazing in the Scottish Highlands Green Lanes in Crisis Act now to have your say on the Landscapes Review Terraﬁrma New catalogue has biggest ever acessories range Britpart Demountable D44 winch tray joins range of recovery kit Machine Mart Dirigible garage/workshops get bigger than ever Optima Cold-climate engine oil gets oﬃcial ticket from Land Rover Jeepey Bestop and Smittybilt soft-tops now in stock

Driven 28 34

Land Rover Discovery Is entry-level D250 all the Disco you’ll ever need? Kia Sorento Hybrid Classy SUV impresses in mid-range hybrid form

Every Month 6 60 66 80

Alan Kidd The latest threat to green laning is depressingly predictable Subscribe Get 4x4 at a knock-down price and receive a free Sealey multi-tool Roadbook A chilled out adventure in the rolling hills of East Leicestershire Next Month A very special issue of 4x4 to celebrate our 40th birthday

Features 38 46

Mighty Hilux An old-school off-road warrior – and then some Classic 90 Pre-Defender Landy revived into a throwback military off-roader

Travel 50

Dakar Classic Mild competition and full-on adventure in the Saudi desert

Our 4x4s 62

Isuzu D-Max Fitting a set of brakes that won’t be fazed by anything

66 East Leics Roadbook getting left behind

4x4 Contents Mar.indd 5

APRIL 2022 | 5

13/03/2022 21:11

4x4 Tel: 01283 553243 Email: enquiries@assignment-media.co.uk

Alan Kidd Editor

Those who hate others’ freedom are a danger to us all

ack in the early days of Total Off Road, which a decade and a half later became part of 4x4, we ran several stories on the political shenanigans which ended up creating the staggeringly dishonest NERC Act. At the time, we were naïve about what was going on and, like most of those within the 4x4 world whose pastime was about to be ripped apart, ignorant of the depths to which the forces of greed could sink. A brief history lesson. Then, like now, there were Byways and Unclassified County Roads, and by and large you could legally drive on them. But there were also Roads Used as Public Paths; you could drive on them, too, but the government wanted to make them obsolete and so in 1968 it tasked local authorities with the job of reclassifying them. If there was evidence of vehicular rights, they were to become byways: if not, they would become bridleways and motor vehicles would no longer be allowed. The target was for this process to be complete by the year 2000. Some regional councils got the job done well before that, but as the years rolled by it became clear that others were never going to get it done. Then in 1997, the Blair government was elected. One of its earliest pieces of legislation was the Countryside and Rights of Way Act, which created the concept of right to roam for walkers – and for green lane users, proposed to reclassify all RUPPs as Restricted Byways. Bridleways, by any other name. From the word go, it was an assault on freedom. And it was every bit as unjustified as, for example, the invasion of Ukraine, because every single unbiased piece of research concluded that motor vehicle use on public rights of way is not a problem. A few more years rumbled by and Blair’s mob came up with the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Bill, which would enact the Restricted Byways proposal. A hammer blow to freedom, but at least there was one redeeming factor. A great many RUPPs were also classified as Unclassified County Roads – so if they lost the former status, the latter meant we would still be able to enjoy them.

6 | APRIL 2022

ADD GLASS PAGE REF Edline Mar.indd 4

This is where the 4x4 world was an easy target for the professional manipulators in parliament. The anti-freedom movement has some very powerful, well connected individuals within it – and this allowed it to make a few changes to the details of the bill during its passage through the House of Lords. As a result, when the law was passed it had been reworded to say that on dual-status rights of way, they new lower status would take precedence – so even if a route was an Unclassiﬁed Road, you would no longer be allowed to use it if it also happened to be an old RUPP. In addition, the Act allowed national park authorities to basically wage war against the rights of way in their areas. Since then, at least one has lain waste to some of the UK’s best green lanes, fundamentally on the whim of one individual anti-4x4 bigot who happens to be senior within it. The government could have stopped these amendments from being made in the Lords. But that’s how government works in the UK – a favour for a favour, a blind eye for a blind eye. The Tory-v-Labour show distracts the voters while the rich people carve it up. We call it democracy. And now history is repeating itself. As I write this, the government is inviting comments on proposed legislation which, you can be sure, those same anti-vehicle bigots intend to manipulate as they did so foully before. And this time, they intend to ﬁnish the job and ban 4x4s from all the rights of way that still remain. So I beg you with all my heart to respond to the consultation. Take a look at the article on page 16 of this issue and if you possibly can, make your voice heard. It doesn’t matter if you’re a green laner of not. This is a freedom issue. Our enemies will not rest until every byway is dead; and who knows what they’ll go after next? I’m biased, of course, because it’s my own pastime that’s under threat. But you don’t need to be Ukrainian to oppose the invasion of Ukraine. And you don’t need to be a green laner to know that those who hate others’ freedom are a danger to us all.

Web: www.totaloffroad.co.uk www.4x4i.com Online Shop: www.toronline.co.uk Facebook: www.facebook.com/totaloffroad www.facebook.com/4x4Mag Editor Alan Kidd Art Editor Samantha D’Souza Contributors Dan Fenn, Paul Looe, Gary Martin, Gary Noskill, Kaziyoshi Sasazaki, Olly Sack, Tom Alderney Photographers Harry Hamm, Steve Taylor, Richard Hair, Vic Peel Group Advertising Manager Ian Argent Tel: 01283 553242 Advertising Manager Colin Ashworth Tel: 01283 553244 Advertising Production Sarah Moss Tel: 01283 553242 Subscriptions Sarah Moss Tel: 01283 553242 Publisher and Head of Marketing Sarah Moss Email: sarah.moss@assignment-media.co.uk To subscribe to 4x4, or renew a subscription, call 01283 553242. Prices for 12 issues: UK £42 (24 issues £76); Europe Airmail/ROW Surface £54; ROW Airmail £78 Distributed by Marketforce; www.marketforce.co.uk Every effort is made to ensure the contents of 4x4 are accurate, but Assignment Media accepts no responsibility for errors or omissions nor the consequences of actions made as a result of these. When responding to any advert in 4x4, you should make appropriate enquiries before sending money or entering into a contract. The publishers take reasonable care to ensure advertisers’ probity, but will not be liable for loss or damage incurred from responding to adverts Where a photo credit includes the note ‘CC BY 2.0’ or similar, the image is made available under that Creative Commons licence: details at www.creativecommons.org 4x4 is published by Assignment Media Ltd, Repton House 1.08, Bretby Business Park, Ashby Road, Bretby, Derbyshire DE15 0YZ

4x4 13/03/2022 21:15

New Accessory Catalogue Order your copy today

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19th

Edition Is Out Now! The new Britpart Accessory Catalogue is now available. This is the catalogue to have! Whatever model you drive, whichever year it is, we have the accessories to suit your requirements. Note - Sorry but catalogues can only be posted to UK addresses. Catalogue can be viewed online at www.britpart.com/cat *Alternatively write to the Marketing Department, Britpart, The Grove, Craven Arms, Shropshire, SY7 8DA.

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**WANTED** ANY UNWANTED 4X4 OR PICKUPS RUNNERS AND NON RUNNER GIVE US A CALL OR SEND SOME PHOTOS VIA EMAIL FOR US TO BUY

Collection & Fitting service available on Engine, Gearbox, Axles and Chassis Replacements when supplying.

The Sidings, Holdsworth Road, Halifax HX3 6SN

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01/10/2019 18:28

NEWS

Newark Showground gets set to host springtime Great British Land Rover Show on 1 May

THE NEW SPRINGTIME EDITION of the Great British Land Rover Show is getting set to make its debut at Newark Showground on 1 May. And it’s going to be an absolute must for everyone who owns a Land Rover or just appreciates the Solihull marque. You don’t even need to be into Landies for the show to be well

worth visiting. With parts and accessories to buy, bespoke vehicle builds and eye-popping restorations, Land Rover toys and models, branded clothing and other merchandise, as well as specialist insurance providers, overland travel operators, tyre and exhaust specialists and yet more, there’s going to be more than

just something for everyone at Newark. There’s going to be lots for everyone! Of course, there’ll be most of all if you’ve got a Land Rover and you’re looking for more or less anything to do with it. That’s what the Great British Land Rover Show is all about – and over the years, it has gained a reputation as one of the best in the business at delivering the goods. The show is supported by Headline Sponsor BFGoodrich Tires, Terraﬁrma, Paddock Spares and The Landy. In addition, the All Wheel Drive Club will be running a special 2.4-mile off-road course which visitors will be able to experience in their own vehicles. The show’s off-road route is always a smash hit at Stoneleigh in November, and Newark is set to be no different. The course has several levels of diﬃculty, making it suitable for all levels of driver ability and experience – and for every kind of Land Rover, from Series Is to new Range Rovers

and everything in between. Marshals from the AWDC will be on hand with advice on driving techniques – and, should that not be enough, a handy tow rope! The organisers recommend that you buy your tickets in advance for the off-road course, both to avoid disappointment and to be able to select your preferred start time. The same goes for the display apparatus that will be specially erected by the Land Rover Experience. Here,, you can take a passenger ride in the latest Land Rover vehicles with the company’s expert instructors at the wheel. With intense inclines, dramatic descents, sideways tilts and more, the Experience’s Dynamic Display Equipment, which was designed to showcase the technology and capabilities of all the company’s vehicles, demonstrates their capabilities in various different ways and always makes a popular addition to any show. It was a huge hit at Stoneleigh last November – and you can be sure the same will be the case at Newark in May! Tickets for the Great British Land Rover Show, at Newark Showground on 1 May, cost £15 on the day – or just £7.50 in advance. You can get them by visiting gblandrovershow. co.uk – so mark the date in your diary now!

2022 dates: 1 May, Newark • 20 November, Stoneleigh 4x4 1p GBLRS Apr 22.indd 9

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NEW 4X4S

Ranger set to arrive this summer as 3.0-litre V6 diesel engine • 288bhp, 362lbf.ft • Drive modes include Baja setting and

ord has lifted the lid on the Raptor version of the all-new Ranger Raptor. And rather than coming late to the range the way the current model did, this time the performance derivative of the high-selling pick-up will lead it on to the market by being the ﬁrst version to go on sale.

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In the UK, Ford says the Ranger is primarily a 2023 product. However the Raptor model will arrive signiﬁcantly earlier, with customer deliveries predicted to begin towards the end of this summer. Those customers will get a truck powered by a 3.0-litre V6 diesel engine delivering 288bhp and 362lbf.

ft. Once again mated to a 10-speed automatic box, in the words of chief programme engineer Dave Burn this makes the vehicle ‘signiﬁcantly faster’ than the 2.0-litre unit in the current Raptor – a version of which will continue to be available in the new model when the full range goes on sale next year.

‘The 3.0-litre engine brings a different dynamic to the Ranger Raptor that will satisfy even the most hardcore performance enthusiast,’ says Burn. ‘The acceleration and raw performance of the new powertrain leave you grinning from ear-to-ear.’ So too might the exhaust note, which is adjustable through four

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NEW 4X4S

Ford introduces all-new Raptor

straight-through exhaust option • First version of new Ranger due to arrive in UK

different sound modes. These are Quiet, ‘to keep the peace with neighbours on early mornings’; Normal, which has ‘presence’ without being antisocial; Sport, which cranks up the volume with a more dynamic note; and Baja, which takes things into straight-through territory. Ford says the latter is intended for off-

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NEW 4X4S

road use only, but we wouldn’t mind betting plenty of owners will select it on day one and leave it there. Underneath, the Raptor has its own unique heavy-duty chassis intended to cope with punishing offroad use. Its suspension features

long-travel front control arms and a revised rear Watts linkage, along with the latest 2.5” Fox Live Valve internal bypass shocks. Charged with Teﬂon-infused oil, these promise around 50% less friction than those on the existing Raptor. ‘The

suspension adapts in real time,’ says Burn, ‘to enable exceptional on-road body control while absorbing corrugations and bigger ruts with ease, ensuring maximum performance.’ The dampers’ performance is governed by the various settings in

Ford’s drive mode palette, promising an enhanced blend of comfort, control, stability and traction at all speeds both on and off-road. And in addition to all the electronic wizardry, for the ﬁrst time the vehicle’s full-time, two-speed four-wheel drive system is boosted by locking front and rear diffs. This in turn allows it to tackle the sort of terrain that can mean trouble for such a big vehicle. So to protect the Raptor from the sort of damage a long-wheelbase truck can suffer in extreme off-road situations, Ford has also specced it with heavy-duty underbody protection made from 2.3mm thick steel. This includes a front bash plate that’s almost twice the size of the one on the current model, as well as guards for the sump, transfer case, radiator, steering and front diff. There are twin recovery points at both ends of the vehicle, too. Proper ones, as opposed to lashing eyes. You’d imagine that they’ll mainly be used for recovering other people,

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NEW 4X4S

though the Ranger’s hardware certainly will allow it to go places where when you get stuck, you get really stuck. ‘While Ranger Raptor was inspired by desert racers,’ continues Burn, ‘it’s also a supremely capable overlanding vehicle. Out of the box we’ve created an off-road vehicle that you don’t need to modify to get you where you need to go and back again safely.’ It’s not equipped with a winch as standard, but if Ford doesn’t offer that as a factory or dealer-ﬁt option the aftermarket will certainly take care of it. As before, there’s a variety of drive modes to cover most on and off-road conditions – seven in total, including the iconic Baja mode which Burn calls ‘the ultimate expression of the high-speed off-road capability… the Ranger Raptor customer expects.’ As well as Baja, the palette of options includes Normal, Sport and Slippery modes for on-road driving and the familiar Sand, Mud/Ruts and Rock Crawl for off-roading. In addition, the vehicle now has a Trail Control function – a low-speed form of cruise control similar to those introduced by various other 4x4 makers over the last few years. In addition to its extra capabilities, the Raptor’s styling is equally

radical. We’ve spoken to owners of the current model who say they don’t like the way the new one looks, but exterior design boss Dave Dewitt says everything about it is ‘there for a reason.’ This includes its signature LED lighting, race-look 17” alloys and heavy-duty side steps, as well as a variety of vents and aero features – all of which, Ford says, are functional rather than being for show. ‘We’re communicating what Raptor can do just by the way it looks,’ continues Dewitt. Inside, the Raptor gains Ford’s highest-spec media system with a 12.4” digital instrument cluster and 12” tablet-style infotainment screen. The latter runs all the latest smartphone pairing software, as well as a 10-speaker Bang and Olufsen stereo for you to enjoy while you relax in what Ford describes as ‘jet fighter-inspired sports seats.’ What we don’t yet know is what the Raptor will cost. Ford also hasn’t said whether its payload will allow it to be classed as a commercial vehicle this time, so we don’t know what it’ll really cost either. But with no more than six months to wait before deliveries are due to start, it’s not long before we find out – and, more to the point, before we get our first proper look at what we can expect from the all-new Ranger.

