4x4 Magazine - July 2022 by Assignment Media Ltd

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BRITAIN’S BEST ALL-MARQUES 4X4 MAGAZINE FOR 40 YEARS! PLUS First drive of the all-new Kia Sportage

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

NAMIBIAN ADVENTURE

Exploring the Kalahari and beyond – in an unusual kind of expedition vehicle

Jeep’s hybrid homage to its military past The fun way to breathe new life into a grotty old Discovery

PLUS: How Land Rover turned the Defender 130 into a £100,000 family wagon Meet the Mammoth: the mighty 6x6 with more than 1000bhp

£4.99

Monster roadbook on the downs of West Berkshire

JULY 2022

Land Master: The forgotten off-road utility from the 1980s 4x4 Cover July 22.indd 1

01/06/2022 23:22

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July 2022

CONTENTS

‘It was standard but for a snorkel that looked like rubber tube and boiler flue’

2 | JULY 2022

NEEDS LAST INFO Contents July.indd 2

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4x4 07/06/2022 17:40

52 BIG SAVINGS WHEN YOU SUBSCRIBE! A copy of 4x4 normally costs £4.99 to buy at the shops. So why not pay just £8.00 to have FIVE issues delivered to your door instead? Mad not to! 4x4 Scene: News, Products and More… 10 14 16 16 18 20 20 22 23 23 24 24 26

Land Rover Defender 130 New range-topper a long way from 130 of old Isuzu D-Max New AT35 gets expedition-ready for CV Show Scout VW brings back classic 4x4 marque for rugged new off-road range SsangYong Torres Name revealed for tough-looking mid-size SUV Breasthigh Pass Major repair work begins on iconic Cumbrian trail Smittybilt Bowless Combo Top makes for a JKU that’s all-weather cool Pro-Comp Wide-Beam LED lights ideal for night-time off-road use Ring Heavy-duty battery chargers for 12 and 24-volt use Bison Stainless steel seat-box protectors for old-shape Defenders LOF Clutches An easy way to transform your Land Rover’s left pedal Clarke Major expansion in Airmaster workshop compressor range Lazer Lamps New ﬁtting kit for Toyota RAV4 PHEV Gearmate New ranges of hard-tops and tonneaux for work and play

Driven 30 32 34

Kia Sportage First drive in all-new version of monster-selling family SUV BMW iX3 All-electric version of X3 impresses in every way Mercedes-Benz EQB Classy EV is fast, fun and a practicality sleeper

Every Month 4 52 62 80

Alan Kidd There were 4x4s, then there were SUVs, now there are RUVs… Subscribe Get ﬁve issues of 4x4 for just eight quid Roadbook Beautiful and at times challenging lanes on the Berkshire downs Next Month Volkswagen’s ultra-rare Type 2 half-track restored to perfection

Features 6 36 42 48

Hennessey Mammoth It’s huge… but the really huge thing is its horsepower Jeep ‘41 Military nostalgia meets modern technology in a classic concept Tubular Disco Early ones rot – but can still make top off-road toys Land Master An engineer’s solution to the need for a more robust 4x4

Travel 54

Namibia Much more than a place to hurry through on the way to South Africa

62 West Berks Roadbook are sharp rock Caution – there as you climb the steps to negotiate hillside

Step

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

Step

a combination of

Step

12.3 41

Abbey Strata Florida

8.75

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

Step

38 13.1

More rock steps, water trough

Step

followed by a long

Step

There’s a couple of huge water troughs after the junction

13.1 Step

11.7 Step

16 11.8 Step

17 12.8 Step

18 12.8 88 | JANUARY 2020

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

15.0

Step

4212.6

10.9

Step

Look out for you cross the the waymarker as ford

15.2

13.4 Step

Join the Cat A

track

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

13.65 Step

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

46 14.9

4x4 NEEDS LAST INFO Contents July.indd 3

4x4 JANUARY

2020 | 89

JULY 2022 | 3

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

Alan Kidd Editor

o there used to be cars, and there used to be 4x4s. You bought a car if you didn’t want to go off-road and you bought a 4x4 if you did. Then people realised that 4x4s were also better on the road than cars and started buying them for that too, so 4x4 makers decided they could get away with making things that looked like 4x4s but were mainly just cars really and thus dawned the day of the SUV. Now, I like SUVs and enjoy the part of my job that involves test driving them. But I know very well that plenty of hardcore offroaders look down their noses at what they see as wannabes or fakes. It’s always been this way, a kind of upside-down snobbery towards people with vehicles that are more comfortable than yours. For instance, I remember Brian Hartley, one of this magazine’s founding fathers, telling me about the grief he got from his off-roading mates ﬁrst time he turned up in a Range Rover. The word ‘handbag’ was used – and that was when Range Rovers had live axles and rubber ﬂoors. The Range Rover back then was a vehicle with plenty of utility but no airy-fairy notions of having something to do with ‘sport’. It was classy but it was rugged. Just like the Shoguns, Troopers, Cherokees, Land Cruisers and so on that drove the 4x4 boom 20 years later that led to the creation of the SUV. Every single one of them was The Real Thing. So I was delighted and reassured, but mainly driven to tears of laughter, when I read the other day that there’s now a thing called the RUV. Or the RSUV. Not sure if they’re interchangeable, but apparently they’re among the biggest growth areas in the global car market now. They’re Rugged Utility Vehicles, is what they are. Or Rugged Sport Utility Vehicles, if you prefer. Either way, we’re not talking about things like the John Deere Gator or Kawasaki Mule, but the latest lifestyle wagons like the Ford Bronco, Jeep Wrangler and Land Rover Defender. From what I can tell, an RUV/RSUV is a vehicle that’s gone back to being able to walk the walk as well as talking the talk. So, a 4x4, then.

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The new SUV is an RUV. Or an RSUV. So, a 4x4, then… If you’re not a fan of bland, anodyne cars that follow a formula to make a buck, you should be pleased that this is the new direction the market is taking. You’ll also be enormously cynical about how rugged these things really are, but the mere fact that they’re designed around the idea of going places off-road is a very good start. I’ve lost count of the number of 4x4 launches I’ve been on where a PR person casually mentioned before we set off that there’s not actually any off-roading on the driving route. Of course, RUVs are not the simple, basic vehicles we remember from back then. They’re laden with safety and emissions tech, all of which adds complexity and ramps up the cost. This in turn means the manufacturers need to price them high and in order to justify doing that, they need to stack them with fancy equipment which in turn means they need to price them higher than ever. That’s why a Defender 130 cost less than £25,000 in the late 1990s. Which is about £39,000 in today’s money – yet the new Defender 130, which you’ll be reading about in a few pages’ time, starts at £73,895 and climbs to, get this, £100,645. At this point, you may ﬁnd yourself thinking of other things ‘RUV’ could stand for. I like the Defender. It’s wonderful at what it does, and one of the things it does is Be Rugged. And we all want our 4x4s to be rugged again, remember? Maybe that’s why it’s vastly outselling the Discovery now. It’s certainly why SsangYong is adopting a new styling language designed to make its 4x4 look tougher. And why Volkswagen is bringing back the Scout brand in the USA as a maker of rugged wagons and pick-ups. It’s why the Bronco has been a smash hit and the Wrangler is more popular than ever. For those of us who liked trucks the way they used to be, it’s why we moved into pick-ups as the supply of Shoguns, Trooper etc dried up. There are many brilliant SUVs out there – but in the real off-road world, the rise of the RUV doesn’t change the fact that it’s always been about good old 4x4s.

