4x4 Magazine - December 2018 by Assignment Media Ltd

4x4

NEWS • PRODUCTS • TRAIL GUIDES • WORKSHOP • CALENDAR • OFF-ROAD SCENE

DRIVEN Skoda Karoq: can it be as good as the Yeti?

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

NAVARA AT32 Lifted and lockered, but still showroom-spec – Nissan’s mightiest double-cab demonstrates what a pick-up can become… if the price is right

200-Series Land Cruiser turned into a unique-to-the-UK dropside double-cab ute

PLUS: Getting your 4x4, and yourself, ready for winter

£4.75

Marlborough Downs green lane Roadbook

DEC 2018

Overlanding with a difference – in a classic ex-army Land Rover 4x4 Cover Dec WITH SARAH.indd 1

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EXPERIENCED DRIVER DEPICTED

WHAT AR E YO U BU I LD I NG FOR ?

B U I LT T H R O U G H E X P E R I E N C E â&#x20AC;¦ E AR N E D O N T H E T R A I L BFGO ODRICH.CO.UK

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PMENT TERRAFIRMA RECOVERY EQUI Recovery equipment is essential off-road kit, all 4x4 vehicles should have at least a tow rope, a couple of shackles and a pair of gloves on board. Winch equipped vehicles should carry more to make the best use of the winch and of course recreational and competitive ‘winchers’ will have selected a whole range of useful items such as different length straps, various shackles and snatch (pulley) blocks. Only the best performing recovery equipment is considered to support Terrafirma 4x4 accessories. Terrafirma offers a range of products to ensure your off-road activities are carried out with safety and performance in mind.

TF3311 A brand new kinetic recovery rope

This super flexible easy to handle 9m long, 22mm diameter double braided nylon rope is the most advanced snatch recovery rope on the 4x4 market. Bright red UV, water and abrasion resistant with black nylon reinforced eyes this new rope comes in a mesh storage bag for easy cleaning and has whopping 13,000kg load rating. 30% stretch with quick recovery makes this one of the most effective kinetic or snatch recovery ropes for off road 4x4 vehicle recovery.

TF3314 Strong, lightweight snatch ring The Terrafirma winch “Snatch Ring” offers a strong, lightweight and safe alternative to the traditional metal snatch block. It fits perfectly into a pocket or glove box, making it an ideal accessory to have in your truck for overlanding expeditions or in competition when your co-driver is having to climb steep slopes.

TF3312 Recovery gloves available in medium and large sizes

Terrafirma recovery gloves are manufactured tough to handle the rigours of handling 4x4 winching and recovery equipment but also supple enough to be used for general tasks to protect and keep your hands clean.

ALSO AVAILABLE...

TF3310 11mm soft recovery shackle

EXTENDED WINCH CABLES

TF3309 Extended winch cables (4m) and isolator switch

The location of your winch and battery may not be ideal or the cabling route uses all the cable provided with the winch. Terrafirma TF3309 is the solution. 4m of red and black cables with swaged ring terminal ends, an isolator switch with removable key and a short length of cable to connect the switch to the battery. These high quality leads are ideal for all 4x4 vehicle winches.

TF301 ELECTRIC WINCH 12000lb of pulling performance and modern styling with high quality synthetic rope and wireless remote control

www.terrafirma4x4store.co.uk | T: +44 1235 832900 | E: sales@frogsisland4x4.com

GOODRIDGE BRAKE HOSES Terrafirma have teamed up with the industry leader Goodridge to produce a full line up of the best quality stainless braided brake lines. For over 40 years, racers from across the globe have turned to Goodridge for products to out-perform the competition. Every Terrafirma Goodridge brake line is individually 100% pressure tested and guaranteed to be leak free. Terrafirma Goodridge brake lines do not expand under pressure, are corrosion resistant and come with a lifetime guarantee. A simple but effective upgrade to deliver precise braking.

TÜV APPROVED

Standard length and +2” hoses available for: LR Freelander

Nissan Navara

LR Defender

Mitsubishi L200

LR Discovery

VW Amarok

LR Range Rover

Toyota Hi-Lux

LR Range Rover Evoque

Ford Ranger

Please check our website for full fitment details:

TF641GD Plus 2” extended kit with 4 hoses

TF658GD Standard length kit with 4 hoses

www.terrafirma4x4store.co.uk

OFF ROAD FOAM FILTERS BY PIPERCROSS TF392 Foam filter for LR Evoque

TERRAFIRMA PERFORMANCE FILTERS BY PIPERCROSS – Leaders in Foam

Filter Technology

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Obtain more efficient air flow by fitting one of our performance air filters. Not only can you improve air flow by 30% but the foam technology is proven to be capable of capturing twice the amount of dust particles of paper or cotton alternatives without any detrimental effect on air flow. Washable and reusable, these foam filters can offer lasting performance and reliability for the life of the vehicle.

LR Freelander

LR Range Rover Evoque

LR Defender

Mitsubishi L200

LR Discovery

VW Amarok

LR Range Rover

Isuzu D-Max

LR Range Rover Sport

CAPABILITY AND PERFORMANCE UPGRADES

SCENE DOWNLIGHTER

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December 2018

T H IS M O N T H 22

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92 12 ISSUES OF 4X4 – FOR JUST £12!

This has got to be the best value offer in the history of publishing… subscribe to 4x4 for a year and it’ll only cost a quid an issue! News 14 16 17 18 19

Land Rover Defender First pics conﬁrm independent suspension Jeep Wrangler UK pricing conﬁrmed for new model Toyota Hilux Special edition celebrates 50th aniversary Isuzu D-Max New model joins range in time for 2019 Land Rover Discovery Special model for Alpine rescue work

Tested 20 22 28

Hyundai Tucson Latest version of an SUV box-ticker Nissan Navara AT32 Is this the ultimate off-road double-cab? Skoda Karoq One job: pick up where the Yeti left off

Every Month 4 6 8 10 12 33 80 96

Alan Kidd Winter is when 4x4 ownership comes into its own Gallery Rock-crawling in all manner of American heroes Destinations 1000-mile round trip to where winter means winter Lost Lanes Sarn Helen, where stupidity gets you elected What Jeep Did Next… The Hoff and the Grand Products Tools, parts and goodies to make your world go round Roadbook Mainly easy laning in the Lambourn Downs. Mainly… Next Month Get ready for Double-Cab of the Year

Features 36 44 52 64

A Fine Tribute The Rangey built by a man who left us this year Land Cruiser Ute Turning a 200-Series V8 into a double-cab Winter Prep Get yourself and your truck ready for what’s coming Lightweight Overland A classic Landy taking on the Sahara

Our 4x4s 68

Defender 90 DIY servicing – nothing to be afraid of?

Off-Road Scene 72 74

Tilberthwaite The desecration of a much-loved right of way Odyssey Challenge The end is in sight, in more ways than one

“Mother Nature is lovely most of the time. But not when you wind her up…”

Off-Road Calendar 73 75 78

UK Convoy Tours Tag-along runs on public rights of way Pay-and-Play Events Go in as hard as you want Overland Travel Long-range adventures in your 4x4

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Alan Kidd Editor

his is the time of year when owning a 4x4 comes into its own. Obviously, there’s never a bad time, nor a bad place, to be behind the wheel of the world’s best vehicles, but it’s when the weather turns nasty that you really get the best from them. Obviously, having four-wheel drive at your disposal is jolly handy if it snows while you’re at work. That’s basic.You can get home, whereas that bloke at the next desk with the hot hatch or exec saloon can’t. But there’s more to it than that. Again, it’s really obvious, and a bit of a truism as well, but this is the time of year when the rest of the world stops hating you and stars wanting to be your best friend. Especially if you have a tow rope handy. A million comments on a million social media threads have already made that point, so I’m not going to labour it. Instead, let me say this: sod what they think. If someone’s going to hate you for driving a 4x4 all year round but come on like your best mate when they’re stuck at the bottom of a snowy hill in the self-righteous eco-mobile they think is going to save the planet, or can’t get their power saloon off their drive… well, you can’t reason with stupid.You ain’t ever going to change their minds by being the bigger guy – haters gonna hate, and all that. Where am I going with this? Not down the I’m-alright-Jack route, no. Quite the opposite, actually.You don’t know if the guy needing your help is a 4x4 hater the rest of the year, and if he is you don’t need to go believing he’s going to change his views thanks to you and your rope. So… do it anyway. As I say, sod what they think. Just do it for the satisfaction of doing it – which, if you’ve ever been out there rescuing stranded punters in your 4x4, is one of the best feelings you can get. That, and a strong sense of good citizenship, is why many 4x4 owners are members of regional 4x4 Response groups. These organisations basically formalise the idea of helping your neighbour – but to a degree the general public would be amazed to know about. Whenever there’s an incident in Britain that involves people struggling to get from A to B, you can

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Winter: goodwill to all, even the stupid ones pretty much guarantee that there’ll be an organised army of volunteers using their 4x4s to help. Snow and ice are an obvious reason for this, as is ooding. But it doesn’t need to be that dramatic.You might remember an incident earlier this year when the car park at a pop festival was turned to carnage by rain, and the news reported that ‘hundreds of cars had to be towed out.’ They didn’t report that hundreds of cars had to be towed out and the people doing it were volunteer 4x4 responders. In the mind of a news editor, that adds nothing to the story. Similarly, a group of vandals in 4x4s wrecking a local beauty spot is a story, but an off-road club doing a lane repair day to get a right of way open again for local dog walkers and so on is not. It’s not anti-4x4 bias – it’s just the sad reality of the way people consume news. Anti-4x4 bias may be what it creates, on the other hand, but we’re not the ﬁrst to have suffered as a consequence of this kind of thing and we won’t be the last. Anyway, winter. Goodwill to all, n’stuff. Yes, even to the stupid ones. I should know, too. A few winters ago, I spent an entire morning towing people out of the valley where I used to live. Among them were about half a dozen taxis from the same company, whose owner basically treated me like his own servant the whole time. Did I let that put me off doing it again? Of course not. It sucked, but that just made it feel better than ever to rise above. Buddhists talk about ﬁnding a path to enlightenment by doing menial tasks for others. And, while that’s way more deep than I set out to go when I started writing this here stream of gibberish, you get what I mean.You’re already enlightened, because you drive a 4x4: maybe your 4x4 can lead you down the path to feeling better about yourself than ever. Just add snow…

Tel: 01283 553243 Email: enquiries@assignment-media.co.uk 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 Assistant Editor George Dove Art Editor Samantha D’Souza Contributors Mike Trott, Paul Looe, Dan Fenn, Pip Evans, Olly Sack Photographers Harry Hamm,Vic Peel, Steve Taylor, Russ Dykes, Peter Middleton, Nick Hood Group Advertising Manager Ian Argent Tel: 01283 553242 Advertising Manager Colin Ashworth Tel: 01283 553244 Advertising Sales Manager Peter Topley Tel: 01283 553245 Advertising and Exhibition Sales Executive Abigail Cooper Tel: 01283 553246 Advertising Production Sarah Lowe Tel: 01283 553242 Subscriptions Manager Catherine Martin Subscriptions Assistants Emma Emery, Kay Tunnicliffe, Abi Dutton Publisher and Head of Marketing Sarah Lowe Email: sarah.lowe@assignment-media.co.uk To subscribe to 4x4, or renew a subscription, call 01283 742970. 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 G11, Bretby Business Park, Ashby Road, Bretby, Derbyshire DE15 0YZ

4x4 28/10/2018 21:43

New

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GALLERY

In pictures: 4x4s and off-road stories from around the world

Learning how much the new Jeep Wrangler is going to cost may have put you in the mood for rock crawling. Not necessarily in a new Jeep Wrangler, but still… This most noble of off-road arts will forever be associated with Jeeps, and not without good reason – but all manner of off-road vehicles can be wrestled over the rocks, including the best from the rest of the world and, it would appear, the worst examples of American excess, too… Main picture, plus inset: Jeff Brint @ flickr.com, CC BY 2.0 Below: rockfshr @ flickr.com, CC BY-ND 2.0 Below right: DiamondBack Truck Covers @ flickr.com, CC BY 2.0 Bottom right: Adventure in Serra Negra 2009 by Wagner T. Cassimero “Aranha” @ flickr.com, CC BY 2.0

6 | DECEMBER 2018

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S u s p e n s i o n

P r o t e c t i o n

R e c o v e r y

LOWERED SPENSION N KIT SUSPENSION

extreme COMPETITION DAMPERS The remote reservoir works by allowing increases in the volume of the oil and cooling temperature, this then gives better performance and a better service life to the damper in extreme driving conditions. • • • • • • •

Solid 20mm Chrome plated steel shaft. Black anodised billet alloy ﬁttings. 52mm diameter steel body - bored and honed. Incorporates the “Halite” seal. 600mm Stainless steel braided hose with steel swivel ﬁttings. 52mm steel remote reservoir. Nitrogen gas charged from 60 psi to 200 psi.

Silicon steel, heat treated, shot peened and powder coated spring with Competition Dampers. 200 psi Nitrogen charged.

EVO 2 SUSPENSION KITS

extreme CHALLENGE PLUS DAMPERS We have updated our popular Challenge Dampers - designed for off road as well as fast road use. Complete with standard mounting and will require Extreme tubular front turrets. • • • • • •

The articulation from the Extreme kit and the axle drop of 2” kit as well as great stability and traction!

Solid 20mm Chrome plated steel shaft. Black anodised billet alloy ﬁttings. 52mm diameter steel body - bored and honed. Incorporates the “Halite” seal. Nitrogen gas charged from 60 psi to 200 psi. Available in standard height, +2’’ and +5” lengths for Defender, Disco 1 and RRC.

Std, +2” and +5” Heights

extreme NAS REAR BUMPER TOW STEP

NEW EXTREME DISCO 2 CHALLENGE DAMPERS Now available for Disco2! Standard or plus 2 inch ride de he height. ight. Designed for off road as well as fast road use with stad tad mountings to make it easy to replace existing dampers. pers. • • • • • •

extreme NAS STEPS e WITH QD RECEIVER

Fitted with genuine Polybush. White Powder Coated ﬁnish. Solid 20mm S45C steel shaft chrome plated for extra long seal and shaft life. Twin tubed 46mm bore with 52mm diameter outer case. Incorporates the “Hallite” seal. Teﬂon piston seal.

*optional accessories shown.

Built in quickly detachable receiver point. Two built Bu in Hi-lift jacking points. Available for LR 90 & 110 CSW, Hardtop & Double Cab Pick Up.

NEW EXTREME DISCO 2 STEERING DAMPERS Extreme Steering Dampers are designed to reduce steering d conditions. vibration, “Bump steer” & steering snatch in off road • • • • • •

White Powder Coat ﬁnish. Solid 20mm S45C steel shaft chrome plated for extra long seal & shaft life. Incorporates the “Hallite” seal. Teﬂon piston seal. Race proven. Fitted with standard bushes.

Built in towing point and step. Choice of anodised, standard or black chequer plate. Two built in Hi-lift jacking points.

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DESTINATIONS

The world’s greatest 4x4 travel adventures caught on camera – this month, with winter coming, a place where it really means something…

Inuvik A town of some 3000 inhabitants, Inuvik is not the sort of place you’d normally drive for days to visit, unless perhaps you were on the way to the arts festival it hosts every July. But It’s the getting there that counts. That’s because Inuvik is at the end of the 450-mile Dempster Highway, which has the distinction of being Canada’s only all-weather road across the Arctic Circle. In the summer, it’s a ribbon of gravel crossing endless tracts of hilly tundra: in the winter, it’s a path cleared through a vast blanket of snow. Winter is the time when crossing the Yukon really turns into an adventure. By summer, for example, you cross the Mackenzie River by ferry: by winter, you drive over it on an ice bridge. As this suggests, it’s cold up here. Temperatures of -50°C and below are not unknown, and by the end of winter the snow cover has typically built up to a couple of feet. Time it right, though, and you’ll arrive in town in time for the Sunrise Festival, when the sun, er, rises – after an entire month of darkness. At present, the Dempster Highway is being extended to create an all-weather route to Tuktoyaktuk, a village where it gets even colder than Inuvik. This is the place to come if weird landforms fascinate you, as it’s home to one of the world’s biggest concentrations of pingos. Carrying on to Tuktoyaktuk also extends the adventure to a return journey of more than 1000 miles. It might be on a highway, but seldom can a road trip have felt more like an off-road expedition. Main pic: Dowbtown Inuvik, by Mack Male CC BY-SA 2.0 eft: Martin opatka @ flickr.com, CC BY-SA 2.0 Below: Tuktoyaktuk_034 by pony_coach @ flickr.com, CC BY 2.0

8 | NOVEMBER 2018

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LOW PROFILE. HIGH IMPACT.

WITH NEW AND UPGRADED PRODUCTS FOR THIS AUTUMN/WINTER, LAZER LAMPS CONTINUES TO SET THE STANDARD IN HIGH PERFORMANCE LED SPOTLIGHTS FOR THE 4X4 AND PICK-UP MARKET At just 40mm in height, the new Linear range boasts a low profile design and high-end styling, that ensures the lights are easy to install while impressing whatever time of day or night. Not all LED lights are made the same, visit lazerlamps.com and see for yourself.

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LOST LANES

In memory of Britain’s many rights of way which, over the years, have fallen victim to petty politics and local self-interest

Sarn Helen A magnificent Roman road in South Wales, Sarn Helen has three main sections stretching between Neath and Brecon. The first, a Byway Open to all Traffic, is only open to motor vehicles for the three months of summer; the others were never classified correctly in the era before the foul NERC Act of 2006, and as a result they became restricted byways. Seldom has the insanity of Britain’s approach to rights of way been more apparent, because these sections of Sarn Helen are well surfaced for all their length and provided a hugely popular resource for green lane users. It was a lane that was 100% sustainable, and which brought people to the area – where the money they spent helped keep local shops, camp sites, B&Bs and so on turning over. Its loss, and that of hundreds of other lanes caught in the same legislative trap, made life that bit tougher for small businesses such as these – and that bit fatter for the millionaire landowners whose support made that shabby legislation so tediously inevitable in the first place.