SPECIALIST 4X4 VEHICLE DISMANTERS JEEP - LAND ROVER SPECIALIST 4X4 VEHICLE DISMANTERS AND MOST MAKES AND MODELS JEEP LAND ROVER QUALITY GUARANTEED USED PARTS AND MOST MAKES AND MODELS QUALITY GUARANTEED PARTS SOME OF THE VEHICLESUSED WE HAVE RECENTLY DISMANTLED: SOME OF THE VEHICLES WE HAVE RECENTLY DISMANTLED:

20012015 JEEPJEEP WRANGLER JK 2001 Jeep Grand CHEROKEE XJ 2.8CRD 2015 JEEP Cherokee WJ JK WRANGLER 2.8CRD

2007 DODGE 2018 JEEP NITRO 2.8CRD 2010 Isuzu RENEGADE 2007 DODGE Rodeo NITRO 2.8CRD

2016 RANGE 2008 NISSAN ROVER EVOQUE 2012 Range PATHFINDER 2.0 TD4 2016 RANGE Rover Sport ROVER EVOQUE 2.0 TD4

2014 RANGE 2016 2014 2010 JEEP 2006 JEEP 2011 ISUZU ISUZU ROVER SPORT 4.4 D-MAX 2.5 DIESEL CHEROKEE MK5 WRANGLER TJ RODEO MITSUBISHI L200 2010 2015 Mitsubishi 2020 Ford V8 Jeep DIESEL KL 2.0 MULTIJET 2014 RANGE 2016 ISUZU 2014 JEEP Cherokee KK Outlander Ranger ROVER SPORT 4.4 D-MAX 2.5 DIESEL CHEROKEE MK5 V8 DIESEL

KL 2.0 MULTIJET

JEEP 2007 LAND 20152010 RANGE 2012ROVER CHEROKEE MK4 DISCOVERY 3 2.7 ROVER EVOQUE MITSUBISHI ASX 2015 Range Jeep KK 2.8JEEP CRD 20072016 TDV6 2010 LAND ROVER Rover Evoque Renegade CHEROKEE MK4 DISCOVERY 3 2.7 KK 2.8 CRD

TDV6

2008 HONDA 2013 TOYOTA CRV 2.2 CDTI HILUXGrand 2006 Jeep 2008 HONDA Cherokee CRV 2.2 CDTIWK

2006 NISSAN 2006 JEEP 2006 JEEP GRAND 2015 LAND 2004 JEEP CHEROKEE WK PATHFINDER 2.5 GRAND GRAND 5.7 V8 HEMI ROVER DCI 2020 Jeep Land2006 Rover NISSAN2015 Nissan 2006 JEEP2018 GRAND DISCOVERY CHEROKEE WK CHEROKEE WJ 2.5 X-Trail WK PATHFINDER WranglerCHEROKEE JL Discovery Sport Charlton Recycled Auto Parts DCI 5.7 V8 HEMI SPORT Vehicle Recycling Centre, Gravel Pit Hill, Thriplow, Cambridge, SG8 7HZParts Charlton Recycled Auto Tel 01223Gravel 832656Pit Hill, Thriplow, Vehicle Recycling Centre, Email parts@charltonautoparts.co.uk Cambridge, SG8 7HZ PLEASE VISIT WWW.CHARLTONAUTOPARTS.CO.UK Tel 01223 832656 Email parts@charltonautoparts.co.uk PLEASE VISIT WWW.CHARLTONAUTOPARTS.CO.UK

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NEW 4X4S

Land Rover reaches for the stars

recent expedition to the Highlands of Scotland saw a convoy of Land Rover Defenders leave the road behind in a bid to ﬁnd the UK’s best location for stargazing.

Exploring the 14,500-acre Ben Damph Estate on Upper Loch Torridon, the vehicles ended up eight miles from the nearest road at a point where, with no trees to obscure the view and a complete

lack of light pollution, the conditions ticked every box laid out by consultant expert Dr Jennifer Milard for an ideal view of the skies. Unlikely though it may sound, Britain is home to some of Europe’s largest areas of Dark Sky – oﬃcially designated reserves with low levels of light pollution. This means that even if you’re not able to travel into the depths of a massive private estate in search of the perfect place for viewing the heavens, you’re still likely to have great locations nearby – and of course owning a 4x4 means you can ﬁnd better ones than everybody else. You don’t even need to take a telescope with you. Dr Milard explains that even with the naked eye,

you can see Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn (easily identiﬁable as ‘stars’ that don’t twinkle), distant constellations, nebulae and star clusters, the vast expanse of the Milky Way galaxy and regular shooting stars, as well as man-made satellites and a surprising level of detail on the surface of the moon. Arm yourself with a pair of binoculars and you can see Neptune and Uranus, lunar craters and four of Jupiter’s moons, as well as much greater details of more distant objects like stars, galaxies and nebulae. With a telescope, meanwhile, celestial wonders like Saturn’s rings, Jupiter’s stripes, Mars’ polar ice caps and even distant comets can become visible.

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NEW 4X4S

Dark Secrets

All of this depends on the view not being polluted by local light, which is why being able to ﬁnd the right Dark Sky locations is so important – and Land Rover has provided a list of ten of Britain’s best. In addition, Dr Milard advises that once you’ve arrived, it takes around half an hour for your eyes to become fully ‘dark adapted’ – so get your face out of your phone, use a red-light torch and switch off your vehicle’s headlamps. Yes, even the kind you get on old Series Land Rovers will hamper your eyes’ ability to see the stars. For the same reason, moonless nights are best for seeing what else is in the sky. Then, with things like star maps and a compass to aid you (there are stargazing apps available too, but again only use them in conjunction with a red-light ﬁlter on your device), you can start checking out the wonders above. Dr Milard does have one other tip, though: wrap up warm. Stargazing involves a lot of standing still, and of course you do it at night, so it’s easy to get cold. And the last thing you want is to be scurrying back off to the comfort of your warm 4x4 just when things are starting to get interesting… especially if it’s the aforementioned Series Land Rover and all you’re going to get is a burnt shin for your troubles.

Compiled by Land Rover, in consultation with Dr Jennifer Milard, these are ten of the UK’s best locations to go in search of dark skies and great views of the stars. • Carrick-a-Rede (Northern Ireland) Best known for the 66’ rope bridge connecting the Antrim coast to the eponymous offshore island, this National Trust property is one of only two Dark Sky sites in Northern Ireland. It has a 24-hour car park, making it extremely popular with local astronomers. • Compton Bay (Isle of Wight) Largely devoid of light pollution, Compton Bay is ideal for stargazing even with just the naked eye. The car park at the nearby Fort Victoria Country Park is an official Dark Sky Discovery Site. • Cairngorms National Park (Scotland) It’s a bit of a trek for most of us, but the Cairngorms have Gold Tier dark skies. This is also the place to come is you’re feeling lucky and want to see the ultimate wonder of the skies – the Aurora Borealis. • Snowdonia National Park (North Wales) Snowdonia boasts International Dark Sky Reserve Status, meaning it has one of Britain’s very best views of the night sky. Facing north from here, you can see the constellation of Cassiopeia with the naked eye; the lakes of Lynnau Cregennen, Dolgellau, are particularly recommended as a stargazing site. • Dalby Forest (North Yorkshire) Accessible via a number of unsurfaced public rights of way, Dalby Forest is a tourist trap and secluded wilderness rolled into one. At Kettleness Cliff, you can see as many as 2000 stars at any one time. Taking advantage of its International Dark Sky Reserve status, the Scarborough and Ryedale Astronomical Society organises Starfest, an annual three-night star camp held every August. • Brecon Beacons (Wales) Another area with several glorious rights of way, the Brecon Beacons was only the fifth place in the world to be awarded International Dark Sky Reserve status. The car parks around Usk Reservoir are known for being particularly free from light pollution; at the right time of the year, this area offers excellent views of many nebulae. • Exmoor National Park (Somerset) Europe’s first ever Dark Sky Reserve, Exmoor hosts an annual Dark Skies Festival every October. In particular, Porlock Common offers 360° views of some of the darkest skies anywhere in the UK. • Kielder Forest (Northumberland) In the heart of the Northumberland International Dark Sky Park, Kielder is Europe’s second largest area of protected night sky. On the darkest nights here, Jupiter is actually capable of casting shadows on the ground. Kielder is also home to one of Britain’s most active observatories, making it an ideal place to learn about the wonders of the night sky. • Kelling Health (Norfolk) This location is a bit different to the others in the list, as it’s actually a caravan park. Despite this, its Dark Sky Discovery Site status means light pollution is minimal – and its facilities mean astronomers flock there to enjoy the many star parties it hosts every year.

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RIGHTS OF WAY

Green laning in ‘clear and present on ban amid smear campaign by DEFRA Landscapes Review currently open to consultation • GLASS stresses need for

or as long as green laning has existed, so have people who want to see it banned. And just over a decade and a half since the damage done to the countryside by the Natural Environment and Rural Communities (NERC) Act, what’s left of Britain’s vehicular rights of way network is, yet again, under attack. The latest threat comes as DEFRA consults the public on its Land-

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scapes Review, which was published in 2019. This was originally intended to advise the government on management of England’s National Parks – however it also asks a direct question: should recreational green lane use be banned? This element of the consultation appears in spite of it being the government’s own position that green lanes should be preserved as part of an inclusive access-for-all approach

to managing Britain’s rights of way. It is, inescapably, the result of non-stop pressure by anti-freedom groups who, for one reason or another, want to keep the countryside all to themselves. Comprising a deeply unholy assortment of landowners’ bodies, quasi-environmental fanatics and organisations purporting to represent other user groups, the anti-4x4 movement has for many

decades been characterised by rank prejudice, dishonesty and a total unwillingness to compromise. While green lane users and their organisations have become known for upholding a code of conduct, abiding by voluntary restraint and even offering voluntary labour to help keep rights of way in good repair, organisations opposed to motor vehicle use have continued to be absolute in their refusal to tolerate

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RIGHTS OF WAY

danger’ as government consults anti-vehicle hate groups every green lane user to respond • Deadline of 9th April to make your voice heard

sharing the countryside with anyone unlike themselves. It must be recognised that irresponsible 4x4 use does exist. There are individuals who abuse green lanes and, in particular, the land bordering them, often with extremely damaging consequences. These drivers are criminals, pure and simple, and by no means are they friends of the 99% of drivers who behave properly in the countryside.

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It is also very much the case, however, that anti-vehicle factions seek to misrepresent 4x4 users by pretending the behaviour of the criminal fringe is the norm. This is a perfect example of the dishonesty with which, in the absence of any truth-based evidence, they seek to support their bigoted case. Like all fake news, however, plausibly presented lies are all too easy for a gullible audience to

believe. For this reason, the Landscapes Review presents what the Green Lane Association describes as ‘a clear and present danger to all motorised users.’ GLASS is unequivocal about what will happen if green lane users, and all those sympathetic to the concept of freedom, do not act to defend these rights of way. ‘Although the Review itself did not touch upon motorised use of the

countryside,’ it explains, ‘the Government response included explicit reference to recreational motoring. DEFRA’s consultation went one step further and asks the public whether the government should legislate against green laning and trail riding. ‘Anti-access organisations are seeking to end or seriously reduce our access rights by lobbying at local and national level. Their aim is to

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RIGHTS OF WAY While laning on Sarn Helen in 2004, we met an outreach group taking some local kids for a picnic in the countryside. The anti-vehicle lobby wants this to be made illegal – and with its great wealth and inﬂuence, it has already managed to get the government to consult on doing exactly that

rally as many sympathetic antis as possible to submit responses. It is therefore VITAL that we respond to protect our interests. Please make every effort to respond. ‘A public consultation should not be about simply counting the number of responses. But the weight of responses will be an indication of the strength of feeling.

Those opposed to motor vehicle use will certainly aim to respond in large numbers and so we need to counter that potential threat.’ There is a deadline of 11.45pm on 9 April 2022 for submission of responses. After that, the opportunity to have your say on this critical issue will be gone. The pro-freedom movement in this issue was taught a valuable

lesson by the manoeuvrings which allowed NERC to happen. Too late to save the many glorious rights of way that were lost to the dishonesty and greed of a well funded political operation ﬁfteen years ago – but at least now, those ﬁghting to save the rest of the green lane network are better aware of the lengths to which the hate groups will go. It is, sadly, inevitable that however overwhelmingly the case for freedom may be made by responses to the Review consultation, those opposed to it will continue to work both skilfully and tirelessly – and

without any sense of morals or shame – to make green lanes a thing of the past. Organisations like GLASS are ready to mount a defence – but without as many 4x4 drivers as possible making their views known, doing so will be that much more diﬃcult. Once again, you need to complete and submit the online questionnaire form by 11.45pm on 9 April. For the sake of every green lane, every green lane user and everyone whose income depends on it, please take the time and join the defence of a precious freedom.