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

4x4 01/06/2022 23:19

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TURNS OUT GOOD THINGS ALSO Performance tuner Hennessey turns the Ram TRX into a six-wheeled leviathan with 37” Words: Olly Sack Pictures: Hennessey Performance

f you read last month’s issue of 4x4, you’ll have spotted the story of how a meek 88” Series II Land Rover became a hefty great 6x6. With a dropside pick-up bed made of hardwood planks, the vehicle has all the charm of a classic work truck – though with its twicereconditioned 2.25 petrol engine putting out 74bhp, it’s unlikely to be seen as a street sleeper. In this way, it’s similar to the Hennessey Mammoth. Both have six wheels, all of them driven. And neither is a sleeper. In the case of the Mammoth, though, this is not because it has a

6 | JULY 2022

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4x4 01/06/2022 23:17

COME IN ENORMOUS PACKAGES tyres, two rear lockers – and a supercharged V8 engine developing 1012bhp

comedy horsepower output: it’s because it looks like a surface-to-surface missile. If you were to take the wings off a Lockheed Blackbird and put it on wheels instead, the image you’d get is not unlike the one the Mammoth creates. There’s something slightly freakish about it – but in a splendidly breathtaking, menacing way. That’s why it’s not a street sleeper: nothing this evil could ever claim to be such a thing. Which takes a bit of getting your head around, because when could a 1012bhp pick-up truck ever be anything else?

4x4 3pp Hennessey Mammoth 6x6.indd 7

Yes, you read that right: 1012bhp. And there’s 969lbf.ft behind it, too. Hennessey already does a 4x4 version of the same vehicle, for which it claims a 0-60 time of 3.2 seconds; the 6x6 can’t help but be heavier (it’s four feet longer than standard and, in case we hadn’t mentioned it, has an extra axle), but we’d still expect it to monster anything short of a fully ﬂedged supercar. Talking of the vehicle’s length, this comes out at a total of 283”. That’s not quite two Land Rover 90s, but only by about a foot and a half. So, yes, it’s big.

But it’s all in proportion. A set of 37” tyres on 20” hard alloys sees to that. The vehicle is held up by Bilstein suspension and is ﬁtted with not one but two rear diff locks – and of course it has a monumental load bed. So, they’ve taken an offroad utility vehicle and made it into even more of an off-road utility vehicle, right? The vehicle in question started life as a Ram TRX. Not exactly slow from the outset, then – this already comes out of the factory packing a 702bhp V8 lump capable of squirting it beyond 60mph in 3.7 seconds.

JULY 2022 | 7

01/06/2022 23:17

Above: The Mammoth 6x6 is one of the very few vehicles in the world that are able to boast of having rear diff-locks (plural). Like the Ram TRX on which it’s based, it’s held up on remote-reservoir Bilstein suspension; Hennessey has added a levelling kit at the front Below right: There’s not a great deal to see under the Mammoth’s bonnet. But there’s definitely a whole lot to hear when the supercharged 6.2-litree Hellcat V8 cuts loose – not to mention even more to feel. A monstrous output of 1012bhp and 969lbf.ft sees to that – it’s as fast as a modern supercar, despite weighing about as much as the factories that make them All good, but Hennessey has built its reputation on taking incredible cars and making them still more incredible. The company’s engineers rebuild Chrysler’s 6.2-litre Hellcat V8 using a high-flow 2.65-litre supercharger and upgrades to the fuel injectors and induction system, finishing the job by recalibrating it to make the most of all this extra hardware. There’s more to it than just that, of course. The spark plugs, thermostat, crank damper pin and supercharger drive belt and pulleys are all upgraded, and the filtration and ventilation systems are amended to suit. Then comes all the off-road kit, including Hennessey’s own heavy-duty front and rear bumpers – the former with its own integrated light bar flanked by a quartet of LED cubes. Inside, the headrests gain Hennessey logos and there’s a numbered build plaque on the cubby lid – mirroring another on the engine cover, should you feel inclined to double-check. ‘Everything we do at Hennessey Performance is turned up to 11,’ comments company boss

3pp Hennessey Mammoth 6x6.indd 8

John Hennessey, ‘but the Mammoth 1000 6x6 is deﬁnitely turned up to 12! Everything on the Mammoth 6x6 is bigger, badder and more imposing – plus, it’s still super-fast, while being a total powerhouse off-road.’ Big numbers all round, then. Warranty-wise, on the other hand, they’re a bit smaller, with 24 months or 24,000 miles of cover on the Mammoth 6x6 – compared to the 36 months or 36,000 miles, with 60 months or 60,000 miles on the power train, which Ram offers on the standard TRX. Another very small number is 12, at least when it’s the number of vehicles that will be built each year. But it’s good to know that when you park your

1012bhp ultra-truck outside Lidl, the chances of being another one there already are slim enough to cope with. Back to the big numbers, Hennessey says the Mammoth 6x6 will be priced ‘in excess of $449,950.’ So, about as much as six Ram TRXes, then. Just think of it as one donor truck per wheel.

01/06/2022 23:17

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27/05/2022 16:35

NEWS

Land Rover stretches Defender 130 family wagon under banner Long-body model with 5 and 8-seat options • Same wheelbase as 110, 340mm longer suspension as standard • 3000kg towing limit • List prices from £73,895 to £100,645

and Rover has unveiled the third and final member of the Defender family. The new 130 retains the wheelbase of the 110 but gains a longer rear overhang, with its body extended by 340mm (13.4”), allowing it to offer a larger load area and the ability to accommodate up to eight people in comfort. Wheres the old Defender was very much a utility vehicle in 130 form, this time the longest model in the range is presented under the ‘adventure for all’ banner, promising to be ‘perfect for all-terrain family expeditions.’ It comes with air suspension as standard and is priced from £73,895 on the road. As this suggests, the 130 is every bit as much of a premium vehicle as the 90 and 110. More so, in fact, if anything. It comes as standard with light oak veneers, Windsor leather trim and an enlarged 11.4” media screen running the latest version of Land Rover’s Pivi Pro infotainment system – with what3words navigation allowing it to pinpoint any location on the planet with no need for a phone signal. The 130 also features Cabin Air Purification Plus as standard. This constantly maintains the best possible air quality while filtering out odours, allergens and viruses, and allows owners to prime the

10 | JULY 2022

5.5 Scene New 4x4s July 22.indd 10

condition of the cabin remotely via a smartphone app. On a slightly less esoteric level, the extended rear can accommodate up to 2516 litres of cargo, or 1329 with the second row of seats in place. The vehicle is available in five and eight-seat configurations; in the latter, even with all three rows in use it can hold 389 litres in the back. A payload of up to 750kg (8 seats) or 800kg (5 seats) allows you to make the most of this, though a towing limit of 3000kg will come as a rude shock to anyone used to assuming there’ll never be such a thing as a Defender that can’t haul the legal maximum. In another departure from Defender tradition, power for the 130 comes from a choice of engines including two petrol units and one diesel. Again, this illustrates its position as a premium model within an already premium range. The diesel option is the familiar D300, which produces 300bhp and 479lbf.ft, the latter from 1500rpm; the two petrol units are the P300 (300bhp, 347lbf.ft from 1500rpm) and the P400 (400bhp, 406lbf.ft from 2000rpm). Land Rover quotes 0-60 times of 7.1 seconds for the D300, 7.5 seconds for the P300 and 6.3 seconds for the P400. These are impressive figures for a two and a half tonne vehicle standing six and a half feet tall and measuring