10 | NOVEMBER 2018

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WHAT JEEP DID NEXT…

Historical highlights of the concept vehicles Jeep builds every year for the Moab Easter Safari. This month: a Wrangler for non-stop off-road action

2017: Grand One In Jeep’s words, this Grand Cherokee was ‘a modernised spin on a classic 1993 ZJ.’ Under the hood was the lovely old 5.2-litre V8 which featured in the ﬁrst Grands they brought to Britain, mated to the original four-speed auto that made it such a delightfully la y yet powerful experience to drive. Something we didn’t get back then more’s the pity was axles with locking diffs in them. The Grand One did, though – as well as a 2 suspension hike, allowing it to run Mud-Terrains from BFGoodrich. These sat on 18 rims, which you can make your own mind up about, but there’s no arguing with the wheelarch extensions that allowed it to articulate without the obvious grim stuff happening – you can’t extend the body mounts on a , as it was built on a monoco ue platform, so virtual lifts are the only way to go. What you can do, however, is extend the wheelbase. Apparently. That’s what eep did with this , not by stretching the chassis but by tweaking the suspension to move the axles further apart. Looking at how close the rear tyres sit to the door apertures, you’d say this was probably necessary to avoid a horrendous body job involving somebody unpicking seams until they lost the will to live. Topping off the build were some lovely period touches, like a subtle blue wood grain body ﬁnish below the waistline and, on the inside, tartan roof lining. They sealed the deal with an plumbed-in car phone from the early 90s and a Game Boy in the back – and when you opened the driver’s door, a David Hasselhoff sticker appeared as if by magic. Ni-i-ice…

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JeepChryslerParts.co.uk is an independent distributor and is not affiliated with FCA USLLC. Jeep® and Chrysler® are registered trademarks of FCA USLLC.

4x4 NEWS

OFFICIAL PICTURES SHOW INDEPENDENT SUSPENSION ON NEW DEFENDER Test mule powered by 2.0-litre diesel engine • Beam axles become history when sales begin in 2020

and Rover has shown its ﬁrst ofﬁcial pictures of the forthcoming all-new Defender. The images, which were distributed to the media at around the same time as the aris motor show, are dressed up as spy shots of a heavily disguised vehicle out testing on British roads. While the mule’s bodywork is obscured, the images allow viewers to create a reasonably accurate

image of what the Defender will be like – big, s uared off, slab-sided and, crucially, riding on independent suspension. The latter feature adds credence to the often uoted assumption that the Defender is being developed upon the same platform as the current Discovery. Solihull presented its ﬁrst vision of what a replacement for the original Defender looked like back in 2011, when it unveiled the DC100 concept. At the time, it was

Honda has revealed economy ﬁgures for its new CR-V Hybrid. In 4x4 form, the petrol-electric SUV returns 51.4mpg combined and emits 126g/km of CO2. A 4x2 version is also available that’s slightly more economical.

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suggested that this might form the basis of a production model in two or three years from that date – but by the time the new Defender goes on sale in 2020, almost a decade will have passed. Long enough, perhaps, for memories of the DC100 to have faded. Safe to say that the new vehicle won’t look much like the concept, which received what much have been one of the most hostile receptions in the history of the

motor industry from Land Rover’s traditional customers. These nay-sayers are hardly likely to be comforted by the sight of independent wishbones under the Defender’s rear end, nor by the prospect this holds out of the vehicle relying largely on electronic traction aids for its off-road ability. The era of readily modiﬁable Defenders seems to be ﬁrmly at an end with the imminent arrival of this new design, too.

SsangYong has introduced a range of 0% ﬁnance offers on the Korando and Tivoli. With nil deposit, these cover two years for petrol models and ﬁve years for diesels; all new SsangYongs get a recently introduced 7-year, 150,000-mile warranty.

4x4 31/10/2018 05:35

4x4 NEWS

SPECIALIST 4X4 VEHICLE DISMANTERS JEEP - LAND ROVER AND MOST MAKES AND MODELS QUALITY GUARANTEED USED PARTS While the pictures give little away about details of the Defender’s styling, sources we’ve spoken to who have seen the vehicle say it looks like… a Defender. It’s won’t be a carbon copy, however, though a clear resemblance to the old model will certainly be there, as will a variety of body styles and at least two wheelbases. The Defender in Land Rover’s images appears to be a long-wheelbase model, the future equivalent of the 110; a replacement for the 90 is also certain, though the premium positioning Land Rover is planning for the vehicle means it’s less likely that a 130-style utility model will be produced. What is likely (certain, in fact) is that the Defender range will include electriﬁed power trains. The vehicle in the spy’ photos is ﬁtted with a 2.0-litre diesel engine (if they didn’t

want you to know that, they’d have done a proper job of blanking out the number plates), but hybrid propulsion is now part of everyday life for those planning Land Rover’s future products, and even a fully electric model can’t be ruled during this Defender’s lifetime. Especially if it’s as long as the previous Defender’s lifetime, obviously. We can conﬁrm that the Defender programme is progressing well and has reached an exciting stage of its development. Customers around the world will be taking delivery of and enjoying Defender again from 2020.’ A full online unveiling in the spring of 2019 is understood to be possible, with the vehicle making its public debut at the New York Auto Show in April and full UK pricing announced, no doubt to howls of derision, around a year from now.

SOME OF THE VEHICLES WE HAVE RECENTLY DISMANTLED:

2015 JEEP WRANGLER JK 2.8CRD

2007 DODGE NITRO 2.8CRD

2016 RANGE ROVER EVOQUE 2.0 TD4

2014 RANGE 2016 ISUZU 2014 JEEP ROVER SPORT 4.4 D-MAX 2.5 DIESEL CHEROKEE MK5 V8 DIESEL KL 2.0 MULTIJET

2010 JEEP 2007 LAND ROVER CHEROKEE MK4 DISCOVERY 3 2.7 KK 2.8 CRD TDV6

2008 HONDA CRV 2.2 CDTI

2006 JEEP GRAND 2006 NISSAN CHEROKEE WK PATHFINDER 2.5 5.7 V8 HEMI DCI

The Ford Ranger has accounted for 30.2% of all pick-up sales in the UK so far this year. That’s an increase of 30.4% on last year, with a total of 12,6 5 Rangers registered so far in 201 . hese ﬁgures helped turn September into Ford’s best ever month for CV sales.

4x4 5.5 News Dec ADS.indd 15

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31/10/2018 05:35

4x4 NEWS

£44,495 STARTING PRICE FOR NEW WRANGLER £2000 premium for Rubicon and Overland models • Five-year warranty • On sale now

eep has announced the pricing structure for its all-new Wrangler. As we feared when reporting on the vehicle’s European launch in our September issue, this is now positioned as a premium product in the UK; whereas the previous JK model cost from £17,995 when it was launched in 2007, the new JL starts at £44,495. That sum of money gets you a two-door in Sahara trim, with the four-door version of the same model costing £45,995. Moving further up the range, the Overland and Rubicon models command identical prices, costing £46,495 and £47,995 in two and four-door form respectively.

The two joint range-toppers offer buyers a choice between greater style and luxury (Overland) and highly evolved all-terrain capability (Rubicon). The latter gains uprated axles, locking diffs, deeper low-range gearing, underbody protection and more, giving it an almost unmatched level of ability off-road. High though it is, the Wrangler’s price does at least include ﬁve years’ warranty, three years’ servicing and ﬁve years’ roadside assistance (Jeep calls this its 5-3-5 pledge). More importantly, the initial investment has to be weighed up against the likelihood of extremely strong residuals – examples of the previous model actually appreciated

Volkswagen has unveiled the -Cross, its latest and smallest SUV. escribed as an urban crossover vehicle with masculine design , this will come with a high level of connectivity and be powered by a choice of three and four-pot petrol and diesel engines.

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in day-to-day use during substantial periods of their lifetime, and despite some early concerns caused by product recalls in North America it is to be expected that limited UK supply will keep values high here. At launch, all Wranglers sold in the UK will be equipped with a 2.2-litre MultiJet II turbodiesel engine and eightspeed

automatic gearbox. A 2.0-litre petrol unit will be added to the range later in the year, presumably at a lower price – though the days of cheap, cheerful Wranglers are very clearly over.

A plumber and carpenter from Northamptonshire has won a Mitsubishi 200 in a competition to find ritain s top tradesperson. Stuart Roache won the Warrior Double-Cab after coming through regional heats and a grand final organised by Screwfix.

4x4 31/10/2018 05:35

4x4 NEWS TOYOTA AND ARCTIC TRUCKS TEAM UP TO CREATE HIGH-SPEC LIMITED-EDITION 50TH ANNIVERSARY HILUX THE TOYOTA HILUX is half a century old. And what better way to celebrate the occasion than with the unveiling of a new model. Okay, so this isn’t actually a new Hilux as such. Instead, it’s a special-edition model designed specifically to celebrate fifty years of what is one of the most iconic vehicles ever made. The vehicle is named the Hilux Invincible 50. A joint venture between Toyota and Arctic Trucks, it builds upon a regular Invincible-spec double-cab, adding more of the sort of attitude you would expect from a roughand-ready pick-up. And the result is one tasty truck. Over the last fifty years, the Hilux has been put through some gruelling paces. It has conquered both Poles, driven up the side of an erupting volcano and been submerged in the sea… and that’s just at the hands of the mob from BBC Top Gear. Plenty of the other sixteen million or so Hiluxes built over the last half-century have been given the treatment, too – it’s not normally been as showy, but it’s rarely been any less taxing. This is a truck with an epic appetite for work, make no mistake. You’d expect this new and exclusive special-edition Hilux to be just as epic, and sure enough it’s just that. It really is exclusive, too – though just fifty customers in the UK will be able to become the judge of that. Each Invincible 50 will have a numbered commemorative plaque. And even the vehicle’s new 16” rims come complete with a centre cap that lets people know this is no ordinary Hilux. Said rims are wrapped in 265/75R16 BFGoodrich KO2 All-Terrains, and they help increase the vehicle’s ground clearance – as does a performance suspension set-up from Bilstein. Between them, those new boots and suspenders lift the Invincible 50 by 40mm at the front and the 20mm at the rear. The new springs and shocks provide improved articulation, and the extra height means better approach and departure angles. The Invincible 50 mimics other offerings from Arctic Trucks with its in ated arches giving it the sort of presence only the Hulk can better. A sports bar – not the kind you get drunk in – sits on the rear overlooking the load bed, laying the perfect place in which to strap a set of powerful Vision X lights. There’s other, less blindingly obvious tweaks here, too, like Arctic Trucks mud aps, a tailgate carrying an old-school Toyota decal and in front of it, a bedliner treated with Line-X for an extra durable workspace. Invincible 50 badging, crafted in chrome, has been machine-gunned about the vehicle and you can have the vehicle in any colour you want, so long as it’s black. It’s likely these special edition Invincible 50s will sell out quickly, and you can order yours now with deliveries taking place throughout December and into early 2019. Prices hadn’t been advised at the time of going to press, but they’re sure to re ect the vehicle’s exclusive status – not to mention the amount of work that’s gone into creating it.

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31/10/2018 05:35

4x4 NEWS

UPDATES FOR TOP D-MAX

New suspension added to £38,545 AT35 model • New £22,499 Fury edition joins range

he suspension updates Isuzu announced last month for its D-Max one-tonner have been carried over to the specialised AT35 model – as well as a new edition named the Fury. Both of these will feature the same updated specs as the rest of the range – including a new threepiece leaf-sprung rear suspension set-up for double-cab models. These vehicles’ kerb weight drops by 10kg as a result, meaning their payload increases by the same amount. The D-Max’s 1.9 TD engine, which has also been updated, now kicks out 162bhp and 266lbf.ft. In addition, it can top 40mpg without any necessity for AdBlue. The AT35 edition gains the usual Arctic Trucks treatment, lifting it to accommodate fat 35” tyres for a more macho appearance on the road. Based on a high-spec interior, it offers leather trim and a 7” colour touch-screen media

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system with both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Outside, there’s the usual Arctic Trucks badging and decaling, plus 35” Nokian Rotiiva ATs on 17” black alloys, ared wheelarches to accommodate them and Fox Performance Series suspension. Extended side steps are fitted, too, and the whole lot is now available in a choice of Spinel Red, Sapphire Blue and special-order Galena Grey paiont finishes. The new Fury model, meanwhile, is finished in a moody Magma Red hue and sits of 18” dark grey alloys. Its radiator grille is also darkened and features unique red Isuzu badging, while the side steps, door mirrors, door and tailgate handles are coloured in a combination of dark grey, gunmetal and black. The vehicle is set off by Fury decals on its front doors, and the same graphic is on the headrests of the front seats. These are upholstered in a dark grey cloth

with red stitching on the soft pad armrests and steering wheel, or for another for £1000 this can be swapped for a black and red leather alternative. Manual air conditioning is standard, as is a reversing camera, 7” touch-screen infotainment, a CD player, front and rear USB ports and Fury branded oormats. Naturally, both of these models retain the 3500kg towing capacity that features across the rest of the D-Max range, as well as Isuzu’s

60-month/125,000-year warranty. The Fury is priced from £22,499 ex-VAT on the road, while the AT35 starts at £38,545.

4x4 31/10/2018 05:36

4x4 NEWS LAND ROVER CREATES BESPOKE DISCOVERY FOR MOUNTAIN RESCUE OPERATIONS LAND ROVER HAS CREATED a special version of the Discovery for use by the Austrian Red Cross. The result of an 18-month development project, the vehicle is equipped to act as a mobile nerve centre for recovery operations. Aiding it in its task is a high-spec eight-rotor drone. Fitted with a long-range thermal camera, this enables the relief team to spot a person up to 440 metres away, and a vehicle almost a kilometre away. The Disco’s main computer slides out from a bespoke carbon ﬁbre command centre in the boot, allowing recovery efforts to be organised at the site of any emergency. Naturally, the vehicle also carries the latest in communications equipment. The standard infotainment screen has been replaced with a command interface for the drone, which tracks objects and shows the distance to reach them once they’re selected on the display. Full 0-degree lighting is also ﬁtted. This is to illuminate the scene of the crisis, rather than to show off what a cool truck the operators have got, though we’re sure some of you will be looking at it and having ideas. ‘Our partnership with the Red Cross isn’t just about our vehicles,’ says Special Vehicle Operations boss Michael van der Sande. ‘Since we started collaborating in 1954, our aim has been to help the Red Cross improve its disaster response and ultimately to help save lives. Over the past 18 months, our engineers have worked closely with the emergency response team at the Austrian Red Cross, deploying Land Rover’s technology and talent to create a unique solution to the requirements of the Red Cross in the region.’ Land Rover has donated more than 120 vehicles to the International Federation of Red Crescent Societies over the six and a half decades since its partnership with the organisation began. ‘We are grateful for Land Rover’s generous support,’ said the IFRC’s Dr Jemilah Mahmood. ‘The Discovery Emergency Response Vehicle is yet another result of our strong global partnership which will make a difference in the harshest conditions.’

BMW has already put an X in all the other number boxes, so now it’s time for the X7. Due on sale in April, this is a large SUV with three rows of seats – enough, says BMW, to seat seven adults in comfort. At launch, the vehicle will be offered with three turbocharged six-cylinder engines offering a choice of petrol and diesel propulsion and a range of power outputs from 265 to 400bhp. All versions stay under the 200g/km threshold and return better than 40mpg combined. ower goes to the road via the latest x rive system, and the range-topping 50d model is ﬁtted with an Sport differential which is also part of the off-road package. Yes, there’s an off-road package. This builds on the possibilities offered by the four-way height-adjustable air suspension to deliver four additional drive modes – xSnow, xSand, xGravel and xRocks. Each of these adjusts the X7’s set-up to keep it xSurefooted when xOff-Roading. The second and third rows of seats can be adjusted in enough variety to leave you speechless (or catatonic). You can specify 2+2+2 seating instead of the normal three-up second row when ordering the vehicle; either way, with everything aft of the driver’s seat dropped for cargo action, the X7 will swallow up to 2120 litres of stuff. Of far more interest to most people who ll go snifﬁng in their local eemer showroom will be a new digital binnacle with a 12. screen. here s a new gear selector on the oor console, too, along with the i rive controller, mode select buttons and so on, and there s a wide range of the latest safety aids – though some only come as part of the optional Driving Assistant Professional pack. That’ll help ensure that absolutely no-one manages to pay list price for an X7. It’ll be more than that – which, given that the cheapest version screens at £72,155 on the road, says all you need to know about the level at which this new BMW will be competing.

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31/10/2018 05:36

DRIVEN FIRST DRIVE Hyundai Tucson

f you ﬁnd yourself in the market for a compact SUV and delving into the list of options seems far too overwhelming, let me stop you right there and point you in the direction of the Hyundai Tucson. This latest version of the Tucson has been one of the Korean manufacturer’s top-selling vehicles across Europe since its launch back in 2015, and Hyundai freshened it up earlier this year to make sure that trend continues. Starting from 22,045 OTR, the Tucson is fractionally more expensive than the commendable Seat Ateca, while remaining considerably better value than the likes of BMW’s 1. However, neither the base Ateca or Tucson is going to appeal, seeing as you’re missing a propshaft and two extra driven wheels. So, if you compare the inhale remium 2.0 CRDi 185 S 4WD 8-speed auto 48v mild hybrid version exhale like we have here, against the like-for-like Seat Ateca 2.0 TDI 190 S 4Drive cellence DSG-Auto, the Korean’s RR trumps the Spaniard’s by 1,4 to 2,490. In other words, the Tucson is well priced. Nevertheless, cheap doesn’t always mean classy – but Hyundai

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has managed it here. This is a no-nonsense family runabout that doesn’t attempt to be anything else, and that’s why it’s so good. To begin with, the exterior is just plain attractive. It may not be a eugeot 008, but it’s not a million miles away and from every angle this is a fetching machine. With that box ticked, you’ll be happy to take a look inside. There’s no surprises lying in wait and most will stick with the simple black surroundings and leather trim. But it’s often the things you can’t see that make the difference. For example, those seats will keep you content for many miles, while the interior is satisfying but not lavish. Most surfaces are soft to the touch and the infotainment screen is sufficient with its menus and functions clear. The Tucson possesses most of the modern features you can find in an SUV’s cabin, while more significantly you’ll be pleased by the amount of rear legroom you can offer children and adults alike. The boot is sure to cater for most families, too. A couple of highlights before I move on: the sound of the indicators is particularly pleasing, and the design of the rear load space makes it a doddle to slide items in and out of it. So, you now

need to load up the Tucson for your family adventure with all manner of prams and toys, before heading out on to the open road. Well, the Tucson is good out there, too. On the move, the eight-speed box is seamless while cruising and the 2.0-litre diesel engine is strong and able to gain pace very well. Furthermore, because this is a mild hybrid, the Tucson doesn’t suffer from that initial T-junction hesitation you can get with some autos. Out on the road, the Tucson’s ride is very good, even on poorer surfaces where it proves well damped and protects passengers from abruptions in the tarmac. You’ll also ﬁnd decent grip in corners – more than you expect – so it’s easy to gain conﬁdence. Body roll is present, but the Tucson can tackle B-roads without getting ustered. Even so, your kids won’t thank you for trying to be Lewis Hamilton. In this game, you’re always more likely to be concerned about rear seat folding speed than apex speed. And that’s just it. The Tucson can handle any situation without

breaking a sweat, but crucially it is suitably proﬁcient at all the family stuff so you won’t break into a sweat either. For many families out there, I can imagine this being an ideal vehicle – particularly if it’s just the two kids you’ve popped out. lus, when you consider the competitive pricing, generous kit levels and ﬁve-year warranty, which that betters the three-year cover you get from most manufacturers, this is a car that takes the headache out of choosing which compact SUV is right for you. It might sound like faint praise to say the Tucson is a good fallback family motor. But people with children will be familiar with the feeling of not having time to think – and this is a very easy 4x4 to choose without having to give it a second thought. Crucially, it’s a choice we don’t think you’ll regret making, either.