Making your views heard – the Green Lane Association’s advice for responding to the Landscapes Review as effectively as possible THE GREEN LANE ASSOCIATION has published guidance for those intending to complete DEFRA’s Landscapes Review questionnaire. The following is taken from it; for further information, and to join GLASS (which is the best thing any 4x4 driver could possibly do), visit glass-uk.org. ‘You the countryside user, are the expert on what you do and how and why you do it. Only you can explain the benefits your hobby affords you. ‘If you have a professional interest in green laning please put any relevant arguments forward too. Your business matters and you are the expert on how issues affect you as a professional. ‘DEFRA says it is acceptable to respond only on the questions in the “Managing Visitor Pressures” section, which contains the questions about motor vehicles. Once you have filled in your personal details, it takes about four or five clicks to get to this section.’ If you prefer to email your response rather than filling in an online form, you can do this too – however you do need to state clearly which questions you’re answering, and that you’re responding to the DEFRA Landscapes Review. The address is landscapesconsultation@defra.gov.uk. GLASS continues with the following advice to bear in mind when compiling your response. Not every point will be relevant to everyone – this is general guidance to help you get your views across positively: • Be polite • Concentrate on the benefits of green laning and why you love it • Be succinct • Avoid ranting, and don’t attack others • Use your own words • Explain what you like about green laning and the countryside • Explain the benefits you gain from driving in the countryside, who you do it with (family, children, friends, clubs etc) and how you interact with other rights of way users • If you have needs that mean using a vehicle is vital, explain why motoring is essential to you and how it helps you access the countryside • Talk about any activities you have undertaken that benefit the countryside, such as volunteer work, 4x4 response/rescue, lane repairs, litter picking, sharing advice and education with others and reporting incidents • Provide estimates (or hard figures if you have them) to show how much money you spend in the rural economy when green laning. This could be on fuel, food, accommodation and other facilities along the way? In addition, how much do you spend on your vehicle, including equipping it for laning, maintenance and repairs and of course tax • Include any relevant professional interests or qualifications • Be an advocate for access without prejudice. Make your arguments positive and in favour of access for all users

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14/03/2022 17:32

4X4 TYRE EXPERTS & OFF ROAD SPECIALISTS Alloy and steel wheels for van, car, SUV & 4X4

NOW AVAILABLE AT SILVERLINE

WANT TO FIT BIGGER TYRES TO YOUR 4X4? At Silverline we stock & fit only the toughest tried and tested Ausi Ironman 4x4 suspension modification kits from leaf spring to coil spring.

Call 01926 490002 Silverline 4x4 Units 3 & 4, Nelson Lane, Warwick CV34 5JB www.silverlinewheels-tyres.com | www.facebook.com/Silverline4x4 Silverline_4x4Mag_A4.indd 1

14/03/2022 10:14

4x4 lovers making tracks to Silverline!

ilverline 4x4 is one of the most respected 4x4 and performance wheel and tyre experts in the UK, with performance owners and enthusiasts making tracks to our Warwick depot for bespoke tyre and wheel packages. Antony Barnsley set up Silverline 4x4 more than 35 years ago and his wealth of knowledge and experience is helping to make Silverline 4x4 the ‘go-to’ 4x4 centre in the UK. It is the only garage anywhere in the UK to stock the critically-acclaimed Unigrip tyre range, not to mention the new Bridgestone Dueler M/T 674.

Unigrip and Silverline – a match made in heaven Silverline 4x4 has stolen a march on its competitors to become the first retailer to stock Unigrip Lateral Force and Road Force tyres. We’re proud to be sole UK importers and delighted to bring you Unigrip’s top-performing 4x4 and SUV professional off-road tyres, available in 15” up to 20” . Having driven on Unigrip ourselves, we can vouch for their performance capabilities in the most uncompromising of conditions. Unigrip Tyre gives you the confidence to enjoy the road, while helping to keep you safe behind the wheel. Unigrip dedicates to innovation, technology and development of new patterns, sizes, compounds and state of the art technology and we’re thrilled to stock their 4x4 portfolio. Unigrip really needs to be experienced to be appreciated. Silverline 4x4 stocks Unigrip tyres in 14 different sizes, which plays a vital role in full tyre coverage for each and every visiting motorist.1

Bridgestone Dueler M/T 674 – another Silverline exclusive

We always ask open questions at the outset to find out exactly what each customer is looking for, as no two enthusiasts are the same. Customers really need to factor in how much all-terrain driving they are doing and how much is mud related. For example, the Bridgestone Dueler M/T 674 tyre is a rugged new product which is mud-focussed, but drives really nicely too. It’s a great all-round performer, so if the split between all-terrain and mud

outings is around 50/50, this could be a perfect tyre. But if enthusiasts are spending 95% off-road, then we would be likely to recommend something else. Dueler M/T 674 wheel packages are now available, in 235/85R16, 245/75R16,245/70R17 and 265/70R17 sizes.

What do the different types do?

Different 4x4 products offer different features and benefits. We have a customer who runs an eco-camp site but needs his 4x4 to deliver logs and for general maintenance. We recommend a tyre that operates on low pressures with a smaller footprint that won’t churn up his land and reduce ground compaction. Other customers predominantly drive on-road, so there are tyres that offer tread-wear balance for increased life and excellent wet-braking performance. So, while each tyre might look similar, they do offer different features and benefits and it is our job to understand what product suits the bespoke needs of each customer.

wet and dry grip and aquaplaning. With advances in compound technology (silica / Nanopro Tech) and mixing (tandem mixing), tyre manufacturers are advancing their individual technologies.

Where to buy - online or retailer?

Retail every day! At Silverline 4x4, we are 4x4 specialists with unrivalled knowledge in the sector. Our customer base stretches across the UK with many customers visiting us from Scotland, for example. There is no job or vehicle that we can’t provide a solution for, or provide advice on. This is where we come into our own. We spend up to 60% of our time correcting online purchases that weren’t suitable for the customers’ vehicle, or products that have been fitted incorrectly.

What to avoid or watch out for?

Wheel spacers can sometimes be products to watch out for. They are an aftermarket part designed to

move wheels farther away from the vehicle’s body. They’re a common and inexpensive upgrade with a lot to offer both street-focused cars and off-roaders. But they do come with problems, especially if they have been fitted incorrectly. The worst case scenario is the wheel coming off the hub, because the car is trying to do something the wheel doesn’t want to do, essentially. This underlines the need to come and speak to an expert or pick up the phone. We’re here to help! We never sell on price, but just advise on the right solution for each vehicle we see. Our services aren’t like conventional automotive centres in so far as our products aren’t viewed as distress purchases, so price isn’t the overriding factor as the specific solution is the main requirement. For more information about Silverline 4x4’s exclusive Unigrip range, visit www.silverlinewheels-tyres. com/unigrip-4x4-tyres/

Hard or soft rubber?

We don’t tend to delve too deep here, because the silica composition of modern 4x4 tyres are excellent. They are all fit for purpose and offer all-round benefits to each motorist. Modern 4x4 tyres have many targets to achieve, whether that be noise (pass-by and internal), weight,

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PRODUCTS

New catalogue from Terraﬁrma showcases biggest ever range of off-road equipment for Land Rovers

f you’re prepping a Land Rover for off-road action, hardcore competition, elevated daily drive duties or being the coolest ride on the street, it won’t be long before you find yourself wondering if there’s something in the Terrafirma range that might be able to help you out. Excellent news, then, is that said range is now contained in the company’s new catalogue. This 180-page full-colour tome contains more than 1500 products – including detailed descriptions, technical information, images and illustrations. Everything you need, basically, to let you go shopping for everything you need. Terrafirma promises that you’ll find plenty of choice – and that products and their applications will be clearly identified, allowing you to select and combine the right stuff to let you build exactly

what you’re aiming for. ‘Studying this catalogue will enable workshops, vehicle builders and enthusiasts to prepare and equip their Land Rover to have more fun, to safely carry more load and tackle greater obstacles over harsher terrain while protecting their pride and

joy for many more adventures to come,’ says Terraﬁrma. So you’ll be wanting to do that, then. To get your hands on a

free copy, pop in to your local Terraﬁrma dealer or drop an email to enquiries@terraﬁrma4x4.com – and prepare to be inspired.

D44’S DEMOUNTABLE WINCH TRAY JOINS BRITPART RANGE THE D44 RANGE of off-road equipment needs no introduction, and neither does Britpart. Though since we’re talking introductions, the latter company has recently added the former’s Demountable Low-Line Winch Tray to its ever-growing line-up. Made from laser-cut 5mm steel, the tray is designed to slide into a standard 2” receiver hitch. It’s drilled to mount any winch with a 254mm x 114.3mm bolt pattern and an overall depth of not more than 195mm – which, when you go looking, means it can be used with a reassuringly enormous amount of kit from big-name manufacturers. The tray is ﬁnished in black powder-coat and comes with everything you need to prep it for use. Shop around the Britpart network and you shouldn’t have to pay a lot more than a hundred quid; you’ll ﬁnd it at www.britpart.com.

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PRODUCTS

Machine Mart’s super-sized garages offer a new range of option’s for 4x4 owners

achine Mart has introduced two new units into its Clarke range of Garage/Workshops. And if size matters to you, which it should if you drive a big old 4x4, these are the ones you’ll want. That’s because the new CIG1432 X-Large Garage measures 32 feet long, 14 feet wide and 12 feet high. Big, then. Big enough to store four Defender 110s. To want more would just be greedy. But greedy we are. So yes, dammit, we do want more. Happily, then, more is what the Clarke CIG1640 XX-Large Garage give you. This bad boy weighs in at 40 feet long, 16 feet wide and 14.5 feet high. Clarke says these garages are designed for storing big stuff like boats, coaches and motorhomes. But if you’ve got the space, either of them would make a brilliant workshop for your 4x4s – at a fraction of the price of putting up a barn.

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Being a temporary structure means you don’t have to mess around with planning permission, too. Both garages are based on frames made from heavy-duty, powder-coated steel tubing. This is 1.5” in diameter on the case of the 32-footer and 2 3/8” on the 40” unit. The extra diameter is necessary to support the weight of the bigger structure, which also has an apex roof as opposed to the smaller garage’s arched design. The covering is triple-layered, 305gsm waterproof, woven polyethylene fabric which is fully UV-treated for long-term protection against sun and rain. Cover tensioning and cross rails are ratcheted, allowing optimal tightening and ensuring a neat, tidy look with no loose material. You don’t need to expect either of these monsters to be a ﬁve-minute

job. But to help make it as painless as possible, they’re built using simple push-ﬁt connections. So at least you won’t have to stop halfway through to recharge your driver. Prices for the garages begin at £1390.80 for the X-Large CIG1432 and climb to £3900 for the XX-Large CIG1640. Sounds like quite a big jump, you might reasonably say, but that’s 640 square feet at the top end and we’ve just found someone selling a ﬂat that size in a trendily grubby part of London for £850,000. Both these garages are mobile, they cost a lot less than building even a tiny garage and best of all, buying one does come with the intolerable side-effect of living in London. Whether you see it as a garage or a workshop, either of these units promises to take the crummy bit of ground next to your house and transform it into your happy place. Pay a visit to www.machinemart. co.uk and let the joy begin.

0W-20 Optima engine oil approved as cold-climate lube for Land Rover petrol engines LUBRICANT SPECIALIST EXOL’S Optima C5 LSJ 0W-20 engine oil has been approved by Land Rover for use in a variety of its petrol engines. Not the old 2.25, unsurprisingly – but it you’ve got a Discovery Sport, Range Rover Sport or Range Rover Velar, or indeed anything else powered by the current 2.0, 3.0 or 5.0-litre petrol units, you’re in business. Optima C5 LSJ 0W20 is a fully synthetic, low-suphur, low-phosphorus blend designed to provide uncompromising protection while helping engines achieve the best possible fuel economy. In particular, Exol says it offers exceptional low-temperature performance – and JLR has approved it under its STJLR.51.5122 speciﬁcation, which relates in particular to cold-climate markets.

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Bestop and Smittybilt soft-tops for current Wrangler now in stock at Jeepey

WITH SUMMER ON THE WAY, if you’re a Jeep owner your thoughts will inevitably be turning towards the open air. Which in turn means you might be starting to wonder about which option to go for from the many soft-tops on the market. And where do you go to find the best kit for Jeeps? Why, Jeepey, of course. The company is a long-running specialist in all things Jeep, having been doing it ever since the time when people were just starting to modify the first middle-aged XJ Cherokees, but these days most of what it works on is late-letter Wranglers. That’s not to say they can’t do wonders with a Renegade, but the current Wrangler is where it’s at. And if that’s what you’ve got, the company currently has a couple of extremely tidy tops in stock for the four-door JL. The first of these is the Smittybilt Extended Shade Top with Skylights. This has multi-use

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mesh roof panels, made from heavy-duty UV and mildew-resistant nylon, which provide protective shade for passengers – but which can also be zipped out and stored in a waterproof centre pouch to allow full exposure to the sun when you want to bask. The two panels attach independently to the vehicle’s frame using velcro straps, protecting you from the sun while also allowing cool air to ﬂow through the vehicle. They can also be left in place even when you have a hard-top installed. Features of the Smittybilt Extended Shade Top with Skylights: • Black mesh • Protects passengers from direct sunlight, heat and glare while allowing airﬂow • Proprietary front and rear sections zip open independently and tuck away when not in use • Conveniently stays on with hard-top installed

• Heavy-duty UV and mildew-resistant nylon webbing resists tears and flapping • Velcro attachment straps for snug fit and easy installation – no header channel required • Mesh top stows inside itself in a velcro enclosure pocket when removed If you want to go full-on, meanwhile, the Supertop Ultra is Bestop’s most advanced hood for the JL. And being Bestop, that’s very advanced. This top offers the option of running it in no less than four different modes – fully enclosed, Sunrider Open, Safari-Style bikini or fully retracted. It can retract fully using Bestop’s own guide track system and its patented lift assist feature makes it simple for one person to shift it from fully retracted into the Sunrider Open position. Its zipperless channels make for seamless window installation and removal, too – and the premium black twill material from which it’s made promises to make it suitable for use all year round. Features of the Bestop Supertop Ultra: • Premium twill fabric for year-round versatility • Guide track system for easy one-person use • Bathes all passengers in open air • Seamless window installation and removal • Four-way running • All fixtures and fittings included in the kit Want to know how much all this is going to cost you? The answer is £144.15, including VAT but not delivery, for the Smittybilt Extended Shade Top with Skylights, which sounds to us like outstanding value. The Bestop Supertop Ultra, meanwhile, is a rather bigger deal at £2921.27, again with the VAT but before delivery. You might want to take your Jeep up there for them to fit it, to be fair. Which they won’t mind at all, and if you’re at all into your Jeeps a visit to these guys is always time well spent. To find out more, check out jeepey.com.

