4x4 Magazine - January 2022

4x4

PLUS 4X4 OF THE YEAR FREE SUPPLEMENT WITH THIS ISSUE! DRIVEN Holding on tight in Volvo’s 400bhp all-electric XC40

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

NUTHIN BUT A G THANG

How a crusty old army G-Wagen became this glorious golden off-road classic

PLUS Porsche’s Dakar glory revisited in a wild modern homage to the legendary 959

The story of a life lived in off-roading – and the famous independent 4x4 specialist that was born from from it

Dacia Duster ventures into the mighty wilderness of Lappland

£4.99

Across the Derby Dales with our midwinter roadbook

JAN 2022

An absolute old-school animal of a Land Rover AWAITING PIC 4x4 Cover Jan 22 SM.indd 1

16/12/2021 00:36

RECWATCHES .COM RECOVER • RECYCLE • RECLAIM

Untitled-1- CLASSIC 1 REC Watches LAND ROVER AD June 2021.indd 1

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21/08/2020 10:43

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AUGUST 2020 | 13

30/06/2020 17:05

January 2022

CONTENTS

46

‘I do have a steering guard on it, but it’s more of than anything else!’

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62 SUBSCRIBE AND LIGHT UP YOUR LIFE! You can save almost 50% by subscribing to Britain’s only 4x4 magazine – and we’ll send you a FREE Ring workshop inspection lamp worth £9.99 as well!

4x4 Scene: News, Products and More…

9 14 16 18 22 22 24 25 26 26

Great British Land Rover Show A new springtime show for 2022 Jeep Wrangler Parallel importer brings V8 Rubicon 392 model to the UK Polaris All-electric Ranger XP Kinetic coming to Britain soon BXCC Comp safari season reaches its climax at Walters Arena Sterling Automotive New alloy rims to suitu current Jeep Wrangler Dynamat Much-needed sound deadening for old Land Rovers ITG Motorsport-bred air filter for new-shape Defender Bilstein Bespoke shock building service for your every damping need Camel Trophy Review of the ultimate book on a legendary off-road event Lazer Lamps Updates to popular LED products

Driven 30 32

Volvo XC40 Recharge Stunning performance from all-electric SUV Renault Arkana The compact coupé-SUV you never knew you wanted…

Every Month 6 62 70 80

Alan Kidd Common sense may be sensible, but it’s so boring…

Subscribe Get 4x4 for almost half price – and get a free lamp from Ring too!

Roadbook A glorious winter’s day out in the Derbyshire Dales Next Month Tin hats on – it’s time for a Land Rover special issue…

Features 10 34 40 44 46

Marsien £500,000 homage to the days when Porsche ruled the Dakar Up a Gumtree The history of a much-respected name in the Land Rover world Gold-Wagen Our cover star is a remade off-road classic with a modern twist Long-Range Wrangler Overland plans for a YJ that’s definitely one of a kind Epic Defender Larger-than-life 90 built to go anywhere and never break

Travel 54

Lappland An extreme kayak journey supported by a lone Dacia Duster

Our 4x4s 64

a ploughing tool

Isuzu D-Max GO2 Recapping the latest updates to our do-it-all double-cab

70 Derby Dales Roadbook

Step 40: Turn left off the main embankment track, dropping then plunging down the straight into a water trough (right)

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13

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

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

Caution over a steps as you short set of rocky drop down the hill

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Contents Jan.indd 3

Step

of

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Abbey Strata Florida

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are sharp rock Caution – there as you climb the steps to negotiate hillside

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Look out for you cross the the waymarker as ford

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Join the Cat A

track

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You may find yourself driving a river bed along for a while…

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

14.7 Step

to clear these axleneed a bit of momentum right is much bigger to the Step 37: You might warned, the drop-off twisters – but be than it looks here

4x4

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

Alan Kidd Editor

I

Common sense is right.

I know from experience, most of it bitter

n this column a couple of months ago, in my usual navelgazing way I went on at great length about all my second-hand obsessions. I’m not sure what it was that prompted me, apart possibly from it being a desperate attempt to try and cure myself of endlessly poring over all the rubbish old vehicles I could have clogging up my driveway now I’ve finally got rid of the last lot, but if so it certainly didn’t work.

I found the rubbish-19-year-old-Passatbut-it’s-got-a-Bentley-engine-in-it of my dreams, for the right money and it wasn’t even all that far away, and it was all I could do to stop myself from going up there and bringing it home.

Obviously, talking about ancient Passats is no way to endear yourself to the readers of a magazine called 4x4 (though the Bentley-engined one did have all-wheel drive, he said, desperately). But there is a point, however oblique. You can talk yourself out of notions like that because you know deep down that no good is ever going to come of it. When it comes to offroad obsessions, that’s much harder.

See, I once bought a Defender 110. It was an original V8 pick-up, it was pretty solid and I gave the guy £1800 for it. The idea was to turn it into a long-wheelbase homage to the NAS 90, but then it sat in a field for a while and someone I knew offered me a couple of grand for it. So off I went and a few months later, on a whim I bought another 90 for £1800 and it sat under a tree for a while until I had to move house, do I put it on Loot (remember that), the phone rang off the hook and in the end I sold it on for an extra £500.

The penny should probably have dropped at that point, but I was too busy making magazines (story of my life). There was very easy money to be made in buying a selling Defenders back then. There probably still is now, indeed, it’s just that instead of starting at £1800 and trading up to £2300 you can multiply those sort of numbers by ten or twenty.

So I look back at those two second-hand obsessions and, as so many people find themselves doing, I start thinking about what they’d be worth now if only I had kept

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them. An easy ten grand apiece if all I had done was leave them in a garage; restored and tarted up, double or triple that.

Which, to bring it back to the original point, is what makes off-road obsessions so much harder to shake. I’ve spotted a couple of Range Rovers recently, both with all the welding done (or so the sellers claimed, at least). One was pretty much original, the other had been given a major off-road build. And both were at the sort of money which, it if was a Defender, would only buy you a wreck.

By the time I got in touch, naturally, both were already gone. But that’s the kind of obsession it’s harder to shake. You look at a truck like that and you think yes, I’ll get it home, I’ll get it steamed and treated underneath and then I’ll be able to have loads of fun without turning it back into a bucket, then when I’ve had my fun I’ll give it a quick wash and hey presto, I’ll be able to sell it for classic car money, and, and…

And over one shoulder, common sense is nagging away in one ear and saying don’t be an idiot. Even a solid one takes more than a wash to make it that nice and anyway, you’re not even capable of washing a car without breaking something. And another thing, you’ll get it home and take it laning, it’ll spend the next couple of winters crammed with mud and when the bottom falls out you’ll be left with a pile of scrap.

Common sense is of course right. I know this from experience, much of it bitter.

But there’s also a demon on my other shoulder, poking me with his trident and saying don’t you remember those old Defenders, if only you had kept them… So just buy this one and keep it, idiot!

By this time, like I said, if a truck is worth buying someone has already bought it. So I go back to making magazines and yep, story of my life, but if it weren’t for all these deadlines keeping me busy I shudder to think about how many old stinkers I’d have come home with down the years. It’s an ill wind that blows nobody good.

Web: www.totaloffroad.co.uk www.4x4i.com Online Shop: www.toronline.co.uk Facebook: www.facebook.com/totaloffroad www.facebook.com/4x4Mag Editor Alan Kidd Art Editor Samantha D’Souza Contributors Dan Fenn, Paul Looe, Gary Noskill, Kaziyoshi Sasazaki, Tom Alderney, Gary Simpson, Olly Sack Photographers Harry Hamm, Steve Taylor, Richard Hair, Vic Peel, Michelle Thruxton Group Advertising Manager Ian Argent Tel: 01283 553242 Advertising Manager Colin Ashworth Tel: 01283 553244 Advertising Production Sarah Moss Tel: 01283 553242 Subscriptions Sarah Moss Tel: 01283 553242 Publisher and Head of Marketing Sarah Moss Email: sarah.moss@assignment-media.co.uk To subscribe to 4x4, or renew a subscription, call 01283 553242. Prices for 12 issues: UK £42 (24 issues £76); Europe Airmail/ROW Surface £54; ROW Airmail £78 Distributed by Marketforce; www.marketforce.co.uk Every effort is made to ensure the contents of 4x4 are accurate, but Assignment Media accepts no responsibility for errors or omissions nor the consequences of actions made as a result of these.

When responding to any advert in 4x4, you should make appropriate enquiries before sending money or entering into a contract. The publishers take reasonable care to ensure advertisers’ probity, but will not be liable for loss or damage incurred from responding to adverts Where a photo credit includes the note ‘CC BY 2.0’ or similar, the image is made available under that Creative Commons licence: details at www.creativecommons.org 4x4 is published by Assignment Media Ltd, Repton House 1.08, Bretby Business Park, Ashby Road, Bretby, Derbyshire DE15 0YZ

© Assignment Media Ltd, 2021

4x4 16/12/2021 00:40

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26/11/2020 09:29:52

NEWS

Newark Showground, 1 May 2022: A new springtime date as the Great British Land Rover Show becomes twice-yearly

TOWARDS THE END OF NOVEMBER 2021, the ever-popular Great British Land Rover Show made a triumphant return from lockdown to pull in its biggest ever attendance.

And now the organisers are excited to announce a new springtime version of the show which is getting ready to take place on 1 May at Newark Showground.

Once again, the show is proud to be sponsored by BFGoodrich and Terrafirma. And you can expect it to follow the same winning formula that has made the existing Great British Land Rover Show such a success down the years. It will take place indoors, making it robustly weather-proof – and in addition to the usual array of exhibitors and clubs in the hall, the will also be the same hands-on attractions visitors

enjoyed so much at the November Show at Stoneleigh.

Like Stoneleigh, Newark Showground has a specially designed off-road course – and once again, the All Wheel Drive Club will be running a drive-round route here on which you can test out your own and your Land Rover’s abilities. At Stoneleigh in November, it was particularly noticeable that in addition to the usual original-shape Defenders and modified Discoverys, a huge proportion of visitors were taking on the course in modern-era Landies with independent suspension – and once again at Newark the route will be tailored to suit every kind of Solihull machine.

In addition, the 2021 show at Stoneleigh was notable as the first at which Land Rover Experience was

in attendance with its famous pop-up off-road demo course.

Like the public off-road route, this was a massive success, with visitors queuing to get aboard the new Defenders and Discoverys that were strutting their stuff next to main entrance to the hall. And the result is that the Experience will be back in May, putting on another similar course to entertain visitors to Newark.

The autumn Great British Land Rover Show is recognised as the final flourish in the annual Land

Rover calendar, and Newark is set to become the big curtain-raiser. Timed perfectly to take place a few weeks before the ALRC National and well in advance of the big outdoor shows, for every Land Rover enthusiast it will be the way to get the summer started in perfect style!

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

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16/12/2021 00:43

A NEW TAKE ON THE SPIRIT OF A Son of Porsche tuning master Uwe Gemballa builds a modern on and off-road supercar Words: Olly Sack Pictures: Marc Philipp Gemballa

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4x4 16/12/2021 00:46

DAKAR LEGEND inspired by the 959 – with the same dune-bashing ability that made the original immortal

F

or many people, almost 20 years on from the launch of the Porsche Cayenne, it still seems incongruous to think of the German sportscar giant making 4x4s. But if you carry on back another couple of decades, you get to the era of Group B rally cars – and find a Porsche project which ended up creating an off-road legend.

In 1983, Porsche was developing an all-wheeldrive version of the 911 to compete in the World Rally Championship. Work was taking longer than planned, but as the end of the year approached the company felt confident enough in its development vehicles to enter three of them in the following year’s Paris-Dakar Rally.

Known as the 953, the vehicle proved exceptionally capable – and durable, too. So much so that René Metge drove it to overall victory in the Dakar, with Jacky Ickx finishing 6th and Roland Kussmaul 26th. The vehicle was not yet ready for Group B homologation but the Dakar’s less restrictive regulations had allowed it to prove that it could win at the highest level.

The following year, the Dakar bit back. Porsche’s development programme was still going flat-out, and the 1985 Dakar saw it enter a trio of evolved 953s, now known as the 959 – only for all of them to drop out of the running with mechanical failures.

Another year’s development work made all the difference. For 1985, the 959 gained a new twin-turbocharged engine, boosting its output massively – and after a successful shakedown event at the Rallye de Pharaohs, Metge and Ickx dominated the Dakar to finish in first and second place with Kussmaul coming home in sixth.

The 959 would likely have gone on to write itself into rallying history. By the time it was ready for homologation, however, a series of fatal accidents had led to Group B being discontinued.

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16/12/2021 00:46

Porsche pressed ahead with the production model, which was manufactured for seven years – costing, even then, a staggering £145,000.

That’s the equivalent of about £420,000 today.

Though if you were to even find a 959 for sale, you might discover that inflation doesn’t work the same way with classic Porsches as it does elsewhere.

Not to worry, though. A modern vehicle has just been launched whose styling is a homage to the heroic 959s from the Dakar. And like the original, it’s designed to go off-road.

Called the Marsien, it’s the first vehicle from Marc Philipp Gemballa. This is the name of a company rather than just the person behind it; there’s already a Porsche tuner called Gemballa so Marc Philipp, whose late father Uwe Gemballa was its founder, had to use his full name for his new venture. Got that?

Having graduated in business and worked for various sports car manufacturers including Aston Martin, Mercedes and Porsche, Marc Philipp Gemballa believes the supercar market has changed radically since the days when his father’s company would boast of setting world record on the Nürburgring. ‘The horsepower game is over,’ he says. ‘Tuning is done by the OEMs themselves and the market is constantly being flooded with an influx of new supercars brandishing hyped horsepower figures.’

Hence the Marsien. It too is in essence a modified Porsche – but one whose vision goes beyond merely stretching the limits of a standard model.

The base vehicle for the Marsien is a current Porsche 911 Turbo S. This currently retails from £160,610 in the UK, so it helps if you can afford to spend that much on a car and hand it straight over to someone so they can cut it up.

You’re not just spending money for the sake of it here, though. The Turbo S is a 650bhp supercar with a top speed of 205mph and a 0-62 time of 2.7-seconds. If you’re going to base a new

all-terrain ultra-car on anything, this is not a bad place to start.

There’s an outside chance that that will seem like enough performance. But it’s marginal. So to be on the safe side, Marc Philipp Gemballa went to legendary Porsche engine specialist Ruf Automobile – and back it came with 750bhp and 686lbf.ft. Sounds poor, doesn’t it? Fortunately, there’s an optional upgrade to 830bhp.

Yet more power is unlocked by a lightweight Akrapovič exhaust system, and the Porsche PDK transmission has been revised to send even this much power consistently to all four wheels without loss. The vehicle’s body is shaped to enable better airflow, allowing the engine to stay cool even in the desert – where a specialised BMC filter keeps out particles of fine sand while maintaining the engine’s air supply.

The Marsien’s interior is very Porsche, though with Marc Philipp Gemballa’s own adornments There’s a range of carbon fibre additions inspired by the Carrera GT, and the base vehicle can be specified with a choice of leather or alcantara upholstery. To mark out each Marsien as unique, every build will be finished off with its own commissioning plaque

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4x4 16/12/2021 00:46

Standard-fit wheels are 20/21” alloys with Michelin tyres allowing a top speed of 205mph. However the vehicle can also be specified with all-terrain rubber on 19/20” MPG forged alloys – whereupon you’re limited to 130mph. Either way, the standard driveshafts behind the wheels are replaced by extended units with Cayenne joints to cope with the greatly increased suspension travel potential torque loadings

Talking of the Marsien’s body, this is a full carbon fibre affair styled by iconic Porsche designer Alan Derosier. It was developed for safety and aerodynamic efficiency by motorsport specialist KLK and will be available in whatever finish the customer requires, from special paintwork to fully exposed carbon fibre.

Similarly, the interior features a range of carbon fibre details inspired the legendary Carrera GT. This is in addition to a choice of full leather or alcantara trims, and each vehicle will come with a unique plaque illustrating its production number.

Underneath, Marc Philipp Gemballa engaged Kent-based KW Automotive to develop the unique suspension system required by a vehicle promising ultimate performance both on and off-road. The result was a solution making major changed to Porsche’s original chassis, with a new double-wishbone front suspension arrangement as part of an adjustable-height system using solid-piston dampers with intelligent active control. The dampers react within 20 milliseconds to optimise their response to compression and rebound forces, meaning the vehicle remains in constant readiness for any kind of terrain – ‘be it snow, sand or the worst dirt road imaginable.’

For the latter, the suspension can be raised from its road setting to allow as much as 250mm of ground clearance. That’s very nearly a foot. To cope with the necessary spring deflection, not to

4pp Gemballa Marsien.indd 13

mention the potential for giant amounts of torque to be going through the drivetrain on full droop, the company has developed extended driveshafts with reinforced joins taken from the Cayenne.

To make the most of this, Porsche’s standard drive mode palette for the 911 Turbo S is augmented by further gravel, mud, sand, and snow settings. These automatically optimise the engine, shocks and transmission – as well as the vehicle’s ride height.

Should even this not be enough, the Marsien’s entire underbody is protected by a strong but lightweight aluminium skid plate. And the vehicle can be ordered with all-terrain tyres to maximise its traction away from the tarmac, too. Should even this not be enough, an optional off-road package will add rally-spec Reiger dampers, giving the vehicle yet more ground clearance and suspension travel.

The result is a vehicle whose acceleration and top speed are unchanged from the standard 911 Turbo S – but which is also a seriously capable off-roader. ‘The ultimate adventure supercar,’ as Marc Philipp Gemballa calls it. The price for the conversion is €495,000, which is about the same as £420,000 – though that’s before VAT, so make it half a million before you start adding on the cost of your options. And your Porsche.

The bottom line is that this is not a cheap way of crossing the desert. But it certainly is a very special way of doing it, and one whose production run is already well on the way to being sold out.

So maybe you’d better go back to trying to track down a Porsche 959 after all. If you find one, it might make the Marsien look cheap at the price. And, for all the Dakar heritage in the world, we know which one we’d choose for a hardcore thrash in the sands of the Sahara.

16/12/2021 00:46

NEW 4X4S

US import specialist Clive Sutton

470bhp, 6.4-litre V8-engined Rubicon 392 • Strengthened chassis and upgraded Dana

J

eep isn’t bringing the ultimate Wrangler to Britain.

But you can still get one here – thanks to London-based performance and luxury car specialist Clive Sutton.

The company, which also lists the new Ford Bronco in its inventory of vehicles imported from the USA, recently opened the order book on the Wrangler Rubicon 392. Announced late last year, this is the ultimate version of the Wrangler, powered as it is by a 6.4-litre V8 engine.

This delivers 470bhp – and 470lbf.ft, too. Almost 75% of the latter is available from just above idle speed, allowing the vehicle to crawl

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over exceptionally steep and uneven terrain without the need for revs.

Once back on tarmac, meanwhile, you can put your foot down and it’ll launch itself from 0-60mph in an eye-watering 4.5 seconds.

The big V8 is mated to Jeep’s familiar eight-speed automatic gearbox, however behind this is a full-time transfer case. Being a Rubicon, it runs Dana 44s as standard – but these are shod with 33” tyres on 17” beadlock-ready rims, with a 2” suspension lift featuring Fox shocks giving them room to breathe.

The result, even as the vehicle leaves the showroom, is approach, departure and breakover angles of

4x4 16/12/2021 00:41

NEW 4X4S

brings ultimate Wrangler to UK

40 axles • Not available through official importer • Orders open now, from £105,000 OTR

44.5, 37.5 and 22.6 degrees respectively. In addition, a smart air intake system allows a wading depth of 825mm.

Combine these numbers with the extra-deep low-range gearing, a disconnecting front sway bar and front and rear lockers that help make the Rubicon what it is, and you have a vehicle whose off-road ability is even more formidable than ever. The transmission has been revised to allow enhanced engine braking, and there’s also now a Selec-Speed Control function which can be adjusted through a range from 1-5mph, giving the vehicle a form of electronic hand throttle for off-road use.

To make it ready for this much power and torque, the Wrangler’s chassis rails have been strengthened specifically for use on 392 models. The front upper control arms and steering knuckles are upgraded, too, and heavy-duty brakes are fitted as standard.

It’s safe to say that if you buy one of these Wranglers, you’ll get a turnkey off-road vehicle that redefines the term ‘world class.’ But Clive Sutton is based in London for a reason, and you’ll also get a street truck that puts others to shame.

In particular, a 6.4-litre V8 has the potential to be a little anti-social when you’re using it off-road. But you want to be able to enjoy the sound it makes when the time is right too, don’t you? To this end,

4x4 Scene New 4x4s Jan 22.indd 15

when you floor the throttle a set of valves opens in the quadexit exhaust to let it sing out the way a V8 should.