4x4 28/10/2018 23:52

THEY’LL TACKLE ANYTHING MUSSO

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£19,995 ex VAT*

PICK-UP OF THE YEAR AWARDED BY SCOTTISH FIELD MAGAZINE

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£28,495*†

4X4 OF THE YEAR AWARDED BY 4X4 MAGAZINE

Fuel consumption figures in mpg. Rexton: Urban 27.1-28.8, Extra Urban 40.3-42.8, Combined 34.0-36.2. CO2 emissions in g/km 218-204. Musso: Urban 25.9-29.1, Extra Urban 39.2-40.9, Combined 32.8-35.8. CO2 emissions in g/km 226-211. Models featured are a Rexton Ultimate priced at £39,095 including optional metallic paint priced at £600, and Musso EX priced at £24,449 including optional metallic paint priced at £516. *including delivery charge, Road Fund Licence & first registration charge, ex VAT. †Including VAT for Rexton EX. Warranty covers 7 years or 150,000 miles. Prices are correct at the time of going to print but may be modified or changed at any time.

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29/10/2018 18:19

DRIVEN

NISSAN NAVARA AT32

Specialised off-road model comes from the dealer with lifted suspension, bigger tyres and a heavy-duty underbody protection, plus options like a snorkel and front locker DRIVEN Navara Off-Roader AT32

he previous-generation Nissan Navara had the most SUV-like interior of any pick-up sold in Britain at the time. But it was a big, heavy thing, even by pick-up standards, which made it one of the most

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truck-like one-tonners to drive. It was big and heavy, though, even by pick-up standards, and while it was a useful tow truck it wasn’t as good off-road as people had a right to expect. Buyers in mainland European got it with a

locking rear diff, but in the UK that was swapped out for a limited-slip effort – the result being that rivals like the Toyota Hilux trounced it in the rough. That was then, though, and this is now. And this time, the Navara has a proper rear locker. It also has coil springs, and between them they make an enormous difference – today’s Navara feels composed, agile and light on its feet, both offroad and on. Building on that is the model tested here. The Off-Roader AT32 is a specialist vehicle with +20mm lifted suspension and 32” tyres (275/70R17s, to be precise), as well as heavy-duty side steps, a full set of underbody guards and a variety of styling tweaks. The conversion is done as OEM and the truck is

sold as a standard model through Nissan’s main dealer network. This means you don’t need to insure the AT 2 as a modiﬁed vehicle – and that Nissan’s warranty remains valid. In each case, of course, that’s so long as you don’t add any further mods of your own. That will be relevant to anyone who considers a serious off-road vehicle to be incomplete if it doesn’t have a winch bumper up front. But probably not as relevant as the AT32’s price. At £39,640, it’s by no means the most expensive pick-up on the market, but it’s still £7100 more than the Tekna model on which it’s based. With the optional extras it had on board, meanwhile, the Navara tested here would cost you £45,225. These do at least include

4x4 28/10/2018 23:45

The AT32 is based on the Tekna model, placing it ﬁrmly at the top of the range for creature comforts with sat-nav, heated leather seats on so on. It’s a good, stylish, well appointed cabin, though while it’s spacious up front there’s a distinct shortage of knee and head room in the rear

some really worthwhile kit, though, like a Safari Snorkel and ARB AirLocker for the front diff.

CABIN AND PRACTICALITY Being based on the Tekna, the AT32 comes with stuff like sat-nav and heated leather seats. There’s a

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switch on the oor console for that front locker, but over and above that there’s nothing to differentiate it from being sat inside a standard one. Which is to say we’ll keep this bit brief… It’s a good, comfy, well laid out cabin, with plenty of room in all directions and a ﬁne view forward across a bonnet whose lavishly curvacious shape might put you in mind of an old Chevy Corvette, if

you’ve ever driven one of those. The seats are leather-clad; it’s not the most supple of hides, and the design is a bit basic, but they’re comfortable to sit in and easy to adjust, though the lumber cushion in ours felt a bit uneven. In the back, it’s like every other Navara, which is to say it’s not very good at all. Children are okay in it, but an even remotely tall adult will sit uncomfortably with their knees pressed into the back of the seat in front and their heads into the roof lining. When the Ford Ranger and Isuzu D-Max, both of which were launched in 2012, manage to be so much more generous here, we really don’t understand why the more modern Navara is so poor. You can at least fold down the back of the rear bench to create a cargo platform, and the pick-up bed is ready for work. The roll-top cover on our tester was a bit ﬁddly to operate, however. Moving back to the front cabin, the cubby box is surprisingly tiny and the door pockets are quite shallow, so oddment stowage isn’t

great. There’s a no-nonsense media set-up that does what it says on the tin, albeit without the elegance of a system using Apple Carplay to enable phone pairing.

DRIVING We’ll start with a brief recap on the standard Navara. It has a good, strong engine which, by diesel standards, loves to rev; its manual gearbox is quite slick, with a nice light action and precise changes; its steering does what you tell it; and its ride uality, while still ﬁrm at the back around town, is very settled, especially at speed. How much does the AT32 conversion change that? Well, you immediately feel the ﬁrmness in the uprated shocks, which results in a slightly more nervous ride at lower speeds on everyday roads. When the surface gets bad, however, the shocks come into their own. The AT32 is amazingly well controlled over big, harsh bumps, with no crashiness or unruly rebounds to disturb you.

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You can just see a glimpse of the Navara’s suspension here; it uses H&R springs and Bilstein shocks to achieve a 20mm lift. The tyres are 275/70R17s, which necessitate the ared wheelarches you see here not ideal for off-roading, but it looks cool and that’s what the ma ority of buyers will care most about. If you’re in it for the image, though, be sure to get the snorkel – it attracted more attention than anything else during our time with the truck

The springs’ extra height doesn’t result in any additional unwanted body movement, either, and this remains consistent at higher speeds. Out on the open road, however, we felt that the Navara was less responsive in corners than we’ve become used to with standard models, with less feel on turn-in and a more pronounced tendency to wash wide. That’s not at the sort of speeds which you might expect to start asking questions of its all-terrain tyres; if anything, we found it cornered with greater alacrity when the suspension was being worked harder. It’s not as planted on the motorway, either, with more frequent adjustments being necessary to keep it on line. Fast cruising is a particular strength of

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the standard model, but we never felt as settled in the AT32. That’s not to say it’s bad, and it’s every bit as reﬁned as any other Navara at speed, but if there’s one area where it drives like a modiﬁed vehicle we’d say this is it.

you more ground clearance. That’s always welcome on a vehicle with a long wheelbase and a rear overhang you can see from space, and it does make a difference. Not so much that our Navara’s steel side steps and heavy-duty underguards didn’t

come to the rescue as we wrestled it over a steep jumble of ragged rocks, but this is a situation where taller tyres mean greater agility and so it proved. Another, less welcome consequence of the taller tyres is

OFF-ROAD Actually, there’s another area where the AT32 drives like it’s been modiﬁed. Which is at it should be, because when you buy one of these you’re spending a lot of money on the conversion that gives it its OffRoader tag. First things ﬁrst. The Navara was already a good vehicle off-road, with plenty of exibility and the back-up of that rear locker on hand. So the AT32 conversion is building on strong foundations. At its most basic level, the suspension lift and bigger tyres give

4x4 28/10/2018 23:45

The Navara’s 2.3-litre engine is available in two states of tune across the range. Naturally, up here at top-end money you get the more powerful 190bhp version as standard. It’s a smooth, reﬁned and very e ible unit that suits the truck well, though on these taller tyres it feels overgeared in low range for the sort of e treme off-road work it’s made to do

that the Navara’s overall gearing is higher. And this is most noticeable in the way it drives off-road. You spend much more time than you’d expect in low ﬁrst when tackling the sort of technical stuff we’ve just been describing, and even this isn’t enough to keep it from running away even on only moderately steep drops. On the plus side, the Navara is ﬁtted with hill descent control. We’re forever saying that this shouldn’t be necessary in a vehicle with low range and a manual box, but in the AT32 we found ourselves having to use it in anger. This isn’t a proper solution to over-gearing,

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though: it’s certainly effective on long slopes, but it won’t give you any added ﬁnesse at crawling speeds over very uneven ground. Trying to hold your vehicle back on its brakes while at the same time keeping it moving is never a good look. The conclusion we can’t help but reach is that before buying one of these, we’d want to know if there was a conversion available to give it lower gearing in the diffs or transfer case. It may be that the auto version would be more forgiving over extreme terrain, too, though that doesn’t sound like a proper answer to the question.

Talking of diffs, to test the AT 2’s lockers we tried taking it diagonally across a deep ditch to see how far it would get before losing traction. Not very, is the answer, at least until the rear locker went it – but then the point came when even this wasn’t enough and we ended up with three wheels spinning away. Banging in the front locker, we felt sceptical as to whether it was going to make any difference at all. So ease it forward in ﬁrst gear, wait for it to spin again and… nope, off we go. Now, the AT32 stayed with us the rest of the way, taking us to the top of the bank with no trace whatsoever of wheelspin.

And that’s on all-terrains. We do understand why Nissan sticks with these rather than ﬁtting a more aggressive pattern, but put on a set of muds and the AT32 will be a phenomenal tool. As sold, it can gain more traction than any other pick-up obviously, you can go to the aftermarket and get ARBs ﬁtted into more or less anything, but nothing else can come out of the showroom with the same level of readiness for off-road action. Talking of the aftermarket, however, the AT32’s strength is meant to be that it doesn’t force you down that route. But despite its

28/10/2018 23:45

24 | MAY 2018

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Off-road diehards can sneer all they want, though: there’s nothing wrong with having a truck like this just because you like the way it looks, and if that’s your bag we’d say the AT32 gets it spot-on. The badging, the kit itself, all the way down to little details like red valve caps, all create an image that’s undeniably cool. We’d recommend adding the snorkel, though, because during our time with the vehicle there was nothing that came close to it for attracting attention. If you’re buying it for off-roading, the AT32 is still very compelling. But weigh it up carefully. Even if you’re using premium kit and getting it ﬁtted by the pros, you’ll struggle to make it cost as much as going down this route. You’ll get to spec it exactly the way you want, too – though you won’t get the many unique decorative touches and, no small matter, you’ll be pulling the pin from a deprecation grenade. There’s no open-and-shut case either for or against the AT32 in terms of value for money compared to the aftermarket. And while you do pay strong money for the conversion, this is still a mid-priced pick-up by today’s standards – even with all the extras accounted for, you can still spend more on a onetonner without getting any of this model’s bolt-on goodies. We’d be bolting on more besides. But for sure this is a very good, very advanced starting point for any off-road project.

★★★★✩

VERDICT

excellence off-road, though, it’s not a complete package. No off-thepeg modded motor ever will be – not even with the snorkel and front locker installed (which, by the way, between them account for £4200 of the options’ price). We’d be surprised if an aftermarket gearing conversion doesn’t become available, and for the sort of offroading it’s built to do almost any customer would want to fit heavyduty bumpers and a winch. Those would need to be declared when buying insurance, which is only going to send your premiums in one direction. And even though the AT32 is covered by Nissan’s warranty, any extra mods on top of its Nissan-approved spec will give your friendly dealer an excuse to wash his hands of you. Whereupon two of the biggest benefits of staying away from the aftermarket go up in a puff of smoke. How relevant is this going to be to the typical AT32 buyer? Very, we’d like to think – but in reality, we’re not sure. To us, it’s a truck you’d buy because you want to use it off-road. But we’ve spoken to very senior people in the pick-up industry who admit that they see conversions like this as being first and foremost for people who want the image of driving a street-legal monster. And as if to back that up, all the official AT models you can currently buy in the UK are based on high-speccers with leather, fancy nav and so on.

Nissan Navara AT32 A winning off-road package for those who don’t want to spec their own trucks We’re fans of the Navara in general (so long as we don’t have to travel in the back). and the prospect of a ready-made off-road model is very appealing indeed. The AT32 does live up to those expectations, and its price tag is more realistic than those of some less capable rivals – though we think most people buying a Navara for offroad use would prefer to start with a standard one and spec if themselves.

4x4 28/10/2018 23:45

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31/10/2018 05:12

4X4 FACTFILE

SKODA KAROQ ON TEST Karoq 2.0 TDI 150 Edition

eplacing one of the best 4x4s of all time takes some doing. But that’s the task Skoda has set itself with the Karoq, which succeeded the Yeti at the start of this year. It might raise a few eyebrows when we use such glowing words to describe the Yeti. But it really was that good – the exibility of its interior was sensational, it was well equipped and great value for money and if you got one with the optional 4x4 kit, it could do remarkably great things off-road. Of all the many various 4x4s to have come out of the VW Group since Audi kicked things off with the original A6 Allroad, the Yeti has been the best – and you just have to look at its sales ﬁgures for evidence of the results. So, the Karoq has a lot to live up to. It doesn’t get off to a very good start, simply by not being called

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the Yeti anymore. Apparently, it’s a corporate policy now that since the Kodiaq came out, every new Skoda 4x4 has to have a name that starts with K and ends with Q, which sounds pretty much moronic when you consider the enormous brand value the Yeti name managed to gather around itself, but there you are. The Karoq’s styling is extremely conservative compared to the Yeti’s, too. From the front, if you’re not looking too carefully you’ll assume it’s another Kodiaq. Not that that’s a bad thing to be mistaken for, but still. Inside, you get the typically simple but classy cabin for which Skodas are known. It doesn’t feel sumptuous, and the materials are decent rather than fantastic to a surprise-and-delight degree, but the layout is good and clear and overall build quality is absolutely top-notch, with excellent controls

and an overwhelming feel of solidity from the details and overall construction alike. The oor console, for example, might as well be part of the chassis. It contains a good, big cubby box and phone slot, which are the best stowage areas for your bits and pieces. The seats, meanwhile, are excellent, with plenty of support and adjustability, and you get all the leg, head and elbow room you could ask for – as well as a very fine all-round view. What’s not very fine, at all, is legroom in the rear. If you’re sat behind a tall driver, it’s pretty dire, even with your own seat slid all the way back. Headroom by contrast is good, even in models with a panoramic sunroof, but it’s definitely best left to children. Which of course is exactly what will happen in most Karoqs, as this is a nailed-on family SUV with yummy mummy written all over it.

One of the Yeti’s favourite party pieces was the immense exibility, and the Karoq carries this on with 40:20:40 split rear seats which can be folded, tumbled and removed in any combination you want. The centre seat, for example, can be removed and the outer ones slid a little way towards each other, creating a more spacious four-seat layout – though obviously what this provides is more elbow room, so it still won’t be great for anyone tall. None of the available conﬁgurations create a at boot oor. There’s a big step in it when they’re folded, and an even bigger one when they’re either tumbled or removed, but obviously each of these options creates that much more space than the last. Removing the seats is no small task, as they’re pretty heavy, and it also doesn’t actually yield that much extra space compared to the tumbled position, but it’s there if you want it.

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So too is a handy turn of pace, which feels usefully quicker than the official 0- 2 figure of 8. seconds suggests. Our Karo was e uipped with the 2.0 TDI 150 engine and six-speed manual gearbox, which is pretty much spot-on – 251lbf.ft from 1 50rpm is a good, strong figure, and with the manual box allowing you to use the lot it can be driven both briskly and very smoothly. The engine is never noisy, even when pushed, with nothing more than a bit of background road swoosh and wind rustle to disturb you on the motorway. Our Karo was fitted with 19 rims, but there was no sign of these messing up its ride uality at any speed. You feel the inevitable bumps around town, but not harshly, and any faster, pattery stuff on the open road is well damped out.

Similarly, the Karo ’s handling is pleasingly free of vices. It’s that of an SUV, of course, but what’s most noticeable is how easy it is to drive, with steering that’s both light and precise and a body that doesn’t waft around in corners. Given an inviting B-road and a driver whose sense of fun is tempered by realistic expectations, it’ll provide plenty of entertainment, but mainly it’s all about making the business of driving as little grief as possible. For off-tarmac use, Karo s e uipped with four-wheel drive have an Off-Road button which trims various settings for enhanced performance in the dirt. Ours was also equipped with the optional Rough Road ackage, which helps provide protection against ying stones and so on. Thus e uipped, you can get it to do pretty ama ing things – albeit

with the caveat that there are everyday off-road ha ards like ruts, mud and encroaching vegetation that you simply don’t want to go near in a car like this. It can certainly scale decent climbs, and a hill descent control system lets it get back down, while ﬁrst gear is deep enough to let you simply get from A to B without having to go too fast and or slip the clutch into a smelly mess. In these ways, too, the Karo is a worthy successor to the Yeti.

Headline news, there. We think Skoda was silly not to stick with the original name, and we’d have liked to see a bit more boldness to its styling, but it does feel as if it comes from the same bloodline as the Kodia – and that alone is among the greatest words of praise an SUV could be given.