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PRODUCTS

Bestop and Smittybilt soft-tops for current Wrangler now in stock at Jeepey.com

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We currently stock O.E. propshafts for many 4x4 models, but we are proud to have also spent time developing our own “Extreme” range. For the majority of 4x4 vehicles we can offer an upgraded propshaft option, whether you need greater angle, longer splines or larger torque capacity (which may give increased potential life-expectancy). Why choose “Extreme?” Wide Angle Operation - Double Cardan Joints - Heavy Duty Universal Joints Upgraded sliding assembly - Higher Torque Capacity - Heavy Duty Tubing

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LAND ROVER DISCOVERY D250 Post-facelift Discovery impressed us hugely in range-topping D300 form, while the D250 version of the same diesel engine is stunning in the Defender. What happens when you put them both together?

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A BIT MORE THAN A YEAR AGO, Land Rover gave the Discovery an almost completely new range of engines. These included both petrol and diesel options, the common factor being that all of them are 3.0-litre, six-cylinder, 48-volt mild hybrids. We’ve previously driven the P360 and D300 petrol and diesel range toppers, and exceptionally good they are too. Power, torque and refinement are off the scale in each case; they do do their work in slightly different ways but mainly they’re so smooth and quiet, with so much in reserve in any conceivable driving situation, that what stuck us is how very similar they are. What we’ve got here is the entry-level diesel unit. Badged D250, it produces 249bhp at 4000rpm and 420lbf.ft from just 1250rpm. This compares with 300bhp and 479lbf.ft (from 1500rpm) for the D300, which costs £2840 more if all else is equal. Saving that money means putting up with acceleration of 7.6 seconds and a top speed of 120mph, rather that the D300’s 6.8 seconds and 130mph. We suspect you might conclude that even though it’s not that much cash in the greater scheme of things, you’re not exactly going to be slumming it with the D250 either. The example tested here is an R-Dynamic SE. That’s a £61,675 motor before you get going with the options; in this case, Land Rover had added £5045’s worth of kit including a towbar, locking rear diff and its Advanced Off-Road Capability Pack.

A word on the latter. On all versions of the Discovery bar the P360, you need to spec it to get a dual-range transfer case. You also get the latest Terrain Response system, as well as All-Terrain Progress Control, so at £500 it’s not bad value for money, but as far as we’re concerned for a Discovery not to have low box designed in as standard equipment is, not to mince words, scandalous. In the interests of balance, let’s also say that Land Rover is not the only manufacturer to make low range optional on vehicles of this nature. It is, however, the only manufacturer to be Land Rover. Decide for yourself. Anyway, if you don’t go down the R-Dynamic road the Discovery starts at £55,100 in D250 form, so you can add a proper transfer case and it’ll still look cheap in comparison to a lot of the other 4x4s you might be thinking about. The Defender, for example. Let’s move swiftly on, though. People often say the Discovery 5 is more like a Range Rover, and it’s easy to make that assumption when you’re surrounded by premium materials and high-tech gadgets. But in reality, the two models are very clearly distinct from each other in terms of their character; both are beyond premium, but they’re resolutely individual too. Whether or not you go for the R-Dynamic model, the Disco hits the spot in SE trim. There’s a huge range of materials available for the cabin, including eco-friendly suede-like fabrics made from recycled plastic bottles; easy as it is to sneer at such a thing, particularly if you’re an old diesel-swilling off-road

Top: D250 engine is the entry-level diesel in the Discovery line-up, but with 249bhp and 420lbf.ft, the latter from a mere 1250rpm, its output is entirely appropriate to the vehicle’s premium nature Above left: Most posh SUVs offer you any seat trim you want, as long as it’s leather. You can certainly have that on the Discovery (seen here is the R-Dynamic SE’s standard Light Oyster and Ebony hide), but there’s a range of synthetic fabrics available which are made from recycled material and boty look and feel absolutely superb Above centre, right: When Land Rover facelifted the Discovery a little more than a year ago, the highlight in the cabin was the addition of the latest Pivi Pro infotainment system. This is exceptional to use, with excellent graphics and menus and controls which make complete sense as you use them. What you don’t get as standard is low range – it’s a £500 options, which doesn’t impress us one little bit

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People often assume that the Discovery has become just another Range Rover. Each does in fact have its own distinct character, and the arrival of the new L460 model will only serve to widen the gap still further – though when you’re sitting aboard even a relatively modest example of the Disco like this one and you’re surrounded by premium materials and cutting-edge equipment, it’s easy to see why someone would make that mistake

traditionalist, these look and feel much better than the leather you get by default on so many posh 4x4s. To us, they’re far and away the best option you can choose when speccing a Discovery. At any rate, the big story in the facelifted Discovery’s cabin is the addition of Land Rover’s latest Pivi Pro infotainment system. Controlled by an 11.4” touchscreen, this looks classily understated and is excellent to operate, with instant responses and menus and controls which make clear sense from the word go. Another worthwhile update was to the second row of seats, which have been redesigned for greater comfort. Not something they could have been accused of lacking, but now they lack it less than ever. It really is a very pleasing vehicle in which to both drive and be driven. Those seats also fold down to yield a monumental 2391 litres of cargo space; something like one in five Discovery sales go to the Commercial model, which we can only assume is predominantly about keeping the taxman at bay, because the ease with which the seven-seater converts into a van by any other name is so outstanding it practically brings a tear to the eye.

All of this is true irrespective of engine choice, but it’s worth reiterating that what you’re powering is one of the best all-rounder vehicles ever built. The Discovery is a glorious premium SUV, a practicality monster for people and luggage alike, a mighty towcar and an off-roader of enormous potential (even if you do have to pay extra for low range). So compared to the sublime D300, does the D250 engine make it any less of the above? In a word, no – though with the extra output adding comparatively little to the purchase price, you might reasonably conclude that if a thing’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right. In the real world, though, unless you’re on a mission to prove something it’s pretty much impossible to separate them. An extra fourth-fifths of a second from 0-60; are you ever really going to notice that? And in every situation we can think of, except perhaps when you’re cutting loose on an A or B-road, the extra depth of revs at which the D250 generates top torque goes a long way towards making up for the D300’s bigger numbers. Maybe, just maybe, the extra work the D250 has to do to generate the same result manifests itself in a moderately less refined performance. That

Practicality has always been a massive point for the Discovery. It has seven seats, all of them capable of accommodating adults at the same time, and when the rear two go down it becomes a five-seater with a colossal boot. Go one fiurther and drop the second row too, and you’re in an SUV with the capacity of a decent van – 2391 litres of cargo space say you’ll never run out of room for your luggage

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DRIVEN Whichever engine you choose, the Discovery is extremely good at looking after the people who sit in it. The driver and front passenger get an excellent view of the road ahead, as well as what feels like almost limitless adjustability in their seats. Behind them, the second row offers loads of knee room and head room alike, and the view out is similarly generous. They’ve been revised for greater comfort than ever in the latest version of the Discovery, too. Naturally, the third row is not as spacious – though those in front only need to give up a little of their spare capacity for the Disco to be able to carry seven fully grown adults with none of them feeling short-changed for space

really is a maybe, though; we’re basing that on the fact that when we drove the D300, it absolutely wowed us, whereas the D250 was merely very, very good. Either way, this is a vehicle whose smoothness and lack of intrusive noise is one of its defining features. It pulls like a train at all speeds, too. Around town, it’s utterly effortless to drive, hauling with a purpose that never goes away, and its mastery continues all the way up to motorway speeds – where it will sit very happily all day long. Kicking it down from this kind of speed provokes a bit of noise, though nothing too drastic; the acceleration you get is steady rather than instant, but it does continue to build pace relentlessly. Off-road, too, it simply never feels stretched. Whether you’re rumbling along at 20mph on a scruffily unsurfaced green lane or picking your way at less than walking speed across the sort of terrain that makes a vehicle work for its living, there’s rarely any sign of the engine needing to break a sweat. Every now and again, the revs rise as the traction control asks for more input to help it defeat the laws of nature, but even then it’s more of a contented gurgle than a shrill bark.

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In terms of fuel consumption, over the course of a week in the D250 we got 31.8mpg out of it. So, while we don’t have anything relevant to compare it to, we’re not seeing anything to say it will be an economy hero they way a D300 won’t. With all else being equal, then, we do have to say that we’d spend the extra money and trade up to the D300. Regular readers will know that we’re huge, huge fans of the D250 engine in the Defender, and it’s excellent in the Disco too – but the more powerful unit has a fractional edge which makes it that much better suited to what the latter vehicle is. Don’t be in any doubt that the Discovery D250 is a wonderful vehicle. If you’re in the market for an SUV of this nature and you can afford the price of putting one on your drive, we can’t think of anything that will live with the standards it sets in so many different ways. Actually, we can think of one thing and it is of course the Discovery D300. There’s something indefinable that makes the bigger engine even better – but make no mistake, either way you’ll be getting an SUV that’s nothing short of brilliant at everything it does.

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KIA SORENTO 2 1.6 T-GDi HYBRID Having scored a ﬁve-star rating in diesel form, how does Kia’s big SUV shape up with the hybrid petrol powertrain that accounts for three quarters of the models in its range?

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A FEW MONTHS AGO, we tested the fourth-generation Sorento in diesel form and gave it a five-star rating. But, in a sure sign of the times, the diesel is the oddball model in Kia’s range. It’s only available as a mid-range option – whereas the full set of three trim levels is offered with a 1.6-litre petrol-electric hybrid engine. The vehicle tested here is the entry-level model, called the Sorento 2. The Sorento 2 1.6 HEV T-GDi Auto AWD, to give it its full name for what we solemnly promise will be the one and only time. At any rate, the ‘auto’ and ‘AWD’ bits are pretty much redundant as they apply to every Sorento. Every model in the range is a seven-seater, too. And as entry-level vehicles go, the Sorento 2 doesn’t feel like one. Cloth seats and 17” alloys are perhaps a couple of giveaways, which is another sign of the times, but as far as we’re concerned tall sidewalls are a very fine thing and good fabric beats leather-forthe-sake-of-it every day of the week. Anyway, the Sorento 2 has smart cruise control; dual-zone climate, with additional controls for the third row; automatic headlights and wipers; front and rear parking sensors, plus a reversing camera with dynamic guidance; and an 8” touch-screen media system with USB connectivity, smartphone pairing through Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, voice recognition, DAB and multi-device Bluetooth. Plus a lot more besides, but that little lot should convince you that even at the bottom of the range, Kia gives you a great deal for your money. Money, that. The Sorento you see here currently lists at £40,060; not cheap, but if your view of Kia is rooted in the past you need to unlearn everything you think you know about it. Twenty years ago, when the original Sorento was launched, people gasped at the idea of a twenty grand Kia: now, the Korean giant has crossed over from being a budget brand to a mainstream one, with a proposition led by sharp design and extremely high build quality. Value for money is writ as large in its DNA as ever, with a seven-year warranty

that continues to make almost everyone else look stingy, but mainly it just makes very good vehicles. And it makes a good impression from the word go when you climb aboard. With all that kit, clearly it’s not going to feel sparse, but there’s more to its appeal than just that. Its layout is elegant, even artistic in the way it’s been carried off, and the materials are right up there with the overall feeling of quality and sturdiness you get from the way it’s been put together. Everywhere you look, you see design details that put you in mind of premium vehicles; you could blank off the badges and we reckon most everyday car owners would think they were sitting in a Mercedes or BMW. In particular, the media console is a lovely bit of work. It protrudes up from the dash top, which can easily look clunky, but instead it’s presented as one integrated unit with the instrument binnacle, making a virtue of necessity – and virtue really is the word, because it adds to the impression of high technology on a massive scale. The layout is practical, too, with big door pockets and an even bigger cubby box in a floor console whose total solidity adds to the impression of quality. The seats to either side of it are clad in a fabric that’s nicely rugged but also very comfortable and grippy to sit in; we’d expect it to be pretty long-lasting, too. The view from the driver’s seat is as commanding as you could hope for, while reversing is made easy by the aforementioned sensors and rear-view camera. It’s nice and spacious, too – as is the second row, and even the third. You’ve got all the space in the world for two tall adults to sit behind another – and if both give up just a little, you’ll get two more in the back. Headroom in the third row is nowhere near as good as in the front two, though, so in truth it’s best kept for kids, but the option is certainly there if you need it. These last two seats drop flat to create a monster of a boot, too. And if you want to make your cargo space bigger still, the second row does likewise, lying just a few degrees proud. Kia quotes a capacity of 1996 litres in this trim; to be honest, that sounds conservative to us. No small matter, too, the floor is nice and low and the tailgate hatch is as wide and tall as it can be, adding still further to the vehicle’s do-anything practicality. On the road, the Sorento is more than just a big wagon. It’s very sophisticated in what it does, soaking up bumps, pot holes and corrugations to deliver a smooth, supple ride and maintaining its poise in corners however

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hard you push it. It’s not attempting to be a B-road weapon but its steering is accurate and predictable and its body control is tight, making it as agile as it is composed. It’s not fussy around town, either, even on the sort of roads that make you roll your eyes in despair at how bad we are at running a country. Most of all, though, it’s extraordinarily smooth and quiet on the motorway, with a level of refinement that puts it right up there with the sort of premium SUVs that cost twice as much money. That was the case with the diesel we tested a few months back, and it’s the case with the hybrid too. You’d expect the two engines to have very different characteristics, and each is indeed distinct, but they’re more similar than you might think, with the hybrid system’s 258lbf.ft coming on stream from a very diesel-like 1500rpm and a power output of 226bhp meaning you don’t have to work it hard to get all the urge you could sensibly ask for. This happens, of course, with a quiet refinement that goes beyond what even the diesel can do – and it’s one of the most refined diesels we’ve experienced. And the hybrid system’s quoted 40.9mpg on the combined cycle is, from what we’ve observed, easily achievable without driving like your granny. Treat it with just a little circumspection, indeed, and you’ll get well beyond that figure. Taking it off-road probably isn’t the way to do this, but the Sorento can cope. It doesn’t have low range (that disappeared after the first-generation

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model), but it does have drive modes which prime it for mud, sand or snow and of course there’s the ubiquitous hill descent control button – which is actually appropriate in a vehicle with this sort of technical make-up. The hybrid system’s torque is well suited to off-road work, too, as are those tall tyres; 235/65R17 is virtually truck-like by today’s SUV standards, and though they’re very much made for the road the standard-fit Continental Eco Contacts are capable of keeping the Sorento moving in sloppy conditions – and taking a reasonable degree of knocks in the process. For the other kind of truck work, a braked towing limit of 1650kg might reasonably be considered disappointing. If this is important to you, the diesel offers 2500kg and that will be enough to tip the balance, however if you can live within that limit the hybrid is unlikely to disappoint you. Overall, the drivetrain in this Sorento makes it even more refined than the diesel, which is saying something. That’s the major difference between them; well, that and the fact that with this engine, you get a choice of three different trim levels. Even though the vehicle driven here is the entry-level model, it’s still very well equipped and feels every inch a premium SUV. Nonetheless, if you want to spend a few grand more you can kick on to a still wider range of toys and a nappa-clad level of full-leather luxury. Do so and, with the hybrid system smoothing you along, you really could find yourself questioning the need to spend any more on a premium badge.