You can also make it do this by pressing a button on the dash, which you have to say is a better way of attracting your mates’ attention than blaring away at them with your horn.

Another reason why the Rubicon 392 will appeal to typical Clive Sutton customers is that it comes from the factory dressed up with no less than 11 different options and option packs. These include leather trim and infotainment packages, a

body-coloured hard-top and wheelarches, heavy-duty electrical switches, LED lights, steel bumpers, cold weather prep and all the safety kit it’s possible to fit on a Wrangler.

In America, Rubicon 392 customers are able to enhance the vehicle’s prodigious abilities still further with a range of Mopar options created specifically for this model. These include winches, LED off-road lights, tube doors, off-road bumpers, rock rails, beadlock rims for bigger tyres and uprated Dana 44 Advantek axles with diff ratios of up to 5.38:1.

So buying from stock may not be the way you want to approach this purchase – which, of course, is unlikely to be a problem for a company like Clive Sutton which thrives on tailoring vehicles to its clients’ individual requirements.

As it is, the Rubicon 392 is priced from £105,000 on the road. That is

of course a lot of money to pay for a Wrangler – but when you look at the differentials between comparable models in the UK and America, it’s only about £14,500 more than you’d expect it to cost if Jeep were to bring it in as an official import.

That’s with all import taxes and VAT taken care of, too, as well as homologation and registration costs. The steering wheel is still on the wrong side, of course, and a 24-month / 30,000-mile warranty doesn’t necessarily sound like the guarantee of ‘total customer reassurance’ Clive Sutton says it will. But if you’ve got this much to spend on a 4x4, we really can’t think of many better ways to spend it.

JANUARY 2022 | 15

16/12/2021 00:41

NEW 4X4S

Polaris brings all-electric propulsion to Utility ATV sector with Ranger XP Kinetic POLARIS HAS UNVEILED the Ranger XP Kinetic – a version of its all-terrain utility vehicle with a new all-electric powertrain. Seating three people, this offers ‘more power than ever to pull more, haul more and get more done.’

Set to go on sale this summer, the XP Kinetic has a 110bhp, 140lbf.ft electric motor and a choice of 14.9 and 29.8 kW battery packs. It can tow up to 1134kg and carry up to 567kg, while in what Polaris considers typical use the two models will return estimated ranges of 45 and 80 miles.

Off-road, 254mm of suspension travel allows it to keep its 740mm, 8-ply tyres on the ground even when things get seriously rough, and 355mm of clearance and under the axles means it won’t easily get hung up in ruts. As Polaris puts it, ‘XP Kinetic smooths out the bumps so customers can ride comfortably in challenging terrain – no matter where the job takes them.’

To protect it still further, it has a full-coverage front bumper and full-body skid plate underneath.

As with the conventionally powered vehicles in the Ranger line-up, the XP Kinetic has high and low gears to allow a refined level of control at crawling speeds. In addition, it has three drive modes – Eco+ for optimum torque, topend speed and maximum range; Standard, for everyday driving and moderate-sized jobs; and Sport, for optimum throttle response during spirited driving and in the most demanding conditions.

With fewer moving parts than a petrol or diesel powertrain, Polaris also points out that the XP Kinetic can offer advantages in terms of maintenance and reduced down-time. ‘The electric powertrain does not require oil changes, filter replacements, spark plugs or clutch maintenance,’ it says, adding that scheduled servicing costs are expected to be in the ragion of 70% less compared to the traditional alternative.

Warranties vary by market, but ex-works the vehicle comes with a 12-month factory guarantee along with three and five years’ cover respectively on the electric powertrain and battery.

For charging, it’s nothing more complicated than a simple case of plugging the Ranger in to the mains. Using a standard 240v mains outlet, both models can be taken to 100% from completely flat in just five hours – and this can be boosted by an additional 50% by specifying an on-board charging system from Polaris’ extensive range of options.

The 14.9kWh version of the Ranger XP Kinetic will be known as the Premium, while the 29.8kW model will be called the Ultimate. As well doubling up on charging capacity, this latter model also adds a 7” infotainment screen running Polaris’ Ride Command system which, on this vehicle, will include battery monitoring software. The system also has GPS functionality, allowing users to create a waypoint at their own charging location so they can monitor how far away they are from it during their day’s work.

Further equipment will be available from the already lengthy options list offered on Polaris’ existing Ranger models. This includes Pro Shield foul weather gear and electric heaters for the cab, heavy-duty winches and storage lockers to keep your tools secure. ‘With a whole portfolio of off-road accessories,’ says Polaris, ‘consumers can build the ultimate machine for work, play or anything in between.’

Prices for the Ranger XP Kinetic are yet to be announced for the UK. However in America, it costs about 30% more than the equivalent XP 1000 – suggesting that over here, it’s likely to start at around £21,500 plus VAT.

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WINTER. BRING IT ON.

£299 WINTER SERVICE OFFER AND SAFETY CHECK* FOR 3+ LAND ROVERS, INCLUDING £750 MOT WARRANTY COVER.** With the winter weather beginning to set in, now’s the time to make sure your Land Rover is fully prepared for the colder months with our Interim Service and Winter Safety Check, for Land Rovers between 3 and 10 years old.*

WHAT’S INCLUDED: £299 Interim Service* £750 MOT Warranty Cover** Full Winter Safety Check: – Battery check – Washer fluid top-up – Wash & vac – Software update if required***

For just £299 including VAT, our Land Rover trained technicians will check on the condition of key components from wiper blades to brakes.* What’s more, when it’s time for your next MOT we’ll cover the cost of any work your Land Rover needs, up to £750.** Search Land Rover Winter Service offer. *Standard Interim Service includes: oil and oil filter change, pollen filter replacement, brake fluid change, air filter replacement (if required, dependant on model) and updated Online Service History. **Subject to terms and conditions. For full terms please visit https://www.landrover.co.uk/ownership/servicing/index.html ***Land Rover mandated updates only, excludes satellite navigation mapping.

Always check route, surface, base and exit before entering frozen terrain. Offer available until the end of January 2022. Only applicable at participating authorised Land Rover Retailers.

MOTORSPORT

Marfell wins at Walters to confirm victory in 2021 British Cross Country Championship Words and Pictures: Gary Simpson / Songasport

A

drian Marfell and Paul Bartleman clinched the Britpart British Cross Country Championship title by winning the final event of the 2021 season at Walters Arena in South Wales.

With two wins and a third place already under their belt, Marfell

and Bartleman very much had the whip hand going into the weekend’s racing. But with each competitor’s worst result of the season being dropped from the final reckoning, Richard and Mason Kershaw were still in with a shout of the title despite their retirement from the previous round at Kielder.

Marfell and Kershaw recorded exactly the same times on the first run, but after that Marfell started to eke out an advantage over his rival.

The early pace, however, was set by 2019 champion Justin Birchall who opened proceedings by setting the fastest lap of the whole event in his Lofthouse M3.

Birchall’s hopes of a final round victory expired on his fourth run, however, when a broken wheel and damaged suspension forced him into retirement. That left the door open for Marfell to take the lead – though with just 22 seconds between him and Kershaw at the overnight break, there was still everything to play for.

Day two started with a very slippery course. Marfell was first to master the conditions, extending his lead to well over a minute – but then the defining moment in the event came when Kershaw’s car left the road, resulting in a stage maximum. After that, Marfell just needed to keep it tidy – which he did, winning the event by more than three minutes.

With first Birchall and then Kershaw falling our of contention, second and third places were fought over by the Lofthouses of Colin Gould and Rob Bool. As the event neared its conclusion, Gould managed to wrest second away from his rival, who had been slowed by

Adrian Marfell and Paul Bartleman (main piucture) held firm as first Justin Birchall then Richard Kershaw fell out of contention. Victory at Walters saw the team clinch the 2021 BXCC title Rob Bool (left) missed out on second after a ding-dong battle with Colin Gould – who ended up triumphing by a mere seven seconds

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MOTORSPORT

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brake problems. However with some running repairs holding firm, Bool roared back on the very last run – only to fall seven seconds short.

‘It was an awesome event and a hell of a good course,’ said Bool.

‘It’s a shame we had the brake problem but fortunately Dan and Alec Lofthouse got them fixed and we were able to push hard again. We missed out on second, which is frustrating, but I am still well pleased with the result – it’s my best ever in the BXCC.’ Also happy with their performance at the end of the season were Excite Team GB, who maintained their 100% finishing record as

Jade Paveley and Hannah Davison continued to build their off-road racing experience. The team faced a smattering of issues including suspension trouble and screen wash that stopping working, but they made it home to clinch the Class 2 title.

‘We went to Walters hoping for another finish and we got just that.’ said Team Manager John Hardy.

‘The car has a 100% stage and finishing record and the team has bonded over the season. To pick up the class championship has put a smile on everyone’s face.’

Paul Rowlands finished fourth in his Polaris while Mark Jacques

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‘I thought “it’s the last race and it’s probably already wrecked, so let’s see how many laps we can do…” And 17 litres of oil later, we crossed the finishing line!’

4x4 2.5pp Scene BXCC Jan 22.indd 19

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MOTORSPORT Right: Jade Paveley of Team Excite GB finished every event of her maiden comp season to take the Class 2 title in her Pajero Below: Andy Degiulio had a new engine in his Milner R5 and was setting some strong times until he blew his rear diff

took fifth despite differential issues.

Martin James, meanwhile, ended his season on a positive note by taking his first class podium position of the year despite being slowed towards the end by a disintegrating engine mount.

Following an early retirement at Kielder in the previous round, Mike Wilson and Ian Letman got their best result of the season in their Polaris despite fracturing an anti-roll bar bracket. Having experimented with racing on no anti-roll bar at all, and aged about ten years in the process, they borrowed fellow competitor Nick Pritchard’s welding gear and looked on as master welder Sean Mathieson rebuilt the offending bracket. ‘That gave us our confidence back and we posted our quickest time of the weekend,’ said Wilson. ‘We also got our first trophy of the season!”

Mathieson himself was competing alongside his son Reece in their Freelander, the pairing getting

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a good finish on what was the car’s final event.

‘We finished all the runs for the first time with no tow of shame or any major mechanical faults or punctures,’ said Reece. ‘We found our rhythm quickly on the first day and improved our times while the course was still relatively smooth.

‘Coming over the flying finish on the last run was the best ending of 2021! I’m gutted it’s over but we look forward to bigger and better results next year in our new car.’

If there was an award for overcoming the odds, however, surely it would go to Dave and Antony Hooper – who still managed to finish despite a failed piston ring.

‘We were having a great battle with Mark Jacques,’ said Dave, ‘just pipping each other for a couple of seconds here and there which made for excellent racing. However, on the fifth lap we heard the exhaust note change and then we diagnosed a piston ring failure.

‘Initially I decided to call it a day but then on Sunday morning I thought well it’s the last race and it’s probably already wrecked, so let’s see how many laps we can do at a decent pace. And 17 litres of oil later we crossed the finishing line!’

That’s the kind of spirit that makes comp safari racing what it is. With crews always ready to help each other out and enjoy the racing rather than focusing too much on overcoming each other, there are few forms of motorsport with such a sporting ethic.

Nonetheless, everyone does set out to try and win. And so it’s only

right to give the last word to 2021 Britpart British Cross Country Champion Adrian Marfell.

‘It’s brilliant to win the championship,’ said the new title holder. ‘I had two weeks of sleepless nights since the last round and the pressure was building. The event was stressful and it was a case of just trying to get to the end with the team keeping us going. We were very relieved to make it to the finish.

‘Thank you to the organising team and all who have put in the work that makes the events run.

You have made a lot of competitors very happy.’

4x4 16/12/2021 00:50

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PRODUCTS

FK2 alloy from Sterling Automotive promises to bring rugged good looks to Jeep Wrangler

Anyway, the FK2 is available direct from the manufacturer at a reassuringly expensive price of £225 per wheel. Or you can order a set already shod with Davanti Terratouras, which Sterling Automotive describes as ‘the perfect all-terrain tyre for the Jeep Wrangler.’

Want to find out more? Head straight to sterling-automotive.co.uk and that’s pretty much exactly what will happen.

I

f you’ve got a current Jeep Wrangler and you’re after freshening up its image in the wheel department, Sterling Automotive has the very thing. Known as the FK2, this is an 8x17” alloy fitting the Wrangler JL three and five-door from 2018 on (and therefore also

the Gladiator JT from 2019 on, should you have the good fortune to be that guy).

The FK2 has an ET33 offset and comes in a range of polished/gloss black, gloss black and satin black finishes. ‘Its rugged looks and practical strength make the FK2

at home in any environment from off-road to the streets of any city,’ says Sterling Automotive. We doubt they’re including cities like Pripyat in that, though a tough truck like a Wrangler is indeed what you’d want to be driving if you were to fetch up there unannounced.

Turn down the volume in your Defender OLD-SCHOOL LAND ROVER DEFENDERS are fantastically good at many things. Unfortunately, one of them is giving you headaches. Whether it’s from crumbling crossmembers or seeping seals, the price of road tax or not being able to park for more than thirty seconds without someone nicking your bonnet, Defenders are amazingly capable at making you reach for the Nurofen.

Mainly, though, it’s the noise. A satisfying chunter from the engine and bump-bump from the wheels is all very well around town and positively welcome off-road, but on a long journey it can get pretty deafening. The good news is that you can do something about this.

Like going to Britpart, for example, and availing yourself of the Dynamat Xtreme Sound Deadening mats that sell so well though its dealer network. These are flexible and mouldable, meaning you can put them in all sorts of places in your Defender.

They’re made of an aluminium constraining layer and a sticky butyl layer inside which has really effective energy conservation properties. You can apply them under the bonnet, on the doors, under the wheelarches, on the roof, wherever. They’ll cut out buzzes and rattles and even claim to make your music sound better, depending on your taste in music in the first place.

The kits cover virtually any Defender or you can buy a sheet of it to cut to fit. Head for www. britpart.com and at least that will be one headache taken care of…

22 | JANUARY 2022

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PRODUCTS

ITG Air Filters expands Profilter range with fitment for current-shape Land Rover Defender ITG HAS INTRODUCED a new fitment to its Profilter range – a replacement air filter for the current Land Rover Defender. Developed through the Coventry outfit’s involvement at the top levels of motorsport, this measures 345.5mm x 164mm and can be installed in any version of the 90 or 110 – irrespective of its engine.

The filter is made from a graded three-ply sandwich of reticulated polyester foam. A coarse outer layer stops larger contaminants while also straightening the airflow for maximum intake efficiency; next, a medium-grade layer traps the majority of harmful airborne dirt; and finally, a fine inner layer polishes off the tiniest particles without impeding airflow to the intake tract.

Supported by a stainless steel wire mesh to keep it securely in place, the foam sandwich is adhesive-bonded to help prevent any ingress from whatever rogue water, fumes, oils and fuels that come its way.

ITG sees this as being a step up on cotton gauze or paper filter elements, adding that it cleans the air going into the engine as efficiently as possible while also allowing maximum airflow without any drop-off in pressure.

The Profilter can be used on any L663 Defender, whether petrol, diesel or hybrid powered, including all 2.0 four-pot and 3.0 six-pot engines and also the 5.0-litre V8.

Fully serviceable, with a simple cleaning and re-oiling process all that’s required between repeated cycles of use, the Profilter is priced at an RRP of £49.75 including VAT. You can find out more about both this and ITG’s other filter options for a range of 4x4s at www.itgairfilters.com.

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4x4 16/12/2021 01:04

PRODUCTS

BESPOKE SHOCKS FROM BILSTEIN TO SUIT EVERY NEED DAMPING NEED IF YOU’RE AT ALL INTERESTED in cars and you haven’t heard of Bilstein, you soon will. Actually, you just did. Anyway, the company makes shock absorbers (actually let’s get it right and call them dampers) and it has a wide range of models and fitments covering just about anything you need for whatever 4x4 you drive.

Just about. There are those of us whose needs are so specialised that wherever you look, off-the-shelf won’t cut it. And this is where Bilstein’s Leicestershire-based technical division can come to your rescue – because it’s home to the company’s bespoke damper department. And whatever you drive, whatever kind of off-roading you do in it, these guys can make exactly the dampers you’re after.

This is particularly relevant if you run a competition car, of course.

If you’ve found that nothing standard will so, or you have a vision of something better than what’s on your off-road racer or challenge truck right now, then why not have the dampers made exactly to your plan and specification? If the answer is ‘because it’ll cost,’ take a long hard look in the mirror and try to remember what the most important technical part of any off-roader really is.

Whatever you need, whether it’s an odd-sized damper, brake line guides or needs a threaded body top mount, all this can be accommodated. If it’s physically possible to make, then Bilstein can make it – and, they’ll not be slow to tell you, they’ll do it to an OEM standard. Check them out at www.bilstein.de.

4x4 Scene Products Jan 22.indd 25

JANUARY 2022 | 25

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PRODUCTS

BOOK REVIEW: CAMEL TROPHY, THE DEFINITIVE HISTORY, BY NICK DIMBLEBY

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

20012015 JEEPJEEP WRANGLER JK 2005 Nissan CHEROKEE XJ 2.8CRD 2015 JEEP Navara D22 WRANGLER JK 2.8CRD

2007 DODGE 2018 JEEP NITRO 2.8CRD 2007 Jeep RENEGADE 2007 DODGE Wrangler JK NITRO 2.8CRD

2014 RANGE 2016 2006 JEEP 2011 ISUZU ISUZU ROVER SPORT 4.4 D-MAX 2.5 DIESEL WRANGLER TJ RODEO 2005 Range Rover 2008 Toyota V8 DIESEL 2016 ISUZU 2014 RANGE Vogue Hilux 2.5 DIESEL ROVER SPORT 4.4 D-MAX V8 DIESEL

2016 RANGE 2008 NISSAN ROVER EVOQUE 2002 Jeep PATHFINDER 2.0 TD4 Grand 2016 RANGE Cherokee WJ ROVER EVOQUE 2.0 TD4

2014 2010 JEEP CHEROKEE MK5 MITSUBISHI L200 2009 Jeep Grand KL 2.0 MULTIJET 2014 JEEP CherokeeMK5 WK CHEROKEE KL 2.0 MULTIJET

JEEP 2007 LAND HONDA 20152010 RANGE 2012ROVER 2008 2013 TOYOTA CHEROKEE MK4 DISCOVERY 3 2.7 CRV 2.2 CDTI ROVER EVOQUE MITSUBISHI ASX HILUX 1998 Jeep 2008 Range 2015 Isuzu KK 2.8 CRD 2007 TDV6 2010 JEEP LAND ROVER 2008 HONDA Cherokee XJ Rover Sport D-Max CHEROKEE MK4 DISCOVERY 3 2.7 CRV 2.2 CDTI KK 2.8 CRD

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2006 NISSAN 2006 JEEP 2006 JEEP GRAND 2015 LAND 2004 JEEP CHEROKEE WK PATHFINDER 2.5 GRAND GRAND 5.7 V8 HEMI ROVER DCI 2018 Discovery 2015 Range 2006 NISSAN 2014 Jeep 2006 JEEP GRAND DISCOVERY CHEROKEE WK CHEROKEE WJ PATHFINDER 2.5 WK Evoque Sport CHEROKEE Rover Cherokee KL Charlton Recycled Auto Parts SPORT DCI 5.7 V8 HEMI Vehicle Recycling Centre, Gravel Pit Hill, Thriplow, Cambridge, SG8 7HZParts Charlton Recycled Auto Tel 01223 832656 Vehicle Recycling Centre, Gravel Pit Hill, Thriplow, Email parts@charltonautoparts.co.uk Cambridge, SG8 7HZ PLEASE VISIT WWW.CHARLTONAUTOPARTS.CO.UK Tel 01223 832656 Email parts@charltonautoparts.co.uk PLEASE VISIT WWW.CHARLTONAUTOPARTS.CO.UK

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DURING THE 1980S AND 1990S, the Camel Trophy was widely regarded as the ultimate off-road adventure. Having first been held aboard a fleet of Jeep CJ5s built under licence by Ford, it came to be associated with Land Rover – which over the course of almost two decades used it to promote the Defender, Range Rover, Discovery and, finally, the Freelander.

The Trophy was originally conceived as a way of bringing Camel’s cigarette adverts to life. For many years, ‘Camel Guy’ was a macho but clean-cut outdoorsman who would be pictured smoking and driving a Jeep in a wild landscape, and parent company RJ Reynolds Tobacco saw participants as a real-life embodiment of his image.