VERDICT

★★★★✩

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Skoda Karoq 2.0 TDI 150 Edition Less adventurous than the Yeti, but a worthy successor nonetheless The Karoq is a step forward from the Yeti in terms of performance, dynamics and reﬁnement, and its interior is bang up to date. We’re yet to meet anyone who thinks the change of name was a good idea, however, and legroom in the rear is limited enough to make it a place best left to children. At £31,175 on the road, this high-spec model is hardly cheap, but it’s worthy as both an heir to the Yeti and a little brother to the Kodiaq DECEMBER 2018 | 29

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PRODUCTS

LAZER LAMPS ANNOUNCES UPGRADE TO TRIPLE - R RANGE OF HIGH - PERFORMANCE LEDS

LAZER LAMPS HAS ANNOUNCED upgrades to its Triple-R range of high-performance LED lighting solutions. These Elite-3 lights are made in the UK using component technology shared with La er’s highest speciﬁcation WRC units for 2018/9, so you know you’re going to get the sort of performance and reliability the top pros insist on. Available in in 4, 6, 8, and 16 LED variants, with the exception of the Triple-R 16, all products incorporate Lazer Lamps’ dualoutput E-Boost functionality. This allows them to be used in E-mark Compliant mode, where they remain road-legal while still dishing out epic amounts of light, or to be unleashed in ‘E-Boost’ mode for off-highway use – at which point, in Lazer’s own words, they deliver ’astonishing levels of light output providing incredible distance illumination and improved spread of

light that leaves nothing to the imagination.’ Lazer prides itself on its build quality, and the Triple-R Elite-3 comes with features like IP67 protection, electronic thermal management, a CAE optimised heatsink and ‘unbreakable’ polycarbonate lens with hardcoat. The colour temperature of the LEDs is designed to maximise sharpness and deﬁnition – and, as if to prove Lazer’s faith in the product, it comes with a 5-year warranty. ’The Elite-3 range uses a combination of the latest highly efﬁcient LED technology,’ explains Lazer boss Ben Russell-Smith. ‘A central bank of high-intensity LEDs deliver the long-range illumination, while on the outer edges, an arrangement of multiple LEDs

provides for a very comfortable left/right spread of light that in the past was only achieved through the addition of our Reeded Lens options. Modiﬁed highly-re ective, vacuum-metallised optics have been carefully engineered to optimise the light distribution further by reducing the up/down spread of

light, making the Triple-R Elite-3 range well suited to mounting even low down on your vehicle.’ Lazer’s prices for the new range start at £263 for the Triple-R 750 Elite-3 and climb to £800 for the Triple-R 16 Elite-3. Those are before you add the VAT to ﬁnd out more, visit www.lazerlamps.com.

GOODRIDGE HAS LAUNCHED a new braided brake hose kit for the D40 Nissan Navara. The famously hefty pick-up, made from 2005-2014, has long since been popular among truck users with an eye for off-road action, and Goodridge’s heavy-duty hoses promise to shrug off the sort of ying stones and other debris that can damage rubber units while also ensuring the best possible pedal feel. he kit includes four lines as well as all the ban o and threaded fittings re uired to make it a simple two-spanner job for DIY mechanics. Goodridge says the hoses will ‘reduce your stopping distance, eliminate sponginess under pressure and improve your drive.’ The hoses are individually pressure-tested to 2000psi and guaranteed to be leak free. They’re corrosion-resistant, too, and come with a lifetime warranty. Goodridge says you’ll also notice ‘a considerable improvement in braking modulation and increased control over pedal pressure generally with these items fitted, and best of all they come in a choice of 13 colours including a glow-in-the-0dark option. he kit comes at a retail price of 6 .1 plus the VA . o find out more, or go looking for a dealer, pay a visit to www.goodridge.co.uk.

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RUGGED RIDGE HAS ADDED more products to its burgeoning range of accessories for the Jeep Wrangler JL. These include tubular side steps, a bull bar, a roof shade and a mounting system for the vehicle’s Niche.indd 1 door mirrors when it’s running with no doors. Called Trail Mirrors, these use the windscreen hinge pin as a mounting STANDARD point – without preventing the screen from being folded if removing the SPECIFICATION 01865 236446 sales@12voltplanet.co.uk doors just isn’t Peak Jeep enough for you. The kits are available with eiINCLUDES: fb.com/12voltplanet twitter.com/12voltplanet TOILET, SHOWER, ther a traditional rectangular mirror or a retro-styled round job, and can HOT WATER, HEATING, HOB/ be ordered individually or in pairs. GRILL, FRIDGE, MOTORISED The Tube Steps and Bull Bar are more concerned with styling than JACK LEGS. hardcore strength for off-road warfare, though the former does at least AVAILABLE FOR MOST PICK-UPS. have the heft to shrug off moderate knocks – while also giving you a leg up into the cabin. It’s made from high-strength steel and ﬁnished in black powder-coat – as is the Bull Bar, which is designed to provide ‘an exterior STANDARD STANDARD SPECIFICATION SPECIFICATION styling option without the expense of an aftermarket bumper’. INCLUDES: INCLUDES: TOILET, SHOWER, TOILET, SHOWER, HOT WATER, Finally, the Eclipse Sunshade can be clipped into place to screen HOT WATER, HEATING, HOB/ HEATING, HOB/ From the Sahara to the Arctic Circle, Northstar GRILL, FRIDGE, GRILL, FRIDGE, you from the intensity of the sun’s rays while you’re running with the MOTORISEDMOTORISED have a demountable camper to fit your lifestyle. JACK LEGS. JACK LEGS. Wrangler’s roof down. Made from reinforced mesh, it’s available for two FOR AVAILABLE AVAILABLE FOR MOST PICK-UPS. MOST PICK-UPS. STANDARD and four-door Wranglers alike and can be used over just the front seats SPECIFICATION NICHE MARKETING CALL: 01507 327172 INCLUDES: With prices from £11,950 inc VAT, TOILET, SHOWER, or the fronts and rears together. It installs with no need for a separate Manby, Lincolnshire www.niche-marketing.net HOT WATER, a Northstar Camper Van can take you where you want HEATING,to HOB/go windscreen header and can even be left in place when the hard or softGRILL, FRIDGE, Niche.indd 1 24/4/08 15:53:43 MOTORISED top is in place. Rugged Ridge says it will reduce wind turbulence inside JACK LEGS. From the Sahara to the Circle, Arctic Northstar Circle, Northstar From the Sahara to the Arctic AVAILABLE FOR have a demountable to fitlifestyle. your lifestyle. have a demountable campercamper to fit your MOST PICK-UPS. the cab, too. A Jeep sunscreen might be the sort of thing you never thought you’d NICHE MARKETING CALL: 01507 327172 NICHE MARKETING CALL: 01507 327172 Withprices prices from £11,950 inc With prices from £11,950 inc VAT, With from £18,950* inc VAT, VAT, Lincolnshire www.niche-marketing.net Lincolnshire www.niche-marketing.net need in the UK, until the summer of 2018 happened. Equally, a Jeep might Manby,aManby, Northstar can take youyou where youwant to go a Northstar Camper Camper Van canVan take you where want towant goto go a Northstar Camper Van can take you where you be the sort of thing you never thought you’d need, until the JL happened. From the Sahara to the Arctic Circle, Northstar Either way, if you run a Wrangler you need to be across what Rugged have a demountable camper to fit your lifestyle. Ridge does – and the way to do that is to point your browser at www. NICHE MARKETING CALL: 01507 327172 With prices from £11,950 inc VAT, ruggedridge.com. Manby, Lincolnshire www.niche-marketing.net a Northstar Camper Van can take you where you want to go

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PRODUCTS

PRO//TOP GULLWING CANOPY EQUIPS HILUXES RUN BY MAJOR UTILITY FLEET SCOTTISH AND SOUTHERN ELECTRIC (SSE) has equipped its latest eet of Toyota Hiluxes with ro Top Gullwing canopies from, NLG 4x4. These heavy-duty hard-tops feature top-hinged side access panels and an integrated roof carrying system with a capacity of 150kg. The ro Top is exclusive to NLG, which supplied the cabopies to SSE via specialist converter i Van Systems. The ro Top Gullwing was an obvious choice for i Vans and SSE for their Hilux eet.’ commented NLG’s Simon Rhodes of the deal. It really could not be better suited to the needs of eet users, both large and small. Designed and conceived here in the UK, the whole ro Top range is speciﬁed to meet the European re uirements of commercial users. ro Top offers a heavy-gauge material structure and a great painted ﬁnish, but with the added options of side access and high-security solid rear tailgate doors. All this being available ex-delivery direct from NLG 4x4’s substantial UK stocks, at competitive pricing, makes for a compelling offer.’ Scottish and Southern Electric joins the Environment Agency and Yorkshire Water in using double-cabs e uipped with these canopies ro Top has certainly gathered real traction in the market across all pick-ups where a proper commercial hard-top canopy is needed,’ Rhodes added. To see why, pay NLG a visit as www.4x4at.com.

POWERFLEX ADDS UPRATED BUSHES FOR THIRD-GEN RANGE ROVER THE THIRD-GENERATION RANGE ROVER isn’t a vehicle you see much of off-road, but now that prices have come down to a real-world level we’re starting to see more people using them as two trucks. The clock is ticking on even the latest, low-mileage examples, however, so if you’ve got one – and especially if you do use it for towing – you’re likely to be interested in the new range of 22 replacament suspension bushes from ower ex. hese polyurethane bushes are, in ower ex s own words, designed to provide lasting improvements over the original rubber bushes, many of which on these vehicles are found to be particularly problematic parts with failures often occurring, causing vague steering and accelerated tyre wear.’ The range of bushes available cover the front radius and control arms, rear upper and lower arms and both anti-roll bars. o ﬁnd out more, visit www. power ex. co.uk.

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PRODUCTS

NLG ADDS LIMITED-EDITION ALLOY WHEELS, AND A SUBTLE-BUT-STYLISH GRILLE, FOR THE FORD RANGER

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NLG HAS ANNOUNCED a new limited-edition version of its classic Hurricane Hawke alloy wheels in gunmetal grey. Exclusive to the longestablished Yorkshire-based 4x4 accessories giant, these 9-spoke rims come in an imposing 20 diameter and are designed specifically to fit the Ford Ranger from 2012 onwards. If you don’t like the gunmetal look, the Hurricane Hawke range is also available in a semi-matte black finish. Either way, it’s a pretty cool way to augment the appearance of any Ranger designed to make a statement on the road. • Also new for the Ranger is NLG’s Cobra Grille, which the company says is for customers who want something subtler than the full-on Raptor look. ith a satin black finish, the grille is a direct replacement for the original ord item and is suitable for all cab styles and models from 2016on, including the ildtrak. he Cobra rille can also be integrated with a 10 or 20 I light bar. In each case, the place to go for more information or an online shopping spree is www.nlg.co.uk.

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PRODUCTS

NEW SHIELD FROM DESIGN ENGINEERING OFFERS PROTECTION FOR THE KIND OF CAT THAT DOESN’T HAVE NINE LIVES… CATALYTIC CONVERTORS SUCK power out of your engine while making it run hotter and use more fuel. Oh, and they cost a fortune to buy. No wonder they’re so popular. Aside from being the bane of all our lives, however, cats are actually a good thing. Without one, your vehicle would chuck out a lot more pollution, which would be bad news for you and everybody else. And besides, the man from the ministry wants to see one when he looks underneath your truck. So you need to protect yours. Which is where DEI’s Universal Catalytic Converter Shield comes into it. Original equipment shields often get dislodged, even on vehicles that don’t take a routine pasting off-road, so an easy-to-

install replacement which is supplied with all the hardware you need to fix it in place is definitely a good idea. Not only does the shield protect your cat from ying stones, it also protects any underbody wiring and cables from being melted if they work loose and come into contact with the unit – which runs very hot. Hot enough to ignite any oil or grease that lands on it, too – or even to start a wildfire if you’ve parked up in dry grass with your engine running. Doesn’t bear thinking about, really – especially as it shouldn’t cost more than about thirty uid or so. To find details of your nearest stockist, go to www.designengineering.com.

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GREENLANE-FRIENDLY FEATURES FROM NEW GARMIN DASHCAM WARN’S LATEST: MADE WITH TOWING IN MIND WARN’S NEW 500DC utility winch is for people who tow trailers. With a 5000lb load capacity, it’s not a self-recovery winch, but mount it on your rig and you’ll be able to haul pretty much anything on board. The winch has a 1.9hp permanentmagnet 12v DC motor and three-stage planetary gear train, as well as mechanical braking. It comes with an 18.3-metre wire rope and a 3.7-metre remote cable, and the whole lot is covered by a 12-month manufacturer’s warranty. To ﬁnd out more about the 5000 DC, or indeed about any of Warn’s other winches (and there are lots), check out UK importer Arbil at www.arbil.co.uk.

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GARMIN’S NEW DASH CAM 55 PLUS is the company’s latest product for people who want a record of their adventures. It comes with a Travelapse feature which can condense hours of footage into minutes – something that could certainly be useful at the end of a long day on the lanes. The pictures themselves are high-quality, too, as the unit can record in 1440, 1080 or 720ppi resolution via a 3.7-megapixel camera and 2-inch LCD display screen. These are saved on an SD card, which you can then remove and plug in to whatever other device you want. Garmin says the unit responds to voice commands – and possibly best of all, it offers lane departure and forward collision warnings, will prompt you if you re do y in stop-start trafﬁc and has a parking mode in which it senses movement when the engine is off. The Dash Cam 55 Plus is exclusive to Halfords, where it will cost you £119.

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A SPECIAL

couple of months ago, we ran an obituary for Ian Redway, a much-loved ﬁgure in the world of off-roading who died earlier this year at the tragically young age of 48. Ian was well known for the modiﬁed Range Rover he

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MEMORY

Ian Redway, who died earlier this year, was well known in off-road circles for his mighty Range Rover. It was one of the most eye-catching vehicles we’ve ever seen – but it was much more than just a big truck. Ian’s Rangey was among the best modded 4x4s we’ve ever featured – and it seems like a ﬁtting tribute to its builder to take a look back at what made it so special WORDS: OLLY SACK PICTURES: STEVE TAYLOR

Ian Redway 1970-2018 built, which was featured in Total Off Road back in 2010 – and as a tribute to man and machine alike, we thought it would be worth taking a look back at this extraordinary off-roader. A four-door dating from 1982, Ian’s Rangey shared a garage with various other toys – at the

4x4 7pp Redway.indd 37

time when we met him, three Minis and an Opel Manta. Interestingly, despite being well on the way to a quarter of a century in age when he bought it, Ian was only its second owner. The ﬁrst had kept it totally original and didn’t want to sell it to an off-roader. ‘A few porkies were told,’ Ian

admitted, and you’d probably agree that with an attitude like that, the bloke had it coming. Having run it for a spell as a daily-driver while modding it as he went along, Ian ﬁnally had to take the vehicle off the road when an MOT tester gently pointed out that the chassis

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Above ront a le casing is modified slightly to accept the frame for a Safari Gard three-link system. This uses a whole new mounting frame which bolts in to the original radius arm mounts and diff, providing them with new locations and mating up to the third link seen here Left: Pro-Comp ES9000 shocks provide 18” of travel. They’re mounted using Qt brackets at the axle ends, while the tubular towers you see here are modified earmach units with an additional external shock mount Right: The Safari Gard mounting setup locates the radius arms above the axle, lining up both sets of mountings so that the bushes aren’t kept under compression. This meant shortening the t radius arms to fit. Ian’s own 2” lower spring seats have cones allowing the springs to dislocate at the axle; the springs themselves are earmach blue units, lifting the front of the vehicle by three inches was cracked. That would be the end for most vehicles, but every exit is but an entrance to somewhere else: ‘What started out as a new chassis and a load of new panels,’ said Ian, ‘turned into a two-year, thirty-grand project to build what it is today.’ Doing all the design, welding, spannering and fabrication work himself, with a little help from his friends where necessary, Ian sourced another Rangey for parts then stripped the vehicle right down to a bare shell. ‘Surprisingly,’ he said, ‘it needed very little welding for a 27-year-old motor.’ Then came the new bodywork and panels, after which the replacement chassis was prepped and the axles went back on. Sounds easy, doesn’t it? ‘In all it progressed well,’ Ian confirmed, with only a few hold-ups.’ Needless to say, though, that only begins to tell the story. What Ian ended up with was a full-bodied Classic with a monumental 6” body lift, achieved using 65mm spacers machined by a friend from billet alloy bar, and heavily modified suspension

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Above left: Landy spotters, it’s time to get your clipboards out. This is the rear axle from… no, not the Range Rover, but a Discovery, chosen for its stronger A-frame ball joint mount. The reason for this is that Ian was using a high-angle unit from Qt and felt it was prudent, ‘having managed to remove an A-frame mount from the axle on a pay and play day on the original vehicle…’ Above right: As well as the A-frame ball joint, Qt also supplied the high-droop trailing arms, which are rose-jointed Below left: Rear springs are Bearmach blue +2” units designed for a 300Tdi 90, providing 4.5 inches of lift. The spring seats you see here were fabricated by Ian and incorporate cones for ‘reverse dislocation’, allowing the axle to drop free of the spring on full droop Below centre: All bump stops are mounted on custom brackets, dropping them by two inches elow right ear shock mounts from t are ﬁtted using lift brackets designed to mimic the amount of travel on the three-link front. odiﬁed to suit the shallower pin angle created by the e tra mounting height, they carry a pair of inch Pro-Comp ES9000s

Left: Fitting a body lift might not sound like the biggest ever fabrication job, but the bumper mount was created by welding a second front chassis section on top of the main one. This also carries the front body mounts; the bumper itself is a tubular unit from First Four

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The original 3.5-litre V8 was swapped out for a 200Tdi, with a larger intercooler and tweaked fuel pump. Engine and gearbox mounts had to be moved to suit the new unit and its LT77 gearbox, and Ian called a mate in to match up the old and new wiring looms. Another mate made some custom oil cooler hoses from hydraulic pipe, while a load of silicone hoses went into plumbing the radiator which had to be repositioned so the intercooler would fit in front of it adding 3” at the front and 4.5” at the back. Not small, then. The lift was only a small part of the story, though. Ian modified a Safari Gard three-link system to fit on the front and employed a t

high-angle ball joint at the back, with rose-jointed radius arms all round allowing a tremendous amount of travel. ro-Comp ES9000 18-inch shocks did no harm here, either, and nor did Ian’s own dislocating spring seats. ‘In all, I think the

triple-link front suspension is the best mod I’ve made,’ he told us. ‘It took a lot of working out, as it was not meant to ﬁt a Rangey, but overall it works really well and has given me much more front travel.’