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Red Herring In the movies, pick-up trucks with big tyres always seem to be driven by the bad guys. When Martin Hoey set about building an old-school Toyota Hilux on 35” tyres, however, little did he know that by the time he was ﬁnished, it was going to have transformed him into something of a local hero Words: Gary Noskill Pictures: Steve Taylor

f you watch a lot of movies, or TV dramas, you might have noticed that producers and directors have a standard way of letting everyone know who the Bad Guy is. They simply put him in a pick-up truck. Whether it’s a thug in a lumberjack shirt picking on Jonathan Creek or Keanu Reeves as a murderous redneck threatening Cate Blanchett’s kids, Bloke In Pick-Up = Trouble. The only way a pick-up driver isn’t the Bad Guy on screen is if it’s a red herring. Which was indeed the case with Keanu Reeves, as it turned out. So if you’re looking at Martin Hoey’s Toyota Hilux and thinking yeah, this one’s a nutter, you should know better. Because it is indeed a red Hilux. Herring, sorry. Like so many 4x4 drivers, Martin is always ready to help out when people end up in trouble because they have lesser vehicles. We’re not ones to judge, us off-roaders. He had stories to back this up involving helpless pensioners and, on one occasion, an equally helpless WPC. Not many people can say they’ve had a policewoman in their load bed. We’ll come back to all that later. In the meantime, let’s start with the simple questions, like how did Martin end up coloured blue while off-roading? Actually, no, let’s start with the really simple stuff. Like what is it? You already knew the bit about it being a Hilux. It’s a 1990 Mark 3 and it’s a single-cab, though that last fact is a bit redundant as single-cabs are all there were back in 1990. What matters more is that being a Mark 3, it has proper axles at both ends, so it’s up for the haggard stuff and, just as importantly, it won’t cry if you try to lift it. Martin bought it in 2005 after reading about how tough old Hiluxes were. It was one of these models that Top Gear tried and failed to kill. Not that Top Gear ever thought to take their Hilux to a playday at Kirton Off-Road Centre, though. They might have blown it up, drowned it in the sea and let Jeremy Clarkson drive it, but

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The Milner 1.5” body lift is visible from all sorts of angles. So, naturally, are the 9.00x16 Michelin XZLs for which they help to make room. The 3” extended shocks and springs from Roughtrax 4x4 are part of the equation here too, of course Below left: With all that lift, prop UJs are always going to be vulnerable. Until you replace them with higher-angle units Below right: Dunking your axles in deep water, deep mud, or deep muddy water (a particular favourite) can only ever lead to them becoming progressively more and more clogged with water, mud or, surely not, muddy water. Raised breathers don’t make them impregnable, but do close off the evil stuff’s first line of attack

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they never took it to the site people call the Truck Wrecker. Martin, on the other hand, subjected his Hilux to regular baths in the infamously abrasive Kirton mud. It was totally standard when he bought it, but that didn’t last. The first things to go on were mud tyres, followed by a snorkel. Kirton doesn’t have deep mud, it has deep water too… Just with 7.50x16 tyres, Martin managed to win the 2006 KORC Mud Run. But that was just the start. Taking it a bit at a time, he kept making the truck better and better until… it won the KORC Mud Run again. With those big tyres droning away on the road, the engine, which was never a ball of fire, didn’t really seem up to the job. Martin decided to keep it within the family and swapped it for a 2.4 turbo-diesel from a SWB LJ70 Land Cruiser. The idea was that the turbo in particular would make a difference but, although it was an easy swap, Martin wasn’t terribly satisfied with the results. Leaving that aside for a bit, he returned his focus to the mud. Getting serious, he fitted some tyres most commonly associated with Land Rover 101 Forward Controls – 9.00x16 Michelin XZLs. That’s about 35” in diameter, but not as fat as your modern look-at-me tyre – meaning they’re really good at cutting down through the mud until they find something solid to grip hold of. Such things are not going to fit neatly under standard arches, however. So the arches were

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raised, like surprised eyebrows. A 1.5” Milner body lift got things off to a rising start, and then the suspension followed suit. With extended shocks, Roughtrax 3” extended leaf springs and extended bump stops, he had the clearance he needed. In fact, Martin told us he reckoned the lift was the best thing he did, as it allowed the huge tyres room to manoeuvre and also stopped the rear overhang from catching. Inboard from those huge wheels and tyres, the front discs have been joined by a rear pair, which were originally on the front of a Mark 1 Hilux. They’re solid discs – vents would just fill up with mud – and needed to have the rear hubs machined back to take them. They’re gripped by Sierra calipers and all the brakes have braided and extended hoses. Staying in that part of the world, both axles had limited-slip diffs added from a donor LJ70 Land Cruiser. This proved easy on the rear, but on the fronts they had to take 5mm off the length of the halfshafts. Much to Martin’s amazement, the new diffs combined with the huge tyres somehow went together to make the speedo as accurate as his GPS. He has the grace not to pretend he’d worked it out that way. While Martin now had a vehicle that was ace in the mud and handled everything else just fine, it was becoming increasingly under-powered. If you look like you can kick mud in another vehicle’s face, you’d better be able to back it up. There was

nothing else for it; Martin had to go for a third engine option. This time he didn’t mess about and fitted Toyota’s 3.0-litre turbo-diesel. A brilliant, brilliant engine, this. He didn’t fancy the version from the Surf, since that had extra complexity with its ECUs and electronic fuelling, so he held out until he could source one from a 4-Runner. With a decent amount of power and torque finally installed, Martin professed himself satisfied at last and proclaimed the move to be a ‘massive success (that) made a huge difference’. Just as well as you can imagine him trying larger and larger engines until he had something you’d find in an earth mover. The transmission from the 4-Runner was also integrated but the radiator was not. Now, as befits a mud man, Martin was already no stranger to the power washer. The problem was that, as many of you will know, radiators seem to be a magnet for mud, and yet repeated blasts of water don’t always seem to shift it but instead manage to bend the fins. Tired of an overheating engine and feeble fins, he had East Yorkshire radiator specialist Beverad recore the rad with a hard-dipped fin core. While that all sounds jolly tough, what does it mean? Basically, you end up with a radiator with heavy-duty fins set further apart and dipped in solder. And that in turn means no overheating, and the ability to take a jet wash or a brush to the

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Above left: Toyota’s 1-KZT 3.0-litre turbo-diesel engine is a bit of a legend. This one used to live in a 4-Runner; it’s the third to have powered the Hilux, but third time lucky Above centre: This is a rad that can get caked in mud but still deliver a cooling performance. What’s more, with its heavy-duty fins dipped in solder, it can be brushed or jet-washed clean without the risk of damage Above right: The transmission handbrake looks very fit for purpose. Tarantula modified a Defender X-Brake kit to fit and mounted it to the back of the transfer case

Above left: A much-used Come-Up DV-9000 winch sits in a custom tray made by Winch Systems in Hull. The rope, a cheap ‘un off eBay, was blue once, but then Martin used it in the rain and hey presto, he was blue instead Above right: Solenoids for the DV-9000 are tucked away as far as possible out of harm’s way as you can get on a vehicle that lives in mud and water. Note also the hose from the air cleaner, which is fed by the nearside-mounted snorkel and spans almost the entire engine bay to let the non-standard engine breathe Below left: Tarantula heavy-duty rock sliders look like they haven’t had to fend off too many rocks – either that or they’re even harder than they look Below right: A suitably heavy-duty rear bumper has easily accessible shackle points either side of the removable drop towbar, again thanks to Tarantula. Neat that he’s managed to even fit a 3.0 badge

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radiator without damaging anything other than the caked mud. Generally, the bodywork over it all looks fairly stock. This is because it is. Martin had a fair bit of help from Tarantula 4x4 which, among other things, provided heavy-duty rock sliders. The rocks would have to be fairly heavy-duty too to even reach the Hilux’s sills, but you never know what’s going to be buried in all that much so better safe than sorry. On the front end, Martin trimmed the original bumper and raised it to match the 1.5” body lift. To that he then added a custom winch tray with shackle points. At the rear, he matched it with a heavy-duty bumper with a removable drop tow bar and, of course, added some more recovery points. On the winch front (and there’s a winch only on the front), a Come-Up DV-9000 works well and is fast, although Martin told us it needs snatch-blocking if he gets really stuck. Given what it takes to get this vehicle really stuck, that’s no great surprise. It’s all mounted so that it’s easy to access for cleaning, which is sensible. Martin didn’t believe in splashing out on expensive winch rope so he simply bought a basic one on eBay. This worked, in the sense that when we spoke to him it had never broken, but it was dyed blue – and the very first time he used it in the rain, the dye left the rope and sprayed all over him.

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Look at the electrics and there won’t be anything there to shock you. The Hilux’s standard twin batteries power all the usual stuff plus that winch and some extra spots front and rear on the roll bar. The only tweak is that Martin found he kept on smashing sidelights, so he simply incorporated them into the headlights and blanked off the sidelight mouldings. Inside, there’s the original driver’s seat with, beside it, a three-quarter size rear car seat which then leaves room for a dog and even a baby. There’s no point in cluttering up the cabin if you’ve got a pick-up, so everything else goes in the load bed. All the usual, including tree strops, jump leads, shackles and even a broom in case there’s a convenient pond or stream to clean the worst of it off. It seems a strange decision to leave valuable things like that in the back while wife, child and dog get to sit in the cabin, but there you go. Speaking of people, the year after he bought the Hilux the area where he lives suffered some hardcore flooding. This is one of those times when 4x4 owners go from being satan to national heroes in the public eye. Temporarily, of course. Anyway, Martin spent an entire day rescuing stranded people. He even managed to tow a coach full of the disabled and elderly to safety, and ended up sharing his cab with a nice 80-yearold couple.

While they were in there, another five people were crowded in the rear pick-up bed – including the aforementioned WPC. He was ferrying them to the next town, which was above water. But the road there was too deep – so instead he delivered them safely by driving down a railway line. Even then, Martin looked back on the incident while talking to us and mused that without its snorkel, the Hilux probably wouldn’t have made it. That was prior to the body and suspension lifts, don’t forget, and while the truck was still only on 7.50s rather than those mighty great 9.00x16s. But either way, this was quite clearly a rescue mission only a well sorted off-road machine would be capable of carrying off. Given the number of people involved, in fact, anything but a pick-up would have been struggling. Which is a fine example of how size matters – just so long as you know what to do with it. And, more to the point, it’s a fine example of red herrings in action. How many of those people, you have to wonder, would have avoided parking next to Martin’s Hilux outside Tesco. Whatever the answer might be, it’s safe to say that the Bloke In Pick-Up = Trouble equation definitely does not add up in this case. Martin’s Hilux is only ever a welcome site coming round the corner. Unless, of course, you’re his opposition in the Kirton Mud Run…

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A Dutiful Son

Every parent loves it when their children give them presents they’ve made themselves. That pleasure normally comes to an end once the children have grown old enough to buy them things instead – but when Adam Lilley’s dad was approaching his 60th birthday, little did he know that his son was secretly at work on something very special indeed… Words: Paul Looe Pictures: Vic Peel

hat did your children give you for your last birthday? A nice pair of socks, perhaps, or a novelty mug with an uncomfortable joke on it about how old you’re getting? If you, and they, are still young enough, they might have given you something they made themselves. Even just a messy stick-man drawing of a big person and a little person holding hands is absolute treasure and will live on your fridge door or oﬃce wall forever (to the mounting embarrassment of its author as they reach their teenage years). Things can become rather more awkward when they start bringing you things they’ve made from that fragile clay-like material all schools seem to possess, which you then have to spend the following decade trying desperately not to break. But still, something your kids have made beats anything from a shop all day long. Built not

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bought, and all that… even if it is a bit of a state to look at. Anyway, if your kids are that young you’re probably too busy, or too tired, to actually be reading this, so let’s assume you’re a bit older and they’ve grown up. They might even have made it through the socks-and-mugs stage and given you a decent bottle of whisky for your last birthday, in which case you’ve definitely had a result. Not as much of a result as Adam Lilley’s dad had on his 60th birthday, though. Because not only did his son give him a Land Rover, he gave him a Land Rover he’d made himself. The story goes back to another significant birthday, this time one of Adam’s. ‘I got my first 90 on my 18th birthday,’ he says. ‘It was an absolute rust bucket with no engine. So I set about a galvanised chassis swap and installing a 200Tdi. I built it with my great uncle… I will never let this vehicle go!’