A range of adventure wear was eventually created as a way of deflecting attention from the Trophy’s connection with tobacco. But young, attractive, clean-cut people driving 4x4s in wild landscapes always remained a key part of its image – the result being that it was one of the most photogenic events in the history of motoring.

Some of those pictures are at the heart of Camel Trophy: The Definitive History, by renowned author and photographer Nick Dimbleby. Already a well known name while still at university thanks to his monthly contributions to Land Rover Owner magazine, he was an official photographer on the Trophy during its last four years, from 1996-2000, before becoming one of Land Rover’s regular go-to snappers for brochures and vehicle launches.

Published by Porter Press International, this mighty 336-page hardback publication brooks no argument in its claim to be definitive.

Lavishly illustrated and printed on high-quality paper (it weighs almost 2.5kg), you could ‘read’ it from cover to cover without taking in any words at all. But get into the text and it will quickly become apparent that this is no mere picture book – the breadth and depth of the author’s knowledge and research is nothing short of formidable.

In addition to the year-by-year story of each edition of the Trophy, separate chapters go into detail about the people, the vehicles and even the trophies handed out to the winners.

Intriguingly, the author also looks in great depth at the selections and infrastructure behind the scenes, as well as the pre-scouting required

4x4 16/12/2021 01:04

PRODUCTS to create suitable routes for and event which, in its heyday, was a massive international undertaking.

The Camel Trophy was regarded with scepticism in some quarters, as any event rooted in marketing, far less marketing cigarettes, inevitably will. Whatever your view, however, the off-roading was every bit as punishing on people and vehicles alike as the iconic pictures, many of which you’ll find in this book, suggest – and the sheer effort that went into making it happen yields no end of eye-opening stories.

Camel Trophy: The Definitive History is priced at £60, with a limited-run Collector’s Edition at £120 and a Unique Edition at a price to be confirmed. An extraordinary price, perhaps, but this is an extraordinary book; one which means it’s unlikely that anyone else will try to tell the story of the Camel Trophy again.

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LAZER LAMPS HAS INTRODUCED an updated version of the existing Stay Bar Kit for its ST/Triple-R and Linear LED lighting products. This remains as before but now comes with a PTFE black powder coated finish, allowing it to promise full protection against rust and corrosion. Lazer Lamps says the coating is designed to resist cracking or breaking when the parts are bent to shape to suit each installation and mounting point. You can find out more by visiting www.lazerlamps.com.

4x4 Scene Products Jan 22.indd 27

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FIRST DRIVE

VOLVO RECHARGE TWIN PRO Volvo’s massively popular medium-sized family SUV becomes all-electric – and the launch edition in the UK makes a huge entrance thanks to a pheonomenally fast twin-motor powertrain

ELECTRIFICATION IS A BIG DEAL for all car makers, and Volvo has embraced it with great enthusiasm over the last few years. The Swedish outfit has progressed along the route from ICE to fully electric more quickly than most – with the XC40 Recharge being one of its first examples of the latter.

Based on the existing conventionally engined XC40, this is coming to the market in a variety of forms starting at £48,300. That gets you a single-motor vehicle with two-wheel drive and 231bhp; what we drove was an early example of the Recharge Twin, whose 408bhp (oh yes) comes from two motors and goes through all four wheels.

At the time of writing, the first batch of these vehicles had sold out and only the 4x2 was available. However once supply is fully established, you’ll have the choice. The Twin comes at a premium of £4650, which doesn’t sound bad to us; in range-topping Twin Pro form, it’ll cost you £56,700 on the road or £619 per month through a Care by Volvo subscription.

If you like street sleepers, you’ll love the Recharge Twin. The XC40 has become a common sight on the school run, and quite right too as it’s an excellent SUV. No-one’s going to tell it apart in electric form – but when

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you stand on the loud pedal, 487lbf.ft comes in instantaneously and 4.9 seconds later, you’re doing 62mph.

‘Loud pedal.’ Ha ha, hark at us. It all happens with the wonderful serenity of an EV; there’s some road noise, even at town speeds, but nothing mechanical at all and almost no buffeting from the wind.

If anything, acceleration from a rolling start is even more eye-opening. Electric vehicles do their best work at the lower end of the speed spectrum and sure enough its top speed is only 112mph.

But the figure you really care about is its range, which in this form is a pleasingly usable 256 miles.

With so much performance at real-world speeds, you need the handling to match and the XC40 comes up trumps. It steers very progressively and predictably, with a relaxed level of precision that keeps up with you rather that trying to goad you the way a sports car would. Body control is excellent in corners, and of course there’s plenty of grip.

With a nice firmness to the suspension, it’s very positive on B-roads and indeed around town. However it does become unsettled on bumpy surfaces. You feel the front corners being lifted and your body being moved from side to side; it’s not unruly or harsh, but there are more composed ways to travel. At higher speeds, though, it deals with pattery and corrugated surfaces very well indeed.

Inside, if you’re new to the XC40 you’ll immediately recognise it as a premium SUV – albeit perhaps not one you’d expect to cost knocking on for sixty grand. Build quality is overwhelming, with a hewn-from-rock feeling to the cabin that’s backed up by a total absence of creaks from any part of the dash or its fixtures, but the materials don’t look or feel like anything special. Similarly, the facia’s layout is nice and tidy, with a large tablet-style media screen at its centre, but overall the combination of tones and textures is mainly dark. However classy it feels, and it does, it also feels like it could do with being funkier.

Dark as they may be, though, the seats are clad in a nice supple leather and provide plenty of support. The driving position is good, too, giving you an excellent view ahead, though with our driver’s seat set for a six-footer there was only room in the back for children. Rear headroom wasn’t great in the vehicle we drove, either, thanks in part to the panoramic sunroof that’s standard on this model.

The rear seats do fold completely flat, though, to create a big, long cargo compartment which also has a huge hidden bin below it. So full marks in that department, even if there are better mid-size SUVs in terms of overall practicality.

Nonetheless, the XC40 is a fantastic family vehicle. And in this form, it’s a fantastic family vehicle with staggering performance – not to mention the zero-emission eco-values every family should be striving for.

We’d think twice about spending £56,700 on one – but the speed with which Britain’s first batch sold out should tell you all you need to know.

4x4 16/12/2021 00:42

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

FIRST DRIVE

RENAULT ARKANA E-TECH Renault raids the Alliance tech bank to create another in a long line of segment-defying vehicles.

Will this coupe-SUV fare better than valiant disasters of old like the Vel Satis and Aventime?

RENAULT’S PARTNERSHIP WITH NISSAN has yielded some interesting and at times very fine SUVs down the years.

Yet while the Japanese company’s Qashqai and X-Trail have long since been reference vehicles in their respective parts of the market, the French side of the alliance has often seemed to be on the periphery.

This was never more evident than with the original Koleos, which ticked every box then invented some new boxes and ticked them too. You’d have thought that beating the X-Trail at its own game would be a winning formula, but sales were dire and it was withdrawn way before time.

Perhaps the new Arkana will fare better, then. This time, Renault is going with a styling-led approach by employing a coupe-SUV body whose jaunty roofline evokes thrilling B-road blasts as much as family missions to the beach.

It’s a hybrid, too. They’re making a big deal of that, so you might expect it to be at the cutting edge in this respect, but with no plug-in option among the two engines in the range not many people are going to spec one as a company car.

That said, prices are a lot lower that for any plug-in SUV we can think of. Tested here is the S-Edition E-Tech 145, a mid-range model with a price tag of £29,190 (ours also had £1200’s worth of options including metallic paint and a black roof).

The E-Tech engine is a full hybrid job with an EV button to engage full electric drive and a B-mode for enhanced regenerative braking. The latter, in theory at least, allows one-pedal driving, though we found that we still needed to use the brakes to bring it to a complete halt at junctions. You get 142bhp and a 10.8 second 0-62 time, returning 58.9mpg and 109g/km for your trouble.

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As this suggests, it doesn’t have the thrilling performance to go with its coupé image. But it’s willing enough under acceleration, albeit not very refined – the engine is quite vocal when it cuts in, which it does soon enough whether or not you’re trying to keep it electric.

There’s a bit of wind noise to contend with, too, as well as a degree of road noise which doesn’t calm down as your speed builds. Ride quality is the opposite, though – it’s rather bumpy around town, but once you’re on the open road it deals well with pattery corrugations.

It feels happiest here in general, with positive, accurate steering and steady body control. You can push it through corners and it won’t roll around, and there’s plenty of natural grip to let you enjoy what is a pretty good SUV to handle.

It’s nice enough to sit in, too, with a funky, modern appeal to a dash that’s dominated by a big, upright tablet display. Truth to tell, there’s a lot of trim material around it that doesn’t feel particularly nice to touch, but the overall effect is good enough and with the screen looking after plenty of functions, the image isn’t ruined by random buttons scattered all over the place.

The seats are comfortable, too, with decent room all round and a good view of the road ahead. That’s in the front, at least; the rears are useless for tall adults, thanks to their leg and headroom alike being enough only for kids.

That is of course the price you pay for a sloping rear roof and a tailgate the length if a ski slope, though the latter does at least allow a big loading hatch for your luggage. The seats fold reasonably close to flat if required, leaving a long enough floor for trips to Ikea and so on – though in this case, the low roofline means the shape of the rear aperture might not be on your side.

Overall, the Arkana is an interesting looker with a kit list that definitely qualifies it as a lot of car for your money. Whether a coupé-shaped alternative to things like the Nissan Qashqai is what the world really needs, or whether instead this is going to be another glorious failure to go alongside the Vel Satis and Avantime as a future footnote in the Renault story, is not a comfortable question to contemplate. But it is for sure refreshing to see a car maker willing to try something like this.

You might, we suspect, struggle to get beyond how much better that Qashqai would be for not much more money. But your kids will love it.

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A LIFE AT THE MUDDY END Gumtree 4x4 has become one of Britain’s best-loved independent specialists. That may Words: Tom Alderney Pictures: Supplied by John Bowden

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ff-road vehicles are incredibly good at surviving.

They might turn into old stinkers, and modern soft-roaders obviously don’t count, but traditional 4x4s are, as a group, probably the most long-lived vehicles on the road.

And in Britain, at least, there’s a group within a group. You don’t see many old Vauxhall Fronteras or Isuzu Troopers left these days, nor indeed Nissan Terranos or even old-school Toyota Landcruisers. But it’s very, very rare to see an old Land Rover being scrapped or broken for parts.

A large part of this is down to the many thousands of small, independent garages whose love for older Landies is matched only by the skill and ingenuity of the people who work there.

Land Rover itself likes to boast about the massive proportion of the vehicles it has made since back in 1948 that are still on the road today – but without the independents, that figure would be much, much less impressive.

Imagine taking a Series IIA to a main dealer for a chassis swap. You’d get through a tremendous amount of cappuccinos from those fancy machines they have while waiting… and you’d need them to calm your nerves every time you think about the size of the bill coming your way.

Fact is, you wouldn’t really expect a main dealer to know where to start on a job like that. If you’ve got a Series truck, or an early 90 or 110, or a Range Rover Classic, you either use an independent or you do all your own work. And if you do your own work, you get the parts from an independent.

In fact, if you own any kind of 90 or 110 at all, or a Discovery 3 or 4, or any kind of Range Rover from before the current model, or indeed literally anything out of warranty (and in some cases not even that old), you’re increasingly likely to get it looked after outside of the franchised network.

Put it another way. We’ve spoken with a great many Land Rover owners down the years who’ve mentioned the name of their spanner man and said ‘I wouldn’t let anybody else touch it.’ And in every single case, bar none, that spanner man has been an independent.

And in a disproportionate number of cases, that independent has been Gumtree 4x4. For a huge number of Land Rover owners in the south-east of the country, the company has become like one of the family.

That’s because, to a great extent, Gumtree very much is one of the family. Every independent is there to make a living, but some of them come across as being solely business-focused.

Nothing wrong with that, but at Gumtree they’re proper Land Rover people.

As usual when this happens, it starts from the top. The company was founded by John Bowden, a farmer’s son who learnt to drive round the fields in a Series 1 86” and pretty much never looked back. In 1970, while still at school, he joined the fledgling All Wheel Drive Club as member number 120. When he was 16, he bought a Willys Jeep for £200, then as a student he spent two weeks scaring himself behind the wheel of an Austin Champ.

Any tale of the AWDC from back then is sure to mention names who have become the stuff of legend, and they don’t come any more legendary than Brian Bashall, the father of the

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be because its founder was in there at the very beginning of the off-road scene

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‘It was all my parents’ fault, really!’ says John, though we don’t think he bears a grudge. You wouldn’t either if you had a Willys Jeep to your name at the age of 16, to be fair. As time went on, he was to pick up the ‘cheapest Jeep ever – bought for £5 out of a hedge with no engine or gearbox.’ We don’t think the Chevrolet Quad gun tractor seen with it was included in the price, but either way the phrase ‘what would that be worth now?’ is one that crops up regularly when he’s talking about the 4x4s he’s owned during his life

More of the same… Back in the late 1970s, when John bought his first Range Rover, the idea of using an early two-door for RTV trials wasn’t Level 10 Insanity stuff. Seen at an event at Bovington in its original Mercury Powerboats livery (above), it obviously had a taste for recovery – that rope is attached to three other vehicles and taking the strain of hauling the whole lot of them. Later on, with Gumtree Enterprises up and running, the Rangey was given a new coat of paint and put to work doing a slightly gentler form of towing. But it wasn’t the only workhorse John used in this phase of his life. The main picture opposite shows his old Series III 109” 1-ton breakdown truck pulling a classic Bentley which, even back in 1982, was already worth £168,000. You wouldn’t trust just anyone with a job like that…

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Dunsfold dynasty. John went trialling with the great man and in 1971 paid him £675 for an 88” Series IIA. ‘I thrashed it unmercifully,’ he recalls, ‘changing the engine to a 3.0-litre Rover six-cylinder then to a diesel. Then it was stolen halfway through a much-needed rebuild. I bought a share in a CJ5 Jeep 4.2-litre six-pot and used it with Paul Dollin for comp safaris in the UK and the Championnat Tout Terrain in France. We won the standard class in the Rallye Infernal, beating Brian Hartley.’

See, we told you there were going to be some legendary names in this tale.

The big names are going to keep coming now, too. ‘We managed to finish the notoriously wet 1977 Southern Hillrally before selling the Jeep to Robbo Aliperti. Paul and I also raced a Baja Bug Beetle and the original Custom Car Chenowth buggy after the Jeep, with lots of laughs and almost zero success.

‘I got married and became a bit more sensible in 1979 (though we did leave the reception in a Volvo Sugga belonging to the late, great Mario Aliperti). Then the family started to arrive in 1981.

And here’s where the story morphs seamlessly from being that of John Bowden, off-roader, into that of John Bowden, doyen of one of the bestloved and longest-running Land Rover specialists anywhere in the world.

By now, John was working as a truck salesman.

But, with the sort of timing that makes you cringe, in 1981 he was made redundant – all of one month before the family’s first baby was due.

Hence the name of the company. ‘We were literally up a gumtree,’ he says. ‘So I started Gumtree Enterprises, doing car recovery and transport using a J-plate Range Rover and trailer, then a 109” Series III 1-ton Land Rover. Imagine what that pair would be worth now!

‘I also bought and sold Land Rovers in the spare hours. Gradually, people came to know that I had a few spares as well as Series Is, IIs and IIIs for sale, and that side of the business grew as the enthusiast wave developed.’

It wasn’t just Land Rover enthusiasts that were beating a path to Gumtree’s door, however. Local farmers and foresters came to know the company as one they could trust – and even now, four decades later, they still do.

The workshop side of the business was established in 1986 – literally, because John built the workshop itself in the garden of his Plumpton

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‘I got married and became a bit more sensible in 1979 – though we did leave the reception in a Volvo Sugga belonging to the late, great Mario Aliperti’ home (after the inevitable planning battle).

A year later, he took on his first staff.

Now, the relationship between employer and employee can take many forms. But listen to John’s words and you can just imagine what the vibe in the Gumtree workshop must have been like back then: ‘Nick Fraser and then Martin Stapleton joined, then Louis Evans and Paul ‘Goose’ Watts – who all trialled and raced vehicles built in that workshop. Nick won the AWDC Class 2 trials championship and Martin the Standard Production class in comp safaris, as well as numerous trophies between them all and lots of fun.’

In between all the fun and games, the team also kept on attending to the needs of Gumtree’s ever-growing customer base. But John himself wasn’t immune to the lure of off-roading either.

‘I trialled odd vehicles as and when they were

available, but I started going to Kenya more and more. After service crewing for my cousin there, who raced a Range Rover in the Safari Rally in 1997, I heard about the first UK Rhino Charge.

‘I managed to win that later the same year in a 4.0-litre Land Rover 90 V8 hybrid which we put together from bits and pieces we had in the yard at the time. This great vehicle went on to win and also come third in the UK Rhino Charge in subsequent years.’ The UK Rhino Charge, conceived as a spin-off from the Kenyan original which has raised vast sums of money for wildlife conservancy projects in the country, brought John back into contact with Brian Hartley, the founding father of winch challenges, whose Club Off-Road stepped up to organise the event.

‘Our first win entitled the team to borrow a Series IIA in Kenya and enter the original Rhino Charge there in 1998,’ continues John. ‘We then

persuaded British Airways World Cargo to fly our 90 out to Kenya as a donation in 2000 and it has lived there ever since, competing in 17 Rhino Charges and helping the team raise more than £155,000 for Rhino Ark.’ By now, Gumtree had been operating out of the workshop John built in his garden for almost 15 years, and it’s fair to say that space was at a premium. But a new chapter in the company’s history was about to open, when a set of workshops and associated MOT testing centre became available in Ditchling Common. John saw this as a perfect opportunity not just to expand but to bring the company’s identity up to date – and so Gumtree Enterprises became Gumtree 4x4. The side of the business dealing in secondhand parts remained in Plumpton for another ten years, but then in 2011 the whole operation was consolidated on the one site at Ditchling.

With its 6-volt battery, John found that it was best to hand-crank the old Willys if he wanted it to start. His Baja Bug, meanwhile, was raced with ‘lots of laughs and almost zero success’ – as would appear to be the case here at an event at Peter’s Pit in July 1979

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Above left: It’s often said that the Series I was the prettiest vehicle Land Rover ever made, however not normally by people looking at this one. Converted into a breakdown truck and fitted with a V8 engine, the 109” Hard-Top was definitely not what you’d do with a classic Landy these days Above right: This 88 is a lot more notable than it looks. It was built sometime around 1988, using the first coil-sprung chassis from Steve Walker – the forerunner of Richards Chassis By now, the company had become very well set up to turn over a constant day-to-day stream of servicing and repair work for the farm and estate workers, enthusiasts and general Land Rover owners of Sussex and beyond. But there was always more to Gumtree than that – and throughout even this more modern part of the tale, it’s been about more than just the bread and butter work.

‘We’ve had one workshop dealing with rebuilds, restorations and major modifications,’ John explains, ‘and the other doing day-to-day servicing, MOT repairs and maintenance.’ The result has been established links with parts suppliers like Britpart and Allmakes as well

as specialists such as Richards Chassis and Ashcroft Transmissions.

Talking of Richards Chassis, Gumtree was already a customer way back in the days before it was even called Richards Chassis. ‘We built the first 88” coiler on a new prototype chassis from Steve Walker (later Richards Chassis) in about 1988,’ John recalls. ‘We also had the first “bikini” tops for Series Landies made for our customers

by All Wheel Trim after a trip to the USA, and we were agents for Motor and Diesel doing highpowered diesel conversions before the Tdi retrofit became popular.’

It all adds up to an outfit whose heritage has a breadth and depth that makes it worthy of the

greatest respect. And sure enough, you only ever hear good things about both Gumtree 4x4 and John himself. If it was made from bricks and mortar, this is one of those companies which (like Land Rover itself) would be a listed building.

And as he looks ahead, this is something John Bowden recognises. ‘With me being past retirement age, the business is now more and more run by its established team of trusted staff.

But the time has come to look to the future.’