4x4 05/06/2022 23:03

NEWS

range with introduction of new of ‘adventure for all’ rear overhang • Up to 2516 litres of cargo capacity • D300, P300 and P400 engines, air

4x4 5.5 Scene New 4x4s July 22.indd 11

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NEWS

The 130 has the same wheelbase as the 110 but uses its extra 13.4” of rear overhang to provide what it promises will be comfortable and spacious seating for up to eight people. Even with all three rows of seats in use, it can hold 389 litres of cargo; with the second row stowed, the ﬁve-seat model holds as much as 2516 litres. All models are fully carpeted in the back and feature a high level of standard equipment including wood and leather trim, air suspension and an enlarged 11.4” media screen running the latest version of Land Rover’s Pivi Pro infotainment system seventeen and a half in length. All three engines are six-cylinder mild hybrids, with 48v starter-generators integrated within them for ‘seamless

responses as well as enhanced fuel economy.’ Talking of which, the Defender 130 posts WLTP combined ﬁgures of up to 32.1mpg for the

90 and 110 Hard-Top get in on the act too ALONGSIDE THE INTRODUCTION of the 130, Land Rover has revised the spec of its 90 and 110 Hard-Top. These are now available in X and X-Dynamic form, powered by the familiar D300 engine and enhanced by styling elements such as body-coloured exterior signage panels. In addition, air suspension becomes available on all versions of the Defender 90 Hard-Top. The new X and X-Dynamic models start at £57,753.33 plus VAT.

5.5 Scene New 4x4s July 22.indd 12

D300 diesel and 24.8mpg for both the P300 and P400. The V8 and P400e plug-in hybrid engines are not yet available in this version of the Defender, though it would seem only a matter of time. Off-road, the 130 features Adaptive Dynamics and the latest Terrain Response system to go with the aforementioned air springs. The latter can deliver up to 430mm of articulation and lift the vehicle by 71.5mm at the front and 73.5mm at the rear, allowing it to ford up to 900mm of water. Ground clearance is quoted at 290mm, with approach, departure and breakover angles of 37.5°, 28.5° and 27.8° respectively. The 130 will be available in HSE, X-Dynamic SE, X-Dynamic HSE and X speciﬁcations, in addition to a

First Edition. This offers a choice of three colours – white with light grey leather and light oak veneer; grey with tan leather and walnut veneer; and a new Sedona Red with black leather and dark oak veneer. First Edition spec is based on the HSE and adds matrix LED headlamps, heated second and third-row seating, four-zone climate control and premium ICE, as well as 20” alloy wheels as standard. Prices for the First Edition start at £82,965, which gets you the D300 engine; it’s also available with the P400 unit, costing £84,715. The entry-level £73,895 ﬁgure gets you an X-Dynamic SE with the P300 engine, while at the top of the range (so far, at least) the P400 X will set you back by £100,645.

05/06/2022 23:04

NEWS

Land Rover Experience Scotland gets set to welcome owners for late July weekend of off-road trekking in the Gateway to the Highlands

f you’ve got a Land Rover but you’ve not yet plucked up the bottle to take it off-road, Land Rover Experience Scotland is organising the perfect event for you. This is a trek weekend at which the centre’s instructors will be on hand to help you learn how to get the best from your vehicle. The event, which is to be held on 30-31 July, will take place in the hills and forests surrounding the centre’s location near Dunkeld, about 15 miles north of Perth, in a glorious landscape often referred to as the ‘gateway to the Highlands.’ Guests will drive their own Land Rover on their choice of off-road driving routes – which have been specially designed to suit clients with differing levels of ability and experience. It’s not just about getting to grips with your motor, though. LRE Scotland is quick to stress that the weekend will be of the fami-

ly-friendly variety, with light-hearted competitions, a treasure hunt and a picnic in the hills amid the stunning scenery of what’s locally known as Big Tree Country. Safe to say the Defender in the picture they sent us was somewhere else. Day one ends with a campﬁre hog roast and the option to camp or caravan under the stars or stay in a local hotel. Then on day two the fun continues with a Young Off-Roader session for 11-17 year olds, quad treks, vehicle challenges, trials demos and the chance to have a go at a 4x4 obstacle course. ‘It’s a weekend of off-road fun and adventure for all the family,’ says LRE Scotland, ‘with the focus on enjoying your Land Rover with other enthusiasts.’ The weekend costs £250 per vehicle, which includes a camping pitch as well as all activities – to book your place, give them a call on 01350 727720.

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4x4 5.5 Scene New 4x4s July 22.indd 13

JULY 2022 | 13

05/06/2022 23:04

NEW 4X4S

Isuzu D-Max gets expedition themed makeover with AT35 Basecamp show vehicle

suzu has unveiled the Basecamp – an expedition-themed concept based on the recently launched D-Max AT35. Introduced at the recent Commercial Vehicle Show at the NEC, the fully equipped overlander is designed to demonstrate the sort of adventures it’s possible to have aboard such an extreme off-road machine.

The equipment in question includes a Gearmate hardtop canopy in black aluminium, with solid gullwing side and rear access doors, on top of which is mounted an iKamper SkyCamp Mini 3.0 rooftop tent. This is a hard-shell design with quilted insulation, an easy access ladder and a Skyview window, providing occupants with a view of the stars

by night and allowing more light to enter the tent by day. Beneath the canopy, the D-Max’s load bed is equipped with an ARB Outback Solutions drawer system incorporating a fridge and a slideout kitchen. The latter includes a three-burner gas stove and a 12-litre collapsible sink – all of which goes towards making the vehicle self-suﬃcient for off-grid travel. Up top, Isuzu has gone back to ARB for its Base Rack system. This incorporates a light bar and a bespoke clamp, mount and bracket system, allowing safe storage for

a gas bottle, water container, jerry cans and sand ladders. At the front of the vehicle, there’s a new grille and bonnet protector with a touch of the Angry Birds to it. This is augmented by a tubular A-bar with three circular LED spotlights jostling for position within it. All of this builds on the already unmistakeable image of the AT35, whose body and suspension lift, massively ﬂared wheelarches and 315/70R17 tyres give it a uniquely assertive stance on or off-road. The new AT35 starts at £47,999 OTR plus VAT, for which you get a highly evolved D-Max whose commercial vehicle status and ﬁveyear/125,000-mile warranty remain intact. You don’t get a kitchen sink included – but as the Basecamp concept demonstrates, you certainly do get an ideal home for one.

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SUPERIOR ROOF TENT

360° view with maximum privacy Autohome reinvents the concept of now you see it/now you don’t, with an innovative “black edition” mosquito net, a new hi-tech first for the Airtop 360° range. Very thick and dark, it also protects against intruding eyes, whilst giving a full view from inside the tent: you can’t see in, but you can see out! Thanks to four additional large windows, providing all-round vision. This is the result of sixty years’ experience as specialists, a success that confirms AUTOHOME as leader in the production of roof tents.