Just pause for a moment and try to remember what YOU were doing between the ages of 18 and 19. If it involves Land Rovers, chances are it was the sort of rancid old ones you see getting beaten to death in abandoned quarries, and they probably came a poor second to things like beer, kebabs and dodgy knee-tremblers. Adam, meanwhile, is still some way short of turning 30 and he’s already reached a level where he’s building show-stoppers (the stunning white 110 soft-top on the front cover of the 2021 Land Rover Yearbook is his latest creation), so there’s a bloke here who deserves some serious respect for the standards he’s reaching at an early age. The 90 you see here came before that; it was his second project after that initial rebuild with his great uncle. ‘The vehicle started life as a hard-top,’ he says. ‘But after repairing the usual rust spots, I decided to respray it in Nato green and convert it to a soft-top.’

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Left: The 2.5 N/A engine is a much-loved thing for many reasons. One is that it’s just so damn slow – sounds ridiculous, but if you know your Landies you’ll understand that this is all part of their character. Unlike the faster turbocharged diesel that replaced it, the old airhead is famed for its strength and reliability, too – and it also makes a very nice noise, which is important as you’re not travelling fast enough to leave it behind… Bottom left: The 90’s cabin still retains all

the simple, basic, fit-for-purpose charm that makes military Land Rovers what they are. This one also still has the panel in its dash slot where the dial for the convoy lights is mounted – the remnants of a hand-written trailer speed limit warning gives it a splendidly human touch

That makes it sound so simple, but of course there was more to it. The ‘usual’ rust spots that were repaired were the rear crossmember, the rear crossmember and the rear crossmember; rather than simply replacing the original, he decided to do it in sections. ‘It was important for us to maintain strength,’ he says. Up above, the hard-top panels were done away with and on went a set of hood sticks, a seatbelt bar and, finally, a new canvas hood from All Wheel Trim. The rear door was changed to a tailgate, complete with pioneer tools, and up front there’s a genuine towing-pin Army bumper. The original military headlamps, however, were too badly damaged to go again and have been replaced with civvy units – which might wind up your inner rivet counter, if you have one, but the correct MOD map reading light is still present inside so you can stand easy. Black chequer plate on the wing-tops might not be entirely authentic in the eyes of a seasoned concours expert, either, but they do their job. So does a set of heavy-duty rock sliders which Adam put in place to protect the paintwork. And with a classic old bonnet-mounted spare wheel, even if it’s not 100% ‘right’ in the classic sense you’ve got

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to say the whole thing looks absolutely spot-on. That spare has a 235/85/16 General Grabber AT on it, as do the rest of the wheels – which are original Army jobs. They’re spun by the original 2.5 NA engine, which Adam describes as ’slow but strong, and makes a great sound!’ The gearbox, transfer case and axles are all standard, too, and have simply had parts replaced as necessary – prop UJs, wheel bearings and seals, discs and pads up front, drums and shoes at the back and shoes on the handbrake. No need for any clever reinventing-the-wheel antics here, and it was the same with the suspension – where Adam simply renewed the springs and shocks all round, keeping with the standard ride height. We mentioned that the Army’s interior map reading light is still in place, and as this suggests the 90’s cabin remains very much as it was. The basic seats are trimmed in their original material, complete with all the scuffs and wear marks of a life well lived – Adam uses the word ‘ripped,’ which seems a little harsh for what we’d look at and call a nice bit of patina. On that subject, the convoy light switch panel is still present in the dashboard and you can just about see the marks where someone has hand-written ‘WITH

TRLR 40MPH’ along the top of it. On that subject, there’s a NATO hitch on the back and Adam has a genuine Sankey trailer to go with it. Obviously, a Land Rover is a difficult thing to hide, however Adam managed to do that after taking it off the road to sort the rust. It was only on SORN for a short time, he says, while he completed the job with the aid of family and friends. ‘We finished the refurb the in secret for my father’s 60th birthday,’ he recalls. ‘He was very surprised when I presented the finished vehicle to him!’ As you would be, especially if you were just expecting socks. Or even that bottle of whisky – I mean, who wouldn’t be happy with one of those? But a Land Rover 90… now, that’s what we call a present. Especially when it comes from your son, and he’s made it himself. There are many reasons to treasure a vehicle – but we’d challenge you to ever find a better one than this.

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With chequer plate, civvy headlamps and a bonnet-mounted spare, a concours expert might find fault with elements of the way the 90 has been finished off. But, not to put too fine a point on it,

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A CLASSIC KIND OF ADVENTURE The second Dakar Classic saw 142 vehicles set out in a bid to win trophies – and see

xploring the world’s wildest and most beautiful places is something you normally do in a heavily equipped 4x4 with a kitchen in the back and a tent on the roof. And conventional wisdom says you should do it in something big, heavy and as modern as you can afford. But there’s another way. It’s not ‘exploring,’ as such, but rally raids tend to take part in the sort of locations overland travellers dream about. And as of last year, there’s a new one for adventurous 4x4 owners to dream about. This is not an event for vehicles with roof tents and so on, though. And though most participants can probably afford whatever new 4x4 their heart desires, that’s not what this particular desert raid is about. The take part in the Dakar Classic, you need to be in a vehicle built during the 20th Century. That stretches the term ‘classic’ a pretty long way and opens the door to a number of vehicles you wouldn’t normally associate with the word. It’s not a demolition derby for any old shed on wheels, however. Quite the opposite. Run alongside the main Dakar Rally, the Classic is open to ‘vehicles compliant with traﬃc regulations and for which a similar model took part in the Dakar Rally until the 1999 edition, or any other rally/rally raid held before 2000.’ Only old comp motors, then? Not quite. The organisers also reserve the right ‘to select models that have never taken part in rally raids but are deemed historically relevant.’

Words: Gary Martin Pictures: ASO, as credited

Left: ASO / Fotop Main picture: ASO / Fotop

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the magniﬁcent desert landscape of the Arabian interior from a unique point of view

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The Dakar Classic is primarily for vehicles built to enter the Dakar itself prior to the year 2000. But the organisers also offer eligibililty to other vehicles they deem ‘historically relevant’ – which allowed a trio of teams from the Czech Republic to take part in Series IIA Land Rovers from the 1960s Left: ASO / Fotop Below left: ASO / V.Cabral / Fotop

That’ll be why the second running of the Classic, which took place this January in Saudi Arabia, featured a number of vehicles built decades before the Dakar was first thought of. Easily the most noticeable of them was a trio of 88” Land Rover Series IIAs entered by the appropriately named Vintage Racing

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Team, a group of enthusiasts from the Czech Republic made up of the father-and-son crews of Frantisek and Dusan Randysek and Petr and Tomas Fiala, and brothers Albert and Stepan Pance. If you think that taking part in a rally raid aboard a classic leafsprung Landy marks you out as a

bit of a duffer, think again. Many of the Classic’s competitors have experience of the full-fat Dakar, often at high levels. Dusan Randysek, for example, has taken part five times in the main event – as well as driving support trucks for some of the the top teams. ‘The idea popped into my head over breakfast at the last Dakar,’ he said. ‘It’s like a 50th birthday present to myself. ‘We’ll be going in expedition mode. It’s all about not getting left behind and keeping the car alive. The Dakar Classic certainly isn’t about speed – it’s a bit of a racing game, but it can still be quite fun. It’s like playing cards for matches rather than money, but you still get nervous with every match you have to give to someone! For me it will be wonderful, simply because I’ll be driving with my son in this old car.’

If it’s not about speed, what is it about? The answer is a mixture of regularity and navigation. The rally is made up of 12 stages, one per day, with each of these divided into a number of regularity zones. Here, competitors need to stay as close as possible to a prescribed average speed, with penalty points being awarded for arriving at checkpoints too early or late. For 2022, the organisers also introduced a new element to the event, with around 20% of the total course being judged on navigation only. Here, the competitors could take as long as they needed, with no target times to worry about; instead, penalty points were awarded for every excess kilometre they covered between checkpoints. As with the full-on Dakar, the Classic also included a number of different categories. Vehicles were grouped into age ranges (pre-1986, 1986-1996 and 1997-on) and types (4x2, 4x4 and trucks), as well as being classed H1, H2 or H3 based on their speed potential. So, definitely not your typical overland experience. Though whereas the main rally is all about serious competition, those entering the Classic tend to be a lot more chilled. Many of them are veterans themselves – though even a young hot-shot like Italy’s Rebecca Busi, who gave up her place at university to take part in a bid to launch her career in rallying, commented before

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Priding himself on being an old-school gentleman racer, Tommaso Castellazzi is adamant that he will always stop to assist another competitor who needs help. Fellow Italian Rebecca Busi seemed to be taking it very seriously, on the other hand, having given up a place at university to take part in the Classic in a bid to kick-start a career as a rally driver. Castellazzi’s Iveco-engined 90 was the only one of its kind on the event; Busi’s Range Rover, on the other hand, was one of several taking part. Marc Douton (below) won the inaugural Dakar Classic last year in a Sunhill buggy. Returning for 2022 in a Porsche 911, he was philosophical about his chances of repeating his success among a field of competitors that had already grown almost six times bigger than 12 months ago Above left: Ricardo Leizer / Fotop Above right: ASO / R.Leizer / Fotop Below: Jose Mario Diaz / Fotop the start that she was expecting ‘to see breathtaking landscapes and have fun.’ Tommaso Castellazzi, too, admitted that regularity events were new to him: ‘It is something that I will have to learn quickly. But at least we will do it in places that they say are magnificent. I can’t wait to see them!’

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In addition to this, Castellazzi also embodies a spirit which was once commonplace among Dakar competitors – but which he believes has to a great extent been lost in the heat of competition. ‘At the beginning,’ he says, ‘anyone could register for the Dakar by any means. And then we all helped each other to get, or at least try to get, to the end.

‘I am still like this – a gentleman driver who stops to help anyone in difficulty. Since the Classic is less frantic, at least on paper, I hope to find a lot of complicity and solidarity among everyone.’ Castellazi had the distinction of driving the only Land Rover 90 in the competition. And fellow Solihull man Philippe Marechal, in his 1984

Range Rover, is a kindred spirit in more ways than one: ‘I’m not a very competitive person. If I see a broken down car at the edge of the track, I’ll help out. That doesn’t bother me – we know very well that we will never be first. We come to the Dakar to have a great adventure, and above all to have a good time with our friends.’

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Competing in a high-powered Chevy Protruck would give you an advantage in most rallies, but the Dakar Classic is about sticking to a target speed rather than just going as fast as possible. Yannick and Valérie Panagiotis (above) briefly led at the start of the event but eventually dropped out, leaving team-mates Jérôme and Anne Galpin (right) battling for class honours – which they won, taking a hugely creditable fourth place overall in the process Above: ASO / Fotop Left: ASO / R.Leizer / Fotop

Even last year’s winner, Marc Douton, took a sanguine view prior to the event. ‘We are not going there to defend the title,’ he said, ‘but to put it back into play.’ A wise approach, perhaps, given that there were nearly six times as many entries, but he wasn’t there to make up the numbers himself either, having upgraded from a Sunhill

buggy to a 1985 Porsche 911 Safari built and prepped by his co-driver Jérémy Athimon. Douton lay sixth after the first stage of the event, from Jeddah to Ha’il, which was won by French couple Yannick and Valérie Panagiotis in a 5.7-litre Chevy Protruck – part of Team FJ, which also represents Nascar in Europe.

Like many participants in the Dakar Classic, they have a business restoring vehicles; two weeks larging it in the desert doesn’t sound like too shabby a way to spend your marketing budget, does it? By the end of the second stage (which, rather confusingly, was called Stage 1B), Monsieur et Madame Panagiotis were tied

for the lead with Spain’s Xavier Garnatcha and Sergi Valero – whose Toyota Land Cruiser HDJ 80 was one of no less than 41 in the field. Quite a testament to the vehicle’s legendary indestructibility. You might expect an off-road rally in the Arabian desert to be a fairly weatherproof kind of event, but Stage 2 was wiped out by that most

Xavier Garnatcha was the first to demonstrate the potential of the HJD80 Land Cruiser as he tied for first place after the second leg of Stage 1. With no less than 41 of the vehicles taking part, it was always likely that they would have a say in the destination of the trophies Pic: ASO / V.Cabral / Fotop

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Celebrating a trailblazing Dakar vehicle – and the privateer who came within a whisker of taking it to the ultimate glory

Philippe and Kevin Grandjean made a strong early showing in their Ralliart Pajero, which was once driven by 1997 Dakar winner Kenjiro Shinozuka Pic: ASO / V.Cabral / Fotop European of things: torrential; rain. Instead, the 142-strong ﬁeld formed a convoy to follow a liaison route to Al Qaisumah for the next day’s Stage 3 – where the leading places were to rearrange themselves into a vision of the Dakar’s early days. Yannick and Valérie Panagiotis remained at the head of the ﬁeld, but now they had team-mates Jérôme and Anne Galpin behind them in another Protruck – meaning the top two places were now occupied by vehicles formerly driven by Dakar legend Bruno Saby and all-round driving god Henri Pescarolo. As if that wasn’t enough, third place was now occupied by Philippe and Kevin Grandjean, in a genuine 1988 Pajero prototype used by Mitsubishi as a testing and scouting car in the early days of its spell of Dakar dominance. It was driven at the time by Kenjiro Shinozuka, who went on to win the Dakar in 1997.