What this means is that Gumtree 4x4 Ltd is on the market. But John is selling it as he grew it – with great care and attention, as a strong, ongoing business with a top-quality team of employees and an enormous reserve of goodwill, not to say

Above left: A good many rare and special vehicles have passed through the Gumtree yard since the company was founded. They don’t come much rarer than the Sandringham Six, a Stage 1 V8 converted to six-wheel drive by Hotspur Motors in such tiny numbers that ‘the’ is very nearly a more accurate word to use than ‘a’ Above right: Yet more curiosities from down the years. The Stage 1 V8 was fitted with a Daihatsu 2.8-litre turbo-diesel engine; the Series IIB next to it, meanwhile, had a dropside body on the back and a Rover V8 up front. ‘It made an excellent tow truck,’ says John. ‘But it ate gearboxes’ Right: Back in the days before every engine swap seemed to involve a Discovery Tdi being mashed into a pre-Defender 90 or 110, Gumtree was an agent for Japanese units from Motor and Diesel. The company’s 110 Hi-Cap seen here was fitted with Mazda’s SL35 four-pot diesel, once a favourite with Land Rover owners looking to increase their truck’s output and fuel efficiency

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If you’re going to make a dramatic entrance, here’s the way to do it. Team Gumtree arrives en masse at the All Wheel Drive Club’s 40th Anniversary event in 2008… where workshop stalwart Martin Stapleton’s bobtailed Range Rover was one of many vehicles to get snared by the infamous Mansel Lacy mud run affection, among its customers. He’s ready to step in to the background but, in his words, ‘the existing team can and indeed may simply carry on managing and running the business.’ Such a fine going concern is like a diamond – you don’t just get rid, you select who is worthy before offering it to them.

In John’s view, Gumtree could be split between the rebuilding and service sides of the business, or sold as one. ‘Basically,’ he says, ‘I am here to discuss the future with anyone interested. But I am determined that the name and business should live on.’

And so it should. For many people, looking after Land Rovers is a way of earning a living; in some cases, it’s a way of amassing a fortune.

Either way, it takes a special kind of person not to focus solely on the profits but always to retain the fascination, love, respect or sheer sense of excitement that drew them to the vehicles in the first place.

That the love for Land Rovers is still there for John is very clear when he starts reminiscing about the old days with the AWDC or reeling off the various rare and special vehicles he’s owned down the years. A 109” Series I Station Wagon the

team built from parts, a dropside Series IIB with a V8 and a taste for gearboxes, a Sandringham 6x6, a CKD 80” that had been driven home from Australia… so many vehicles, so many stories…

And the story is far from over. Perhaps, indeed, someone reading this will have a part to play in the next chapter. The opportunity is there, and it’s a rare one. Businesses come and businesses go, but it takes something special to pass into the realms of local lore. That’s what you have here – a company whose customers regard it with a devotion John could scarcely have dreamt of 40 years ago when he was, literally, up a Gumtree.

This 88” Series IIA Soft-Top was the first Land Rover John ever owned. He paid £675 for it in 1971 and proceeded to ‘thrash it unmercifully’ until, midway through a much-needed rebuild, it was stolen Right: The original Gumtree yard was put up in John’s garden after a predictably tough time with the local planning department.

It’s here that the company’s reputation was forged – through the efforts of a team starring (from left to right) Jason ‘Diddly’ Woolven, the company’s first apprentice; Martin ‘Miles’ Stapleton, who has for many years been Gumtree’s go-to man for restoration work; Derek Evans, a part-timer who was a full retained fireman in Brighton; Nick Fraser, original workshop foreman and John’s first skilled employee, who won the AWDC Class 2 championship in a Gumtree-built Series I and now lives in Australia; and Martin ‘Louis’ Evans, a general car nut who trialled a Class 1 special with the AWDC. And don’t let’s forget John himself, who is now looking to step back from the business and enjoy what will be a very well earned retirement

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GOLDEN TICKET

The Mercedes G-Wagen wasn’t always a rap star’s car. Back in its military days, it was a worthy off-roader – which led to many old 250 GDs becoming very tatty.

Thank to restoration experts Legacy Overland, this golden ragtop would certainly look the part in a rap video – or indeed anywhere else Words: Kaziyoshi Sasazaki Pictures: Legacy Overland

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here are many reasons why people like the Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen. It’s a proper old-school off-roader, it’s built like a tank… and at the more modern end of the scale, it’s a fully fledged rap star car.

One of the best reasons I’ve ever heard for having a G-Wagen as your weapon of choice is that you don’t need to modify them. They’re already indestructible. They’ve already got proper axles.

Their proper axles have already got locking diffs.

You might want to fetch out some of the weight (the rear seats weigh about the same as an entire Suzuki Samurai) but the G-Wagen is pretty much the finished product straight out of the box.

Of course, Mercedes made them posher and posher as time went on. But that was just the civvy ones. For getting down and dirty, nothing but nothing beats the military-spec 250 GD. Nothing, that is, apart from the unrelenting march of time.

No, you don’t need to modify these beasts. But you might need to restore them. A G-Wagen can spend its life ploughing through mud and water, sliding up against trees and getting next to no maintenance. And it will go on and on and on.

But eventually, the forces of nature will do to its mild steel body what the forces of nature are so infuriatingly good at.

That’s what had happened to the 250 GD Wolf in this article. Aside from the fact that it was once registered by a dealer in Mengede, a suburb of Dortmund, we don’t know much about the life that led it to the Greenwich, Connecticut workshop of serial 4x4 restorer Legacy Overland, but it was ready. And so were the guys there.

Regular readers will know all about the sort of work Legacy Overland turns out. Most recently, its superb BJ40 Landcruiser graced our front cover, and prior to that we’ve featured other Toyotas it has done – as well as Land Rovers, Range Rovers and even another G-Wagen.

That one was described as ‘Army strong.’ This is a little more urbane – but it’s still a proper G-Wagen. That is to say, you could climb aboard and drive it the whole length of the Rubicon with nothing more to see you on your way than a box of sandwiches and maybe a can of bear mace in case things get haggard.

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Anyway. It’s a 1990 model and it arrived bearing some very rough looking military camo. This was clearly going to be making an exit, as were the patches of rust blighting its body shell – which, like literally everything else, was removed in readiness for a full rebuild. That’s not to say it was a total rot box – the build pictures do show the odd repair patch welded in but actually, the chassis and tub mainly just needed cleaning up with the grinder before taking a trip to be shot-blasted in readiness for the fun stuff.

This involved powder-coating the chassis and its associated components, which isn’t something you hear about every day. Some parts did get galvanised, though – however these included the engine, which once again is not something you hear about every day. Or decade, for that matter.

When it came to the engine, if you know your stuff you’ll appreciate that the 250 GD left the factory loaded with treasure – in the shape of the OM 602 straight-five diesel. The word ‘legendary’ is bandied around way too much, but this engine deserves it: its chain-driven simplicity and vast strength make it one of the most durable ever built, with countless examples having clocked up mileages stretching into the millions, and for off-roading it will keep running even if the vehicle

suffers a total electrical failure, meaning it’s the perfect partner for a hydraulic winch.

The engine was completely stripped before being sent, bit by bit, for a dream date with the parts cleaner. The head was skimmed and everything that can be renewed was renewed before it went back together – looking so good you could eat your dinner off it. The same goes for the transmission behind it, as well as the axles – which were refurbished to as-new condition, complete with rebuilt diffs and brakes all round.

In every case, genuine Mercedes-Benz parts were used all-round.

As the vehicle went back together, the axles became home to a set of +2” springs and shocks from none other than Raptor 4x4 here in the UK. Makes a nice change to see people importing cool kit into the US from here rather than the other way round. This made way for a set of Cooper Discoverer STT Pros measuring 315/75 R16 – that’s 34.6” high and 12.4” wide, so a bit of extra room was definitely welcome. The tyres are mounted on Goss eight-spoke steels, which strike us as a particularly good choice on a vehicle that could all too easily be turned into something ghastly by a set of lurid great alloys. These wheels and tyres alike are totally relevant to

what the G-Wagen is and look perfect alongside everything else about it.

At this point, however, at first glance it’s still just a nice old G with a new colour scheme. But when you look inside the cabin, that’s when you learn that it’s so much more than just that. ‘The interior has been tastefully upgraded to feature a custom design with vegan leather for front bucket seats, doors and foldable rear jump seats,’ says Legacy Overland. ‘Entertainment is provided by a Pioneer Bluetooth-enabled sound system with hands-free microphone and a five-speaker set-up.’

The leather itself, which also adorns the steering wheel, has a combination of chocolate brown and distressed tan finishes with contrasting light stitching. But while this definitely adds an air of class to the cabin, deep down this is still a thoroughly practical truck. The dash has the simplicity of a basic off-road machine and the modern spec isn’t just about poshing it up – there’s a full set of vinyl mats on the floor, albeit with a nice edge trim to make them look fancy.

On the outside, LED lights have been added all round to replace the originals, with the headlamps gaining the full angel-eye effect. But again, in reality it’s mainly about keeping it real. There’s a distinctly old-school bull bar protecting those

If you want an engine that’s capable of covering mileages stretching into the millions, the Mercedes OM 602 is about as good as they get. The straight-five was used in several different models during its life, bringing with it a commanding combination of massive strength and immense build quality. It had a commendably simple design, too, aiding its longevity and durability and allowing it to deal with the most rugged of off-road conditions without getting freaked. As part of the restoration, Legacy Overland stripped it right down to its individual components then cleaned, refurbished, replaced and, would you believe, galvanised them as necessary

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Looking at the G-Wagen, at first glance you assume it’s been hugely tarted up and turned into a blinger of the highest order. But in actual fact, most of the work has gone into simply making it the best vehicle it can be. The paint is cool, obviously, and so is the leather around the cabin, but mainly it’s its own 1990 self – just taken to a whole new level headlamps, as well as a Canadian military-style snorkel feeding air to the engine. There’s a body-coloured jerry can holder on the back, too, as well as a swing-out spare wheel mount.

So it’s a vehicle of contrasts, this one. With its gleaming golden hue and high-class interior, it could be a rap star car like those modern Mercs – but elsewhere, it’s just waiting for someone with deep pockets and a sense of adventure to realise its potential for limitless fun on the trails.

If you’re in the mood to be negative, you could say this means it’s a truck that can’t make its mind up about what it is. Be warned, though, that doing so is likely to make everyone else similarly

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negative, only this time about you. Far better to see it as a 4x4 that can do more than one thing – and do them very, very well.

And in that way, it’s just like the later G-Class Mercs that evolved from these early Wagens. It has the charm of a truck that’s on the wrong side of its 30th birthday – but still has a whole lifetime ahead of it. Which in turn, of course, means it’s set to hold its value in a way no brand-new vehicle could ever hope to match. It’s a cool truck and a fantastic off-roader… and, if you so choose, a priceless family heirloom. As we said at the top, there are many reasons to like the G-Wagen. And this one adds a few more all of its own.

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NOT ONE OF THE HERD With a stainless steel snorkel and the Stars and Stripes airbrushed on to its hood, this vintage Jeep Wrangler has all the hallmarks of a pose truck. But just like its owner, you’d underestimate it at your peril – because standing out in the crowd is just a by-product of what it’s all about Words: Gary Noskill Pictures: Dan Fenn

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Below: Jeep’s 4.0 straight-six is completely standard – and when something combines this much lazy power with a reputation for bomb-proof longevity, why would you mess with it?

Right: Home-made snorkels take many forms, most of them based around raw materials hooked off the shelf at B&Q. Complex shapes with multiple bends fashioned from a length of stainless tubing? That would be another way of standing out from the crowd

I

f you like Jeep Wranglers, it pretty much follows that you like to stand out from the crowd. But this here YJ stands out in a crowd… of Jeep Wranglers.

When we photographed it, its owner Rob Spicer told us that his long-term plans for the vehicle involved overland travel. He’s from South Africa, where they know about that stuff. But, in a Wrangler? A 4x4 whose load space is so small it’s barely visible to the naked eye? A bakkie this is not…

Oh, and there’s an airbrushed American flag on the hood. Always sure to be popular wherever you go in Africa.

You can almost hear the off-road traditionalists grinding their teeth. Well, you could if they weren’t drowned out by the musical air horns mounted beneath that star-spangled bonnet.

Yes, this Jeep has a few trappings of the typical pose truck. But that doesn’t mean it’s not the real deal. Many off-roaders like their trucks to have the shabby chic look (aka, they drive sheds), but Rob told us he likes his Jeep to look the part.

It’s just a question of figuring out what that part is. And if you were to see it on the street and think yeah, tart’s handbag… well, more fool you.

When Rob bought the vehicle it had no axles.

Well it did, but they weren’t on it. Its previous owner had been intending to stretch its wheelbase, which is a big enough undertaking to explain why he put it up for sale instead.

So job one was to put them back on, which Rob did using a +4” Rough Country lift kit featuring higher-arched springs, longer shocks and extended shackles. This created room for a set of 33x12.50R15 Kumho muds, and also meant Rob was able to choose between either investing in a set of double-cardon props or waiting to become the owner of a set of broken original ones. Not a hard decision to make.

The job of turning those props went to a transfer box containing a Teraflex 2Low kit. This

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is designed to let you crawl in low box while only driving the rear wheels – useful for manoeuvrability on terrain that’s high on traction but still needs very precise control. When we met Rob, he had a Mercedes G-Wagen rear axle in his workshop and was figuring out how to fit it; with a locking rear diff as standard, you can see how this would be able to deliver pretty unstoppable traction on its own while leaving the front wheels to do nothing but steer.

Under the bonnet, as well as a small army of air horns the Wrangler was still on its original 4.0-litre straight-six engine. Rob had left this alone, which is what you should do with these old lumps as they’re almost indestructible and hardly ever go wrong. He did build a snorkel to go with it, though – normally, when people lash one of these up themselves they do it with drainage pipe and gaffer tape, so the stainless steel vision you see here is quite a credit to the man.

Prior to setting out on his travels, when we spoke to Rob he was planning to fit the vehicle with an internal-external roll cage. This would support a roof rack extending all the way to the front of the bonnet, which kind of takes care of those stowage concerns.

The Dana 30 axle up front, meanwhile, was slated to gain a 4.88:1 ring and pinion to match the G-Wagen rear unit, along with an Aussie Locker and a set of heavy-duty halfshafts, and he was planning to get the whole thing theme-painted to suit.

Now, that’s what you call an expedition wagon with attitude. What did we say about standing out in the crowd?

Overlanding experts will tell you to do it in a truck with lots of space. They’ll tell you to do it on one that’s as close as possible to standard so it’s less likely to go wrong. And they’re tell you that for parts availability and local mechanical knowledge, you should use one that’s commonplace in the lands you’re going to be visiting. So, a Jeep if you’re going to America, a Land Rover if you’re staying in Britain and a Landcruiser if you’re going absolutely anywhere else, then.

The same overlanding experts tend not to say you should do it with a decorative airbrushed paint job and a fusillade of musical air-horns attracting attention wherever you go. But perhaps they just don’t understand. I mean, we all like to stand out in a crowd… it’s just that some trucks do it more naturally than others…

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SIZE MATTERS These days, it’s not uncommon to see Land Rovers rolling on 35” tyres.

There was a time, though, when that size of rubber was reserved mainly for the top challenge vehicles. But then, back in that time, a man on a farm in Wales decided he wanted to build a 90 that would literally go wherever he wanted…

Words: Gary Noskill Pictures: SteveTaylor

I

t was more than a decade ago that we met Peter Hughes. We had travelled to North Wales to photograph someone else’s Land Rover, and when we arrived the guy mentioned that one of his friends was coming too.

We’ve learned through decades of bitter experience to dread this.

All too often, the friend is in an MOT failure or something you suspect was until recently someone else’s; they’re full of fourth-rate banter, they interrupt all the time and when the photography starts, they get bored and start doing doughnuts in the background of all your shots.

As it turned out, matey hadn’t just invited one of his friends along.

He’d invited two of his friends along. So between us, one Land Rover had turned into three. And you know what? His friends were as good as gold, and so were their trucks.

One of them, in fact, completely stole the show. Stole, dominated, dwarfed, however you want to describe it. These were the days when the leading winch challenge competitors were rolling on 35” Simexes.

And here we were looking at a Land Rover 90, and it was looking right back at us from atop a set of 39x16.50R16s.

‘When I look at the land and say “I want to go there,” I want to know my vehicle can do it,’ explained Peter. Hard to argue with a rationale like that, especially when he continues. ‘I was getting fed up of braking things. Like axles, diffs, halfshafts, CVs, all the rest of it. I’d upgraded as much as I could using Land Rover parts.’

The vehicle in question was, and in a manner of speaking still is, a very early 90. Dating from 1983, it started life as a normally-aspirated 2.5-litre diesel van, in which form it spent a couple of decades in the relative safety of life on the farm. Peter’s farm, in fact.

‘It was dad’s before I got hold of it,’ he recalls. ‘He always had Land Rovers knocking around on the farm, so I’ve been driving them for a long, long time. And then I left school and joined the Army, and I drove an awful lot of 4x4s all over the place.

‘When I left, I bought dad’s Land Rover off him. I used it as a general workhorse for two years – I chucked my chainsaws in the back and so on – and then I started doing some green laning with a few friends, just locally in North Wales.

‘Then I thought I fancied a truck cab, so I sold the van back and put a truck cab on it. And then I put a set of Firestone SATs on it, and it just

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If you’re combining Tdi power and torque with a 39” tyre whose tread pattern could rip holes in concrete, you’re going to need axles that can take it. The Dana 60 is just that axle – not a common sight in Britain, but very sought-after by rock crawlers back home in the USA. Peter and Tim installed them using their own hardware, with a four-link system using unequal-length control arms up front and a three-link A-frame set-up at the back went from there really. Quite rapidly… and then suddenly it started getting very extreme!’

The fateful chain of events went something like this. After the truck cab and the SATs, Peter gave the 90 a 2” lift, fitted a roll cage and added a set of 285/75R16 Bronco Grizzly-Claws. That was in addition to the front PTO winch it had always had for its agricultural duties. Oh, and there was also the small matter of a 200Tdi from a Discovery, because the old naturally aspirated engine was ‘painfully underpowered.’

That’s when fate intervened. At the time, Peter’s next-door neighbour Tim Farley was running a business which specialised in doing radical things

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with Land Rovers. ‘We decided to have a go at building something a bit out of the box. Rather than just bolting on stuff you can buy out of a magazine, we decided to have a go at something a bit different.’

Whether or not you approve of the direction they took (and those tyres alone will be enough to have at least some Land Rover enthusiasts frothing at the mouth), you can’t deny that different, it certainly is. And the more you look at the vehicle, the more different it gets.

Just about the only thing Peter didn’t change, in fact, was the chassis, which retained its 92.9” wheelbase. Take a look underneath, however, and

you’ll find a full set of custom suspension components – and a very unfamiliar pair of axles.

These are Dana 60s, which are something of a legend in the USA. Chrysler, Ford and GM have all used them as original equipment on their one-ton trucks, and rock crawlers seek them out as the strongest off-the-shelf axles the company has made. ‘It’s called the Dana 60 because the halfshafts are 60mm in diameter,’ says Peter. ‘They’re 35-spline inners, and 35-spline outers. They’ve got bomb-proof reliability – fantastic strength.’

You don’t see many of these on this side of the Atlantic, but Tim managed to source them from a UK supplier. Rather than mounting them as-is,

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The Tdi engine is a 200-Series unit from a Discovery. This is a very, very common conversion on 90s and 110s of a certain age – as well as having more guts than Land Rover’s earlier engines, the Tdi is famously long-lived, rewarding a sensible maintenance regime with round-and-roundthe-clock durability. The 90 had started life with a 2.5 nat-asp, which is a very fine and extremely reliable engine in its own right but isn’t really what you’d want when you’re trying to spin up a set of 39x16.50R16s…

however, Tim brought in a full set of hardened inner and outer chromoly shafts from the US, as well as a 4.75:1 ratio Detroit Truetrac and Locker to replace the front and rear diffs respectively.

Another mod appended to the back axle was a disc brake conversion. ‘It had drums before,’ says Peter. ‘They were massive.’ While he was about it, he also decided he could do with a set of fiddle brakes. ‘The only reason I use them is when you’re going down a very steep bank, you can lock the back wheels up together so you’ve got decent braking but you can still steer. Where you would have to winch, you can possibly drive down like that and save yourself a whole load of time.

Also, they’re quite a good laugh in a field!’

Indeed. Thus prepared, the axles should be able to cope with anything a Land Rover can throw at them. Not that the loadings going through them were ever likely to be at all modest, courtesy of the tyres Peter decided to fit. He’d already set his sights on challenge events, which normally means 35-inchers or thereabouts, but Tim’s

company just happened to be importing Pit Bull off-road tyres from America at the time – and that’s why the Land Rover ended up on a set of (wait for it) 39x16.50x16s.

Do the math, as they say over there in Pit Bull tyre land, and you’ll see that these tyres are even fatter in proportion than a 33x12.50R15. Compare

you bolt it up, you make it airtight. You won’t lose a bead – even at 1psi it can’t come off.’

Not that that’s all you need to make tyres this size fit on a Land Rover. A lot more height in the suspension is necessary, and this is taken care of at each end by springs and shocks from Old Man Emu. These give the truck a 2” lift, and a set of spacers at the axle mountings provide as much again, so ride height is approximately 4” over standard.