Left: Bobtailing is one way to protect a Rangey’s rear end, but with this much metalwork between it and the ground it doesn’t actually matter what you sit it on. Sitting on a custom rear crossmember, the bumper is fabricated from 80mm tube with a 6mm wall thickness and incorporates the hawse fairlead for the rear winch. You can see the way the body’s mounted at the back, here, too Below: No need for a winch bumper when you’ve got a custom crossmember to sit it on. The winch is a uperwinch , ﬁtted with feet of mm lasma 2- trand. ike the front winch, it uses Allbright solenoids and can be operated using in-dash controls

40 | DECEMBER 2018

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Above left he uer plate clads the lower door sections of many a dodgily modified and over. ut those would be the ones without jackable sill bars fabricated from 5mm steel and 5mm wall gas pipe; with these assemblies taking the load when the angey gets dropped on a tree stump, the ally plate can be left to do what it’s made for and protect against scuffs. ote also that one of the lifted body mounts is visible in this picture Above right ear prop is an early ange over unit, which had wide-angle yokes as standard and can therefore cope with the e tra articulation of the vehicle’s much-modded suspension. ou can’t see the front one here, but it’s a custom As well as lifting the body, Ian trimmed the wheelarches to allow room for a set of 35-inch Extreme Trekkers on full bump. ‘The hard part of this,’ he said, ‘was joining the inner and outer door skins back together on the rear doors, having cut two inches away.’ Afterwards, on went a set of exible arch finishers to keep it legal without presenting too easy a target to any passing trees. Steering the big tyres was a Tdi 90 PAS box, via a column which was extended to compensate for the body lift. Sumo bars all round and a rosejointed Qt panhard rod were hidden behind a heavy-duty guard, which was modded to fit, and a home-made boss fashioned out of Range Rover parts allowed the use of, oh yes, an Opel Manta steering wheel. Staying down in the depths below the vehicle, the chassis was strengthened with webs wherever necessary. The rear crossmember, on the other hand, wasn’t strengthened – it was cut off and lobbed in the nearest skip, making way for a custom winch mount incorporating a removable NATO hitch. The gearbox crossmember had to move backwards to make way for the three-link hardware, and up front a second chassis section was welded on top of the existing one to provide a platform for the bumper and body mounts. Just one or two small fettles, then. It might come as a surprise to you, given the amount of quality time Ian spent with his welding kit, that he didn’t go the whole hog and do himself a roll cage. All in good time, it transpires; having first modified a full-length Brownchurch roof rack to carry a set of fuel cans and some of the very many additional lights the Rangey boasts, at the time when we spoke to him a cage was next on his list. Given the probable height of the vehicle’s centre of gravity, there are no doubt many of you who’ll agree that this could be no bad thing. Ian told us he was also planning to add ARBs, after which the Range Rover’s transformation from toff’s classic to off-road toy would be

pretty much complete. So much so that when we spoke to him, he was building a trailer for it – from the back of yet another Range Rover. ‘This is going to be built to the same design as the rear of this vehicle,’ he explained, ‘but cut at window level. It will incorporate a roof tent and a lot more storage, enabling me to travel further and live in the vehicle more comfortably.’ Quite right, too. Range Rovers are meant to be comfortable, after all – and looking at the way this one tackled the terrain while we were taking pictures of it, it was comfortable in every sense of the word. Its old owner might by now have been feeling quite agitated, though.

A great deal has changed since Ian’s Rangey appeared in Total Off Road. That magazine merged with this one, which is why this article is here for us to look back on, and the Range Rover itself continued to evolve. But one thing that didn’t change was Ian – in the words of his friend James McCloud, ‘a real character who loved the outdoors, his Minis, off-roading, blowing things up, getting close to nature and making the most of his life in every way.’ He certainly made the most of his Range Rover – among his friends, and the off-road world in general, the memories of man and machine alike will live on.

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DOUBLE QUITS Once you’ve had a Toyota Land Cruiser in your life, you tend not to want ever to be without one. But what if your Land Cruiser doesn’t quite suit the work you use it for? Do you do the unthinkable and replace it with something else… or turn it into exactly the Land Cruiser you really want WORDS: PAUL LOOE PICTURES: HARRY HAMM 44 | DECEMBER 2018

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OR O

ne-off customised vehicles tend to be used for play, not work. The moment you take a truck away from its manufacturer’s standard specification, the theory goes, you make it less reliable – especially, perhaps, if the manufacturer in question happens to be Toyota. The Land Cruiser is, after all, a byword for dependability. It’ll do what you want it to do, without doing what you don’t want it to, and with the right servicing it’ll keep on doing it more or less forever. Just look at the number of old ones you can find in the small ads with a quarter of a million miles or more on the clock, and compare that with how frequently you ever see anything else getting there. You certainly do see people modifying Land Cruisers, however – even if in the main, they do it by adding accessories. Expedition gear is a favourite, though it’s not uncommon to see them being turned into extreme off-road toys, too. But it’s very uncommon indeed to see a 200-Series being turned in to a double-cab. Unless you’re in Australia, of course, where converting big Cruisers into utes has long been a popular job – indeed, we once featured a gorgeous 80-Series which had been built by West Coast Off-Road using a kit from Down Under. We’re not in Australia, though. We’re in Oxfordshire, where Rob Browne is a farmer. It’s the family business, and has been for, he says, at least four generations – which is pretty much as long as Land Cruisers have been in the family, too. ‘They’re just good, reliable trucks,’ he says, ‘and second-hand values are so good that once you’ve made the initial outlay, they don’t actually cost very much to own.’ That explains why pretty much all his close relatives drive them. He’s had Nissan Patrols, too, as well as Hiluxes and, more recently, a Volkswagen Amarok, but the unique 200-Series you see here is the latest (and possibly last) in a long line stretching back through the 100-Series Amazon to perhaps the best vehicle of all time, the magnificent old 80.

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He’s owned the vehicle from when it was about a year old and had something like 10,000 miles on the clock. Fast forward to earlier this year and that mileage had another zero on the end of it – but, while the Cruiser was doing a sterling job as Rob’s daily driver and tow barge, regularly hauling heavy loads between his farms

in Wiltshire and Oxfordshire, something wasn’t quite clicking for him. ‘I always found there was something I couldn’t ﬁt in the back,’ he says – and that’s what got him thinking about a double-cab. The double-cab in question was actually an HZJ79 being sold by Nene Overland.

Unfortunately, though, being sold was exactly what it was doing – but having missed out on that, he started thinking about turning his 200-Series into one. With a little help encouragement from Nene boss Andrew HarrisonSmith, naturally. Andrew quoted an estimated build time for the project, Rob quoted a budget and around April time this year, away they went. ‘I think I took it there on a Thursday,’ Rob says, ‘and by Saturday they had cut the back off!’ No messing about, then. What the Nene team did was create a new back to the cab, with a at bed mounted to the chassis behind it. The chassis itself didn’t need any work, though the ﬁller neck had to be remade and the cap relocated. On top, removable corner posts frame the tailgate and a pair of drop-down sides, allowing the bed to be loaded with more or less anything from more or less anywhere. On the back, the original Toyota light clusters have been replaced with turret-style lamps from the back of a Land Rover Defender. ‘If I smash one,’ muses Rob, ‘it’s pence to replace. Rather than thirty quid.’ The work that’s gone into the body looks very tidy indeed, with no external sign of where the sides and roof were cut. To use a well worn phrase, it looks like it was meant to be that way.

‘I always found there was something I couldn’t ﬁt in the back…’

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Left: The pick-up bed features lockers behind each of the rear wheels, with plenty of space for tools and so on Above: The 200-Series came with very fancy 20” alloys. These 17” steels are much better suited to life on the farm, and the higher-profile tyres deal way better with pot holes It’s beautifully finished inside, too, with carpeted panels trimming the entire rear of the cab as a finishing touch, there’s even a tailored recess for the original jack in there. In true pick-up style, the bed gets used for absolutely anything and everything. Building materials are a common favourite, and during harvest time it was regularly carrying tools and spare parts for combine harvesters. The bed structure also carries a couple of lockers behind the rear wheels, which provide further stowage for the sort of stuff you don’t want to leave lying around. Finishing off the new image is a set of the sort of wheels you want on a truck. That is, 1 steels, which look a lot more in keeping than the original 20 alloys would. The 245 5R1 tyres wrapped around them have far more sidewall height than standard, too, and Rob is a big fan of the effect this has – in particular to the way it handles, which may surprise you if you don’t recognise the joy of chucking around a vehicle with the lavish body roll of a true off-roader. Interestingly, Rob doesn’t bother with all-terrain or mud-terrain tyres. The roadbiased Dunlops currently on board seem to do the job just fine – even though they’re visibly worn in places, they’ll still haul the Cruiser around perfectly competently on stubble fields or rough farm tracks. Their high-profile si e makes them pretty

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much pothole-proof, too, which Rob says is a big improvement over the old 20-inchers. Helping the tyres here is a 50mm suspension kit which was ﬁtted some time before the truck conversion happened. Rob went to the aforementioned West Coast Off-Road Centre for it, which means it’s Ironman kit – and he’s very happy indeed with both the results and the

service he got while buying them. aul was very helpful, and if I phoned to ask for advice he’d always call me back himself. I’d go back to them any time.’ Driving the Cruiser as it is now, it rides and handles impeccably – even when it’s being spanked over the uneven ﬁelds where it earns its living. Without wanting to make ridiculous

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A key element of what Rob likes about the conversion is that the interior was ﬁnished off properly. The new back of the cab was trimmed out professionally, and there’s even a storage cut-out for the jack

comparisons, the feeling of bracing yourself for an impact that never happens is somewhat reminiscent of being in a good comp safari vehicle – its huge body is very well controlled, and damping from the Ironman shocks is masterful. There are plenty of brands and suppliers out there that some people rate and others wouldn’t touch, but you’ll go a long way to ﬁnd someone with a bad thing to say about Ironman – and the Aussie outﬁt’s strong reputation is borne out by the way Rob’s

48 | DECEMBER 2018

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200-Series deals with the ground. Not surprisingly, its 4.5-litre V8 engine remains an absolute powerhouse of a thing, and the automatic gearbox behind it is as sure as ever in operation. There are two good reasons for that: one, it’s Toyota, and two, Rob looks after it, changing the oil in engine and gearbox alike way more frequently than the service book asks for. Does he have any criticisms of the work that’s been done on the vehicle? Not greatly. He’d like the pick-up body to have been made from thicker steel, he says, but accepts that by the time it was built he was knocking on towards the top end of the budget he’d

given Nene for the job. ‘I’d recommend them for doing it, he says. They finished it off very well.’ To our eyes, certainly, the conversion looks like it’s standing up well to the hard use it gets. And in terms of the truck’s front-to-rear weight balance, there’s nothing wrong with it at all. Converting 4x4s into pick-ups is not new, but in Britain it’s been pretty much exclusive to Land Rovers. If we had as many Land Cruisers here as they have in Australia, no doubt Rob’s truck wouldn’t be so very unique – but if you’ve got the need for an extra-large pick-up and you want it to go on forever, this is definitely one way to combine extreme luxury with extreme utility. You do need a few uid to spend in the first place, of course. But once it’s in your hands, any Land Cruiser is an asset that’ll stay with you for the long-term. And this one is an asset that works for its living every day of the week.

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cold comf Winter is the season when 4x4s come into their own. But even with a vehicle that’s built to deal with the worst, a bit of preparation will make the difference between heroic road-warrior status and wishing you’d stayed in bed…

52 | DECEMBER 2018

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fter a summer like the one we had this year, it’s hard to think about the rigours of winter driving. But those days of blazing sunshine are already in the past – and with scientists predicting a strong likelihood that the El Nino phenomenon will soon pop up in the acific to do its worst to the world’s climate, there’s no room for complacency. You’ve already taken Step 1 towards being a safe, sound (and probably quite smug) winter driver, by owning a 4x4. But getting ready for the worst the weather can throw at you doesn’t end there. How you drive, what you carry, even the way you think about those around you… all these things go to the heart of what makes a well prepared winter driver. Of course, it’s been a while since we had a really bad winter in Britain. When the conditions here get harsh, normally it’s localised and short-lived. Who can forget the fearsome Beast from the East, which for most of us made life so hard for an entire rush hour? But when conditions do close in, the weather can throw us into genuine chaos – if for no other reason than we’re so completely unused to it. In countries where hard winters are the norm, people know how to deal with it: we in Britain just try to Keep Calm and Carry On, only to find that first one and then the other turn out to be impossible. Who knows, we might be on the way into another benign winter. Even if we are, though, a 4x4 is still the vehicle to drive. When temperatures hover for weeks in single figures, grip is always at a premium – and when there’s rain around, let alone sleet, snow or icy roads, knowing you’re in a vehicle you can trust with your life is the most comforting feeling you’ll ever experience. But then there’s a cough from beneath the bonnet, the dashboard lights come on and you grind to a halt by the side of the road. Or the snow comes down, the traffic around you slows to a standstill and you’re trapped, and everyone else has provisions for it but you don’t because you’ve got a 4x4 so you’re not supposed to need them. Or that comforting feeling turns into delusions of invincibility, and next thing you know you’re in a ditch. These things can be avoided. In the first case, by being prepared, in the second case by being prepared and in the third by being prepared. This article is about making the most of your 4x4 in the depths of winter. The key, would you believe, is to be prepared.

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Part 1: Preparing your vehicle Winter is hard on cars. Yes, even 4x4s. Many of the systems and components that are most likely to fail are most likely to do so in cold or wet weather. The fact that you can get about better than anyone else when your truck is running has no bearing on how likely it is not to be. What does have a bearing on this is how regularly it’s serviced and how carefully you prepare it for the winter months. If you own a newer SUV, this probably just means taking it to one of the many dealers, garage chains and fast-ﬁt centre that offer winter checks. You drive away with peace of mind, though unless you really know what the service includes (and how well they’ve actually done it), you’re placing your trust in the unknown. The older and/or simpler makes of 4x4 are much easier to work on yourself. And the good news is that even if you normally pay someone else to look after your motor, there’s still a great deal that you can do on your own driveway to make sure it’s in good health as the cold weather approaches. That applies whatever kind of 4x4 you drive, old or new. In every case, these checks might not be the most exciting way you can think of spending any given Sunday. But doing them at your leisure on a crisp autumn afternoon will be a whole lot more pleasant than trying to sort out the consequences of not bothering when you need to get to work on a perishing winter morning.

54 | DECEMBER 2018

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Basics The odd spray of WD40 is a good idea to keep water out of your locks. Once it’s in there, the ﬁrst sign of free ing conditions will leave you shut out. Top up with winter screenwash, too, which free es at lower temperatures than normal.

Battery The colder it gets, the harder it becomes for a car’s starter motor to turn its engine. This in turn puts a much greater draw on its battery. Any car battery has a limited lifespan. And if yours is getting towards the end, there’s nothing like a sudden cold snap to ﬁnish it off. To check your battery’s health, get it tested at a garage or fast-ﬁt centre. They do this by drawing a high load with a battery tester and monitoring the drop in power; you could use an electrical meter, but only the real thing will properly test the battery’s resistance. Check the uid level in the battery, too – it should reach about 10mm above the lead plates – and top up with de-ionised water. Not all batteries allow this kind of maintenance, but you can still unbolt the terminals and give them and their clamps a thorough wire-brushing to ensure good metal-to-metal contact, then slap grease all over them to prevent further oxidation.

Antifreeze While you’re at the garage getting your battery tested, you could ask them to check the concentration of antifree e in the radiator too. Or you

4x4 31/10/2018 05:29

Left, bottom right: No need to go mad, but the more lights, the merrier Bottom left: A battery tester will tell you if you’ve got a dead ’un on the way. Even if it’s in good nick, wire-brushing the terminals and clamps then spraying them with grease will help ensure good contact Above: Antifreeze testers are cheap and easy to use

could get a tester of your own, which are cheap and easy to use. Make sure there’s enough antifreeze in the rad and header tank to cope with the coldest possible temperature your 4x4 will have to endure. If your engine has an aluminium head and/or block, use an antifreeze that’s safe with this material.

Fluids Check your engine oil level, along with those of your clutch and brake uid. And look out for any sign of water contamination in the latter – they absorb the stuff, which can freeze from within them. A full uid change sounds drastic, but not as drastic as a total brake failure. Your axles can collect water, too, especially if you’re a bit enthusiastic with the off-roading. Again, bad news if it free es, so drain the axle oil into a clean container to check and if necessary renew it. The oil in your gearbox and transfer case is prone to contamination, too, and if your 4x4 has separate reservoirs for the steering swivels you should check these as well.

Windscreen If there are any cracks or chips in your windscreen and a little water gets in to them, guess what happens when it freezes. Yes, it expands. And guess what happens after that? However irritating you ﬁnd those adverts on the radio, spending a few quid on calling out a windscreen repair company will save you a lot of grief when the temperature drops. So too will giving your wiper blades a squirt of de-icer when you’re doing the rest of the vehicle. This way, they’ll lift away from the screen rather than sitting there uselessly while the motor strains itself to death. The blades themselves should be in good nick before the onset of winter, too. If they’re already leaving smears on the screen now, imagine what they’ll be like when they’re rigid with cold.

Car buried in snow, by ecooper99 @ flickr.com, CC BY 2.0

Before You Drive • Keep a can of de-icer by your front door for dealing with frozen locks. Blowing on them is pointless, as the moisture in your breath will freeze as soon as it hits the cold metal. • If there’s a non-stop howling noise when you start your engine, the water pump is frozen up. If the temperature gauge starts climbing abnormally fast within the first few minutes, so is the radiator. In each case, a bit more antifreeze would have helped… • While the engine’s warming up, don’t go off and have breakfast. Someone will steal your car, and your insurance company won’t pay for it. • Clear the vehicle’s windows of snow and ice, and make sure the wipers aren’t frozen in place. Your can of de-icer will help here, as will a proper scraper: your credit card and, God help us, a fresh kettle of boiling water, are not the answer. Use warm water with a little detergent to keep the windows clean on the inside. This is particularly important in winter, when a bright, low sun can be twice as da ling when viewed through a film of grime. Your lights need to be clear of snow, ice and muck, as do your number plates. And if there’s a heap of snow on top of your roof, clear it away with a broom so it doesn’t come cascading down your windscreen first time you get on the brakes – driving with your vehicle in that condition is worth a nick, apart from anything else.