Also pushing hard at the top of the early leaderboard was Rudy Jacquot, whose Peugeot 205 is identical to the car in which Ari Vatanen won the ﬁrst of his four Dakar titles

This picture: ASO / Ricardo Leizer / Fotop Below: ASO / Fotop IN 1979, A 31 YEAR OLD HERVÉ COTEL watched the first ever Paris-Dakar Rally – and decided to compete in the second. So too did many others, but Herve was different. He took his resolve into the workshop and started building a vehicle that could compete with vehicles like the Range Rover in which his countryman Alain Génestier had won that inaugural event – and 12 months later, his Cotel buggy upset the applecart by finishing 13th, winning the penultimate stage on the way. This demonstrated the buggy’s potential, and a year later Herve came agonisingly close to writing himself into the history books when he finished second overall behind the Range Rover of René Metge. As it was, both the vehicle and his exploits behind the wheel were to become part of Dakar folklore – so it’s no surprise that when the same combination of man and machine turned up to compete in the Classic, they were feted like royalty. ‘I got the car back six or seven years ago,’ he said. ‘It was more sentimental than anything. It had passed through the hands of four or five different owners and I found it by chance – someone called me saying he had read “Buggy Cotel” on a tube from a wreck that looked more like a flower pot than anything else!’ But then three years ago, Herve learned about a historic racing project in Morocco and started work on restoring the vehicle. ‘We had to redo the buggy from A to Z,’ he explains. ‘The polyester bodywork had held up well but we redid the bonnet, the rear and the sides. The VW Combi front axle, the Renault engine and the gearbox are original, just restored to new. We redid the main hoop for more safety. For a man who once came so close to winning the Dakar, a 119th placed finish tells the tale of a race run simply for the fun of it. ‘What makes me happy is to get this vehicle that was sleeping in the back of a garage to run again,’ he admitted of a project he hadn’t even started until after his 70th birthday. Now approaching 75, Herve is among the very few who know what it feels like to stand on the podium at the end of the Dakar Rally – and to do it in the city of Dakar, no less. As a pioneer of the rally itself, and of privateer buggies, he is quite simply part of Dakar history.

Pic: ASO / Fotop

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While it was statistically probable that an 80-Series Land Cruiser would win the event, you certainly wouldn’t have expected it to be this one. That’s because driver Serge Mogno and navigator Florent Druhon were both complete novices at this kind of thing, having never taken part in a regularity event before. Druhon practised by balancing a tablet and GPS beacon on his knee while his wife drove the family car to the supermarket – yet up against a top field of seasoned experts, the team proved to be very quick learners indeed, not just picking up the necessary skills but achieving the consistency that’s the secret to success in the Dakar. They were already as good as uncatchable well before the final stage Pic: ASO / V.Cabral / Fotop And hot on the heels of the leading trio was a field including Rudy Jacquot, in a 1987 Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 Grand Raid of the kind in which Ari Vatanen won the first of his four titles. It was all change the following day, as the stage from Al Qaisumah to Riyadh saw Jesus Pliego lead the field home in his Mercedes G320. While the high-powered Protrucks had dominated until now, by the end of Stage 4 the entire top ten was made up of vehicles in the low and intermediate speed classes. And eight of these were either Mercs or Toyotas, with Serge Mogno’s 4.2-litre HDJ80 among the stellar performers for the Japanese marque. This was no mean feat, considering neither Mogno nor his

navigator Florent Drulhon had ever entered a regularity event before. Drulhon, an IT consultant and former top-flight fencing ace, prepared himself by riding shotgun on trips to the supermarket with a tablet and GPS beacon perched on his knee – but however wacky-races this might sound, it didn’t take long for him to master the art as their Land Cruiser started its relentless march towards the top of the standings. This was finally realised at the end of Stage 7, after three days in third place overall. Another relentlessly competent performance by man and machine alike saw the Land Cruiser move into the lead ahead of Arnaud and Adeline Euvrard, whose Mercedes-Benz ML430 was presented as a homage

to the vehicle driven by René Metge in the 2003 Dakar, and Juan Iglesias and Miguel Angel Posada in yet another 80-Series. Reigning champion Marc Douton was in 15th at this point, as he strove to work his way back up the standings following a navigational error that cost the team a huge penalty and dropped them down to 25th place. As the days rolled by, they moved through the field until finally, a flawless run on Stage 9 saw their two-wheel drive Porsche 911 re-enter the top ten. ‘There are some incredible cars, much better suited to the rally,’ he admitted. ‘We pay the price of this every day – especially our mechanic, Thomas, who has a huge amount of work to do. Even if it has proven

to be super reliable, every day there have been small details that need to be sorted. ‘We are able to work together – but without any pressure. Because the real hero of the crew, well… it’s the car.’ And never was this more perfectly illustrated than by the Land Cruiser in which Serge Mogno continued to lead. Despite being up against several seasoned regularity veterans, Mogno and Drulhon were proving to be naturals, finding the consistency that’s essential to success in the desert. Pliego, for example, had by now won two stages overall – but a distant 12th on Stage 10 left him almost out of contention as the leaders ticked on with a steady stream of top five finishes.

Arnaud and Adeline Euvrard are vastly experienced in regularity competition, and their V8-engined Mercedes-Benz ML430 is never going to be scared of a sand dune. They were always going to be among the front-runners – though even they couldn’t match the standard set by Mogno and Drulhon, having to be content with second place in the final standings Pic: ASO / Ricardo Leizer / Fotop

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ASO / Ricardo Leizer / Fotop

Mogno was still well out in front as the event entered its final day, with Euvrard second and Pliego third, and these positions now looked unlikely to change. Nonetheless, the Spanish crew had a menacing sight in their G-Wagen’s mirrors, because Jérôme Galpin was making a late charge in his Protruck to cement fourth place with an overall win on Stage 11. Being in a faster vehicle is normally an advantage in a rally, but a quirk of regularity events is that the class system means the

ASO / R.Leizer / Fotop

opposite is the case. ‘Seeing as we drive between 30 and 40 km/h quicker than the other categories,’ explains Galpin, ‘we have to take decisions faster. And if we get delayed, it’s also more difficult to regain the time, because we have to go even faster. But that’s where it also becomes much more fun!’ With their friends and fellow Protruck drivers Yannick and Valérie Panagiotis having dropped out of the running on the rest day between Stages 6 and 7, they vowed to go all out for class victory. ‘From a

position of coming along to have fun,’ continues Galpin, ‘we switched to rally mode and got stuck into our notes. And we’d be the first to say that we are pleasantly surprised by the result.’ Not as surprised as Serge Mogno and Florent Drulhon must have been. From learning regularity on the supermarket run to winning the Dakar Classic is a phenomenal achievement, not least because they led home two extremely experienced specialist teams in second-placed Arnaud and Adeline Euvrard and

third-placed Jesus Pliego and Juan Carlos Moure. What wasn’t surprising was that in the final reckoning, the top ten places included four 80-Series Land Cruisers. With Nasser Al-Attiyah having won the main Dakar in his Hilux, this has been a good year for Toyota – and with the company’s off-road vehicles being so famously long-lived, you can expect to see many more of these legendary trucks in the leading places as the Dakar Classic grows into what promises to be a stellar future.

ASO / Fotop

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OUR 4X4S Vehicle: Isuzu D-Max GO2 Year: 2018 Run by: Alan Kidd Last update: January 2022 On the fleet since: January 2020

A bunch of anchors ONE THING MOST OFF-ROAD BUILDS HAVE IN COMMON is that they involve bigger tyres. Bigger suspension mainly too, perhaps a body lift and maybe some wheelarch mods, but ultimately all these things are put in place

because you want to go up a size or three on the rubber. In the story of our Project D-Max GO2, we’ve already talked about its suspension (a Pedders Trak Ryder Extreme kit) and its tyres (285/75R16 General Grabber X3s), and about how Isuzu’s technical team modified its wheelarches and front cab mounts to let the latter fit without fouling. And the whole package of mods worked very well, which is what happens when you’re using proper equipment and the work’s being done by proper people.

But there’s another knock-on effect you get from fitting bigger tyres. Most people never experience it – but those of us that have never want to experience it again. Wind back to the winter of 2013. We had headed up on to Askrigg Common in Yorkshire to do Hogg Gill Lane, but once we got up on to the top it turned out to be blocked with snow. So we turned back around and came back down what is a very long, steep hill that gets

steeper and steeper as you get towards the bottom. We were in a Discovery 2 we used to run, complete with a 2” lift, 265/75R16s, a V8 engine and auto box… and standard brakes. With nothing much in the way of compression braking available, we started down the hill just riding the big pedal a little to keep it from running away, then the further we went the harder we pushed – and the less effect it had.

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It’s when you see the guts of a brake drum, with all those moving parts, that you realise what horrible things they are. Add a steady bath of muddy water for them to move in and you’ve for a recipe for pain. Pedders’ conversion kit replaces them with a similar set of discs to those going on at the front, providing better clamping efficiency and resistance to fade – an experience we’re particularly keen not to repeat after it jumped our old Discovery 2 on the way down a long hill in Yorkshire some years back By the time we were nearing the bottom, it was back pressed into the seat, leg fully extended, brake pedal down with all our might and the Disco was still on the verge of picking up speed rather than losing it. The road was kind to us and in the end, there was plenty of space to aim at as the gradient eased off – but if a big wagon had come round the corner towards us, a tractor had pulled out of a side lane or, perish the thought, we had come upon a group of walkers, it would have been a case of choosing the least worst thing to hit. And if the same thing had happened up on some Alpine pass with an opensided hairpin ahead of us, the only answer would have been to jump. Does it sound like I’m exaggerating? If you’ve never

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experienced brake fade, probably. If you have, then not a bit. Now, pick-up trucks like the D-Max are designed to carry a tonne. Which means they’re also designed to stop while carrying a tonne. But their brakes were designed for a standard sized tyre, not for the rolling resistance of a 33” mud-terrain. And they come from the factory on rear drums, which is never a good look when they’re going to be spending their lives buried in grimy slop. Happily, Pedders don’t just do suspension. The Aussie company is best known for that, but it has various braking upgrades available for the D-Max too, with Geomet coated rotors and Kevlar ceramic pads – as well as a kit for converting the rear axle to discs.

A handy coincidence here is that Isuzu’s UK importer has a strong relationship with Pedders, which supplied the suspension for the

XTR version of the previousgeneration D-Max. So it was a no-brainer to use the company’s kit. And for us, our old Nissan Patrol

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OUR 4X4S

The hub and rotor assembly is removed from the front axle – a process with more steps to it than you’re quite likely to imagine possible. Then the assembly is placed on the workbench and the fasteners removed before the hub and rotor can finally be prised apart. When you’re reusing components, cleaning them first is always the right thing to do – especially when they’re components like the ABS ring and Toyota Land Cruiser project vehicles both rolled on Pedders springs and shocks, which we found to be excellent – as we have with the suspension on the D-Max. So we had no qualms at all with the brakes going on to our truck. Starting at the back, Pedders says that independent testing has shown its disc brakes to be an average of 17% more efficient than standard under a full load. That’s reason enough to find them attractive, but in off-road use there’s always the issue of drums taking forever to drain once they’ve filled up with water. Not good in the short or long term.

With greater clamping efficiency, discs are inherently more powerful and also have better feel and modulation. And with a wider surface area exposed to the air they’re more resistant to the dreaded fade. They’re also selfadjusting and have less moving parts to get grotted up by the mud and grime us off-roady mob insist on inflicting upon our vehicles. So, lots of good reasons to do a conversion, then. The Pedders kit includes a pair of the company’s Trak Ryder slotted and Geometcoated discs, as well as a set of Kevlar ceramic pads – and all the hardware you need to fit it.

Not that you should just rip happily into the job without knowing what you’re doing, obviously. There are some areas where you should only trust the professionals, and a vehicle’s brakes is definitely one of them. At the very least, if you’re confident enough to do the work yourself you should still get it checked over by someone properly qualified; this does not mean the MOT tester who’ll get to see it in 12 months’ time… So our photos here are an illustration rather than a guide. And the same goes for the front brakes, even though in this case it’s more of a like-for-like swap.

Here again, the discs are slotted and coated in Geomet. This is an inorganic water-based anticorrosive coating which binds passivated zinc and aluminium

The ABS ring puts in another appearance as the hub is reassembled on to the new brake rotor. The zinc and aluminium Geomet coating is clear to see here; it’s sprayed on to the discs, allowing it to penetrate within the vents for deep-seated corrosion resistance

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Refitting the hub assemblies is as long-winded a rigmarole as removing them was. At least now you’re working with something cool, though. Like the ABS rings, the calipers are cleaned up prior to refitting – whereupon they become home to a similarly cool new set of Pedders Kevlar ceramic pads flakes to the metal surface; stable at high temperatures, it’s sprayed on to the discs to provide overall protection, including within the vents and prevent them from rusting on to the hub mounting surface over time – another issue that’s not made any easier by constant off-roading. Pedders says its discs are made from the highest grade of raw materials and that they will allow a longer service life for the wheel bearings and steering components. The direct-replacement OEDR rotors promise a smooth bed-in for the pads, too. On that subject, Pedders’ Kevlar ceramic pads promise top-quality performance along with smooth, consistent pedal feel and ultra-low dusting to keep the vehicle’s wheels clean. In addition, the friction material has a chamfered edge to prevent excessive brake noise.

Lots of good claims there, then. And how do the brakes actually perform in action? Having used them extensively since they went on, we feel pretty well qualified to have an opinion. And our opinion of them is a very positive one. We don’t use the D-Max for carrying 1000kg loads, but with its ARB bumpers, Rival bash plates, Britpart winch and Gearmate drawers, the latter packed full with shackles, snatch blocks, an old military ground anchor and more, this is a heavy truck. Very rarely, we go in too light on the pedal and have to add more – but when that happens, the braking effort comes in progressively so that there’s no sense of alarm as the speed scrubs off. Even with those thumping great tyres, it’s completely stable under braking – whether from motorway speeds, into fast corners on B-roads

or when the suspension is jangling around through the pot holes of a typical British town. We’ve found nothing that unsettles it. Brake noise is absent, too, under any kind of use. Off-road, too, it’s entirely confidence-inspiring. Whatever the how-to-do-off-roading manual says about low first and feet off, there are times when you need to ease a vehicle down extremely steep rocks on its brakes alone, tempering your pressure on the pedal with the effects of gravity. Easier said than done if you’re using something with stodgy old drums at the back (and indeed the front in some cases, he said, pained by bitter memories of trialling an old Land Rover Series IIA) and we certainly wouldn’t risk it on the D-Max’s handbrake, which needs to be hauled all the way to

the top of its travel to bite at all and even then doesn’t always hold it on modest hills. But it’s a piece of cake on the Pedders kit, whose feel allows it to be used not just with confidence but, in extreme situations like that, with accuracy. Now, that’s as it should be when you’re looking at more than two grand’s worth of kit plus the cost of fitting it. But even if it’s a knock-on requirement from the bigger tyres, this is an area where any economy is a false one. And whether we’re chucking it about on fast roads or crawling over wet lanes, these brakes do a bang-up job. They make a positive and significant contribution to the enjoyment of driving this truck – and they mean brake fade has never been an issue. And for both these reasons, they’re worth every penny.