But there’s a whole lot more to the suspension than that.

With the exception of a standard rear A-frame, none of the vehicle’s original suspension has been retained. Peter and Tim fabricated most of it themselves out of 7mm wall thickness CDS tube – whose strength in comparison to what it replaced can only be wondered at.

Not that it was a case of simply replacing likefor-like with heavier-duty metalwork. At the front, the guys fabricated a three-link system – again, out of CDS – which is rose-jointed to ensure maximum travel, while at the back the same 7mm CDS was used for the cranked trailing links. ‘The chassis would snap in half before they leave the building,’ is Peter’s verdict on their strength: when he took the tube to his local fabrication shop, which has a 300-ton press, ‘it only just managed to bend it.’

By contrast, the proprietary cranked arms they had on the vehicle prior to this were clearly not designed to be used with such hefty equipment.

‘They snapped in two when the locker engaged,’ says Peter. ‘The Detroit Locker and Truetrac in these axles are not like the ones you get in this country. They’re really vicious and very, very positive. The minute a wheel lifts off the floor by half an inch, bang, it’s on. It’s fine with a big axle like that – you can light up all four wheels, with a 40” tyre, and not break anything. You can only dream about that in a Land Rover!’

‘It probably does about 50mph absolutely flat-out. But top speed is how brave you are…’ them to the sort of sizes you normally see on challenge motors, and the Land Rover starts looking like a monster truck. No wonder Peter recommends letting them down to ultra-low pressures – something that’s feasible thanks to the US-sourced beadlockers adorning the vehicle’s 16.5” split rims.

‘The rim comes in two halves,’ he explains.

‘There’s a plastic insert you put in the tyre first, then you push the rim in from both sides. The rim pinches the plastic insert on the bead so when

A flat sheet of thick steel is an excellent way of protecting your transmission – and of preventing your vehicle from getting hung up on sharp breakovers, too. It’s important, obviously, when you’re only running four inches of lift and 39” tyres and therefore have to spend all your time worrying about your ground clearance…

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Clearly surmising that the axles and suspension are likely to outlast the rest of the vehicle, Tim and Peter designed them to fit any Land Rover. ‘If we really heavily rolled this vehicle, crashed it to bits, we could take those axles off and put them straight on to another one in the space of a day.’

Powering the axles is a 200Tdi, which was built up from all-new components by LEGS in Oswestry. This uses a non-standard turbo (a hybrid of various Garrett parts, built by Turbo Technics) and a full-width intercooler; for day-to-day use, Peter found it worked well at 14psi, but for challenge events he would crank the pressure up to 22-23.

The results are immediately apparent, in both the delivery of power and the amount of black smoke produced, but it’s never been on a rolling road for the very good reason that it can’t fit on one.

‘I think it’s running about 165bhp at the wheels,’ says Peter. ‘That would be a good, solid 165, though, not at the flywheel. That’s at the floor.’

Behind the engine are a military-spec LT77 gearbox with 20% lower gearing, also from LEGS, and a pre-1984 110 LT230 transfer case with 1.6:1 ratio straight-cut gears. Beyond this are a pair of custom wide-yoke props from Propshaft Clinic, that at the front being a double-cardon unit. Peter reckons the weakest point in the drivetrain is the clutch, even though this is a heavy-duty 130 unit.

‘In low box, if you give it loads of throttle it’ll slip in third gear. Beyond that, you’re wasting your time.’

The overall effect of the gearbox, transfer case and diff ratios is to make the vehicle exceptional at very low speeds and absolutely rubbish at keeping up with the traffic. ‘First low is too low, really. I hardly ever use it. A ratio of 4.75:1 in the diffs is mega-low, and then with the transfer gearing it’s lower still.’ Top speed on the road, meanwhile, is ‘however brave you are. It probably does about 50mph absolutely flat-out, so 40-45 comfortably.

But you wouldn’t want to go any faster – when you see it on the road, it’s big!’

Actually, despite the extra width of the Dana 60s and the enormous offset on the rims, the vehicle is only 4” wider than a standard 90. ‘It does fit through gates!’ Peter promises – making it the ideal way to enjoy a day’s green laning…

Even with the enormous strength in the vehicle’s drivetrain, Peter didn’t leave anything to chance underneath. The entire centre section, from the front radius arms to the rear trailing links, was covered in 8mm aluminium plate. ‘It’s completely flat underneath, like a tank. There’s nothing to catch – If you belly it out, you can just keep on driving.’

The front diff, meanwhile, has a home-made guard ‘which we fabricated very sharply before we went to a challenge one morning,’ while the sills were replaced with box-section rock sliders. They didn’t bother with nerf bars, though: as Peter puts it, ‘with those arches you can just rag it against anything you want!’

Much the same goes for the 4.5mm rear diff pan and the steering arms at the front. ‘No need for protection. They’re made of 7mm CDS with 28-ton rose joints. I do have a steering guard, but it’s more of a ploughing tool than anything else!’

Talking of the steering, this has hydraulic assistance to get over the giant weight of the

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Front and rear winches are operated from a PTO drop box on the back of the transfer case, giving Peter access to five forward gears and one reverse at the front, and five reverse gears and one forward at the back.

‘In fifth gear,’ he says,’ they make an 8274 look like a snail’

tyres. ‘The box is tapped to get a feed left-to-right, and there’s a hydraulic ram to help. With the tyres being so big, it’s an impossibility to turn otherwise.’ Did he use a Land Rover box? ‘Absolutely no chance!’

If you hadn’t worked it out by now, Peter is not the sort of Land Rover owner to be governed by convention. That’s apparent with every aspect of his vehicle, not just in what he’s fitted but in what he’s left off.

‘The Army taught me how to map read!’ he says, when asked about his choice of GPS. More surprisingly, though, he doesn’t bother with a CB. ‘I don’t really need one. The mobile phone network’s getting that good now.’

He doesn’t bother with special seats, either.

‘Normal 90 seats are dead easy to get in and out of. Bucket seats are a pain. And when you come home, you put your seat covers in the washing machine and put the pressure washer on the inside, and away you go.’

Also defying convention is his choice of winches – though when he describes his set-up, you wonder why more people don’t do it his way.

‘There’s a PTO drop box on back of the transfer case for the winches. They’re both operated from the cab.

So I get five forward, one reverse at the front, and five reverse, one forward at the back. You can winch all day – as long as the engine’s running, you’ve got winches.’

Both units are rated to around eight tons; the front one is a Superwinch, while the rear is a Ramsey. ‘In fifth gear, they make an 8274 look like a snail. To be honest, if it’s too fast, you can’t control the cable. You’d smash the cable at once if you put it in fifth and dragged it. But if you, say, park a Range Rover with a trailer on the tarmac in the car park, 100 metres away, I reckon you’d drag it on in fifth gear in the space of about 25 seconds. It’s not shy of power!’

In terms of mounting, the front winch sits on a Superwinch bumper whose ends have been trimmed off while the Ramsey at the rear is on an 8mm plate above the spring turrets. It shares the pick-up bed with a large aluminium kit box and not much else – save for a lot of roll cage.

Made from what used to be known as Blue Band, this took Peter and Tim about a day and a half to make and fit. It has a six-point design, with

a cross rather than a single brace behind the cab, and is attached to a network of tubes forming the front and rear arches. ‘To be honest,’ says Peter, ‘I’ve dropped it off a small cliff, about 15 feet high. It landed on its roof and rolled over on to its wheels, I let the oil settle, then started it up and drove off. The only thing it did was scrape some paint off.’

It’s not immediately obvious when you look at the truck, but beneath all this ironmongery and lime green paint is a surprising amount of the Land Rover Peter bought off his dad in the first place. The bulkhead remains, as do the cab and dashboard, and while the front wings and rear tub have been butchered with a frightening lack of mercy, the metal that remains is the same that left Solihull that day in 1983.

Definitely not original, on the other hand, is a 70mm straight-through exhaust. Made entirely from stainless steel, this exits through the tailgate aperture via a distinctively lairy vertically stacked twin pipe arrangement. ‘Basically,’ says Peter, ‘my thinking is that if the water isn’t up above my waist, I can start it again safely!’

No small matter, this, on a vehicle whose windscreen has pushed the odd bow wave in its time.

Not surprisingly, it’s fitted with a snorkel, too; made from 2.5” tube from a vacuum tank, this runs to the top of the cab and also carries extended breathers for the axles, gearbox and crankcase. Unusually, Peter keeps his drain plugs in all the time: ‘It’s ready to drop in water whenever.’

There’s no denying that whether you find Peter’s approach refreshing or unnecessarily maverick, this is one brave build. It was back then when we first saw it, and it is now.

Nonetheless, perhaps it’s telling that a few short months after we had taken these photos, Peter was on the phone to tell us that he’d decided to take the 90 back to more or less standard. It was fun in this form, but it was less than convenient to own – and he had also put it up for sale, which was pretty much not happening in this form.

It was good while it lasted, though. Those tyres, those axles, that suspension – it was a unique vehicle, let alone a unique Land Rover, and for the sort of money that would let you build a decent but unremarkable catalogue-shopper of a 90, it was a truck that grabbed the attention of all who saw it.

Including ours, as you can see. We mentioned at the top that we had turned up to photograph someone else’s Land Rover, and now we can tell you that the someone else on question was in fact Peter’s next-door neighbour Tim. Between them, they created what was, for a fleeting moment in time, a 90 like no other.

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W W W. T I M F RY L A N D R OV E R S . C O. U K parts@timfrylandrovers.co.uk | service@timfrylandrovers.co.uk | sales@timfrylandrovers.co.uk | salvage@timfrylandrovers.co.uk

TIM FRY LANDROVERS KING ALFRED WAY | BATTLEDOWN CHELTENHAM | GL52 6QP

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LAPPING IT UP The Padjelanta National park, a Arctic wilderness in the northern Swedish part of Lapland, is

Words: Olly Sack Pictures: Dacia

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a harsh, rugged paradise to explore – whether you’re doing it with four wheels or one padde

A

team including some of the world’s most dedicated extreme kayakers recently completed an eleven-day expedition across Lapland, in a region often described as Europe’s largest remaining wilderness. The team based itself in northern Sweden, close to the Norwegian border, while taking on some of the world’s most challenging white water – supported by a sole Dacia Duster.

Ten years in the planning, the expedition was originally imagined

by French kayaking instructor and competitor Julien Turin as a way of crossing the Nordic regions via unexplored lands and uncharted rivers. The Duster was used to carry equipment and recce routes in real time as the team made their way through the spectacular wilderness north of the Arctic Circle.

Taken from its starting point in the south-eastern French city of Grenoble, the expedition covered a total of more than 5000 miles. That includes the lengthy motorway treks to and from Laponia, a region within Lapland whose wildlife has earned it the status of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where the kayaks were to be demounted from the Duster’s roof rack in readiness for their epic journey.

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Much of the expedition’s route was within the borders of Padjelanta National Park, an expanse of wilderness populated only by a few Sami villagers and containing two enormous bodies of water called Vastenjávrre and Virihávrre, as well as a wide network of other lakes and rivers. One of them, Rissájávrre, is where you’ll find Sweden’s centre of inaccessibility – here, you’re almost 30 miles in any direction from the nearest road.

Perfect conditions for the Duster, then, a 4x4 model whose no-nonsense tractability was set to be a critical component of the expedition’s success. ‘The journey was long,’ said expedition team member Eric Deguil, a four-time extreme kayak world champion. ‘We clocked up some serious mileage, but that’s the beauty of the Duster and going on an adventure: take a reliable car and some mates and drive off into the unknown.’

Deguil had become Julien Turin’s accomplice during those many long years of planning the adventure.

Having spent many years working as a kayaking instructor in Sweden, Turin had become very familiar with the country’s wilderness regions – and with the help of maps and satellite imagery, he came up with his ‘dream expedition.’

Offering places to fellow kayaking experts he met on the competition circuit around the world, he quickly discovered that putting a team together was not going to be particularly difficult. ‘Frankly, they weren’t that hard to convince. We even got unsolicited applications!’

Together, he and Deguil gathered together a team of skilled and knowledgeable kayakers: Jonas Le Morvan, winner of the 2017 King of

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the Alps Extreme; Thomas Neime, a heavyweight in the world of extreme kayaking with experience of rivers in every continent around the world; triple world champion Nouria Newman, who in 2014 became the first woman to descend the Grand Canyon of the Stikine River in Canada – the kayaking equivalent of climbing Everest without oxygen; and Guillaume Hasson, whose lifelong experience of navigating rapids is augmented by an interest in fixing both cars and kayaks. ‘We had to have someone like him on the crew,’ Deguil commented.

You’re never going to fit six people in a five-seat vehicle, but

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the Duster carried various team members, their equipment and their kayaks on the long journey north through Switzerland and into Germany before crossing to Sweden by ferry and continuing to Sulitelma in Norway. The number of kayaks strapped to its roof continued to grow en route, too, as more of the crew met up with Deguil and Turin, while hours on the autoroute gave way to nights under the stars, riverside fishing stops and test runs in the water.

‘The first rivers were already incredible,’ commented Deguil. ‘But the deeper you ventured into the wilderness, the more spectacular

it became. That was when the expedition really came into its own.’

At this point, it was still a road trip. But it was something else besides, as the team progressed deeper into the wilderness and a new mind-set took over – that of facing the biggest obstacles in this beautiful but unforgiving environment. As they headed for Sulitelma, the landscape beyond the Duster’s windscreen changed before their eyes – and they saw their first reindeer, a sure sign that they were on the right track! ‘The roads of the far north are so different,’ said Deguil. ’It’s crazy. It’s huge, but yet we never got bored – we became

more and more aware of nature around us.’

The moment you step out of your car during summer in the Arctic, something else you become aware of is the mosquitoes. They’re everpresent at this time of year – but, like the gnawing cold, this is just another hardship you have to shrug off in the name of extreme sport.

And with the highest category IV and V rapids and waterfalls lying ahead, the team weren’t going to let a small pest distract them from the ultimate test.

And from Sulitelma, it was time to leave the comfort of the Duster behind and hit the water. Each carrying 20 kilos of equipment, the crew ventured into the wilderness of Lapland for a journey that would take them 130 miles, by kayak and on foot, to Ritsem in Sweden.

This was where the Duster came into its own as a support vehicle.

Having got them there, its job changed: now, it was employed to drop off the kayaks at the start of each section on the water and collect them at the other end. This

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ARB are the first to break cover with their accessories for the new Jimny SO WHO HAD ARB in the firstnew-Jimny-mods sweepstake, then? The Australian 4x4 accessories giant has unveiled its Project JBOX demo vehicle, sporting a range of off-road items which, while they are all still prototypes at this point in time, will become available to buy in the near future.

Suzuki’s Australian importer worked with ARB by giving the company’s engineers access to a pre-launch vehicle, allowing them to start work early on developing a range of all-new and adapted accessories. In addition, ARB was able to test-fit existing products to confirm they would work on the new vehicle – and the great news for Jimny fans looking to build a serious off-roader is that these include the legendary Air-Locker.

Among the new products ARB has developed for the Jimny is the smallest ever version of its Summit bull bar. This will come complete with a winch mount, which on Project JBOX has been used to house an 8000lb Warn Magnum.

Underneath the vehicle is a new suspension system. ARB doesn’t quote the size of the lift it gives the Jimny, apart from to say it’s ‘suitable for a set of new muddies and improved off road ability’ – which could of course mean anything. Safe to assume, however, that it’ll be in the usual commercial range, which means it can be expected to be in the region of two inches.

Further metalwork will come in the shape of steel rock sliders and a tubular roof rack. You’d need to be doing pretty extreme stuff with a Jimny to put its sills at risk, especially after lifting its suspension, but for any sort of long-range travel a roof rack would certainly be a must-have way of overcoming the limited luggage space that’s an inevitable consequence of the vehicle’s small size – or putting the little Suzi to work.

With this and the bull bar adorned with LED lighting, some underbody protection bolted on and a gear reduction transfer case mod to take care of the bigger tyres you’ll surely want, ARB is already well on the way to being able to kit out a new generation of super-Jimnys. How long before it all becomes available to buy? We don’t yet know – but it’s surely shorter than the waiting list Are you crazy about Defenders? Dotty about Discos? Does the sight of a classic Series for an actual vehicle. To keep tabs on progress, visit www.arb.com.au.

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meant it needed to be in a non-stop state of readiness to leave the tarmac and gravel roads in search of suitable rendezvous points and sites for wild camping. The terrain was steep and rocky at times – and dusty, too, for the first three days, when the sun was out and the ground was dry.

That all came to an end on day four, when rain set in. The temperature had never climbed above 5°C even when the sun was out, but it feels that much colder without some rays on your face. And even in summer, there were times when the rain gave way to snow.

The team’s real challenge, though, was still from the water beneath them. On the turbulent

6pp Duster Extreme Kayaking.indd 61

Lake Vastenjávrre, they had to cover more than 20 miles in a five-foot swell – against constant headwinds.

Imagine running a marathon, uphill, in mud, while carrying a 20-kilo load, and you’ll get some idea of how gruelling this must have been.

Thankfully, the variety of rivers linking Laponia’s lakes is just as immense as the lakes themselves.

And this included no end of rapids – which is what everyone was really there for.

The final stretch saw them take on a thunderous section of white water, flowing at around 300m³ per second, which eventually catapulted them into Lake Ritsem. A fitting climax to an event which had seen them paddle on every kind of river

a kayaker could ever wish for, all of it amid a landscape whose beauty was paralleled only by its sheer scale. The challenge was massive, but the reward was incalculable.

And, Deguil said, the Duster did its job perfectly. It was a great companion on the road and a sure-

footed support on the roughest of Lapland’s tracks and terrain. And most of all, the moments of bonding on board helped create the team spirit that made the expedition such a success. ‘It was the ideal vehicle for this kind of expedition. Nothing ever stopped it!’

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OUR 4X4S Vehicle: Isuzu D-Max GO2 Year: 2018 Run by: Alan Kidd Last update: September 2021 On the fleet since: January 2020

Another Year Older HAS IT REALLY BEEN A YEAR ALREADY? It seems as if no time has passed since we were summing up our project Isuzu D-Max GO2’s progress at the end of 2020, but here we are already doing the same thing at the end of 2021.

Back then, we covered the thinking behind the build and looked at what went in to fitting the suspension, modifying the bodywork and brakes to accommodate 33” tyres, armouring the front and rear against ground strikes, beefing up the sills and protecting small people from whacks on the head with a tailgate damper.

Not a bad start – put to put a bit of flesh on the bones, let’s start this year’s round-up by looking in a bit more depth at those tyres.

One of the things they always

say about planning an off-road build is that you should start off with a tyre size and take it from there.

Don’t just buy a truck, chuck on a load of mods then go shopping for tyres that fit.

At the most basic level, if you’ve got yourself a shiny new Isuzu D-Max and all you want to do is upgrade to an all-terrain or mudterrain pattern but you don’t actually need your tyres to be bigger than standard, that’s easy. You don’t need to make any modifications. If, on the other hand, you did a bit of drunken browsing the other night and now there’s a set of 54” MudHumpers sitting on your driveway, your D-Max is going to look amazing on them – but not before you’ve basically pinned its panels to a ground-up spaceframe.

Our D-Max falls between these two extremes. Much closer to the

first than the second, obviously – though that’s saying something, because even just upgrading its tyres to a set of 285/75R16 General Grabber X3 mud-terrains required a fair bit of work.

We won’t go over too much of that ground again, but the project is based on a Pedders suspension lift featuring remote-reservoir shocks, bump and rebound adjustability and forged upper wishbones designed to work at the angles required by taller springs and shocks. In addition, mods were required to the inner and outer wheelarches for the tyres to clear and a thankfully unused body mount had to be trimmed off the chassis.

Our D-Max is based on the Utah model, which came as standard on 255/60R18 tyres. That’s 30” tall and 10” wide, with a 6” sidewall – fine as far as it goes, but we were meaning

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The compound body mount has a second hole in it – this is only used on vehicles built for certain markets, but it’s present on every D-Max. It’s redundant here, meaning it can be cut away and the mounting plate reshaped to clear the bigger tyres. Having marked up the portion to be removed, the corner is ground off then the edges are smoothed off inside and out to ensure a good contact when welding in a new fillet of steel to blank off the repair

business with this build and that’s what the Grabber X3 is all about.

At 285/75R16, our Grabbers stand 32.8” tall and 11.2” wide.

So, not quite the same height as a 33x12.50R16, but usefully narrower – which means good things in terms of real-world off-road ability and, simply, getting them to fit. An 8.4” sidewall sounds far better than standard for moulding itself to the terrain, too – and on top of that, the X3 is engineered to shrug off the sort of damage tyres are prone to suffering off-road. So we were confident in our choice.