Heaters

Lights

If yours is an older vehicle, you’ll probably have a cable-operated heater control. This can be found in one of two approximately one-inch diameter hoses going from the engine to the bulkhead. First, these sometimes develop a leak. The tell-tale sign for this is a rusty discoloration around the hose connections. Second, the arm which operates the valve may have seized up if you have hardly used it all summer. If this is the case, try spraying some light lubricating oil at the point where the arm pivots, and also where the inner cable joins the outer. Then work the hot and cold heater control as a helper checks for free movement.

It’s going to be dark out there, so being able to see – and be seen – really matters. Checking that all your lights work is something you should do as a matter of routine all year round, but in winter it becomes even more crucial. Even though the bulbs are working, too, a vehicle’s lights can go off with age as the plastic lenses start to become opaque. It’s possible to polish them back up, but this can take the edge off your headlamps’ performance long before it becomes an MOT fail. For safety and comfort alike, this is an area in which a visit to the aftermarket will only ever be worth it. Replacing your standard bulbs with higher-performance ones is a good ﬁrst step, and it’s pretty rare to ﬁnd a 4x4 driver who’s regretted investing in auxiliary LED lights. Prices vary enormously, of course; whatever you can afford to put in, you’ll get it back out.

Exhaust If you’ve had a recent MOT, you can be fairly conﬁdent that your exhaust isn’t leaking. If it is, though, even a little, sitting for a prolonged spell with the engine running can be lethal as fumes laced with carbon monoxide seep into the cabin. Getting it checked is never a bad idea, what with death being a consequence of not bothering. If it is leaking, you can try ﬁxing it with one of the various short-term remedies on the market. Anything that helps keep the nasty stuff at bay has got to be good, but spending a few quid on a proper replacement has got to be better.

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Part 2: Tyres Nothing you do to prepare your vehicle will make a bigger difference than the tyres you put on it. Winter tyres first became a hot topic in Britain after the hard winters of 2009 and 2010. Back then, a lot of people still called them ‘snow tyres,’ but most have learned by now that that’s a misnomer. That’s because winter tyres make a real difference even when there’s no snow on the ground. They’re made using a rubber compound that stays softer at lower temperatures, letting them maintain their grip on the road when normal tyres have basically started to freeze. Like off-road tyres, winter tyres also have a specialised pattern designed to do a specific job. The big difference is that they’re not designed to self-clean. Snow grips on to snow very well, so winter tyres have a network of narrow grooves sipes’ over their tread these fill up with snow, which acts like a web of tiny little grippers to cling on to the snow on the road. Unlike the open tread of an off-road tyre, this doesn’t make winter tyres any worse on wet roads. In fact they’re better in cold weather, thanks to that softer compound. Even on a bone-dry road, they’ll have more grip if the air temperature is below about 7°C.

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Tyres and insurance Insurance companies don’t regard winter tyres as a modification. That’s so long as they’re the same size as the originals, or at least a size quoted by the vehicle’s manufacturer as part of its original specification. Thus you don’t need to inform your insurer just because you’ve fitted winter tyres. If you make a claim, however, reasons for rejecting it might include that they weren’t fitted by a professional or weren’t used on all four wheels. Your insurer might also reject a claim if the tyres weren’t in ated to the right pressure. That’s particularly worth bearing in mind as, being from an off-roading background, your first instinct when there’s snow on the ground may well be to air down to about 15-20psi.

What it costs Buying two sets of tyres costs more than buying one set of tyres. But only one set at a time is getting worn, so each ought to last twice as long. So while the extra spending is all upfront, running winter tyres is more or less cost-neutral over the piece. You do have to pay for ﬁtting and balancing every time you swap, unless you also get a

Mud-Terrain tyres are designed to self-clean – and that’s exactly what these ones have done, emptying their treads of snow. That’s the opposite of what you want, however – snow grips on to itself very effectively, so a winter tyre will have a network of tiny sipes (main picture) to hold it in place. The grip this delivers on snowy surfaces, particularly under braking, has to be experienced to be believed

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Off-road tyres are designed to cling to slippery surfaces. But whereas winter tyres do their work by getting clogged with snow, off-road patterns are made to self-clean. Happily, because snow is less uid than mud it’s more likely to ﬁll up the central sections of an off-road tyre. Wide, open shoulders won’t hold it as well, though, so a very aggressive pattern will offer less grip. A typical all-terrain’ tread is likely to be spot-on. A mud-terrain’ will do a very good job too, though it might not stick to a line as well in corners. In each case, the laws of physics still apply, so let them do their work by driving as steadily as you can.

An off-roader’s instinct may be to go for narrower tyres, but remember what we were saying about the grip from a winter pattern coming from the snow it holds in its tread. Fatter tyres can work well on snow – just so long as they’re full of the allimportant sipes. Also, don’t forget about insurance. Your 4x4’s manufacturer speciﬁes what tyre si es it’s designed to run with. Go outside these, and you’ve modiﬁed it.

Tyre size

Winter tyre options

Modern SUVs tend to have uite low-proﬁle tyres, so you may want to get a winter ﬁtment with taller sidewalls. These have more exibility and therefore greater grip, especially when running at a lower air pressure. In this case, you’ll be looking at a second set of rims which will be smaller in diameter than the originals. Do check your vehicle’s lower limit, below which the wheels will foul on its brakes.

Mud and Snow tyres, with the familiar M&S marking, are a halfway house between standard tyres and the full-on winter variety. These satisfy current laws re uiring winter tyres, and they’re designed to be used all year round. Laws? Laws. Some European countries re uire you to use winter tyres during speciﬁed months and will ﬁne you on the spot if you don’t. Worse still, if you’re in an accident without them on

second set of wheels for your winter tyres. And storage is an issue unless you can ﬁnd the space in your garage. Either way, budget £100 a year on top of the tyres’ purchase price, and you won’t be far from the mark.

Est. 1981

Off-road tyres in snow

MILNER

and you might have avoided it if you had, you’re automatically to blame. The good thing with M&S tyres is that they count as winter tyres in the eyes of the law. For the full monty, however, the tyre needs to be carrying the symbol of a snow ake within the outline of a mountain on its sidewalls. On a blanket of snow, a winter tyre will reduce your braking distance by two car lengths in typical urban driving. These conditions are rare in the UK, and you might consider that an M+S will see you right. But in the sort of temperatures we typically get from October to March, a true winter tyre will out-perform anything else on any kind of road surface.

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Snow socks

Snow chains Lots of people think snow chains are illegal in the UK, but there’s no law that prevents you from using them here. There is, however, a law against damaging the road. And you’ll fall foul of it if you drive with chains ﬁtted on anything less than a deep coating of snow. Even in the worst weather we tend to face here, that’s a rarity. In most European countries, on the other hand, chains are mandatory throughout the winter. They really are only for proper snow, which is why you hardly ever see them in Britain, but if you’re travelling abroad during the winter you’re highly likely to pass through areas where chains are required. And so they should be – because the grip they provide is a quantum leap ahead from anything else.

A snow sock is a tough, rough-woven fabric cover which goes around the tyre. It’s not as effective as a chain in extreme conditions, but it’s miles easier to ﬁt and remove, making it ideal for the shorter bursts of winter weather we tend to get in the UK. Snow socks are only really meant to be used from time to time and not left on the vehicle for long periods. They won’t claw their way into sheet ice the way a chain can, and they’ll start breaking up if you leave them on for too long. They won’t do as an alternative to chains in the eyes of the law, either, in countries where that’s an issue. Basically, snow socks are perfect for the occasional blast of ice and snow that comes along to stop you getting home from work. They’re a throw-on, throw-off solution to exactly the kind of weather we get in Britain – even in what we class as a hard winter.

are there to accommodate metal studs, which dig into ice or snow like the crampons on a climber’s boot. Like chains, studs are legal to use on UK roads. Once again, however, you may only do so when the road is covered in snow or sheet ice, as they’ll damage the surface otherwise. Studs are actually counter-productive away from ice and snow, as they form a barrier between the tread and the tarmac. For this reason, though they’re easier to ﬁt than chains, they’re still better suited in regions which see more prolonged spells of harsh weather.

Studs Some tyres are designed with a pattern of small holes in the tread. These

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Part 3: Winter Driving You know how the great thing about off-roading is that it gives you a buzz at half a mile an hour? Driving in serious snow is like that too. It’s not about being unaffected by the winter conditions. And it’s deﬁnitely not about pulling doughnuts in iced-up car parks or drifting round corners sending shoals of fresh snow into the faces of passing schoolkids and young mums. It’s about being able to take the snow and ice in your stride. Which in turn means respecting mother nature. She’s lovely most of the time, but when you wind her up… • Driving on snow and ice is a lot like driving off-road. Keep your speed right down, drive as smoothly as you can, avoid any sudden inputs on the gas, brakes or steering and be in the highest possible gear for your speed. Everything you do is a bid to avoid losing traction. • What kind of 4x4 system does your vehicle have? Know how it works, and how to operate it. Modern 4x4 systems do the thinking for you, but a traditional part-time set-up is only designed for use on low-traction surfaces. Ice and snow deﬁnitely ualify, but wet roads don’t, even slushy ones. If you engage one of these 4x4 systems on a surface with too much grip, sooner or later it’ll break; if in doubt, you should leave it unlocked and drive even more gingerly. • The less air there is in your tyres, the more traction they’ll be able to get. You are still driving

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on a public road, however – so even though airing down means being able to go more safely, it can still get you in trouble with the law (or give your insurance company an excuse for hanging you out to dry . A worthwhile techni ue to have in store, then, but use with caution. ulling away in second gear will help avoid wheelspin on snow. But if it means you’ve got to scream the engine and slip the clutch, it’s not really helping. Better simply to ease the clutch in so the vehicle starts crawling forward. If your 4x4 has low box, it gives you a full range of gears covering from about 0-20mph – perfect for snow-covered ground.

• Defensive driving is absolutely crucial in winter weather. You should constantly be asking ‘what if?’ and driving with the worst-case scenario in mind. Your stopping distance, for example, will be ten times greater in snow, give or take. Give or take what? A couple of dead pedestrians, that’s what. • As normal, you control a skid on snow or ice by steering gently into it. Don’t stand on the brakes; release the throttle and try to let it come back on tickover, or with a tiny thread of gas. Once the wheels are locked, remember, you’ve got no-wheel drive at all.

In an auto, selecting second gear may help you keep moving where just opping it into drive will hinder you by letting it hunt up and down the box as the wheels ﬁght for grip. More modern boxes should resist this themselves. If your auto box has a winter mode, use it – it sounds like a gimmick but can really work. Anticipation is doubly important when the weather’s bad. If you can see that the guy up ahead of you is about to get on the brakes possibly because you’re sat higher up than him and have a better view), don’t wait for his lights to come on. Easy off the throttle and gently on to your own brakes, and you won’t have to hit them as hard – making it less likely that you’ll go into a skid.

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Above: Here are two outstanding examples of what not to do. The vehicle to the left has a nice, clear windscreen, which looks a lot like it might be one of those quick-clear electric jobs. But what’s going on with those side windows? Time taken with a scraper or a can of de-icer is never wasted. As for the bloke to the right… you look at it and feel instant contempt, though, but how many of us can honestly say we’ve never done something like this? Opposite page, below: Most of the time in a British winter, it’s not snow you have to worry about. Rain is much more of a hazard at low temperatures, not least because the tread on an all-season tyre will be less effective Bottom: When visibility is like this, there’s no so thing as a safe speed to be going at. Unless it’s zero miles per hour on your sofa back home

• You might read that switching off safety systems like ABS and ESP makes it easier to drive in snow and ice. But the situations in which they could hinder you are rare, and we’d never suggest switching off features designed to make your 4x4 safer. Ultimately, if the conditions baf e them it’s not because they can’t cope. It’s because you were driving too fast. • If you’re going uphill on snow, wait until the car in front has cleared the crest. We’re talking here about hills that are steep enough to want taking one at a time here, so low box is likely to be appropriate. That said, so is using as high a gear as possible to prevent wheelspin. It’s just like off-roading. Get moving, build up your momentum and keep it there. Try not to change gear on the way up but, if you do have to, be as quick as you can on the clutch. If you don’t make it, come back down in reverse, not wildly spinning your wheels in the wrong direction. Going down, too, is like off-roading. Use the lowest possible gear then just concentrate on steering. If you don’t have low box, engage hill

descent control if your vehicle has it, and ﬁrst gear at any rate. You can gently cover the brakes to help hold yourself back, but let them go instantly if you start to slide. • Wet roads are doubly dodgy in cold conditions as they might be icy in patches. Once again, take the ‘what if’ approach and assume the worst. Even if it’s not frozen, traction will be at a premium – for you and, don’t forget, everyone else. When it’s dark and everyone’s being dazzled by each other’s headlamps, a wet surface can also make the white lines on the road far harder to see.

to take a short-cut using quiet country lanes in a bid to to avoid the chaos on the main roads – you need to be very wary. You’ll get better traction in virgin snow than packed stuff that’s been polished by thousands of tyres, but you might be surprised by how little it takes to bog you down.

• If the snow is lying particularly deep – for example, if you decide

Be a Good Citizen Driving a 4x4 gives you an advantage over other road users. Depending on your moral standpoint, this gives you either a responsibility to help others, a chance to show them off-roaders aren’t evil after all or an opportunity to play the hero. Either way, think about how you might be able to help others. Elderly neighbours, people struggling to get their kids to school, local doctors and community nurses, care homes – they all have mobility needs, and if your 4x4 is the only thing around that’s still mobile you’re in a position to help. Even it’s just stopping to tow someone who can’t make it up a snowy hill, try to do your bit for others. And if you really want to make a difference, think about volunteering for your local 4x4 Response Network. These help the emergency services and other voluntary bodies get from A to B to do their work to ﬁnd out more, visit www.4x4response.info.

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Part 4: Going Prepared When you’re out on the road in wintry weather, the big danger is that you’re going to get stranded. It might be by a breakdown, it might be by an accident or it might be by impossible road conditions. Most likely, it’ll simply be by other cars. But either way, when things go wrong the contents of your boot can turn a horror story into an adventure, or an inconvenience at worst. • A can of de-icer, some spare screenwash and an ice scraper should be in your vehicle all winter long. By the latter, we don’t mean your credit card: using one with a handle (it’s even possible to get them with built-in mitts) will mean you can still feel your hands afterwards. For clearing snow, a short-handled broom whose bristles won’t hurt your paintwork is so much more effective than your sleeve. • Most countries have a list of things you must carry in your car, but not Britain. A first aid kit, fire extinguisher and warning triangle are all recommended, however. In winter conditions, a first aid kit becomes more important than ever. Not just because it’s more likely that someone will hurt themselves (though it is), but because when they do, proper help might take ten times longer to arrive. Needless to say, it helps to actually know what to do with the e uipment in your kit. Some first aid training could be the best winter prep you ever make.

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• Carrying a set of jump leads is always a good idea, but in the winter it’s an even better one. Get a heavy-duty set that can take lots of current – and we’d suggest looking for the extra-long variety, unless you enjoy manoeuvring vehicles to within inches of each other in an icy car park. An alternative might be to carry a booster pack, which you plug in to the mains to charge up then keep in your car waiting for when you’ve got a at battery. We’ve tried some which haven’t been up to the job of starting a 4x4, however, so you need to buy with care. Snow shovels, which have extra-wide mouths made of tough plastic, are ideal for clearing your driveway. They’re a lot better than your hands, too, for digging your 4x4 out of the snowdrift you’ve just planted it in.

• Winter driving is about dealing with the unexpected. Carrying a general tool kit in the back of your 4x4 will help you do that. You might not be able to envisage the situation in which you’ll need a ratchet set, lump hammer or junior hacksaw. But when it crops up, you’ll not half be glad you came out prepared. • If you routinely drive on very isolated roads which don’t get gritted, it may be worth carrying a bag of road salt. Having four-wheel drive will normally be all you need, but a sprinkling of grit can make all the difference when applied to sheet ice.

• When someone’s stuck in snow, in effect that’s a fully edged off-road recovery situation. Many people carry tow ropes: as a 4x4 owner, you’re not going to carry one of those hopeless little stringy ones, are you? It’s likely that all the action your rope sees will be with you helping out others. So, you know those screw-in recovery eyes modern cars come with? They’re not made for heavy pulls. And they’re not made for big shackles, either. But they are made for losing. Suspension wishbones, on the other hand, are not made for being used as recovery points, so only help matey if you know you can do it without risking damage to his car.

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Warm clothes and boots, stout gloves, sleeping bag… check. Screenwash, de-icer, snow brush, window scraper…check. Show shovel, towing rope… check. There’s an almost endless list of equipment you might want to carry, and you’ll probably never need any of it but when you do, it’ll be a lifesaver. That’s probably ust a ﬁgure of speech. Probably…

• Frozen washer nozzles are incredibly common and, in the wrong situation, life-threatening. Even if you have to stop regularly to poke the ice out of them, that’s better than your windscreen turning opaque because you can’t clean it – so carrying a little box of needles in your glovebox could be a lifesaver. • Whether you need to attach a tow rope, walk back down the road to put up your warning triangle, check under the bonnet or get out there with a shovel, being able to see what you’re doing has got to rank as a bonus. A hand-held or free-standing torch is a must, and a strap-on head torch wouldn’t hurt either. Better still, carry all three – and lots of batteries. • A hi-vis jacket is always worth having in the back of your truck. Whether it’s because night has fallen or snow is hammering down, you’re preparing for a situation in which visibility is very poor indeed. If you’ve got to get out of your vehicle, this is no time to blend in with the scenery. • Your vehicle’s heater provides plenty of warmth (unless it’s an old Defender, obviously), but only for as long as you’re driving it. It’s far less effective at tickover – such as if you get stranded. That’s where spare clothing comes into it. Wearing several layers of loose-ﬁtting clothing is the best way to keep warm. Mittens are warmer than gloves, so pack a pair of these, too, along with a hat – you lose more heat through your head than anywhere else.