Available in the UK from 4x4overlander Ltd Tel: +44 1422 243966 e: info@4x4overlander.com

NEWS

Volkswagen brings back Scout brand for electric pick-up and ‘rugged SUV’ exclusive to US market

olkswagen’s North American arm is to resurrect the Scout brand in the US – as a maker of electric off-roaders. The company has announced plans to launch on to the market in 2026 with two models – a pick-up truck and a ‘rugged SUV.’ Designed, engineered and manufactured in America for American customers, the vehicles will be based on a new platform which ‘brings new pick-up and RUV credibility beyond the existing Volkswagen Group portfolio.’ The company sees these market segments as a key battleground in its campaign to increasing profitability in the US and achieve its target of 10% global market share. In an apparent bounce-back against the inexorable move away from traditional off-road ability which has characterised the 4x4 market in general over the last 25 years or more, so-called ‘rugged SUVs’ are now growing massively in popularity – and not only in traditionally powered forms, but as part of the global move towards electrification. ‘After Volkswagen’s successful turnaround in the US,’ comments VW Group Chief Executive Officer Herbert Diess, ‘we are now taking the opportunity to further

strengthen our position in one of the most signiﬁcant growth markets for EVs. Electriﬁcation provides a historic opportunity to enter the highly attractive pick-up and R-SUV segment as a group, underscoring

our ambition to become a relevant player in the US market.’ The vehicles, which will be branded as Scout models, are not intended for markets outside the US. However Volkswagen says it has

observed the same tend towards demand for more rugged 4x4s around the rest of the world too – which may lead to more authentic off-road products coming back to markets closer to home in future too.

Tough-looking new EV from SsangYong to be called Torres SSANGYONG’S ALL-NEW SUV, previously only known as the J100, will be known as the Torres. Due to go on sale in Europe as an electric vehicle during the last quarter of 2023, the vehicle will slot in between the Korando and Rexton – and will be the ﬁrst to arrive here using the Korean 4x4 specialist’s ‘Powered by Toughness’ styling language. The name ‘Torres’ was inspired by the landscape of the Torres del Paine National Park in Patagonia, a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve that’s well known for its mountains, glaciers, lakes and rivers. SsangYong says the name ‘is designed to embody a sense of adventure, challenge and escapism.’

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RIGHTS OF WAY

Breasthigh Road closes for major repairs following grant of funding from National Grid

reasthigh Road, a hugely popular unsurfaced right of way in the east of the Lake District National Park, will be closed at least until the end of October while a major programme of repair and improvements is carried out. The trail, a spectacular mountain pass which stretches for just under two miles connecting Bretherdale and Borrowdale, is known for its loose, rocky surface and steep

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gradients – as well as the glorious views it provides in all directions. At its western end, it fords the sometimes deep Borrow Beck before joining the A6 midway between Shap and Kendal. The works proposed by the Lake District National Park Authority will include surface repairs, tree planting and the creation of new dry-stone walls, in addition to replacing culverts, reinstating drainage ditches and installing two new bridges. It’s

understood that the latter will be small culvert crossings and that the ford will remain as part of the route. The work is to be paid for by a package of funding from the National Grid’s Landscape Enhancement Initiative (LEI). This includes £154,000 for the repairs to the byway itself, along with a further £170,000 to create new tree plantations on the in the Borrowdale valley and on the lower ﬂanks of Borrowdale Fell.

Repair projects in the recent past have seen a number of other green lanes in the Lake District turned from technically fascinating, near-natural routes into ﬂat gravel tracks drivable in almost anything. Many vehicle users have expressed dismay at this apparent policy of destroying the routes’ character; it seems likely that the same may be set to happen when Breasthigh reopens, with the authority’s plan being to ‘restore the western section… to

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RIGHTS OF WAY

a surfaced, usable and sustainable green lane.’ The LDNPA says the project will: • Restore and increase the resilience of the drainage network by reinstating/clearing 1200m of existing drainage gully lines on either side of the track • Replace five broken culverts. The replaced culverts will also be widened to increase resilience to future flooding • Pitch 38m of path to prevent further erosion of the route • Repair an existing traditional stone culvert using traditional techniques and create a pitched ford to reduce erosion above it • Re-landscape/profile a severely eroded section of the route to prevent further erosion and loss of surrounding vegetation • Plant native trees on the flanks of Borrowdale Edge on either side of Breasthigh Road ‘We are delighted to receive this grant funding from National Grid which will allow us to restore the route, making it more accessible for a wide variety of user groups including horse riders, cyclists and walkers,’ said Lake District National

Park Area Ranger Suzy Hankin. ‘Additionally, we will carry out tree planting and dry stone wall repairs and put in place a maintenance plan to ensure the longer term future of the route. ‘The practical work to repair the path is due to start in summer 2022 and will take around three months to complete.’ The six-month closure, which commenced on 1 May, includes time for the repairs to settle. However the Green Lane Association believes

that to prevent early use in wet conditions, it may be extended through the winter. ‘LARA fully supports these repair and maintenance proposals and accepts its partnership responsibility in securing the long-term stability of the route for all users,’ said Geoff Wilson of the Motoring Organisations’ Land Access and Recreation Association. ‘LARA will continue to advise its member organisations on how best to be involved in helping maintain the route and its use in

keeping with the multi-user nature of it and the enhanced environment that will result from the project.’ The character Breasthigh Road will be left with following the programme of work is open to question. However as with Tilberthwaite Road, Arnside Intake, Bletherbarrow Lane and others, nothing (apart possibly from low cloud) will be able to detract from the magniﬁcent views 4x4 drivers will be able to enjoy when using the Lake District’s many classic routes.

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PRODUCTS

Create the coolest Wrangler JK Unlimited with Smittybilt’s Bowless Combo Top – whatever the weather!

GOT A JEEP WRANGLER JK UNLIMITED? The four-door model built from 2007 to 2018 was the ﬁrst Wrangler ever to achieve mainstream appeal in the UK – and though they’ve held their value very well indeed, their popularity and relative availability back then makes them an affordable alternative if you’ve found that the price of the new model has strayed a bit too far into dreamland. The good news is that there’s absolutely loads of equipment available for turning a JKU

into the coolest vehicle imaginable. Of course, you can do almost anything with them on the off-road front – Jeep actively encourages its customers to modify their vehicles. But if you’ve got a niggling worry that a long-wheelbase just isn’t as cool as the original three-door, the even better news is that it certainly can be. Just take a look at this Smittybilt Bowless Combo Top from Jeepey.com, for example. Designed to function as the vehicle’s primary full top, this promises to be ‘one of the most adaptable Jeep tops on the market,’ with side and rear windows which simply zip in and out to let you transform your ride when the weather takes a turn. Features of the top include: • Marine grade, durable vinyl-coated material resists fading and stretching • OEM diamond-style fabrics

• 30ml DOT-approved tinted vinyl windows • Seams and stitch holes sealed to prevent leaking • Self-correcting zippers run smoother and last longer • Internal storage compartments and MOLLE pouches • Internal storage for side and rear curtains • Heavy duty hook-and-loop system • No factory bow hardware required Possibly best of all, the price of transforming your JKU with one of these kits is just £973.86. That doesn’t include ﬁtting, but get the guys at Jeepey.com to do that for you to and you’ll be safe in the knowledge that what they don’t know about Wranglers ain’t worth knowing.