Given that Isuzu manages to make a 35” tyre fit on the AT35 version of the D-Max, we were pretty sure we weren’t going to end up sending our 285s back to General’s UK distributor with a cringing note of apology attached. And we were right – though it wasn’t as easy as anyone expected.

To give us as much chance as possible of fitting the tyres without losing any steering lock, we used a set of heavy-duty Mamba rims with a 0 offset. That sounds like, well, none, but actually it’s a lot. And it worked – though as is so often

the case, it did so while causing problems elsewhere.

In particular, the arches had to be flared slightly using an arch roller to keep them covering the tyres’ tread.

Fail to do that and you’re illegal – something which, had it not caught up with us already, certainly would have a couple of months ago when the D-Max came up for its first MOT. With this done, the inner arches and liner mounts trimmed back and that body mount axed off and welded back up, there was just enough room for the tyres – whatever the combination of

suspension movement and steering angle at any given moment might ask of the vehicle. Which was a relief, but was also all part of the process. Our D-Max was built using a combination of aftermarket parts and Isuzu’s own accessories, but putting them all together is bound to involve an element of prototyping so these hurdles were always going to crop up and with a team of specialists from Isuzu’s own workshop at hand (not to mention the killer bodyshop next door), we had the best people on the job to make it right.

With the wheel and tyre fitted, the suspension and steering are fully cycled – showing which parts of the vehicle’s bodywork will need to be trimmed to prevent the sort of fouling you see here where the tyre is contacting the inner arch and liner mounts. The answer is either to use smaller tyres, which is the boring way out, or to get creative. And noisy. So out come first the grinder and then the air hacksaw, and off comes a portion of the inner arch. It’s not much, but it makes all the difference – as you can see in the main picture, clearance under the front arches is very tight when full bump and full lock combine, but the point is that it DOES clear so all is good

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OUR 4X4S

Above left: The backlash is checked and the average reading noted down for reference when the assembly goes back together Above centre: The bearings are removed from the diff centre using a puller. After this, the bearings and shims need to be kept separate so you don’t get mixed up as to which parts came from which side of the diff. The bearings and their cups can be reused so long as there’s no sign of any damage – something that’s only likely to be the case on an older and/or higher-mileage vehicle than ours Above right: The crownwheel is eased on to the Air-Locker with its mounting holes carefully aligned. The bolts are wound in gently then torqued up in a star pattern to ensure it’s evenly seated Which brings us to the tyres.

The General Grabber X3 is a strong performer in general British off-road conditions – we already knew that. Having a set on our D-Max is showing us what it’s like as a dayto-day all-rounder, too.

We use the vehicle primarily on the lanes, which means its tyres have to be able to cope with a wide range of surfaces in an equally wide range of conditions. They’ve been on sand in Thetford Forest, rock in North Wales, Yorkshire and the Lake District and grimy mud on Salisbury Plain. And, of course, a lot of tarmac.

The Plain in particular has a knack of finding out weak rubber, and the Grabbers shrugged off everything it could throw at them.

And tarmac has a knack of sorting the sheep from the goats when it comes to a mud-terrain’s refinement – and here, the Grabbers are impressively smooth and quiet.

They grip very well in the wet, too, to the extent that even with the ESP switched off, most of our efforts to provoke tail-out silliness are defeated before they start, and cruising on the motorway is no less civilised than in any other modern double-cab. The extra height from

the tyres and suspension also makes for a wonderfully relaxing driving position, too.

And they have loads of grip offroad. Loads and loads, and that’s without airing them down. Between them and the brilliant flexibility of the Pedders suspension, we’ve rarely needed to press the magic button that comes with the next item to be added to the vehicle.

This is something our generation of D-Max didn’t have, but which the current one does: a locking rear diff.

When we decided to join the growing ranks of people who’ve chosen to use a pick-up truck as

their off-road weapon, this was something we were very clear about. It had to have one.

The thing with pick-ups is that their back ends are light – but sprung to carry heavy loads. And when the going gets gnarly, this is not the combination you want.

A few years ago, we took a D-Max AT35 up the late, lamented Cam Steps in North Yorkshire and it made heavier weather of them than we thought possible. Its rear end just wanted to bounce, up and down and from side to side, until we built up the gaps between the steps themselves with loose rocks

Below left: Time to choose carefully, and definitely not to rush. The diff housing needs to be drilled and tapped to take the air line into the locker – this needs to be in a position where it won’t risk interfering with the diff, crownwheel or any other obstructions, for obvious reasons Below, centre-left: Time for yet more careful work. Using a pillar drill, a quarter-inch hole needs to be put through the bearing cap for the copper air tube to pass through. This is not something you want to lash up – bearing caps are unique to the axle, so if you wreck it you can’t replace it Below right: Now comes the fun bit. To set the backlash on the new diff, first you need to put the bearing caps in place and torque them up. Then you check the backlash as before… and, when it turns out not to be right, undo the bearing caps, remove the diff and either add or subtract shims. Repeat as necessary, each time with more swearing, until the reading on the meter finally releases you from your torment

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A fancy pair of drawers…

A FEW YEARS AGO, we tested a version of the Isuzu D-Max designed with country sports in mind. The Huntsman model was accessorised with practical, hard-wearing equipment – and for us, it ticked almost every box.

In particular, we were impressed by the Gearmate drawer system fitted as standard in the back. Plucked from Isuzu’s approved accessories range, this British-made unit attaches into the pick-up bed to provide various opportunities for keeping your kit tidy, secure and readily at hand.

Here’s what we said about it at the time: ‘Beneath the canopy, the Gearmate drawer system is superbly fitted and works a treat. There are two main drawers, one of them sectioned off; we won’t pretend to know what purpose this serves in the world of hunting but if you’re going off-road, it’s perfect for storing your ropes, shackles, snatch blocks and, in the second drawer, a fulllength high-lift jack. To either side of these drawers are gun cabinets, which we didn’t manage to find an alternative use for, but the space left on top is still extremely practical – we managed to fit a fridge-freezer in it for the obligatory tip run, which, considering the amount taken out of the loadspace height by the drawers, we found very impressive.’

It’s unlikely to come as a surprise, then, that when we were speccing up our Project D-Max GO2, a set of Gearmate drawers was high on our wish list. Unlike on the Huntsman, which has a full canopy, ours was slated to be installed beneath a Mountain Top Roll loadspace cover; while the Gearmate system is pretty much impregnable even without anything else on top of it, squirreling it away beneath a similarly secure roller cover adds a welcome element of out-of-sight-out-of-mind.

What this means is that step one was to remove the over-rail bed liner that’s standard in the D-Max Utah and replace it with an under-rail job. This is necessary as the runners for the roller cover mount on to the top edge of the bodywork alongside the pick-up bed, where the top lip of the over-rail liner would prevent them from locating. The matching liner on the tailgate comes off, too.

Lifting out the old bedliner is definitely a two-man job, as is dropping in its replacement – not so much because of their weight as the awkwardness of manhandling such a big item, especially as it becomes surprisingly flexible as you release it. The new liner doesn’t come pre-drilled with mounting holes to match the vehicle, so that’s to be done before you lift it into place, then you can do up the fixings – having first ensured that the under-rail lip is sitting comfortably behind the rails themselves.

The Gearmate unit comes with all the hardware used to mount it, as you’d expect, including a set of brackets which need to be assembled on to the inside of the vehicle’s pick-up bed. This is just a case of following the instructions – and, as always, checking and double-checking your work – then it’s time to drop the drawer unit into place.

This is another area in which you’ll need help. This time, it’s not so much a two-man job as a gang lift.

One installed, the Gearmate system nestles perfectly in place between the inner arch blisters, making the most of every available inch of space. As it was being fitted, watching it slide into place and match up with its brackets was like poetry in motion.

On that subject, the drawers absolutely glide open and shut. They do have a weight capacity, of course, and the ex-military ground anchor set and highlift jack we carry in one of them exceeds it, but even then it still operates as it’s meant to. It needs a heftier pull and push, but it doesn’t baulk.

Finally, the Mountain Top Roll came out of its packaging and, having been assembled on the workshop floor, went in place on the top edge of the pickup bed. Yet another lift you don’t want to be trying to pull off on your own.

What we’ve found about the set-up in the back of our D-Max is that it’s tidy, strong and fit for purpose. The Mountain Top Roll doesn’t keep out the rain, which tends to gather beneath the drawers when the vehicle is parked nosedown then cascade out from beneath the tailgate when we drive off, but it definitely does keep out unwanted attention – and the Gearmate system below it does a fantastic job of keeping our recovery equipment stowed tidily and ready for use.

The Gearmate unit, which comes already assembled and packed on a pallet, is built to carry 150kg in each drawer and take up to 800kg on top. That’s about nine baby elephants standing on each other’s shoulders, so you can probably see why it took four blokes to carry it to the back of our waiting D-Max. As you’d expect, it comes complete with all the bracketry required to instal it

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OUR 4X4S The copper tube now needs to be shaped so it will exit through the hole you drilled earlier in the diff case. It has to run snugly (but without touching) around the bearing cap so that it will clear the axle case when the diff is finally installed. Your hands are the best tool for this – the harsh, sharply edged jaws of a pair of pliers will only damage the tube

and it was finally able to struggle to the top.

The vehicle following it, a Defender 90 on 235s, walked up on tickover. Not proof of the need for a locker, perhaps, but evidence that in a vehicle designed to carry a tonne in the back, you need something to counter the laws of physics.

Letting a load of air out of its back tyres might have been an answer. A tedious one when you’re laning, but if push comes to shove you do what it takes. Being able to take an obstacle at a crawl without all your drive spinning out through one wheel the moment it gets light, on the other hand, is not tedious – and, as countless off-roaders have proved time after time, it works.

Of course, there are different kinds of locking diffs. Factory-fit axles tend to use e-lockers, which are electrically actuated, whereas the majority of retro-fit items will be air actuated. There are no hard and fast rules, but in most cases the latter tend to be stronger. We’ve spoken to Jeep fans, for instance, who say they would rather buy a version of the Wrangler without factory-fit lockers and instal an aftermarket unit instead.

That view may well assume 37” tyres or beyond and extreme

5pp Our 4x4s Winter 22 D-Max.indd 68

off-road use on baked-dry rocks with more grip than a hungry boa constrictor. For what we’re doing, if a factory locker had been available we’d have been happy with that, but since it wasn’t we naturally wanted to go for the gold-standard aftermarket alternative.

This meant putting in a call to Britpart, which has become the go-to supplier for ARB in the UK. The Australian company’s AirLockers have long been seen as the definitive answer to this question, and since they’re now available through Britpart’s dealer network they’re easier to get hold of than ever before.

They’re no easier to fit, however.

If doing this is a DIY job to, you then you don’t need us to tell you how to do it. And if you do need us to tell you how to do it, then you can’t do it. As a guide, all the mods to our D-Max were done by Isuzu GB’s own technicians, so these are top, top spanner men. They can do anything – including diffs, of course, but normally they farm everything in that area out to specialists.

So, learn from that. The real experts, top pros that they are, don’t touch this job unless they have to.

The guys who worked on our D-Max said they couldn’t remember the

last time they did a diff. And that’s before you get into the business of installing the locker itself, which adds complexity and introduces bountiful opportunities to mess it up. Drilling a hole in your diff case?

Yeah, better not do that without being sure you’ve marked a big ‘X’ in exactly the right place…

So, our suggestion is that unless you’re a seriously capable mechanic yourself, this is a job you leave to a pro. Even if you do as much of your own work as you can, you want to be pretty certain of yourself before giving this one a bash – not least because the equipment you’re installing is pricey stuff, as of course is the axle you’re installing it in. Apart from anything else, if you’re doing it as a one-off you’ll need to invest in a set of special tools that won’t be much use ever again, so you might as well spend the money on a bloke who already has the right kit and knows how to use it.

Whoever does the job, something you will have to decide is where to mount the air compressor and the switches for the locker. In a pick-up, under the back seat is an obvious place for the former, while with the latter it’s a case of figuring it out based on the specific make

and model of truck you’ve got. We managed to squeeze them in next to the buttons for the heated seats, which is a sentence that will make you roll your eyes if you’re a grizzled old-school off-roader who thinks it’s not fun unless you’re having a good, miserable time.

Obviously, green lanes being what they are and our D-Max being what it is, we could have gone a long time without ever needing to engage our Air-Locker. But then one day a rocky hillclimb presented us with a step that was exactly the right length to pop us on to a cross-axle and, because we were going slowly, all our momentum was gone in a flash.

Backing up and giving it a squeeze on the throttle would have been the normal answer, but finally we could fire up the compressor, engage the locker and, with no gas at all, let out the clutch – and this time, the D-Max eased itself up without a second thought.

So that’s a great set of tyres and a great way of getting the best from them. Obviously, there’s a whole lot more to our D-Max than just these things, but they’re at the heart of what makes a good off-road vehicle. And from the base truck to the tiniest details, this is a very good off-road vehicle.

16/12/2021 01:24

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ROADBOOK

DERBY DALES

Old farm lanes in a wide open moorland landscape south of the Peaks USING OUR ROADBOOKS Our roadbooks guide you through the countryside on a mixture of surfaced and unsurfaced roads.

The tracks we use are public rights of way, either Byways Open to All Traffic or Unclassified County Roads, all commonly referred to as green lanes.

NAVIGATION

We’ve deliberately made it as easy as possible to follow the route, using a mixture of instructions, tulip diagrams and grid references. We normally only include junctions at which you have to make a turning or don’t have right of way, so stay on the main road or continue straight ahead unless we tell you otherwise.

You’ll find a guide to using grid references on the legend of any OS map. Our aim is for you to be able to do the route without maps, whether paper or online, but you should certainly take a set with you.

SAFETY

The notes on thee pages advise you of how suitable the route is for your vehicle. These are just guidelines, however. We’ll warn you of any hazards or difficult sections, but the nature of any green lane can change quickly. Wet weather can make a huge difference to the conditions underfoot, and what’s wide open in winter can be tightly enclosed and scratchy in summer.

The responsibility is yours!

Our roadbooks are designed to be safe to drive in a solo vehicle. We do recommend travelling in tandem wherever possible, however. The risk of getting stuck can be greater than it appears – and even the most capable of vehicles can break down miles from anywhere.

RESPONSIBILITY

Irresponsible driving is a big issue on green lanes. In particular, you must always stay on the right of way. Never drive off it to ‘play’ on the verges or surrounding land, even if you can see that someone else has; doing so is illegal and can be tremendously damaging.

This kind of illegal off-roading is a key reason why green lanes get closed. If you see others doing this, they are NOT your friends. They’re criminals, and you are their victim.

If it’s safe to do so, film them in the act and pass it to the police.

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

ANTIS

Anti-4x4 bigotry does exist, but it’s less common than you’d think. By and large, it’s limited to organisations who just want to get the countryside all to themselves.

These organisations are beyond being reasoned with, but it’s rare to encounter real hostility even from their rank-and-file members. If you’re friendly towards the people with whom you share the countryside, the vast majority will respond in kind. There are always bad apples, but no more so than anywhere else.

Likewise, most local residents will accept your presence if you’re driving sensibly. What suspicion you do encounter is likely to be from farmers worried that you’re there to steal from them, so be ready to offer a word of reassurance. Once satisfied that you’re not after their quad bikes, their mood will lighten.

DO…

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

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

• Ensure you have a right to be

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

• • • •

DON’T…

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

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

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

• Cause a noise nuisance, particularly after dark

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

4x4 16/12/2021 00:26

ROADBOOK A little way south from the disgracefully mismanaged rights of way network of the Peak District, the Derby Dales offers a wide variety of green lanes which, if driven with care, are suitable for more or less any 4x4. Sometimes wide open, sometimes bounded by classic dry-stone walls, these trails vary in length and character but are almost always delightfully scenic. Whether you’re clambering through woodlands or picking your way towards the horizon, this is a route which really gives you a flavour of this oft-forgotten part of England

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ROUTE GUIDE

is it suitable?

START FINISH HOW LONG? TERRAIN HAZARDS

TYRES

OS MAPS

Hartington (SK 128 604) Tissington (Sk 176 522) 44.15 miles / 4-5 hours Rolling farmland; occasional steep hills Other users; farm traffic; possible ruts; scratching; one very narrow gate; some liaison sections on fast roads Landranger 119 (Buxton & Matlock)

WEATHER LOW BOX SOFT-ROADERS SCRATCHING DRIVING DAMAGE

Step

1

0.0 Step

2

0.25

SK 128 604

Start outside the Devonshire Arms, on the B5054 in Hartington. It’s a busy little place, so don’t expect to sit around without getting in the way – just zero your trip with the pub to your left and set off heading more or less south-west

SK 125 600

The track is shortly after the national speed limit and ‘cow’ road signs. The first few yards flood easily and can be quite sloppy, but thereafter your main concern is that it gets quite steep, stony and at times scratchy further ahead

Low-profile sizes may struggle in places. All-terrains advisable Best avoided after snow or very wet weather. Scratchier by summer Highly recommended in places May cope if back-up is available Significant risk on a few lanes Precise driving needed in places.

Some sections on very fast roads Drive with care and it shouldn’t happen

Step

3

0.65 Step

4

0.9

Step 1: Start outside the Devonshire Arms in Hartington, which is of the busiest villages you’ll ever come across

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Step 6: However tight you think this corner is going to be, it’s tighter. The stone walls leave no room at all for error Step

5

SK 132 603

Turn right just after the youth hostel on the left and before the national speed limit signs

1.0 Step

6

Step

11

This is a sharp 90-degree corner, and it’s pretty tight between the stone walls. Take great care if you’re in a long-wheelbase

Step

12 3.05

Step

Step

1.35

3.3

7

8

13 SK 133 597

Step

Step

1.95

4.2

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SK 145 599

Turn left immediately after the wooden footpath sign on the right

14 3.45

9

There’s a house very close to the track as you approach the junction

Step

1.55

Step

Take great care not to let your speed build up on the way down the hill

2.85

1.25

Step

SK 144 597

15 SK 136 594

Step

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Step

17 5.15 Step

18

Caution – this is a very tight turning.

If you can’t make it in one, the road you’re joining is no place for taking shunts – better to pull ahead and turn round in the junction for the road to the right. Doing so shouldn’t mess with your trip reading to any great degree

Step

SK 153 614

Step

6.1 Step

19

22 9.1

23 10.9

Caution as you cross the A515 – it’s a very fast, busy road. This is a long, straight section, too, so watch out for overtaking traffic coming as you from the wrong direction

Step

24

6.4

1.75

Step

Step

7.65

1.8

20 Step

21 8.05

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25 Follow ahead for Middleton

The T-junction in Middleton is basically a huge expanse of empty road

Step

26

ZERO TRIP

Gratton Elton

114

Caution over a bigger road as you carry on ahead for Winster

It’s tight back over your shoulder – start slowing and indicating early

SK 239 617

2.55

4x4 16/12/2021 00:26

Step

Step

3.8

8.8

Step

28

Step

4.25

9.25

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4.5

9.8

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27

33 34

29

36 WEST BANK

10.3

Step

Step

7.05

10.8

Step

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31

37

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As a result of illegal off-roading near the lane, the police like to stop 4x4s here to check them out. Assuming your vehicle’s roadworthy and you’re following the right of way, you have nothing to fear

35

30 6.75

SK 262 596

38 BONSALL LANE

ZERO TRIP

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Step

39

Caution over the main A5012 and ahead for Ashbourne and Longcliffe. This is immediately after Step 38

Step

45

0.05

2.3

Step

Step

40 0.2

46 Aldwark

3.45

Step

Step

0.9

3.8

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1.05

4.25

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1.1

6.2

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1.95

6.95

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Newhaven

47

Parwich

SK 198 586

48 49 50

There’s a fuel station on the right at the junction

Ashbourne A515

SK 165 592

4x4 16/12/2021 00:26

Step

Step

7.75

10.8

Step

Step

8.4

1.55

Step

Step

8.85

2.5

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51

56 57

52 53

58

9.1

55 9.55

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Bradbourne Ballidon

59

54 Step

ZERO TRIP

Car Park

SK 198 586

2.6 Step

60 3.15

Ballidon

234

JANUARY 2022 | 73

16/12/2021 00:26

Step 61: The gate is ridiculously narrow, and you’re right up against a tree, but there IS space to fit so long as you’re not in something lavishly fat. As you climb the hill, the track gains height through a series of hairpins (far right) Step

61 4.0

SK 212 549

Yes, you do have to fit through that tiny little gate in front of you; we made it with a few inches to spare.