A pair of thick socks and waterproof boots is equally vital, and a scarf worn over your mouth will protect your lungs from the cold air. And if you need to spend the night aboard, a sleeping bag will make a world of a difference. • Packing a bag of emergency rations is a good idea. The instant energy that comes from snacking will help keep you warm and alert – and it’ll keep your spirits up, which is more important than it might sound. Eating little and often is the way to do it; those yoghurty bars with nuts and bits of fruit in them that you see in petrol stations are perfect, while chocolate (not too much) is a useful energy boost and pots of pasta work well if they’re the kind you can store long-term and eat cold. Not that you need to swear off hot food. A couple of asks, one full of hot soup and one of tea or coffee, will make you the envy of everyone you’re stuck with. • Taking an emergency supply of any medications you’re on might sound a bit over-dramatic. But it’s all about being prepared. A night without thrush cream won’t kill you – but if missing a dose of librium means you might kill someone else, not doing that will be a tremendously popular move. You can get proper distress ares from chandleries, but a bunch of ﬁreworks will be a lot cheaper. Once you’re aware that rescuers are looking your way, a ag fashioned from your

broom handle and hi-vis should get them coming to help. Obviously, we’re into the realms of stuff you’ll only need in more remote situations here, but once again it’s all about being prepared. Got the ﬁreworks? Forgot matches? Oh, how very unlucky… The ﬁrst rule of mobile phone batteries is that they die when you need them most. So get one of those battery-powered emergency changers you see in service stations (making sure it works with your phone), and leave it in your glovebox. With some batteries, natch. • You’d have to have got very badly stranded for your 4x4 to have run out of fuel and have a at battery. But a cheap little battery-powered radio will let you listen to weather reports and generally help keep your spirits up. Not that you might feel as if listening to people talking about the weather is at the top of your list, if things have got this desperate, but still. • When you’ve got a 4x4, the thing that’s most likely to stop you getting from A to B is all the other cars that can’t make it. Which means your best bet may well be to go looking for smaller roads no-one else would dare try to tackle. Sat-nav may or may not help with this, but a map certainly will. Only go for it if you’re sure of your own and your vehicle’s ability to get through, though, because if you do end up stranded you’ll be that much further away from civilisation.

Opposite page: Left: In Britain, you’re highly unlikely to get stuck badly enough for hunger to be an actual danger. But a supply of food and drinks will keep your strength and spirits up, or at the very least help prevent you from getting bored frustrated to want to kill yourself while trapped in your highly capable 4x4 by thousands of other people who can’t get anywhere because they drive mere cars Left: You wouldn’t take a tool kit like this to a winch challenge, at least not unless you wanted to get laughed at very badly. But it’s the kind of thing you can leave in the back of your vehicle and forget about until the time comes when it’s the most precious thing you’ve ever seen

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LIGHTWEIGHT FANTASTIC

What kind of vehicle would you choose for a long-range overland trip? Most of us would go for something big, modern and packed with home comforts â&#x20AC;&#x201C; but who needs all that when you can keep it real aboard an old ex-military Land Rover? WORDS: MIKE TROTT PICTURES: RUSS DYKES AND PETER MIDDLETON 64 | DECEMBER 2018

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verland travel is not for the fainthearted. It’s a serious undertaking which requires plenty of planning – you can’t just head off on your tod in the misty-eyed belief that owning a 4x4 is enough to turn you into a world-wise explorer with the knowledge of David Attenborough and the survival skills of Ray Mears. Having said that, there is no denying that planet Earth is now smaller than ever. Today, we traverse continents in hours rather than days, and even regular mortals like you and me can have a pop at pretending to be a poor man’s Ranulph Fiennes. Overlanding is becoming a much more accessible way of seeing the world, and it’s no wonder when you consider the prevalence of companies promising to package everything up for you into a once-in-a-lifetime itinerary. You just need to show up in your 4x4 then tag along and enjoy the ride. lenty of people get their overlanding ﬁx this way. Most of them these days do it aboard either pick-up trucks or late-letter Land Rover Defenders, though there are those who’ll buck the trend by choosing to see the world aboard a Jeep Wrangler or Toyota Land Cruiser. What all these vehicles have in common, of course, is that they’re all relatively new. But you can still raise a few eyebrows with the vehicle you bring along for the adventure. Come join us in Morocco, for example. This is a place featuring a variety of challenges, from the heat and relentless dunes of the Sahara to the high, rocky passes of the Atlas Mountains. Clearly, a vehicle can’t afford to wilt here. Which is exactly why people choose big, tough, modern trucks in which to explore the place. Andy and Karen Warwick, though, decided to do things differently. Like so many British overlanders, they embarked on their trip to Morocco in a Land Rover. But this one was a 1978 Series III Lightweight – a forty-year-old classic that you’d

be more likely to see in a museum than in Morocco. But this isn’t any ordinary Lightweight, as Andy will now explain. ‘This Lightweight came with a 200Tdi engine when I bought it,’ he says, ‘which was something I was after. It was one of those eBay things really. The truck was up for £2500 and I liked the look of it, but no one had bid on it. I didn’t know much about them other than it was one of those funnylooking military ones I remember seeing when I was younger.’ ‘I looked at the prices elsewhere and decided to ring the chap up. It turned out to be just a bad advert, because once you looked beyond the paintwork the body was very straight. It had the Tdi engine I was after, but all the work since has been carried out by me with the fabrication and welding jobs being done by our eldest son, Daniel.’ The ‘work’ is extensive, to say the least. But it all adds up to make this Lightweight more usable over longer distances. Like when overlanding through Morocco, for instance. As well as boasting a more potent Tdi unit, this ex-RAF Lightweight houses a hybrid turbo and a Shogun intercooler, situated in front of the oil cooler and radiator. The original gearbox and overdrive were worn, so an LT77 short-nosed Defender gearbox has been substituted in and mated to a Discovery transfer box.

I’ve ﬁtted an Ashcroft selectable 4WD kit, Bailey Morris custom propshafts, Range Rover diffs and Rocky Mountain parabolic springs,’ adds Andy. Those diffs certainly make cruising easier, as does the addition of power steering – which was taken from a P38 Range Rover and uses a shortened TDCi Defender upper column. Throw in some Defender seats, a GPS speedo and split-charge battery system to help keep the beers in the fridge cool, and you’re looking at an expedition vehicle that possesses all the character of a classic Land Rover – but without the physical hardship when you come to drive it. ‘My son is a great fabricator,’ says Andy. ‘I can tell him what I want and he just makes it.’ It’s good when your children can help around the house, but even better when they can help around the garage. But the Lightweight has been adapted to spend as much time out of the garage as possible, and Morocco was an adventure Andy and his wife, Karen, will never forget. ‘We went to Morocco at the end of October last year, spending a week in Spain before meeting up with the rest of the tour,’ expresses Karen. ‘The tour

‘I didn’t know much about Lightweights, other than that it was one of those funny-looking military ones I remember seeing when I was younger…’

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LIGHTWEIGHT FANTASTIC

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‘I didn’t know much about Lightweights, other than that it was one of those funny-looking military ones I remember seeing when I was younger…’

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lasted about ﬁfteen days with two of the nights being in the Atlas Mountains.’ The tour was organised by Ardent Adventures. It wasn’t Andy and Karen’s ﬁrst trip out with the company – although this time, it wasn’t something they booked by accident… I used to get some of the Land Rover mags and had a few lying about the place,’ starts Andy. I saw an article in one previously about going through the yrenees into Andorra. Karen and I had been to Andorra by road before and the scenery was brilliant, so we thought going there off-road would be even better We both liked what we saw, and I’d spotted an advert in the back of the mag advertising a similar sort of trip, so I said to Karen to ring the advert and see what they were saying. Anyway, she actually rang Russ at Ardent by mistake as I’d meant another ad. But it created a great deal

of laughter around the campsite when the topic came up in the yrenees ’ The couple visited the yrenees in 201 and, having smoothed things over with their guide, Russ, they made the en uiry as to whether their Lightweight would be able to hack Morocco. Normally Russ would have reservations about the volatile nature of these older Land Rovers – but being so impressed with the Warwick Lightweight, the decision was simple. Following the yrenees, we knew the vehicle was well screwed together,’ says Andy. And we’ve always been uite nosey and wanted to look at other aspects of life other than sitting on a beach. You look at some people who just go and do things and you want to be them.’ Karen chimes in: I’m happy to go along overlanding in the Land Rover too – we both sing from the same hymn sheet. I’m uite handy

at passing over the spanners or oil anyway I’ve done my share of driving too, and in Morocco it’s like a lunar landscape at times. The dust can get a bit much, but you’re getting the authentic experience.’ Andy adds: There are bits in Morocco where it’s like driving on a ﬁlm set. You can drive for hours with just a track or two, or sometimes none in front of you at all. It’s uite inspirational, and takes you back to a time when few people would have ventured here.’ In a Lightweight Land Rover, of course, there’s even more reason to feel a sense of nostalgia. And with a driving experience that doesn’t numb you from the environment around you, is it any wonder you’ll feel like you’ve uite literally breathed in your surroundings? It’s not all about the get-everywhere dust and lunar landscapes, though.

Morocco is about as westernised as it gets in North Africa. But vast parts of the nation, particularly when you approach the northern fringes of the Sahara, are still largely as they have always been

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‘It’s like two separate worlds,’ comments Andy. ‘There are a lot of contrasts in Morocco. Out in the desert and off the beaten track you won’t see anyone, but in some of the towns it’s like Middle Eastern madness – it can test your comfort zone! Tyre ﬁtters on one side of the street, people splitting carcasses on the other. But head down the alleyways and you’ll come across leather and weaving workshops and it becomes more atmospheric. Sometimes it’s like Disney does the Middle East.’ In a spectacle not too dissimilar to the opening scenes from Aladdin, on one occasion in Marrakesh, the Warwicks found themselves in a chaotic square. Snake charmers were showcasing their unique gift, monkeys roamed around the

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place and here you could buy items such as a tortoise, rather than just a bunch of bananas. ‘It’s the type of place where you pass vans with sheep on top,’ laughs Karen. ‘No one there ever seems to have come across the term health and safety before!’ At one point, Andy was taken to one side by Andrew, one of the tour leaders at Ardent. ‘He pulled me over to look at a zebra skin. “I’m not sure if I should buy one or not, what do you think?” he asked me. So I said to him, “To be honest, I think it looked better on the zebra!”’ chuckles Andy. ‘It was just one of the many crazy stalls in the souk!’ Away from the busy streets and souks of the cities, though, the Lightweight was able to take centre stage. With the Ashcroft selectable 4WD system in place, and a dab hand at the wheel, there were no issues for this travelling veteran. ‘We didn’t even need to engage four-wheel drive as much as I’d thought we would,’ says Andy. ‘I once read somewhere

that a well-driven Lightweight can go virtually anywhere a Defender can, and so it proved. It just hops along like a little mouse, over the rocks, one at a time.’ There’s plenty more rocks yet to be conquered, too, with Andy and Karen keen to continue their ‘nosey nature’ and resist the urge to pass away the time by lying on a beach. ‘We’ve got other trips in mind we’d like to do, some more crazy than others,’ says Andy. ‘Maybe we could do South Africa… or another mad one would be to head to Alexandria, mimicking the trail from the ﬁlm, Ice Cold In Alex. ‘Another option could be to go across Holland, Denmark, Sweden and the North Cape into Finland, then through Russia and down through Estonia, Latvia and the Baltics.’ Any one of these trips would be something to be proud of, even in something like a new Ford Ranger, let alone a Lightweight. Karen adds: ‘The older you get, the more you realise there’s a lot less time ahead of you than behind.’ Andy concurs, continuing: ‘If there is a mountain, I’ve always wanted to know what is on the other side. I want to climb it and crest it, just for the pure curiosity of it all.’ That’s a great way to approach seeing the world – and even if a classic military 4x4 isn’t the most obvious choice of vehicle in which to do it, so what? A Lightweight may not be the typical overlanding companion. But Andy and Karen (with the help of their son, Daniel) have shown that with a few tweaks and a bit of planning, even Land Rovers from the distant past can go the distance in the future.

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OUR 4X4S: PROJECT 90

Changing oil should be a straightforward job, albeit one which you need to do properly in order to avoid polluting your street, driveway or workshop oor with a small lake of grotty sumpo. e say it be straightforward, but if you drive a efender Td there are two filters to remove rather than the more usual one, and naturally one of them’s a pig to get at. hatever you drive, anyway, make sure there’s ade uate catch capacity ready for when you free off the drain plug, and be ready with a handful of rags to soak up the drips when the filter s come clear. hange the washer on the drain plug to ensure a good seal what do you mean, what washer on the drain plug ’ , and refill with the correct uantity of the correct oil

up with a bit left in the carton after changing his oil, so he just poured in the rest as well on the assumption that you can’t have too much of a good thing, and a few miles later his cylinder head gasket gave him a painful lesson in just how much of a good thing you can indeed have. Beyond this, an easy way to look at servicing is by a checklist. Because a lot of what it’s is about is

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simply checking the condition of various components and only changing them if they need it. Seals, bushes, bearings – a visual check will tell you all you need to know in many cases, and in the case of bushes a pry bar will help you see if they’re starting to let go. Look for uid leaks and weeps, check moving parts to see that they’re moving freely, and with each wheel in turn jacked up, go in

search of play in the wheel bearings by trying to wobble them from top to bottom. Your axles will need their respective differentials checking for oil, too. Release the plug in each diff and check the quality and level of the oil within. No action may be required on some inspections, but you want to have a nice clean oil swimming around in there. If you do need to pop

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ompared to air and oil filters, fuel filters tend to be the poor relation when it comes to servicing. ut dirty diesel won’t do your vehicle any good at all, so there’s pretty much no such thing as a replacement that wasn’t worth it. If you don’t drive a efender Td , these pictures showing the filter housing behind the driver’s-side rear wheel being opened and the filter being changed won’t be directly relevant to you, but do note the use of the correct tool to loosen it off which may take a bit of effort

a drop inside, you should fill the diff up until the oil starts seeping back out again. The diffs take a heavy gear oil, such as an E 90. Finally, we move on to the fuel filter – which, on our 90, is located behind the offside rear tyre. How easy it is to free off is pretty much proportional to how long it’s been there you can often release it by hand, but if not you might need to get a clamping device or some grips on it. With the new filter locked on and tightened up, now it’s time for something that’s definitely specific to Td5 Defenders. If you start the ignition and pump the throttle to the oor five times in uick succession, the engine will go into self-bleeding mode. This lasts for about ten minutes once the hums and bu es of the fuel lines dissipate, you’re good to go. That’s the sort of knowledge that comes from a deep relationship with a brand, and it’s one of the reasons why Land Rover owners tend to trust their vehicles to proper specialists. Not every kind of 4x4 gives you that option without pinning you into the giantly expensive main agent network, but by and large there’ll be independents

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with expert knowledge of whatever you drive. It’s just that with Land Rovers, there’s one in every town. For DIY work, too, a benefit of following the Land Rover herd is that you can get service kits containing all you need to do the main regular jobs your vehicle needs. Once again, though, make sure that what you’re buying is up to the standard of parts your truck deserves. Getting all the filters you need in one handy box is convenient and cost-effective, but it won’t be either of those things if you have to start replacing them again next week. The service we’ve described here is uite a basic one, albeit with more included than just the bog-standard oil and filter change. It’s up to you how much effort you want to put into checking things obviously, a major service will re uire more time, parts, tools and knowledge, but the more you do, the more you’ll learn. Knowing what common faults you should be watching for is a big one, for example. And it’s something that only comes with experience even if that experience is someone else’s .

Ashley warned us about a couple of possible problem points you can face on a Td5, for example. On the front of the cylinder head,’ he told us, where the electric plug ﬁts to the injector harness, sometimes oil can wick past and along the cables which can mean you need a new harness. If you pull the plug off the head and it’s full of oil, it’s more than likely that’ll be the solution. Also keep an eye out for a wettish fuel look on the back of the cylinder head, where the fuel lines come up at the back of the engine. This could be a sign of the fuel regulator leaking.’ As we’ve already said, a big part of servicing is watching out for things that haven’t let go yet but are starting to show signs that they soon will. Even if you don’t do your own spannering, indeed, doing a proper job of keeping on top of what’s going on is a very valuable ﬁrst step in the direction of long-term health for your 4x4. In the meantime, thanks to Ashley 4x4 for looking after our 90 – if you’re in the Stafford area and drive a Land Rover, give them a call on 01 85 24 1 5 or visit www.ashley4x4.com and they’ll happily look after yours too.

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OFF-ROAD SCENE

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ICONIC LAKES LANE WRECKED BY HAM-HANDED REPAIRS RIGHTS OF WAY USERS have reacted with dismay to the news that Tilberthwaite Lane, one of the remaining jewels in the crown of the Lake District, has been turned into a smooth gravel track by a programme of over-zealous ‘repair’ works. Famous for its combination of superb views and rocky surface, Tilberthwaite has long been extremely popular with motor vehicle users. It has been under voluntary restraint for many years, restricting it to oneway use in a bid to minimise disturbance to residents at its southern end, however this has not been enough to spare it from the attentions of the usual anti-4x4 interests. In recent times, the lane was subject to a petition for its closure after farmers on adjacent lane claimed was no longer drivable on their quad bikes. The area was also cited in one of the most fanatical moves ever made against freedom in the UK, when a self-appointed quasi-conservationist organisation tried to call on UNESCO to revoke the Lake District’s world heritage status unless it (illegally) banned 4x4s from its rights of way. While Tilberthwaite will remain open to motor vehicles following completion of the current work, its character will have been changed entirely. Contractors have been using heavy machinery to smash the bedrock and grade it down to a at surface which will be drivable in any soft-roader or even most everyday cars. It’s unknown how much material has been eroded away by this process, however it will clearly be many times more than the combined effects of thousands of 4x4s. A possible silver lining to this tragic and unnecessary assault on the landscape is that with the lane now being usable by all, rather than only suitable for well prepared vehicles, more people will get to enjoy the views it offers. How this will be received by the residents whose peace was previously regulated by voluntary restraint is unknown. Prior to the latest series of events surrounding Tilberthwaite, the lane became something of a cause celebre when motor vehicle users raised money to pay for repairs to an adjoining wall. It was noted that at around the same time, similar repairs to a patch of hillside land on a popular walking route elsewhere in Britain were paid for by public money. Tilberthwaite’s destruction is all the more surprising as the Lake District can normally be held up as an example of good practice in lane management, especially next to some other national parks in which a state of open hostility exists towards motorised rights of way users. It is to be earnestly hoped that this does not signal a shift away from common sense in the area. One positive sign in this regard is that another famously rocky green lane at Parkamoor has also recently undergone repairs, but while these have smoothed out some of its most extreme sections they haven’t done anything to ruin its character. Rights of way users groups will continue to monitor the situation with some concern.In the meantime, if you drive a soft-roader, a visit to Tilberthwaite would now be very apposite indeed.