Illuminate the off-road world around you with Pro-Comp’s Wide Angle Cube LED Lights IF YOU’VE TRIED OFF-ROADING AT NIGHT, you’ll know that a wide spread of light is even more important than it is on the road. Not being able to see anything but the ground dead ahead of you is never less than inconvenient. Throw in some trees and it can get expensive – and if there are side slopes, drop-offs or water’s edges in the building, what you don’t know certainly will hurt you.

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That’ll be why you used to see 4x4s carrying arrays of enormous KC Daylighters, all pointing in different directions as if they had been caned into a low branch. Cool but less than subtle, especially after you caned them into a low branch. These days, of course, the solution lies in LED lighting. Pro-Comp’s 3.8” Wide Angle Cube LED Light, for example, which is available from Jeepey.com priced at £244.90. Designed to suit any vehicle requiring a wide spread beam for off-road adventures, this features up to 140 degrees of horizontal lighting coverage. It can be used in pairs or single light applications, either way promising a beam of light whose power goes way beyond what its compact size of 3.8” x 3.14” x 2.8” would have you expect. It promises a lifespan of 50,000+ hours, too, and comes in a durable IP67 housing and shockproof 3800 powder-coated polyester case. Its array of 15 5w Osram LEDs puts out 2850 raw lumens of clear light while drawing 1.69 amps from a 12-volt system (0.84 at 24 volts) and its combination spot/ﬂood beam pattern ‘provides increased visibility off the beaten path.’

They’re not licensed for highway use, though, but as far as we’re concerned that’s just a good excuse for spending more time off it. The lights come in packs of two, along with everything you need to instal them – a wiring harness, switch, relay, and two sets of mounting brackets and hardware. Their universal mounts mean they can be used on any kind of 4x4 – obviously, Jeepey.com specialise in a certain marque but they won’t put a ﬂea in your ear if you own something else. Though when you see the sort of Jeeps the company builds and sells, you might be tempted to buy one of those instead…

4x4 07/06/2022 17:30

4x4

MAGAZINE

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LED LIGHTING HD RECOVERY BUMPERS WINCHES SKIDPLATES & PROTECTION ROOF RACKS CAMPING @JEEPEYMART

Tel: 01482 666491

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Email: Sales@jeepey.com

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PRODUCTS

Ring introduces new battery maintenance options for heavy-duty and professional workshop use

ing Automotive has expanded its Smart Charge range, adding two new options providing 50A and 60A continuous charging. Called the RSCP5024 and RSCP60T, these are intended for professional workshops and showrooms and are designed to to deal with the demands of recharging 12V and 24V batteries during diagnostic or data upload work. The 50A RSCP5024 is designed to be easily concealed, with a slender body shape which makes it ideal for use in showrooms. Quite a niche appeal there, then. But the 60A RSCP60T is built tough to withstand the demands of continuous service in workshop environments, which will be right up your street if that’s your thing. The RSCP60T is compatible with stop/start alternators, has fully insulated high-capacity battery clamps

and comes with built-in thermal and overload protection. It has a 540A jump start function to go with its 60A charging and 30A continuous battery support modes and can deliver the good for 12V and 24V systems alike. ‘The two new charging products are a step up in our professional power delivery product offering,’ says Ring’s Henry Bisson. ‘The 50A RSCP5024 is a new iteration of our 30A SmartCharge Pro, now featuring continuous battery support for 12V and 24V for higher capacity batteries.’ Proper stuff for proper trucks, then. Both units carry a suggested retail price of £449. Ring says they mark the beginning of what will be a sustained launch campaign in the professional arena, with further additions to be expected in the second half of 2022. You’ll ﬁnd them at www.ringautomotive.com.

BLACK MAGIC LED SERIES AUXILIARY LIGHTS

THE NEW BLACK MAGIC LED SERIES AVAILABLE IN CUBES, LIGHTBARS AND MINI LIGHTBARS. Robust and stylish all-black design delivering exceptional LED illumination and performance both on and off the road.

TAKE THE ADVENTURE WITH YOU www.hella.com/offroad

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PRODUCTS

Bison seat box corners combine protection with stainless steel finish DEFENDERS ARE TOUGH, but all the ruggedness and four-wheel drive in the world won’t save one from your clumsy great size 12s. Hence these Seat Box Corner Carpet Protector Kits from Bison Auto Design. Made from thick, high-grade stainless steel, these are laser-cut and come with a classy brushed finish. They screw into the existing holes in the seat box, using a set of self-tappers that’s provided as part of the kit, and once installed they do the job and look the business. Sorted. For a whole lot more information about these and many other of the company’s products, visit bisonautodesign.co.uk. The POWERspring FROM LOF CLUTCHES is a simple but very effective way of achieving a much lighter clutch action on Defenders. The spring is 45% stronger than the original and can be fitted to 90s, 110s and 130s with engines from the 300Tdi, Td5 and TDCi generations, in each case having the effect of reducing the weight of the clutch pedal significantly. The kit is easy to install and comes with everything you’ll need for fitting, including three genuine Land Rover nylon bushes plus the POWERspring itself. You’ll find out more at lofclutches.com.

From roof tents and awnings to cookware and barbecues, LVB supplies all your overland and camping requirements. Sole UK Bush Company importer

UNIT 10 Gunhills Lane Industrial Estate, Armthorpe, Doncaster DN3 3EF

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PRODUCTS

Airmaster compressor range from Clarke promises all you need to power your tools – with several new models on their way soon

hen you’re new to off-roading, you learn about all the cool kit people ﬁt to their vehicles to make them better at it. You ﬁnd that some favour snorkels, some favour lockers, some favour dislocation, some favour winches and so on… but almost everyone seems to favour on-board air. Then you learn that everyone who does off-roading spends most of their life in the workshop. You learn that ‘the workshop’ can mean their garage, their driveway, the street or even, occasionally, an actual workshop… but that whatever it is, everyone who works on a 4x4 wants a source of air.

Clarke’s Airmaster range of air compressors are the kind you have in your workshop, not on board your vehicle. Unless your vehicle is delivering it to your workshop, obviously. They’ve been going for 36 years and the latest models in the range are designed to be ideal for use in DIY and semi-professional garages and home workshops. The compressors are beltdriven and use single-stage, two-cylinder pumps. Feature include overload protection, fully automatic stop/start control, twin outlets with on/ off taps, a tank pressure gauge and an outlet pressure regulator, again with a gauge. The tank in question ranges in size from 24 litres on the smallest model to a hefty 200 litres at the top of the range. Other options include pressures of either 8 or 10 bar and an air displacement of up to 18cfm. So, more than enough guts in them to run your air tools. As an example, Clarke singles out the

Airmaster Tiger 16/1050 (that’s it illustrated in the picture above), a 100-litre compressor which, despite its large size, is portable. The manufacturer says it’s ‘particularly useful for large scale spraying’ as well as being ideal for nailing, stapling, polishing and sanding. And, did we mention, running air tools. It’s ﬁtted with a safety valve and pressure regulator, with a gauge for controlled air pressure, and comes with twin air outlets for added versatility. On top of this, Clarke says there are several new models due to be added to the Airmaster range soon. These include a number of new

options towards the top of the range, where prices climb to a not insubstantial £766.80 for the aforementioned 200-litre monster. But at the more modest end of the scale you can pick up the entry-level 24-litre model, which itself promises to be able to run your tools, for a distinctly reassuring sounding £143.98. Both these prices include VAT – as does the £382.80 it’ll take to put the 16/1050 model described above in your workshop. Want to know more? As always with Clarke, Machine Mart is the place to go – you’ll ﬁnd it all at www.machinemart.co.uk.