More importantly, people coming from the left will be totally blind as they round the corner – and safe to say they’ll be going too fast. Use a spotter, and open the gate before pulling out to cross the road

Step

Step

4.35

6.25

Step

Step

4.4

6.8

Step

Step

4.55

7.2

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62

67

64

69

Longcliffe Ashbourne

Step

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Carsington Kniveton

SK 215 524

In wet weather, there could be a ford shortly after the start of this track

7.75 Step

66 78 | JANUARY 2022

2

70

65

5.6

1

68

63

5.35

Bradbourne

71 Ashbourne (A515)

8.35 4x4 16/12/2021 00:26

Step

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8.85

9.95

75

72 Step

73

SK 202 510

9.15 Step

74 9.9

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Step

76

After the pond on the left, turn right opposite Tissington Kindergarten

11.5 Caution as you turn left – it’s tight, and this is a busy road – then watch for traffic coming over the crest towards you as you bear right towards the ford

Step

77

The route ends at the Old Coach House tea rooms in Tissington.

Do park up considerately if you’re going to pay a visit – it’s so damn quaint around here, an abandoned 4x4 will stand out like a sore thumb…

11.55

JANUARY 2022 | 75

16/12/2021 00:27

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21/09/2018 18/12/2020 15:49 13:54

4x4 OF THE YEAR 2022 | WELCOME

WELCOME THIS YEAR HAS BEEN A BIT OF AN ODD ONE. For many of us, I suspect, it has felt like we’ve been marking time. The pandemic is in retreat, omicron notwithstanding, though life’s not quite back to normal yet and there’s a sense that the really good stuff is still waiting around the corner, still tantalisingly out of reach.

And it’s been kind of the same in the world of 4x4s. Plenty of fine new vehicles have come our way in the last twelve months, but the line-up of incredibly exciting new models waiting in the wings is little short of eye-popping.

By the time I sit down to write this column in 2023’s 4x4 of the Year supplement, the hugely anticipated Ineos Grenadier will be on sale. The astonishingly promising new Ford Ranger won’t, quite, but the order book will be open and I suspect there’ll already be a waiting list as long as, well, a Ford Ranger.

As you probably know, the new Ranger has been developed jointly with Volkswagen, so as an added bonus we’ll also be getting an all-new Amarok at around the same time. And before any of these hit the road, the 4x4 market will have a new king, albeit a selfproclaimed one, in the shape of the fifth-generation Range Rover.

So that’s next year taken care of, and I’m already both rubbing my hands at the prospect of driving that lot and shuddering at the prospect of having to pick a winner out of what’s going to be the strongest field ever in these awards. But what about this year?

Well, this year we have expanded 4x4 of the Year. Recognising the importance of double-cabs as part of the mainstream 4x4 market, we’ve added a new class which is basically a reprise of the Pick-Up of the Year awards we featured in the Winter issue of 4x4.

That’s not all, though. In addition, we’ve added another new class for Electric SUVs. Again, this is a simple case of recognising the way the market is going.

At a test day run by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders a couple of months ago, I drove seven different vehicles.

Three of them were fully electric, two were hybrids and the remaining two were a Jeep Wrangler (coming soon in plug-in form) and a Porsche Cayenne (already available as a hybrid).

Electrification is no longer a curiosity. It’s the norm. And this new category acknowledges the fact that the future of the motor industry is not just saddled with battery power – it depends on it. Hybrids will come and go; plug-in will be the new normal until hydrogen comes fully online as a power source. While most of us intend to hold on to whatever petrol or diesel 4x4 we’ve got, we need to get used to the fact that with each generation of new models, those traditional power sources will become more and more marginalised.

So this might not be the last year in which 4x4 of the Year feels a bit odd. Before long, the Electric SUVs class will be gone again, because it would be like having an ‘SUVs with a steering wheel’ class or something like that.

Which is of course another story. Electric is one thing, self-driving is another altogether. For now, let’s relish what we’ve got – and enjoy the anticipation of those many fantastic 4x4s to come.

The line-up of incredibly exciting new vehicles waiting in the wings is little short of eye-popping

Alan Kidd Editor 4x4 OF THE YEAR 2022 | 3

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4x4 OF THE YEAR 2022 | CONTENTS

4 | 4x4 OF THE YEAR 2022

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4x4 OF THE YEAR 2022 | CONTENTS

CONTENTS 6

Crossover Estates

LAST YEAR’S WINNER: Subaru XV NOMINATED: Subaru Outback, Subaru XV, Volkswagen Golf Alltrack, Volvo V60 Cross-Country, Volvo V90 Cross-Country

8

Crossovers

LAST YEAR’S WINNER: Fiat Panda Cross NOMINATED: Fiat Panda Cross, Nissan Juke, Nissan Qashqai, Renault Arkana, SsangYong Korando

10 Small SUVs LAST YEAR’S WINNER: Jeep Renegade NOMINATED: Dacia Duster, Jeep Renegade, Skoda Karoq, Subaru Forester, Volkswagen T-Roc

12 Medium SUVs LAST YEAR’S WINNER: Land Rover Discovery Sport NOMINATED: Land Rover Discovery Sport, Skoda Kodiaq, Suzuki Across, Toyota RAV4, Volkswagen Tiguan

14 Large SUVs LAST YEAR’S WINNER: Land Rover Discovery NOMINATED: Kia Sorento, Land Rover Discovery, Mercedes-Benz GLE, Toyota Highlander, Volkswagen Touareg

16 Electric SUVs LAST YEAR’S WINNER: NOMINATED: BMW iX3, Ford Mustang Mach-E, Mercedes-Benz EQC, Skoda Enyaq iV, Volvo XC40 Recharge

20 Performance SUVs LAST YEAR’S WINNER: Lamborghini Urus NOMINATED: Alfa Romeo Stelvio, Lamborghini Urus, Porsche Cayenne, Range Rover Sport SVR, Volkswagen T-Roc R

22 Luxury SUVs LAST YEAR’S WINNER: Bentley Bentayga NOMINATED: Bentley Bentayga, BMW X7, Mercedes-Benz GLS, Range Rover, Rolls-Royce Cullinan

24 Off-Roaders LAST YEAR’S WINNER: Land Rover Defender NOMINATED: Jeep Wrangler, Land Rover Defender, Mercedes-Benz G-Class, SsangYong Rexton, Toyota Landcruiser

26 Pick-Ups LAST YEAR’S WINNER: Isuzu D-Max NOMINATED: Ford Ranger, Isuzu D-Max, Nissan Navara, SsangYong Musso, Toyota Hilux

29 RESULTS

4x4 OF THE YEAR 2022 | 5

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4x4 OF THE YEAR 2022 | CROSSOVER ESTATES

WINNER | SUBARU XV

VOLVO V60 CROSS-COUNTRY

£42,670

A former winner of this class, the V60 Cross-Country is perhaps the most affordable of the premium crossover estates. It has the feeling and appearance of a true executive wagon – though with a 66mm suspension lift to go with its standard four-wheel drive, it’s more than capable of performing in the rough stuff.

VOLKSWAGEN GOLF ALLTRACK

£37,075

The Golf Alltrack has a classy, modern cabin that’s beautifully put together. It’s enormous inside, too. The 200bhp diesel engine is excellent and with tough lower body cladding and enhanced drive modes, it can hack it in most typical off-road conditions. It’s a lot more expensive than anything else in the Golf range, though.

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4x4 OF THE YEAR 2022 | CROSSOVER ESTATES

£28,360-£33,680 THE XV WON THIS CLASS last year, and here it is at the top again.

It’s had a very mild facelift in the intervening period, though what keeps it at the top is the way in which it demonstrates how Subaru has come to define what a crossover estate should be.

Based on Subaru’s Global Platform, the XV is world-class in terms of safety. But it’s crisp and sharp to drive, too, with lots of feel in its steering and excellent handling to go with its mammoth levels of grip.

Add in a hybrid powertrain mating an electric motor to a zesty 2.0-litre boxer engine and you have a beguiling combination of performance and dynamic prowess.

The XV is also available with a traditional 1.6-litre petrol engine, however the 2.0-litre e-Boxer only costs a little more. It’s also very smooth and quiet; you can drive it on electric power only at slow city speeds, but when the engine cuts in it does so seamlessly.

The body’s rigidity, combined with an excellent suspension set-up, means the XV rides very well both in town and on the motorway. But it’s also a startlingly capable off-roader.

There are obvious physical limits to what its ground clearance and axle travel can do, however its ability to find traction in seriously slippery conditions will take you aback.

As usual with Subaru, there’s not a vast range of options – just two spec levels, each available with both engines. Whichever you go for, you get a tidily designed cabin that looks good and is thoroughly agreeable to sit in. There’s plenty of space for all occupants – and the fixtures and fittings have a level of build quality which says this is a vehicle that will last the test of time.

SUBARU OUTBACK

£33,810-£36,810

The Outback’s replacement is on its way, and we’re expecting great things from it. For now, though, the existing model still delivers great things of its own.

It’s robustly put together and well equipped, with a sense of purpose to it that goes hand in hand with its segment-defining ability on every kind of road and trail.

VOLVO V90 CROSS-COUNTRY

£52,135-£53,695

The V90 Cross-Country is like the V60 but bigger, and with the choice of petrol and diesel engines. It’s a superb luxury estate with high-tech features and ultra-modern styling, and its lifted suspension and smart all-wheel drive system allows it to do things you would barely believe possible on unmade tracks and rough terrain.

4x4 OF THE YEAR 2022 | 7

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15/12/2021 20:35

4x4 OF THE YEAR 2022 | CROSSOVERS

WINNER | NISSAN QASHQAI

FIAT PANDA CROSS

£18,770

Small, cute and startlingly capable, the Panda Cross is one of the most wonderfully charming vehicles in existence. What space it has inside is used well and it has enough equipment to complement its chic, chunky styling – as well as tremendous grip, up-and-at-‘em road manners and an engine that loves to rev. It’s a giant-killer and no mistake.

SSANGYONG KORANDO

£20,295-£32,745

The Korando is smooth, refined and enjoyable to drive – and even in Ultimate form, with a diesel engine, auto box and four-wheel drive, it only costs £32,745. The top-speccer’s equipment would easily grace a premium 4x4 – and with strong all-round practicality plus a monster of a warranty, it’s sensational value for money.

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4x4 OF THE YEAR 2022 | CROSSOVERS

£24,555-£38,855 NOT MANY CARS have had as big boots to fill as the new Qashqai. But Nissan has proved yet again that in the crossover market, it knows exactly what it’s doing.

In time, the Qashqai will gain a full hybrid powertrain, but for now you get a 1.3-litre mild-hybrid petrol unit with a choice of 140 and 158bhp outputs. Both are available with manual and CVT gearboxes and there are five trim levels, with four-wheel drive available towards the top of the range.

From a driver’s point of view, the most engaging thing about the Qashqai is its blend of steering, ride and handling – all of which give it a nice, natural flow through corners whether in town or on the sort of roads you can enjoy. Pot holes are well damped out and it sits steadily on the motorway, where there’s nothing more than a touch of road noise to disturb the calm.

In the cabin, the back is best for children – which is exactly what they’ll get 99% of the time. The boot behind them is huge – and when the seats go down, they lie as good as flat to create an impressively long cargo bay.

Up front, the media screen has fantastic graphics and a literally brilliant high-res display. Top models have loads of equipment – including one of the best camera-driven parking systems we’ve seen, along with superb diamond-quilted leather seats which are every bit as comfortable as they are stylish.

It’s getting pricey by this point, and when the full hybrid arrives we’ll be seeing the first £40k Qashqais.

But we will be seeing them, a lot – because this vehicle has everything it needs to become yet another sales monster for Nissan.

NISSAN JUKE

£19,200-£27,200

The Juke is distinctively styled and has a funky cabin design to go with its unique exterior.

It’s not all fur coat and no knickers, either – quality is good and though the back is best only for kids, it’s spacious up front and makes an excellent load carrier. It’s not the very most refined to drive, but it rides and handles well enough to pass muster.

RENAULT ARKANA

£25,690-£31,490

The Arkana dares to be different, with coupé-SUV styling that makes it unique in this part of the market. It comes with a choice of petrol engines, both of them hybrids, and drives well on the open road, though it rides rather bumpily around town. It costs enough to have some strong competition, but you do get a lot of kit for your money.

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15/12/2021 20:36

4x4 OF THE YEAR 2022 | SMALL SUVS

WINNER | DACIA DUSTER

JEEP RENEGADE

£23,405-£36,500

Last year’s class winner remains the only option for real off-roading, thanks to the presence of the Trailhawk model at the top of the range. The Renegade is also available as an excellent plug-in hybrid, and all models drive with all-round road manners that complement their spacious, attractive and well made interiors.

VOLKSWAGEN T-ROC

£24,545-£42,190

The T-Roc looks a bit like a shrunken Touareg, which is praise indeed. It’s funky, well made and a lot of fun to drive, and its up-and-at-‘em styling is a hit with its target audience. There’s a facelift on the way but, whether you buy a current one from stock or wait for its replacement, you’ll get loads of choice.

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4x4 OF THE YEAR 2022 | SMALL SUVS

£14,295-£21,145 THE DUSTER HAS BEEN REVISED in the last year, giving it a modest facelift on the outside and a redesigned facia in the cabin. The latter is what really matters, as it contains a new infotainment system as part of a generally improved kit list.

Starting right there, all models now have roof bars, DAB, cruise and air-con, while Comfort mid-rangers add smartphone mirroring and the top-spec Prestige model augments this with sat-nav. The latter pair give you a reversing camera, too, and they’re also the ones you can have with four-wheel drive.

This is only available in diesel form, which is probably no hardship. And that part of the Duster’s character is no token effort. It has decent ground clearance for an SUV of this size and its tractability is impressive, as is its ability to shrug off the scrapes of life away from tarmac. Stay within sensible boundaries and it will perform admirably.

It’s the same on the road. The Duster might not be the last word in anything, but it gets so close in almost every area that for most people you might as well be driving something twice as expensive. It really is very, very competent, with a good balance of steering, handling, ride and performance that’s not trying to be anything it isn’t and, as a consequence, manages to be much more than it is.

There are people who still see the Duster as a cheap 4x4 and nothing more. They should take a closer look. It might not have the slick materials and refinement of a premium SUV, but it’s solid, practical and pleasing to drive. It’s a million miles ahead of the original model – in addition to being great value, it’s just great full stop.

SUBARU FORESTER

£36,360-£39,360

Based on the same platform as the class-winning XV, the Forester is a very capable vehicle combining hybrid technology with Subaru’s trademark all-terrain ability. It’s wonderfully agile on the road, too, with great grip, control and pin-sharp steering, and its cabin blends well-kitted elegance with the solid practicality of a true 4x4.

SKODA KAROQ

£23,720-£32,340

The Karoq is little brother to the brilliant Kodiaq, which is reason enough to take it seriously. There’s plenty of choice in a range which, though it’s currently awaiting a facelift, has everything you could want in a family SUV – including rock-solid build quality and genuine rough-trail ability in the 4x4 models.

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4x4 OF THE YEAR 2022 | MEDIUM SUVS

WINNER | TOYOTA RAV4

SKODA KODIAQ

£29,140-£46,035

The Kodiaq is one of the best SUVs of any kind. It’s great to drive, generously equipped, superbly put together and immensely practical in both 5 and 7-seat form. A facelift model arrived during 2021 which brought back the vRS performance model and retains a wide range of 4x4 options – adding real off-road skills to the mix.

VOLKSWAGEN TIGUAN

£28,585-£47,210

Revised this last year in facelifted form, the Tiguan has quality oozing from every pore.

It’s spacious, well equipped and enormously flexible, with a wide variety of models available to let you make more or less whatever you want of it. It’s superb on the road and, in 4x4 form, very capable in the rough, too.

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4x4 OF THE YEAR 2022 | MEDIUM SUVS

£31,120-£46,150 IN A MARKET THAT’S LOADED with excellent choices, the RAV4 has always been one of the best.

With the arrival of an outstanding plug-in hybrid, now it’s better still.

Based on the familiar 2.5-litre petrol engine, the hybrid drivetrain develops 302bhp at full cry. This comes with an eye-opening surge of torque that makes for excellent overtaking – and with equally fine dynamics, it’s a rock-steady vehicle in which to tackle a cross-country drive on fast A and B-roads.

For the other kind of cross-country drive, a Trail button engages an all-terrain mode designed to enhance traction and control in off-tarmac conditions. For the sort of unmade tracks that are appropriate to an SUV of this nature, it’s very sure footed and, within the scope of what its tyres and ground clearance allow, it has plenty in reserve.

It can do this on electric power alone, in which state its range is around 45 miles. Used properly, its official fuel consumption is 282.5mpg; even when driven hard on nothing but petrol power, we got an excellent 51.3mpg.

Inside, the cabin’s layout and styling are very pleasing and its build quality is top-drawer. Excellent seats, good materials and controls, a fine driving position and plenty of leg and head room for a full set of tall adults, plus an enormous boot, make it an SUV that ticks every box.

There’s a nice chunkiness to its buttons and dials, and the infotainment system is clear and easy to use.

Overall, we were already big fans of the RAV4. Now we’re huge fans.

It’s everything a family SUV should be – and as a PHEV, it’s a worldclass reminder of the fact that Toyota wrote the book on hybrids.

LAND ROVER DISCOVERY SPORT

£32,430-£51,895

With a blend of modern tech, an elegant cabin and a Land Rover badge, the Disco Sport is the go-to vehicle for most Brits looking to buy a medium-sized premium SUV. It’s excellent all-round to drive, competent off-road and highly practical when used as a load-lugger – and a plug-in hybrid option endows it with taxman-tackling ability too.

SUZUKI ACROSS

£45,599

The Across is basically a Toyota RAV4 PHEV with a Suzuki badge. There are differences to be found (Suzuki’s infotainment system isn’t as complete as Toyota’s, for example) but almost everything that’s good about the original is also good about Suzuki’s version. Toyota gets our vote, but both are outstanding SUVs.

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4x4 OF THE YEAR 2022 | LARGE SUVS

WINNER | LAND ROVER DISCOVERY

KIA SORENTO

£39,710-£47,960

New to the UK just over a year ago, the Sorento is superbly put together, very well equipped and excellent to drive in every situation. It’s available in diesel and hybrid form and with a range of trims – all of which provide a slick, attractive cabin with the class and style of a true premium SUV. It’s a brilliant vehicle at a phenomenal price.

MERCEDES-BENZ GLE

£65,500-£127,420

The GLE offers a wide variety of engines and spec levels, including a coupe-SUV body option and a variety of AMG performance models. Across the range, though, it’s smooth, refined and full of urge, with a highly refined chassis and drivetrain and a classy, spacious cabin whose modern styling is executed using top-drawer materials.

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4x4 OF THE YEAR 2022 | LARGE SUVS

£54,530-£73,830 THE DISCOVERY IS STILL dining out on revisions made in 2020 which saw it gain a slew of new six-cylinder petrol and diesel engines. With 48-volt mild-hybrid assistance across the board, these provide strong power and immense torque from way down in the depths of their rev range.

Refinement is a big part of the story for these engines, and in petrol and diesel form alike the Discovery pulls away effortlessly and gathers pace with almost ethereal smoothness. The eightspeed automatic box that’s standard across the range is every bit as refined, too.

As a result, the Discovery is a delight around town and on country lanes. Both feel like its natural habitat, as does the motorway; the almost complete lack of engine noise here means you notice the road that much more, and ride-wise it’s not quite a magic carpet, but you could very happily cover hundreds of miles in one sitting.

Inside, it’s superbly laid out and trimmed in a range of sumptuous materials. That’s the case in both the fabulously roomy seven-seat station wagon and also the Discovery Commercial – whose status as an LCV doesn’t detract one bit from its magnificence. We can’t think of any other van whose seats can give you a massage…

Either way, the Disco is little short of mesmerising in its ability when you leave the tarmac behind, with an army of high-tech functions to keep it moving where the laws of nature appear to be stacked against you. Expensive though it may be, it’s a premium SUV whose in-built off-road ability sets it apart from the rest of the class.

TOYOTA HIGHLANDER

£50,650

The Highlander is as big as the old Landcruiser V8, though its hybrid powertrain returns a handy 39.9mpg. It doesn’t have low range but can still hack it off-road, and relaxed but agile manners on the tarmac mean it’s a pleasure to drive. Its cabin is enormous, roomy and rammed full of equipment, and it’s a practicality monster.

VOLKSWAGEN TOUAREG

£53,090-£74,855

The Touareg is middle-aged now, but its cabin remains at the cutting edge of modernity thanks to a more or less fullwidth arrangement of high-res media screens. It’s gloriously easy and refined to drive, too, with roomy, highly comfortable seats, and its practicality goes way beyond what its slick styling might have you expect.