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OFF-ROAD CALENDAR

UK Convoy Tours 10-11 November

2 December

Atlas Overland Wessex

Ardent Adventures Yorkshire Moors

17-18 November

UK Landrover Events Lake District

4x4 Adventure Tours Mid-Wales

9 December

18 November UK Landrover Events Durham Dales

21-26 November Ardent Adventures Whitby to the Lakes

25 November UK Landrover Events Yorkshire Dales

1 December Ardent Adventures Yorkshire Dales

4x4 Adventure Tours Salisbury Plain UK Landrover Events Northumberland

24 December UK Landrover Events North York Moors

26 December UK Landrover Events Tynedale

30 December 4x4 Adventure Tours South Wales

1-2 December 4x4 Adventure Tours Cotswolds

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WINCH ROPES SUFFER IN BUILDWAS BATTLE Words: Pip Evans Pics: Nick Hood

THE PENULTIMATE ROUND of the 2018 Odyssey Batteries winch challenge series brought competitors way out west to the excellent Buildwas site near Telford. Unusually for an off-road venue, this has toilet and admin facilities with water and electricity – absolute luxury compared to most sites! Buldwas also commands some great vistas over the Shropshire countryside, but the views were not what we were here for. Thankfully, the weather gods were kind to us and gave us a nice dry autumn day, which doesn’t make that much difference to the competitors but is great for the marshals and organisers.

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The site’s terrain is ideally suited to challenge events, with just the right amount of ditches, gullies and banks to make it tough for the trucks and their crews. It doesn’t have anything much in the way of huge rocks, big drops or deep water, however – although while these can be spectacular, they can also be very dangerous should things go wrong. The site was also relatively easy on the winchmen. With no huge climbs or nettles and brambles to battle with, getting from A to B on two feet was unsually easy! This site usually features a few nice wet, boggy bits, but the long, dry summer put paid to that. With more grip than usual

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OFF-ROAD SCENE

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OFF-ROAD CALENDAR

Pay-and-play events 11 November 4x4 Without a Club Harbour Hill,West Berkshire

Essex, Rochford and District 4x4 Club Rayleigh, Essex

Frickley 4x4 Frickley, South Yorkshire

Slindon Safari Fontwell,West Sussex

18 November available, the set-up crew had a bit more to think about, but with the help of the ubiquitous cordon tape, the punches would be just as challenging to get to. For competitors, collecting the punches was not going to be a straightforward affair and would require some thought on the rigging of winch ropes to get trucks to their objectives. There was one timed special section, set out in a deep, narrow gulley at the far end of the site. This is usually one of the boggiest parts of Buildwas; it was still a bit moist, but drivable with a bit of determination – apart from the last bit, which involved winching up a vertical four-foot bank with the truck at 90 degrees to the winching point.

This ﬁnal obstruction caused the most difﬁculties, but most teams managed it without too many issues – with the exception of Alan Devonport, whose truck died halfway up the bank. Chris Booth happened to be nearby, and like a good sport he kindly agreed to winch Alan out of the hole, so he parked his truck behind a deep rut to prevent it from being pulled forward then engaged his winch. What Chris hadn’t realised was that his wheels were on full lock (with full hydro steer, you have no indication through the steering as to which way your wheels are facing). This meant that while he did successfully drag Alan’s truck out of trouble, he blew a CV joint in the process. Sadly, this ended the event for both teams.

Devil’s Pit

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Minstead, Hampshire Picadilly Wood Bolney,West Sussex

Parkwood 4x4 Tong, Bradford

9 December 4x4 Without a Club Harbour Hill,West Berkshire

Essex, Rochford and District 4x4 Club Rayleigh, Essex

Barton-le-Clay, Bedfordshire

Frickley 4x4

Explore Off Road Silverdale, Stoke-on-Trent

Slindon Safari

Hilll N Ditch Mouldsworth, Cheshire

16 December

Muddy Bottom

Frickley, South Yorkshire Fontwell,West Sussex

Minstead, Hampshire

Explore Off Road Silverdale, Stoke-on-Trent

Mud Monsters

Muddy Bottom

East Grinstead,West Sussex

Minstead, Hampshire

24 November

23 December

Kirton Off Road Centre Kirton Lindsey, North Lincs

Frickley 4x4 (TBC)

25 November

Slindon Safari

Bures Pit Bures, Essex

Frickley, South Yorkshire Fontwell,West Sussex

26 December

Burnham Off Roaders Tring, Hertfordshire

4x4 Without a Club

Cowm Leisure Whitworth, Lancashire

29 December

Frickley 4x4

Kirton Off Road Centre Kirton Lindsey, North Lincs

Frickley, South Yorkshire

4x4

Muddy Bottom

Harbour Hill,West Berkshire

Kirton Off Road Centre Kirton Lindsey, North Lincs

30 December

Slindon Safari

Bures Pit

Fontwell,West Sussex

Bures, Essex

2 December

Cowm Leisure Whitworth, Lancashire

Devil’s Pit Barton-le-Clay, Bedfordshire

Hilll N Ditch Mouldsworth, Cheshire

Kirton Off Road Centre Kirton Lindsey, North Lincs

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Apart from this, there were remarkably few breakdowns – though for some reason, there was an unusually large number of winch rope breakages. The world works in mysterious ways… With the day’s action at an end and the paddock full of weary crews, attention started to turn to the score cards. In Class 1, where there were just two competitors, second spot went to Hugh Gascoyne with Brad Johnson on 501 points, behind Zak Dambrauskas with Marc Johnson on a respectable 1730 points. The turnout in Class 2 was much better than in the last round, with Johnny Johnson and Tracey Stafford taking bronze on 1401 points. Ahead of them, there had been a titanic battle for the top two places – a battle which saw Ben Mark with Tom Jolliffe, who had won the class in every event

so far this year, pushed back into second on 4958 points. After having suffered serval breakages in 2018, everything ﬁnally came together for Stuart McClurg with winchman Dominic O’Reagan, who took a well deserved class victory on 5216 points. As usual, the healthiest numbers were in Class 3, so competition was ﬁerce. But at the end of the day, the result was pretty much business as usual. Third place went to Matt Bain with David Burton, on 6086 points,

then just under 300 points ahead in second were Steve Grant with Joe Hood on 6371. Top spot, and the only team to manage to get on to a second punch card, were once again Tom Hirons with Tom Wilson. They are

the only team to have extended a clear run of ﬁrst places this far into the 2018 season. On this occasion, they bagged 7694 points; amid a strong ﬁeld of competitors, they are certainly proving to be the class act of 2018.

‘There were remarkably few breakdowns – though for some reason, there was an unusually large number of winch rope breakages’

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Overland Travel

OFF-ROAD CALENDAR

27 October

9 May 2019

Peru Safari Peru

28 October –15 Nov

26 May 2019

Protrax Morocco

Peru Safari Northern Peru

15 November

5-19 June 2019

Peru Safari Peru

Protrax Pyrenees

17 Nov – 2 Dec

12 June 2019

Onelife Adventure Morocco

Peru Safari Peruvian Steppes

3 December

18 July – 1 August 2019

Peru Safari Peru

Venture 4x4 Iceland

16 Mar – 4 April 2019

22 July 2019

11-25 September 2019

29 Sept – 17 Oct 2019

Protrax Morocco

Peru Safari Peru

Protrax Pyrenees

Protrax Morocco

April 2019

27 July – 10 August 2019

16-29 September2019

3-16 October 2019

Venture 4x4 Iceland

Trailmasters Morocco Marrakesh Classic

Trailmasters Morocco Atlantic Sahara

19 April – 3 May 2019

1-15 August 2019

17 September 2019

11 October 2019

Trailmasters Morocco Marrakesh Classic

Venture 4x4 Iceland

Peru Safari Peru

20 April 2019

10 August 2019

October 2019

25 Oct – 8 Nov 2019

Peru Safari Peru

Venture 4x4 Iceland

Trailmasters Morocco Draa Valley

April-May 2019 (6wks)

16-30 August 2019

13-31 October 2019

15 November 2019

Onelife Adventure Namibia/Botswana

Venture 4x4 Iceland

Protrax Morocco

Peru Safari Northern Peru

May 2019

24 August – 4 Sept 2019

22-30 September

3 December 2019

Venture 4x4 Iceland

Trailmasters Morocco

Trails and Tracks Pyrenees

Peru Safari Peru

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Venture 4x4

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ROADBOOK

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21/09/2018 15:52

LAMBOURN DOWNS

Easy-going lanes in the heart of racehorse country The Ridgeway is long gone, thanks to the scourge of politics and self-interest, but the beautiful rolling downlands to its south are criss-crossed by a huge network of rights of way that the lane fascists couldn’t kill. By and large, they’re well surfaced and easy to drive, though here and there they present a tricky driving challenge and pose a threat to your paintwork. This route has enough of the latter kind to require a bit of care (and some means of recovery if it goes wrong), but in the main it’s a nice, easy day out in the countryside that’s suitable for any competent vehicle

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ROUTE GUIDE

IS IT SUITABLE?

START FINISH HOW LONG? TERRAIN HAZARDS

TYRES

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OS MAPS

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Compton (SU 521 799) Aldbourne (SU 264 756) 44.9 miles / 4-5 hours Rolling downs, occasional woodland Sudden bumps on smooth tracks; tricky navigation in places; surface water; other users, particularly on horseback; fastmoving trafﬁc on road sections a few tight woodland sections; one major dropoff; potential for ruts here and there Landranger 174 (Newbury and Wantage)

WEATHER LOW BOX SOFT-ROADERS SCRATCHING DRIVING DAMAGE

21/09/2018 15:52

Should be drivable on any reasonably tall ﬁtment Avoid when very wet One bit will be tricky without it Mainly suitable, so long as you have another vehicle with you Occasional but quite severe risk Some tight bits needing great care and forward thinking Signiﬁcant potential for panel damage if driven carelessly

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21/09/2018 15:52

0.7

1.2

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SU 521 799

Start outside the Compton Swan, on High Street in Compton. Zero your trip with the pub to your right, opposite the front door, and set off west to start the route

1.7

SU 509 819

There are two crossroads in quick succession – you want to take the ﬁrst

SU 516 799

0.2 CHURN ROAD

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USING OUR ROADBOOKS

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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

Step 8: The byway passes under the main A34, which should make you happer than ever to be out on the lanes…

2.0

SAFETY

2.3

3.6

3.65

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 just stay on the main road or take the most straight-ahead option unless we tell you otherwise. If you’re unfamiliar with six-ﬁgure grid references, you’ll ﬁnd a guide to using them on the legend of any OS map. Our aim is for you to be able to do the route without maps, but we do recommend having them.

There’s a 12’0” height limit under the bridge

The notes on the ﬁrst page of the roadbook advise you of how suitable it is for your vehicle.These are just guidelines, however.We’ll warn you of any ha ards 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, and are largely suitable for standard 4x4s on road tyres. We do recommend travelling in tandem wherever possible, however.The risk of getting stuck can be greater than it appears – and if you break down, having help at hand can make the difference between it being inconvenient and downright dangerous.

RESPONSIBILITY

10 4.5

11 5.1

4x4 12pp Roadbook Dec.indd 83

Irresponsible driving is a massive problem 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, both to the land and to 4x4 drivers’ reputation. The fact that you can see where it’s happened shows how much harm it does. It’s no excuse to say you’re just following where another driver has already been. Most green laners have taken to videoing anyone they see behaving like this and passing the evidence to the police. Elsewhere, simple common sense and courtesy should be your watchword.The do-and-don’t list

21/09/2018 15:52

below should always be in your mind, but keep your speed down, be ready to pull over for others and show the world that 4x4 drivers aren’t the hooligans some of them think we are.

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. It only takes one vandal to tarnish a person’s view of all 4x4 drivers, and once the damage is done it tends to be permanent. But if enough of us resolve to be ambassadors, it might make a difference to the way we’re perceived by society in general.

DO AND DON’T

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

horse riders pass • Don’t go in large convoys: split into small groups to avoid hassling others • Leave gates as you found them • Don’t drop litter. Do carry a bin bag and a pair of stout gloves so you can pick up other people’s, though • Don’t go back to drive the fun bits, such as mud or fords, again • Scrupulously obey all closure and voluntary restraint notices • Don’t cause a noise nuisance, particularly after dark • 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 • If someone challenges you, be firm but polite. Stay calm and don’t let them turn it into a fight • Stick absolutely scrupulously to the right of way • You have as much of a right to be there as everyone else.Which means they have as much right as you

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Step 12: The track starts right in the middle of a major road junction. When you indicate to turn left, safe to say the car behind you won’t realise which left you’re going to take…

SU 489 812

7.0

13 7.6

17 9.2

Take care here – there’s a sharp side slope into the ﬁeld on the right. After this, it starts getting quite tight between the trees

18 19

8.7

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SU 467 783

0.6

1.0

8.8

8.9

ZERO TRIP

9.6

Follow the byway sign

21 1.4

Join the main farm track for a short distance then, where a pair of signs inform you that there’s no right of way, follow the byway sign into the trees

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Step 13: Just before you plunge into the undergrowth, the track develops a wicked drop-off to the right. It’s been easy up to here, so don’t be lulled into a false sense of security

Rejoin the main farm track

3.3

1.7

Stay on the main track

2.0

27 4.1

2.3

3.1

SU 430 794

4.4

4.9

Step 21: Bit of a strange one, this. You’re following a large, wide, well surfaced track… but then suddenly, the right of way dives off into the trees to one side, only to emerge back on to the farm track a little way ahead

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Step 44: The right of way starts off by running alongside the surfaced farm road

5.2

11.5

Turn into Maiden Court opposite the public footpath sign on the left

12.4

5.5

6.3

SU 372 757

Follow on straight ahead through the farm buildings, keeping your speed and engine revs right down

12.6

SU 426 806

6.7

Stay on the main track

13.6

7.0

ZERO TRIP

14.5

9.4

1.5

H A

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Step 45: Turn left at the T-junction with another byway –it’s quite confusing, with another byway off to the left shortly before

1.9

4.7

2.6

44 4.5

4x4 12pp Roadbook Dec.indd 87

Don’t turn too early – you’ll see another byway signposted on the left a little before this. What you’re looking for is a T-junction with a wooden pylon in front of you

4.8

SU 359 796

At the byway sign, follow the tyre tracks with the fence immediately to your right.You’ll come to a three-way byway sign – again, keep on ahead

47 6.0

Turn left in front of the dark red barn

ZERO TRIP

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48 0.05

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There’s a concrete road ahead, with a much less obvious track to the left meandering along next to it, at ﬁrst across the grass verge then between the tree line and ﬁeld edge. There’s no signposting to guide you, but the correct route is to follow the track and stay off the surfaced road

52 1.35

1.1

1.15

1.3

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Follow the main track round to the right in front of the white gallop fence

1.6

2.0

2.6

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Step 64: This climb is quite deceptive – it doesn't feel like much to start with, but gets pretty steep and goes on forever

Step 59: Turn right immediately after the farm buildings, watching out for fast-moving trafﬁc coming towards you

This is in the centre of Lambourn. There’s a variety of shops and pubs, if you’re feeling hungry by now…

3.3

2.0

57 3.5

2.3

U A H

ZERO TRIP

1.0

60 1.55

Watch out for horses here – the track on the left is a gallop

2.45

3.6

SU 310 781

It’s on a corner immediately after the Farncombe Farm buildings on the right. There’s a byway sign, but you can’t see it until you’re right on the junction

65 3.0

66 3.45

U A

61 1.75

67 4.4

SU 310 803

The turning is opposite a road on the right signed for Upper Lambourn. There is a byway sign, but it’s hard to spot as you approach

RO DO N NO

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4.45

4.5

5.35

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5.6

5.9

Dead slow through the farmyard

6.4

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7.25

11.05

7.7

Arrive in the square in the centre of Aldbourne and park up outside The Crown for the end of the route

11.2

76 8.95

SU 263 790

The track’s not signed at all. It’s in a wooded section once you’ve reached the top of the hill

10.45 Step 79: The route ends at the Crown in Aldbourne

4x4 12pp Roadbook Dec.indd 91

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day. If there’s been

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could be quite

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with caution

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15 11.5

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lane – after Take it easy up thisyou pass the gs, the farm buildin car park entrance to a pub

17 11.8

20 3.35

21 22 6.45

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11.6

Toyota Land Cruiser Utility: the best 4x4 you can buy?

USING

Total Off-Roa d you through the countryside on a and unsurfac ed r we use are pub lic either Byways Op or Unclassiﬁed Co commonly refe rre

NAVIGATIO N

We’ve delibera tely possible to follo w th mixture of inst ructio and grid refe rences.W only include junction have to make a turnin right of way, so just st road or take the most option unless we tell y If you’re unfa miliar w grid referenc es, you’ll ﬁ using them on the legen map. Our aim is for you do the route without m do recommend having th

SAFETY

The symbols on the ﬁrst the roadboo k advise you suitable it is for your vehic are just guidelin es, howeve warn you of any ha ards o R sections, but H the nature of lane can chan ge quickly.We can make a hug e difference Your track is Inn opposite the Fox the left obvi conditions und Turnless two as you appr ous of the erfoot, and w oach wide open in winter can be enclosed and scratchy in sum responsibility is yours! Our roadboo ks are design be safe to driv e in a solo veh ic are largely suit NOR H ND able for standar on road tyre s. We travelling in tand do recomm this ford to em wherever wet enough for over pos it’s If the sible, how It’s not a big ever.The risk have any water ford actual have therlye’s ae, you’ll probably stuc of g sharpish drop , but surfac usk can be greater than into itroad as washe d daway in the previo it app roun the corner – and if you brea beenyou k down, having two by now at hand can mak e the differenc e between it bein g inconvenient an downright dan gerous.

RESPONSIB

When did you sign like this last see a road at unsurfaced righ a junction on an t of way?

ILITY Irresponsible driving is a mas sive pro

blem ADgreen lane -ROon TOTAL OFF s. In particu you mus

t always stay on the right of way. Never drive off it to play on the verges or surrounding land, eve if you can see that someon e else has; doing so is illegal and can be tremendously dam land and to 4x4 aging, both to the drivers’ repu tation. The fact that you can see whe it’s happened shows how muc re h harm it does. It’s no excuse to say you’re just following where another driver has already bee n. Most green laners have taken to videoing anyo ne they see behaving like this and passing the evidence to the police, which shows how much ange r there is tow ards the criminal elem ent. Elsewhere, simp le common sense and cou rtesy should be your

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