Lazer Lamps adds fitting kit for Toyota RAV4 PHEV IF YOU’VE GOT A TOYOTA RAV4 PHEV, then lucky you. Not just because you’ve got one of the best modern SUVs there is, but because you can now fit it with a set of Linear-18 LED driving lights from Lazer Lamps. That’s because Lazer has just introduced a new fitting kit specifically for the RAV4 PHEV, complementing one that’s been available since last summer for models with simple hybrid engines. ‘These kits have been specifically designed to blend seamlessly with the original grille on the vehicle,’ says Lazer, ‘providing for a secure, robust auxiliary light install that looks as good during the day as it does at night.’ The kit comes with a cutting template, allowing the brackets to be fitted with the grille left in situ. Also included are anti-theft fixing screws and a single-lamp wiring kit, and the whole lot comes with an excellent five-year warranty. You can get the kit on its own or with a variety of lights from the Linear-18 range. Either way, it’s all at www.lazerlamps.com.

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PRODUCTS

More options than ever for pick-up owners as Gearmate introduces new Pro Hardtop Canopy and Geardeck Tonneau Cover lines

GEARMATE HAS UNVEILED two new lines of canopies and tonneau covers for 4x4 pick-ups. Joining the company’s already vast range of equipment and accessories, which includes its famous Gearslides and Geardrawers), these have been developed in-house and, in Gearmate’s own words, are ‘proudly made in the UK.’ The new Pro Hardtop Canopy is a high-security item made from

aluminium – making it 100% recyclable and, says Gearmate, giving it a low carbon footprint compared to imported GRP tops. It features both gull-wing and rear door access, with built in ventilation and weatherprooﬁng, and has a 250kg load-bearing roof. Its doors are ideal for displaying your company logo, too – and indeed Gearmate can wrap them for you as an optional extra.

Being UK made, the Pro Hardtop Canopy comes with a short lead time of just six weeks. It’s currently only available for the 2021 Ford Ranger and Isuzu D-Max, however Gearmate says it will be rolled out for other pick-ups soon. The Geardeck Tonneau Cover, meanwhile, has three side openings – providing extensive stowage possibilities whether you use your truck for work or play. Once again, these units are 100% recyclable and offer a top surface with a 250kg load capacity. They’re made from high-strength, lightweight aluminium and come

with a durable Line-X ﬁnish. Gearmate says they’re more secure than roll-top load covers and that they’re designed with a built-in weatherproof drainage system – meaning you have rapid access to your load but the rain doesn’t. Whether you’re interested in either of these units, or indeed the very many other items Gearmate has been making for pick-up trucks since its formation in 2016, the good news is that this is a ﬁne example of a British company making quality kit. The kit in question is all there to be found with a visit to www. gearmate.co.uk.

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Vehicle Wiring Products

We supply a comprehensive range of wiring products for repair, modiﬁcation or complete rewire to your vehicle

ca F ta re lo e gu

Visit our website, phone or email for a free catalogue

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Tel No: 0115 9305454 and email: sales@vehicleproducts.co.uk

Vehicle Wiring Products 9 Buxton Court, Manners Ind Est, Ilkeston, Derbyshire, DE7 8EF Ford Ranger Big Brake Kit Ad - Jan 2020 - UK.pdf

28/01/2020

17:31

RLG Tyres

BIG BRAKING PERFORMANCE!

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WITH PEDDERS TRAKRYDER EXTREME BRAKE KITS

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For the discerning driver who is particular about how eXtreme Brake Kit. The braking results are staggering with the inclusion of a larger 6 pot caliper design, high tech TrakRyder eXtreme kevlar ceramic pads mated with a 10 slot dimpled and geomet coated larger diameter rotor. Bigger braking surface means bigger stopping power. With the fitment of the all new Pedders TrakRyder eXtreme brake kit, independent Australian Engineering tests reflected an average improvement in braking distance by up to 14%.

and all major 4x4 tyres

Features: • Stainless steel braided hoses. • 10 slot and dimpled TrakRyder geomet coated rotors 14”/356mm diameter (OE 11.85”/301mm). • TrakRyder eXtreme Kevlar Ceramic low dust brake pads. • TrakRyder eXtreme 6 pot design caliper brackets and bolts. • 6 Pot, 2 piece aluminium forged calipers. • High grade alloy steel brake pad insulators. • Stainless steel pistons.

Specialising in Suspension solutions since 1950 For further information go to www.pedders.co.uk or please contact your local Pedders experts.

01296 711 044 info@pedders.co.uk

* Independent Australian engineering test results proved that at 100kmh the TrakRyder eXtreme Brake Kit system upgrade stopped on average 11m sooner than original distances are reduced by 21%. This kit is suited for 18” wheels or larger. Further details available in store and on our website. Suits Ford Ranger PX & PXII Models.

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Groundcare • Car • ATV • Tubes • Mobile Tyre Fitting Puncture Equipment & Repairs • Four Wheel Alignment Durrants Farm, Rushlake Green, Heathfield, East Sussex TN21 9QB

Workshop: 01435 830664 Mobile: 07710 372672 Email: chris@rlgtyres.co.uk

www.rlgtyres.co.uk

JUNE 2022 | 27

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4x4 TYRE EXPERTS & OFF-ROAD SPECIALISTS Alloy and steel wheels for van, car, SUV & 4X4

WIN A DAVANTI X EDD COBLEY 4X4 EXPERIENCE DAY

BUY TWO OR MORE TERRATOURA A/T TYRES TO BE IN WITH A CHANCE OF WINNING A 4X4 EXPERIENCE DAY WITH OFF-ROAD RALLY LEGEND AND BRITISH CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPION, EDD COBLEY. Enjoy an exclusive off-road adventure behind the wheel of a Land Rover Defender, equipped with Terratoura A/T tyres and accompanied by Edd Cobley in the beautiful grounds of Rockingham Castle. See in store for details or scan the QR code to enter.*

*Terms & conditions apply.