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4x4 OF THE YEAR 2022 | ELECTRIC SUVS

WINNER | SKODA ENYAQ iV

BMW iX3

£60,970-£63,970

An X3 with a fully electric powertrain, the iX3 looks more traditional than some EVs and performs the way you’d expect, with utterly commanding acceleration and the handling to match. It has the crisp, clean cabin design that’s typical of BMW and will carry four adults or a huge load of luggage in whisper-quiet comfort.

VOLVO XC40 RECHARGE

£48,500-£56,700

Already an excellent SUV, the XC40 is also now a full EV with single and twin-motor options.

The latter gives you all-wheel drive – and a 408bhp output.

It handles well, too, with alert steering and lots of grip, and it rides smoothly at speed. Build quality is supreme and the cabin is very premium, albeit also rather dark.

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4x4 OF THE YEAR 2022 | ELECTRIC SUVS

£34,850-£47,035 ELECTRIC VEHICLES ARE flooding their way on to every part of the market. The Enyaq has already won a number of awards for being the best of them, and indeed in some cases for being the year’s best new car full stop – and though we’re never ones for slavishly following the trend, we can’t help but reach that same conclusion.

The Enyaq starts being brilliant the moment you get aboard. You’d never believe how spacious its seats are, there’s an astonishing amount of oddment stowage in the cabin and the boot is huge. The floor is less than flat when the seats are folded, but the sheer volume of cargo space means this is still a seriously practical family 4x4.

Up front, the dash layout is based around an enormous media screen that’s used for almost everything.

It takes a bit of learning, but phone integration is a cinch, the screen is crystal clear and the system is instantly responsive. The cabin is seriously stylish, too.

When it comes to actually driving the thing, it pulls firmly (very firmly, in the case of the 4x4) and both steers and handles with a pleasing tautness, making it enjoyable to drive as you would any other crossover estate. It’s nice and quiet at all times, including on the motorway, and bumps in the road are well damped out.

We found the Enyaq’s quoted range to be a touch optimistic on a long journey, but against that it was quick to recharge – and the range in question is 256 miles, even on the base-spec model, so everyday usability is not compromised one bit.

This is, by any standard, a brilliant EV – and, more to the point, it’s a brilliant vehicle full stop.

MERCEDES-BENZ EQC

£67,320-£75,295

The EQC is like any other Merc SUV – only, it’s an electric one.

It has a roomy, comfortable cabin containing a stunning, pin-sharp dash and media screen. All-round practicality is good and performance is eye-opening, as are the ride, refinement and dynamics you do admittedly have the right to expect at this much money.

FORD MUSTANG MACH-E

£42,530-£66,280

The Mustang Mach-E currently has the longest range in its class, with up to 335 miles between charges. It pulls very strongly and handles well, with good refinement in most scenarios. Its cabin feels rather mass-market, but its seats are excellent and a vast infotainment tablet in the facia definitely adds high-tech interest.

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4x4 OF THE YEAR 2022 | PERFORMANCE SUVS

WINNER | PORSCHE CAYENNE TURBO GT

LAMBORGHINI URUS

£159,925-£200,300

Last year’s winner remains an eye-catching tour de force, but it’s also a technological masterpiece whose dynamics and sheer pace leave you openmouthed. Like any SUV must be, it’s also comfortable and spacious inside, but in a very Lambo way – it’s a little like travelling aboard the world’s most cushily appointed racing car.

VOLKSWAGEN T-ROC R

£42,190

With a 300bhp, 295lbf.ft petrol engine and a 4.9-second 0-62 time, the T-Roc R is the closest you’ll ever come to combining a GTI with an SUV. It’s perhaps not quite raw enough to appeal to your visceral sense of fun – but the grip, balance, poise and response it adds to its sheer urge certainly make it entertaining to throw around.

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4x4 OF THE YEAR 2022 | PERFORMANCE SUVS

£147,510 THE CAYENNE WAS ALREADY a performance giant. And then, in the second half of 2021, Porsche brought in the Turbo GT. Powered by Porsche’s version of the 3996cc V8 engine which also appears in the Lamborghini Urus, this has 640bhp and 627lbf.ft and will blow away the 0-62 sprint in 3.3 seconds. Thus actually beating the Urus, which takes some doing.

Perhaps the Cayenne does it with a little less drama. But its acceleration is every bit as phenomenal as the numbers make it sound – and it’s accompanied by a thunderous roar which makes the experience even more glorious.

It’s not just about speed, either.

The Turbo GT steers and handles with such sharpness it makes you laugh out loud. On twisting B-roads, you can only imagine the joy of taking tight corners with such a combination of precision, balance and sheer grunt; it’s so, so stable under braking, so sharp as it turns in and so instant as the throttle goes back down. And at the other end of the scale, grip levels are such that it redefines the sort of corner for which you don’t have to slow down at all.

Yet it’s also not nervous and harsh the way a performance vehicle can be. Around town, it’s like any other SUV in terms of both its ride and its drivetrain refinement.

It’s lovely to sit in, too. The cabin combines a very snug, settled driving position with a real sense of occasion and excitement – and if you’re riding in the back you won’t feel anything like as cramped as the plunging roofline might lead you to assume. Porsche has taken a good SUV and turned it into something very special indeed.

ALFA ROMEO STELVIO QUADRIFOGLIO

£74,949

The Stelvio is a good SUV. And in range-topping Quadrifoglio form, it’s a 510bhp animal with a 3.8-second sprint time and a Race mode setting that turns a quick everyday family motor into a snorting, braying trackday weapon. It’s searingly fast, stunningly agile and hilariously loud, and its thrills-per-pound ratio is off the scale.

LAND ROVER RANGE ROVER SPORT SVR

£101,920-£114,985

Though the Range Rover Sport is soon to be replaced, in SVR form it remains one of the most iconic performance 4x4s of its time. It’s big, brash and unashamedly in-your-face, with aggressive styling and a thunderous V8 soundtrack to go with a typically Range Rover-esque set of all-round abilities on and even off-road.

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4x4 OF THE YEAR 2022 | LUXURY SUVS

WINNER | BENTLEY BENTAYGA

LAND ROVER RANGE ROVER

£94,400-£137,800

The all-new Range Rover has already been unveiled, but for now the current model remains the benchmark luxury 4x4. It’s packed with high-tech gadgets but what matters is the luxury built in to every fibre of its being. It’s gorgeous on the road and sensational in the rough – ten years on, it continues to set a standard few others can match.

MERCEDES-BENZ GLS-CLASS

£85,630-£174,020

Presented as the S-Class of the SUV world, the GLS is a huge seven-seater with every last feature you can think of.

It’s a delight on the road and can be specced up to deliver the goods in remarkably rough terrain, too. At the top of the range, Mercedes-Maybach models take the luxury to extremes.

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4x4 OF THE YEAR 2022 | LUXURY SUVS

£146,700-£155,000 THE BENTAYGA’S ALL-ROUND craftsmanship and engineering magnificence carried it to victory in the Luxury SUV class last year.

Since then, its position has become stronger still thanks to the reintroduction of the Hybrid model. This is a plug-in with the ability to achieve 83.1mpg and 82g/km; Bentley says the majority of owners do use their hybrids properly, charging them wherever possible so as to optimise their use of electric power.

Whether in Hybrid form or with a traditional 4.0-litre V8, the Bentayga is sublime on the road. It’s crushingly fast, of course, but what takes your breath away is its agility – it’s a big, heavy SUV, but its handling has the nimbleness you associate with a hot hatch. This comes in tandem with a glorious ride whose suppleness and refinement make every journey a pleasure.

Yes, even an off-road journey.

The Bentayga offers an optional All-Terrain Specification pack with additional drive modes – and the results are extraordinary, allowing it to tackle surfaces and obstacles in a manner which, once again, you would only imagine possible in something far smaller and lighter.

As with all Bentleys, even when it’s parked the Bentayga is a superb thing to sit in. All-round space is generous and seat comfort is sublime, while a hand-crafted dash houses a high-resolution media screen whose operation is entirely in keeping with the vehicle itself.

Of course, the Bentayga is expensive. However it’s operating in a market where the money matters a lot less than what you get with it.

And you get almost limitless personal choices – along with a luxury SUV of the very highest order.

BMW X7

£79,270-£97,670

The X7 almost looks cheap in this company, but the top model in BMW’s SUV range is always going to be worthy of consideration. It perhaps leads with performance rather than luxury, and of course the hightech gadgets are everywhere, however there are few more elegant ways in which seven people can travel.

ROLLS-ROYCE CULLINAN

£264,000

Combining palatial space and a sublime combination of cabin design and materials, the Cullinan takes luxury to a whole new level. It’s quite unlike anything else in the SUV market, as its price illustrates.

Whether making a statement in Knightsbridge or crossing your own personal desert, it’s probably the global symbol of off-road largesse.

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4x4 OF THE YEAR 2022 | OFF-ROADERS

WINNER | LAND ROVER DEFENDER

JEEP WRANGLER

£49,450-£54,450

If you want a new vehicle with pure off-road intent at the core of its being, the Wrangler will be at the top of a very short list. In Rubicon form, it’s the most capable turn-key 4x4 on the market, but in truth there’s no such thing as a Wrangler that’s not outstanding off-road. They’re expensive, but almost nothing holds its value as tightly.

TOYOTA LANDCRUISER

£35,935-£58,550

The strength and ability built in to the Landcruiser is legendary.

It’s easy to forget that in Africa, they work day in, day out in the most demanding conditions exactly as they left the factory.

Toyota has gone back to positioning the station wagon version as a premium vehicle, but in Utility Commercial form it’s pretty much unbeatable value for money.

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4x4 OF THE YEAR 2022 | OFF-ROADERS

£45,675-£108,790 AFTER RIDING THE WAVE of an initial post-launch buzz which carried it to overall victory last year, Land Rover has spent 2021 really getting the Defender range up and running. We’ve seen the arrival of the V8 range-topper, both with and without James Bond logos. The plug-in hybrid options has added real attraction for business users.

And of course the Commercial model has arrived to make it more tax-efficient than ever.

For us, though, the introduction of the D250 diesel engine has made the biggest difference of all. This was a case of replacing a 2.0-litre four pot with a 3.0-litre six, so go figure. The new unit has colossal torque at tiny engine speeds – its performance is utterly commanding and its power is delivered with a growl that makes it all the better.

The Defender is of course a hightech masterpiece, but the last year has shown us that the best version of it is the entry-level 90 with steel wheels and coil springs. It’s reminiscent, in a good way, of the old 90 – but with the same superbly designed and lavishly equipped cabin as the rest of the new range.

As a station wagon, the 90’s rearseat accommodation is terrible.

But as a van, its space is epic. And if you want to carry people, the 110 has bags of rear leg and head room – as well as a mighty cargo bay when the rear seats are folded.

Off-road, its ability to cover ground is huge – in a very high-tech way, but it really does take the hard work out of it. And that’s the case on the road, too. It went straight in at number one last year – and not only has it held on to the top spot, with all these new models now on sale the Defender has extended its lead.

MERCEDES-BENZ G-CLASS

£108,815-£181,715

Our overall champion in 2020, the G-Wagen (as everyone still calls it) is a traditional off-road vehicle with a supremely highend twist. It’s very luxurious, of course, and makes a monster of a statement, but it you were to take one to your local playday it would, given the right tyres, go more or less anywhere you care (or dare) to point it.

SSANGYONG REXTON

£37,995-£40,665

Another former winner of the overall title, the Rexton was given a facelift at the start of 2021. It’s no longer available with the amazingly classy cabin trim that made it so special when it was new, but it remains a very well equipped and extremely capable all-rounder whose price and warranty represent stunning value for money.

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4x4 OF THE YEAR 2022 | PICK-UPS

WINNER | TOYOTA HILUX

ISUZU D-MAX

£27,545-£37,445

Last year’s winner is stoutly made, well equipped and available in a huge choice of body styles and spec levels. We think the mid-range versions are the best of the bunch, but whichever model you choose you’ll enjoy confidence-inspiring dynamics, supple ride quality and a smooth engine to stroke you around.

SSANGYONG MUSSO

£28,128-£37,728

The Musso dares to be different, with full-time fourwheel drive and, on all but the range-topping Rhino LWB model, a coil-sprung back axle.

The latter doesn’t unlock any ride revelations, but where the Musso scores is in its cabin; derived from the excellent Rexton, it’s the most SUV-like we’ve ever seen in a truck.

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4x4 OF THE YEAR 2022 | PICK-UPS

£29,345-£64,681 THE HILUX WILL ALWAYS BE there or thereabouts on reputation alone. But with the revisions introduced at the very end of 2020, it’s building on that as opposed to trading on it.

An all-new 2.8-litre turbo-diesel engine was very much the headline story, moving Toyota back into the top echelons of pick-up performance. The fact that this is available with a manual gearbox will be music to the ears of many would-be customers, too.

But there’s more to the revised Hilux than just that. The existing 2.4 engine is still there, and Toyota has improved the vehicle’s steering and suspension – with the latter tuned while running unladen for the first time in the vehicle’s history.

We’d like more communication from the steering at B-road speeds, but it’s very settled and unfussy even on joltingly poor surfaces.

And when you leave the tarmac behind, the Hilux is outstanding.

With 310lbf.ft in manual form and 369lbf.ft with an auto, all of it from 1400rpm, the engine is masterful – and a standard locking rear diff means you can use all that torque to crawl your way over the terrain under total control. With the right tyres, it’s like having cogwheels pulling you across the ground.

Even in 2.4 form, the Hilux is still extremely capable all-round – though we’d steer clear of the auto box with this engine. In the cabin, meanwhile, rear-seat accommodation is as cramped as ever.

But a new infotainment system makes a huge difference up front, bringing Toyota’s media offering up to the standard of the bomb-proof build quality for which the vehicle has for so long been famous.

FORD RANGER

£26,770-£50,290

The new Ranger may already have been unveiled, but the current one will be around until the end of 2022. And even after ten years on sale, there are areas in which it still feels ahead of the curve. Cabin space and equipment are exemplary, the range of models is exhaustive and its capabilities on and off-road are as good as ever.

NISSAN NAVARA

£30,090

The Navara is on its last legs as Nissan prepares to end production. If you can still get one, its rear seats will be as cramped as ever. But from the driver’s point of view it will be comfortable, well enough equipped and pleasing to drive, with an enthusiastic response to the sort of off-road terrain most people go out of their way to avoid.

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4x4 OF THE YEAR 2022 | RESULTS

SPECIAL AWARDS BEST CROSSOVER ESTATE Subaru XV BEST CROSSOVER Nissan Qashqai BEST SMALL SUV Dacia Duster BEST MEDIUM SUV Toyota RAV4 BEST LARGE SUV Land Rover Discovery BEST ELECTRIC SUV Skoda Enyaq iV BEST PERFORMANCE SUV Porsche Cayenne BEST LUXURY SUV Bentley Bentayga BEST OFF-ROAD VEHICLE Land Rover Defender BEST PICK-UP Toyota Hilux

BEST VALUE SSANGYONG REXTON

OFF-ROAD AWARD JEEP WRANGLER

So here we are: half a decade’s worth of Best Value awards for the Rexton. The big wagon from SsangYong has done it every year since launch – and with a mid-life facelift behind it, this year it’s been more of the same.

The entry-level model has been discontinued, as has the diamond-quilted leather interior that made the range-topper so utterly stunning when it was first launched. But with rock-solid build qulity, a mesmerising kit list and a belt-andbraces approach to practicality, the Rexton remains a hidden gem in the 4x4 market – and at a price you simply cannot beat, even five years on.

Jeep has spent the last year celebrating its 80th anniversary, and the Wrangler is currently available in limited-edition form to cash in on the fact. But you buy one of these for its off-road prowess – and nothing on the market delivers this with the same old-school brilliance as the Rubicon model.

This adds things like heavy-duty axles, locking diffs and a lower crawl ratio to the in-built off-road skills the Wrangler brings as second nature. It is, simply, the best off-the-peg off-roader you can buy. And Jeep actively encourages owners to modify their Wranglers – which is the icing on the cake.

SUSTAINABILITY AWARD TOYOTA LANDCRUISER

MANUFACTURER OF THE YEAR TOYOTA

The arrival of an Electric SUVs class this year could have spelt the end of the Landcruiser’s reign as holder of our Sustainability Award. But the point of this is to recognise vehicles that can go on forever – and there’s still nothing to beat the Landcruiser at doing that.

These vehicles are built to last. All they ask for is a sensible maintenance regime. Give them that and if you want it to be, you’ve got a car for life.

If you could choose just one car to have for the rest of your life, it would quite probably be this one, too. Making green choices never felt so good.

The big win for Toyota’s 4x4 range this year has been the RAV4 plug-in hybrid.

PHEVs are huge news, and this is the best one we’ve experienced – as well of course as just being a RAV4, which is a great starting point.

The Highlander has added a heavy-hitting new option in the Large SUV class, too, and the Landcruiser continues to bask in the glow of the new engine it got late last year. As does the Hilux – whose victory in the Pick-Up class is arguably the most significant of the lot. Few brands have strengths in so many areas: Toyota is absolutely smashing it out of the park right now.

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SUBARU XV. AWARDED 4X4 MAGAZINE’S

‘CROSSOVER ESTATE OF THE YEAR’ FOR THE THIRD TIME.

“It’s one of the safest cars there is — as well as having crisp road manners and an astonishing level of off-road ability.”

Alan Kidd, Editor of 4x4 Magazine

THE ORIGINAL COMPACT SUV FROM SUBARU.

Award-winning features.

Fitted as standard.

The multi-award winning XV is a brilliant combination of eye-catching design, true off-road All-Wheel Drive capability, class-leading safety and excellent entertainment technology. It’s the perfect size for urban and rural adventures so you can enjoy spending every moment with friends and family year after year, mile after mile.

• 2.0L Petrol e-BOXER Engine + Electric Motor

Find out more at Subaru.co.uk

• 8" Touchscreen with Apple CarPlay™ and Android Auto™

• Permanent Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive • X-MODE with Hill Descent Control • EyeSight Safety Package • Front View Monitor • Reversing Camera

† XV is covered by a 3 Year/60,000 miles (whichever is sooner) Manufacturer’s Warranty (bumper to bumper, excluding clutch driven plate). ^Additionally for added reassurance the traction battery (Lithium-ion) is covered by an 8 year / 100,000 mile Warranty (whichever is sooner).

4x4 OF THE YEAR 2022 | RESULTS

THE WINNER | LAND ROVER DEFENDER

BACK IN THE DAY, the Toyota Landcruiser VX made history by winning 4x4 of the Year twice in a row. The magazine has changed hands a few times since then, but none of us can remember another occasion when a vehicle has achieved that feat.

Until now.

The Defender swept to victory twelve months ago. It was the 4x4 of the Year in terms of setting the news agenda in this part of the motoring world, and it was 4x4 of the Year in terms of its sheer brilliance. And now, as we approach the end of 2021, it still is.

Not only that, though. A major reason why we’re here again is that Land Rover hasn’t just sat on its laurels. When the Defender was launched, its range had a breadth and depth which meant there was a version for everyone. A year on, there still is – but with the arrival of the V8 model at the top of the range, the PHEV for tax-conscious (or even planet-conscious) customers and, most of all, the sensational D250 engine to replace the D240 launch unit, the point is that there’s a better Defender for everyone.

It’s easy to see the six-figure price of the V8 and dismiss the Defender as being irrelevant to your pocket. In the context of the modern 4x4 market, however, this is not a particularly expensive vehicle. That’s based on what you pay for lower-spec versions, of course – but what matters here is that these are actually the best in the entire range. The basic entry-level Defender 90 with steel wheels and coil springs has everything you need of an off-roader – plus a whole lot more, when you look at the kit that’s standard on every model.

Say what you want about whether it deserves to be called a Defender at all (and that debate will rage forever). The fact is that this is a supremely capable vehicle – and if you ask us, the ruggedness built in to it makes it all the more enjoyable as an everyday road-going SUV, too.

This time next year, a long list of new vehicles will be trying to prevent the Defender from completing its hat-trick. They won’t find it an easy job.

Land Rover’s defining model remains the defining 4x4 of the moment – and that’s why the 4x4 of the Year title remains firmly in its grasp.

30 | 4x4 OF THE YEAR 2022

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www.ssangyonggb.co.uk Fuel consumption figures in mpg: Combined 32.9. CO2 emissions in g/km 225. Model featured is a Rexton Ultimate priced at £41,355 including optional metallic paint priced at £690. Price including VAT, delivery charge, Road Fund Licence & first registration charge. Prices are correct at the time of going to print, but may be modified or changed at any time.

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