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ROADBOOK

EAST LEICESTERSHIRE

Wide-open, easy-going lanes that suit more or less every kind of 4x4

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ROADBOOK The rolling hills of the East Midlands are rarely thought of as a place to go green laning. Perhaps that’s because the rights of way here tend not to be challenging the way they are in some regions – but with a landscape that’s ripe for exploration, and an extensive network of byways and minor roads on which to do it, the eastern ﬂank of Leicestershire is perfect for soft-roaders and hardcore lane trucks alike. The trails are usable whatever the weather, too – and the landscape retains its gently bucolic appeal all year long

USING OUR ROADBOOKS Our roadbooks guide you through the countryside on a mixture of surfaced and unsurfaced roads. The tracks we use are public rights of way, either Byways Open to All Traﬃc or Unclassiﬁed County Roads, all commonly referred to as green lanes.

NAVIGATION

We’ve deliberately made it as easy as possible to follow the route, using a mixture of instructions, tulip diagrams and grid references. We normally only include junctions at which you have to make a turning or don’t have right of way, so stay on the main road or continue straight ahead unless we tell you otherwise. You’ll ﬁnd a guide to using grid references on the legend of any OS map. Our aim is for you to be able to do the route without maps, whether paper or online, but you should certainly take a set with you.

SAFETY

The notes on thee pages advise you of how suitable the route is for your vehicle. These are just guidelines, however. We’ll warn you of any hazards or diﬃcult sections, but the nature of any green lane can change quickly. Wet weather can make a huge difference to the conditions underfoot, and what’s wide open in winter can be tightly enclosed and scratchy in summer. The responsibility is yours! Our roadbooks are designed to be safe to drive in a solo vehicle. We do recommend travelling in tandem wherever possible, however. The risk of getting stuck can be greater than it appears – and even the most capable of vehicles can break down miles from anywhere.

RESPONSIBILITY

Irresponsible driving is a big issue on green lanes. In particular, you must always stay on the right of way. Never drive off it to ‘play’ on the verges or surrounding land, even if you can see that someone else has; doing so is illegal and can be tremendously damaging. This kind of illegal off-roading is a key reason why green lanes get closed. If you see others doing this, they are NOT your friends. They’re criminals, and you are their victim. If it’s safe to do so, ﬁlm them in the act and pass it to the police.

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Elsewhere, let common sense and courtesy prevail. Keep your speed down, be ready to pull over for others and show the world that we are decent people just like them.

ANTIS

Anti-4x4 bigotry does exist, but it’s less common than you’d think. By and large, it’s limited to organisations who just want to get the countryside all to themselves. These organisations are beyond being reasoned with, but it’s rare to encounter real hostility even from their rank-and-ﬁle members. If you’re friendly towards the people with whom you share the countryside, the vast majority will respond in kind. There are always bad apples, but no more so than anywhere else. Likewise, most local residents will accept your presence if you’re driving sensibly. What suspicion you do encounter is likely to be from farmers worried that you’re there to steal from them, so be ready to offer a word of reassurance. Once satisﬁed that you’re not after their quad bikes, their mood will lighten.

DO…

• Keep your speed right down • Pull over to let walkers, bikers and horse riders pass

• Leave gates as you found them • Scrupulously obey all closure and voluntary restraint notices

• Ensure you have a right to be

there. We research the routes on our roadbooks very carefully, but the status of any route can change without notice Be prepared to turn back if the route is blocked, even illegally If you ﬁnd an illegal obstruction, notify the local authority Stick absolutely scrupulously to the right of way Always remember that you are an ambassador for all 4x4 drivers

• • • •

DON’T…

• Go in large convoys: instead, split into smaller groups

• Drop litter. Why not carry a bin bag pick up other people’s instead?

• Go back to drive the fun bits, such as mud or fords, again

• Cause a noise nuisance, particularly after dark

• Get riled up if someone challenges you. Be ﬁrm but polite, stay calm and don’t let them turn it into a ﬁght

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ROUTE GUIDE

is it suitable?

START FINISH HOW LONG? TERRAIN HAZARDS

TYRES

OS MAPS

Step

0.0

Stathern (SK 772 310) Tur Langton (SP 712 946) 57.95 miles / 5-6 hours Rolling farmland Potentially deep fords; surface water; other users, especially on horseback; farm traﬃc; tricky road junctions; fast traﬃc on roads Landranger 129 (Nottingham and Loughborough) Landranger 130 (Grantham) Landranger 141 (Kettering and Corby

SK 772 310

Start outside the Red Lion, on Red Lion Street in Stathern. It’s currently closed, but the local community is campaigning to save it so it’s enough of a landmark to use as your starting point. Zero your trip with the pub to your right then immediately fork left on to Toft’s Hill, crossing The Green as you go

WEATHER LOW BOX SOFT-ROADERS SCRATCHING DRIVING DAMAGE

Step

At the top of what is a steepish climb, watch out for the bridleway crossing – it’s invisible until you’re right on it

0.6

Step

0.15

1.2

Suitable for road tyres so long as they’re not very low-proﬁle Take care after heavy rain Not necessary Ideally suited (with back-up) Minimal risk Watch out for hidden culverts and surprisingly deep water troughs Should be no risk if driven sanely

Step 1: The Red Lion is Stathern has seen better days – but with a village campaign focused on saving it, it will hopefully still be around for many years to come

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Step

1.25 Step

SK 790 306

There’s a byway sign, but it’s hidden by the hedge until you’re right on the junction. You’ll see a red Sherricliffe Farm sign above a post box facing you as you approach, though

The main track swings round towards the farm buildings in the distance; the one you’re following is still very clear and wide, though

Step

3.05 Step

1.55

3.5

Step

2.5

4.0

Step

2.8

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SK 814 295

12 Knipton

112

4.12

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Step

16 8.15 Step

17 Step 21: The ford is quite a shallow one, but its base is ﬁrm and smooth – and can be very slippery indeed

Step

4.5

9.8

Step

19 Grantham A607 Denton

Step

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9.85

Melton 8 (Wymondham) 3 3 4 Coston

Step

15 4.75

SK 850 228

14 4.65

9.2

Step

Coston

20 Saltby Sproxton

2 3

10.7

Sproxton

112

4x4 13/03/2022 21:19

Step

The ford is normally quite shallow, but its base is very slippery

10.8 Step

22 23

SK 850 228

If you see people in 4x4s destroying the woodland adjacent to this lane, ﬁlm them if it’s safe to do so and report them to the police. Your action could make the difference between the lane remaining open and being closed forever

25 0.55 4x4 12pp Roadbook Apr 22.indd 71

27 Step

28 11.3

ZERO TRIP

13.3 Step

Step

10.8

12.0 Step

26 1.55

11.2 Step

Step

Stapleford Melton

112 5

SK 771 192

The junction is hard to spot as you approach, and it’s not signposted. It’s on the inside of a corner, immediately before a ‘gated road’ sign on the right. Keep it slow as you come up on the distance and be aware that any traﬃc behind you isn’t going to know what you’re doing

Step

29 11.4

It feels like you’re in the middle of nowhere, but watch out for people and vehicles immediately after the corner

Step

30 11.7 APRIL 2022 | 71

13/03/2022 21:19

Step 40: Having followed the road, then the track, all the way through Moscow Farm, turn left up the hill past this huge barn Step

Step

SK 772 174

12.3

12.7

Step

1.6

12.9

Step

7.6

13.7

Step

Little Dalby

3 4

34 8.2

ZERO TRIP

38 HOLLOW LANE

Burrough Road

Turn right in Moscow Farm – a sign says there’s a dead end ahead

0.25 Step

39 4.4 Step

Swing round to the left then follow the grassy track up the hill with the huge barn to your left

4.45 72 | APRIL 2022

12pp Roadbook Apr 22.indd 72

4x4 13/03/2022 21:19

Step

ZERO TRIP

9.25 Step

48 0.05 Step

After the gate, continue ahead across the ﬁeld towards another gate in the distance. Watch out for cows and sheep!

Step

4.7

0.65

Step

5.05

0.75

42 Step

Marefield

3 4

SK 749 079

There’s a steepish drop down to the ford, and an equally steep climb back up the other side

Step 50: The track drops quite steeply as you approach; this is the equally steep climb back up on the other side

43 7.0

MAIN STREET

Step

44 7.1 Step

Newbold Owston

114 214

SK 765 091

8.3 Step

46 8.55 4x4 12pp Roadbook Apr 22.indd 73

JANUARY 2022 | 73

13/03/2022 21:19

MAIN STREET

Step

1.64

4.95

51 Step

55 There’s a village shop a little way along to the right at the junction

2.1 Step

53 2.3 Step

54 3.5 74 | APRIL 2022

12pp Roadbook Apr 22.indd 74

Loddington 4

It’s not obvious who has right of way at this junction

LODDINGTON ROAD

SK 758 043

This road never quite becomes a track, but in its character it’s the most track-like road you’ll ever see

Caution – this is a major road

Step

56 5.1 Step

57 5.35 Step

58 6.95

Rolleston

112

SK 731 004

Gated Road Billeston

4x4 13/03/2022 21:19

Step 61: As you turn left across the cattle grid, then immediately right again, someone deﬁnitely wants you to know that they’ve got more money than you Step 65 (right): The turning for Hallaton is a lot less gaudy, but no less remarkable for the way it’s signposted Step

Step

7.0

10.6

59 Step

60 61 8.85

Shortly after entering the hamlet of New Inn, turn left through the ﬂamboyant gate and cattle grid then immediately right

Step

4x4 12pp Roadbook Apr 22.indd 75

Step

65 11.4

Glooston 2 Cranoe Gated Road 3

SP 755 980

Field Road 212 to Hallaton

Step

62 9.65

212

64 10.9

Rolleston

Step

Caution – this is a major road

7.75 Step

Goadby Glooston

66 NOSELEY

12.7

APRIL 2022 | 75

13/03/2022 21:19

Step

13.25

5.85

67 Step

72 After this junction, stay on the road as it winds right and left through the village, following signs for Cranoe, Tur Langton and Kibworth

ZERO TRIP

Step

14.0

6.05

Step

2.4

Welham

134

71 5.8

ZERO TRIP

7.4

70 Step

Caution as you emerge – traﬃc goes unaccountably fast along here

Step

3.95

The ford is a big one – the biggest of the many on this route – but despite its length it’s not normally as deep as you might expect. There’s no gauge that we could see, though, so when water levels are high you should still treat it with great caution

Welham Weston The Langtons

134

0.25 Step

SP 741 925

76 Pub Car Park At Rear

Glooston

SP 749 958

At the end of the road in Glooston, follow ahead on to a tiny road to the right of the village hall which almost immediately turns into a track

1.25

Step 61: This is by far the biggest of the many water crossings you’ll encounter on the route. It’s capable of getting a good bit deeper than this, but under normal circumstances a good bow wave is all you’ll need to get through safety

76 | APRIL 2022

12pp Roadbook Apr 22.indd 76

4x4 13/03/2022 21:19

Step

Follow ahead for Shangton (or ‘Shagton,’ as the sign has read ever since someone noticed how hilarious it would be if they doctored it…)

Step

2.2

11.3

Step

9.5

11.45

Turn right in Tur Langton

Kibworth

Arrive outside the Crown Inn in Tur Langton for the end of the route

Step

79 9.8 Step

80 11.3 4x4 12pp Roadbook Apr 22.indd 77

Caution – this is a major road. Make that a racetrack in the minds of a lot of the people who use it, actually

Tur Langton 134

APRIL 2022 | 77

13/03/2022 21:19

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14/03/2022 23:05

4x40! NEXT MONTH IN…

A nostalgia-packed celebration as we mark the 40th anniversary of our ﬁrst ever issue – by contrasting the present day with the off-road world as it was in the spring of 1982. Have four decades of progress made things better or worse… or has anything actually changed that much at all…?

ON SALE: 22nd April

Step 40: Tur n left off the main track, embankment dropping dow then plungi n the ng straight into a water trough (right) rock Step n – there are sharp

71 34

Step

Cautio the iate as you climb steps to negot hillside

PLUS: All our usual features – including a sensational green lane roadbook 13 13 Step

12.3.1

a Abbey Strata Florid

8.75

track to the left Take the rocky track the main Cat A

Step

Ste p Step

4328

Step

48 15.2

Step

16 17

It’s a steep, sharp climb up over a bigg er track – you and can’t see ahead over your bonnet to start with

15.0 Step

13.4

11.7

Step

followed by a long

There’s a coup le of huge wate troughs afte r r the junction

1312 .1 .6

10.9

11.8

More rock steps, water trough

Step

44 Join the Cat A

track

You may find yourself drivi a river bed ng along for a while…

13.65 Step

Fill in your name and address and give this form to your newsagent ●

12.8reserve/deliver me a copy every month Please order 4x4 Magazine and

Name Address

Step

18 12.8 88 | JAN UARY 2020

14.7

track Drop off the main the gate and immediately before trough water into yet another

Step

these axleentum to clear t need a bit of mom the right is much bigger Step 37: You migh -off to warned, the drop twisters – but be here s than it look

4x4

14.9 4x4

Newsagent This magazine is available to your wholesaler through Comag Magazine Marketing, Tavistock Rd, West Drayton, Middlesex UB7 7QE. Tel: 01895 444055 Fax: 01895 433602

80 | APRIL 2022

AWAITING PICS Next Month Mar.indd 80

4x4 15/03/2022 11:48

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