01926 490002 4x4 AD Spread.indd 30

Silverline 4x4 Units 3 & 4, Nelson Lane, Warwick CV34 5JB

www.silverlinewheels-tyres.com/davanti www.facebook.com/Silverline4x4

06/06/2022 21:48

Silverline 4x4 and Davanti Terratoura – a match made in heaven!

they’re good enough for the British Cross Country Championship’s Edd Cobley – and thousands of off-road lovers across the UK – then Davanti’s Terratoura A/T tyre is good enough for Silverline 4x4. The Warwick based 4x4 wheel and tyre specialists are delighted to announce that they’re stocking the Terratoura A/T – which is one of the best performing products on the market, on all surfaces and in all weather conditions. Silverline 4x4’s Managing Director Antony Barnsley commented: ‘We have driven on the Terratoura A/T ourselves and it is a supreme performer, whether you’re going

off-road or are driving on highways from A to B. ‘What’s more, it is available in just about every size we would want – meaning we can fit it to virtually every one of our customers’ vehicles, something which we’re really excited about.’ The Terratoura A/T has recently undergone a range expansion, with an increase in the number of fitments to 29 – covering sizes from 15” to 21”. Raised white lettering options have also been introduced to help drivers stand out from the crowd. Its five rib, all-terrain pattern design and protruding saw-tooth shoulder blocks deliver mechanical

traction in mud and sand. The shoulder blocks and tread centrepoint ensure that steering remains light and responsive on the road while maintaining stability and grip on uneven ground. The tyres hold up to the most extreme punishment – as British off-road rally champion Edd Cobley can testify. His custom-built Land Rover Defender 110 Double-Cab, named Skippy 2.0, is shod on Terratoura

A/T tyres. And the fact he keeps on winning speaks for itself. ‘The Terratoura A/T refuses to let me down,’ he says. ‘I have put them through the wringer but they have risen to every challenge and survived every extreme. There seems to be nothing they can’t handle!’ For more information about Silverline 4x4 and the Davanti Terratoura, visit www.silverlinewheels-tyres.com or call 01926 490002

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FIRST DRIVE

KIA SPORTAGE 1.6T-GDI PHEV All-new ﬁfth-generation version of Kia’s medium SUV has futuristic styling and cutting-edge hybrid technology – as well as all the virtues that sent previous models to the top of the sales charts

THE FIRST KIA SPORTAGE was a proper 4x4 and you could get it in pink. The world has become a more sensible place in the intervening quarter of a century and Kia’s modern-day colour palette is rather more grown-up, but the new fifth-generation model is still available with all-wheel drive. It’s also available with a plug-in hybrid powertrain, and that’s what we’ve got here. A 1.6-litre petrol engine is coupled to a single electric motor to deliver 261bhp and 258lbf.ft to the wheels, resulting in headline figures of 7.9 seconds, 252mpg and 25g/km. Kia quotes an EV range of 43 miles and a charging time of 1 hour 45 minutes from 10-100%. The result is a vehicle with no shortage at all of pace. It has plenty of getup-and-go from a standing start and continues to pull well throughout its rev range, with urge to spare in every situation. Its handling is smart enough to keep up, too, with enough feel in the steering and suspension to let you attack corners. You do notice a bit of waywardness on uneven roads, where body control becomes a little bouncy at times and you can get a floating sensation over crests, but it doesn’t respond to rough surfaces anywhere like as harshly as some SUVs. We can’t yet comment on its performance on the motorway or around town. But based on a short test drive on tight, hilly B and C-roads, we have

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no reason to doubt that it will be resolutely competent in these situations. There was nothing available to us that would test the Sportage’s capabilities as a 4x4, whether on or off tarmac. Certainly, grip is assured on dry roads and we would expect the same to be the case in the wet. It’s not built for extreme terrain, or anything approaching it, however previous models have been more than competent on loose and rough surfaces and we expect the same to be the case this time. Watch this space, as they say. Inside, the cabin feels very modern. It’s dominated by an enormous media screen which flows into a digital dashboard, in a style reminiscent of vehicles like Mercedes’ SUVs and the current Volkswagen Touareg, and build quality is of the sort of standard you might expect from either of these manufacturers. Trim materials, too, are very pleasing indeed, if not exactly ultra-premium in their mature, and in ergonomic terms it both looks and feels good. The controls are well situated and feel positive in operation, and the steering wheel fits nicely in the palms of your hands. Up front, there’s a good seating position giving you a decent view in all the directions that matter. Leg and head room are very generous up front – though the seats themselves could do with a wider range of adjustability. We instantly felt we were going to get backache unless we used all the available lumbar support. The seats do hold you well in corners, though. Headroom is excellent in the back, too. However one six-footer will struggle to sit comfortably behind another without getting his knees mashed into the back of their seat. By no means is it the worst in this regard, though – and when you want to carry cargo, the seats drop down and lock into position just a couple of degrees off flat to give you a big, long loadspace that’s accessed through a good, big aperture. It’s very good indeed in this way. For everyday odds and ends, there’s a decent glovebox and cubby in addition to a huge general compound stowage area in the floor console. If you run out of space for your stuff, you’ve got too much stuff. What you might run out of is breath when you learn that prices for the new Sportage climb all the way up to £43,795. The vehicle tested here lists at £38,395, which is enough to be going on with, but however much this sounds you have to see it in the context of the Sportage now being one of Britain’s most popular vehicles. The most popular, actually, going by sales figures from February this year, which goes to show how far Kia has come since its days as a maker of cheap, crummy runabouts. Now, the top of the Sportage range gets within a few grand of a Porsche Cayman or Land Rover Discovery. Decide for yourself which of these is closest to being a like-for-like comparison. Either way, buyers don’t mind – and on this evidence, they’re right not to. The Sportage is a slick, modern SUV whose place in the motoring mainstream is very well earned indeed.

4x4 07/06/2022 16:40

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FIRST DRIVE

BMW iX3 BMW’s all-electric medium SUV doesn’t bother trying to bash you over the head with its technology and concentrates instead on just being very good at what it does

THE BMW X3 is a very good, and very popular, medium SUV. The iX3 is almost the same vehicle, only electric, with all the tax wins that brings. So you can expect it to be… very good, and very popular. It’s a full EV, not a hybrid. So range and charging time are the big questions, and it has some big answers: 285 miles from a full battery and a 150kW charging rate – allowing you to blast it to 80% in not much more than half an hour, given the availability of a powerful enough outlet. A not insubstantial ‘if’, that, but the vehicles are here for when the infrastructure catches up. We’re driving the Premier Edition Pro here, which is something you can’t do unless you’ve already bought one as this particular model has now been discontinued. Not to worry, the 286bhp powertrain remains the same, and the M Sport and M Sport Pro trims available now have enough going on between them to do the job for most customers. These start at £60,970 and £63,970 respectively, which actually sounds like sensible money compared to what you’ll pay for some of the other all-electric options in the SUV market. And it does get you a vehicle with an exceptional feeling of quality. Whereas a lot of manufacturers have gone down the route of making their EVs look and feel markedly different to their traditional cars, BMW

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has taken the approach of making the iX3 look and feel like a BMW. Which is not what you’d call a bad thing for it to be. So instead of something that comes over as a 3D homage to some video game or other, you’re sitting in a lovely, classy cabin whose styling is modern but familiar and whose materials are a clear demonstration of what you get for this much money. These include the leather on the seats, which are very comfortable and give you an excellent view in all directions, high bonnet notwithstanding. Legroom is good and headroom is excellent, even with a panoramic sunroof, and there’s enough space in the back for one six-footer to sit comfortably behind another. The rear seats drop close to flat for cargo carrying, too, leaving a good, low floor that’s easy to load through a yawning tailgate aperture with no lower lip. On the road, the iX3 pulls like a train. Its power output is good rather than great but the motor’s torque is gigantic, whether from a standing or rolling start. The official figures say 6.8 seconds and 111mph: we can’t comment on the latter, but it certainly feels as if it accelerates far harder than that. It does so with commendable composure and refinement, even by EV standards. It’s a delight around town, with as good as no drivetrain noise and precious little from anywhere else either, and this remains the case all the way up to and including motorway speeds. Its suspension is forgiving, too, with a generally supple, sophisticated quality of ride which only breaks down a little on the most harshly corrugated surfaces. Body control is outstanding, even on the sort of obscene surfaces it’s our sorry lot to be used to here in Britain, and when you want to go on the attack it’s one of the most agile SUVs we’ve driven. Its steering is not quite pin-sharp like a sports car, but you know exactly what’s going on so you can place the vehicle very confidently in corners. It’s very composed under braking, too, so if you really are going for it you can get on the anchors at the last moment without worrying about everything turning brown. In less gung-ho situations, the regenerative braking function works very effectively when you lift off the gas (it’ll always be called the gas, even when all the actual gas is long gone). This means one-pedal driving is absolutely achievable if you’re gentle with the size 10s and plan ahead, which is always the way to drive as efficiently as possible. The conventionally fuelled X3 has been a major player in the medium SUV market for a while and the iX3 will play a major role in converting people to electric propulsion. It’s a great EV – but more to the point, it’s a great SUV. Even at this much money, get set for it to become a common sight.

4x4 07/06/2022 16:40

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14/03/2022 17:32

FIRST DRIVE

MERCEDES-BENZ EQB 350 Seven-seat electric SUV brings enormous levels of tech and premium luxury in Launch Edition form – and turns out to be a family wagon with a party trick up its sleeve when you need to carry huge loads

IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR A SMALLISH VAN, a family SUV from MercedesBenz is unlikely to be the first thing that comes to mind. However the EQB is extraordinarily good in this respect. The fact that we’ve managed to get the entire first paragraph out of the way without mentioning that the EQB is all-electric can be read in one of two ways. First, EVs are now so commonplace that actually, it’s no longer remarkable. Or second, it still is remarkable – only not as remarkable as the practicality this vehicle has hidden within it. The vehicle tested here is an EQB 350 4Matic AMG Line Launch Edition, which is a name you can enjoy memorising while you’re waiting for it to charge up. Actually, this only takes 32 minutes from 10-80% when using a 100kW wall box, so you might need a couple of goes to make it stick. Anyway, we’re looking at a £63,540 SUV here. That figure includes just one option (metallic paint at £895), so all the good stuff on board is part of the package. And that’s a lot of good stuff. The interior is lovely, with the sort of crafted feel you expect from Mercedes. The design has an impressive depth of sophistication to it and

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the materials look and feel just at they should at the price. Equipment-wise, it’s a case of trying to spot what it’s not got. Everything that can be heated, electric and/ or automatic is exactly that, and anything with the option of a premium upgrade seems to have got it. Hard-drive sat-nav, 225-watt stereo, live traffic information, two 10” media displays, 64-colour ambient lighting… you get the picture. It also has sports seats and a Seat Comfort Package as standard, though we didn’t feel particularly well supported in them. They look great, however their back support didn’t really do it for us and the base didn’t engage the editorial posterior very effectively, the result being that we felt unsettled in it and that we were slithering from side to side in hard corners. There’s plenty of room, however, with masses of adjustability and enough space above for you to wear a top hat. The second row is quite ample, too; one six-footer can easily get comfortable behind another, though headroom in the back is significantly less generous thanks in part to the presence of a double panoramic roof. There’s also a third row, which in typical third row fashion becomes more comfortable the smaller you get. But it’s when these two rear rows disappear into the floor that the EQB finally shows its strongest suit. Working out how to actually do this took us longer than we care to admit, however the second row of seats folds as good as 100% flat. In doing so, they leave a cargo bay which, in addition to being enormously long, is almost cubic in shape. This is accessed via a huge, near-square aperture with a low floor, meaning its loadability (this is, of course, a word) is every bit as impressive as its sheer capacity. And its sheer capacity is VERY impressive. So too is its ability to erupt forward when you press the throttle. The motor’s output is quoted at 292bhp and 273lbf.ft, which is good but comes nowhere near describing the acceleration on tap. It’s savagely, brutally quick from any speed. Unfortunately, the words ‘savage’ and ‘brutal’ also come to mind when describing the way our test vehicle rode. It steers and handles well – very well, actually, by any standards let alone those of a tall, two-tonne SUV – but the payoff is that it’s pretty exhausting on any kind of bad road surface. This particular model is at the sporty end of the range, and as such it’s equipped with 235/45R20 tyres, but we’d be inclined to trade a bit of that dynamic brilliance for the sort of composure you expect of a family vehicle. Or, indeed a van. As it is, the EQB is an SUV with a quoted WLTP range of 250-257 miles and a starting price of £53,610. Spec it right and it certainly could be the vehicle to convert you to the electric way.

4x4 07/06/2022 18:50

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07/06/2022 17:19

ANCIENT AND MODERN The Jeep ‘41 Concept is all about paying tribute to the military heritage that made the Words: Marcus Tee Pictures: Jeep

n Britain, most 4x4 are working vehicles you can also use for fun. But for whatever reason, Jeeps buck that trend. People might buy a Wrangler as a lifestyle statement or an off-road toy, but when did you ever see a farmer towing three tons of potatoes behind one? Similarly, it’s very rare (not unheard of, but rare) for people to choose Jeeps for overland travel. And when the Army is shopping for vehicles, its procurement people don’t tend to start by putting in a call to Toledo. Of course, it wasn’t always like this. The first Jeep, the Willys MB, was conceived specifically as a tool of war at the request of the US Army. Hence the ’Since 1941’ badge you see on today’s Jeeps. The company describes it as a ‘badge of honour’ and ‘a symbol of pride that recognises the Jeep brand’s long-standing military heritage and legendary 4x4 capability leadership for more than 80 years.’ Jeep has made of the most of its heritage with no end of concept vehicles down the years. The latest of these is the ’41 Concept, introduced at this year’s Easter Safari in Moab, Utah, which brought the original Willys back into the spotlight. As any good concept should, however, this is not just a starry-eyed throwback to some fondly imagined good old days. The ’41 is a real blend of ancient and modern, an ever-so-slightly kitschy set of references to the Wrangler’s military beginnings draped over the technology that will underpin Jeep’s next steps into the future. This takes the form of the Wrangler 4xe, whose twin-motor plug-in hybrid drivetrain allows it to return in the region of 49mpg (US figures) and travel up to 21 miles on electric power alone. In theory, it could just about conquer the entire Rubicon trail without its 2.0-litre petrol engine ever having to fire up once – and even if the demands of extreme off-roading were to draw too much from its batteries to make this possible, it’s still ‘he most capable, technically advanced and eco-friendly Wrangler ever.’

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Unlike some manufacturers (see if you can guess who we’re talking about), Jeep embraces the fact that Wrangler customers tend to pick up their new vehicles from the dealer and head straight to the aftermarket to modify them. And it’s not going to be any different with the 4xe. This one has been given a +2” lift from Jeep

Performance Parts, making room for a set of 35x12.50R17 BFGoodrich Mud-Terrain tyres on 17” Fifteen52 steel wheels. The latter have been painted in a matte green colour name olive D.R.A.B. ’41. We all remember those little pots of Humbrol Olive Drab from our Airﬁx-building days (well, if we’re old enough we

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marque what it is – while looking forward to the electriﬁed future that’s already here

do) and this is not quite that, but since there’s no single definition of what the classic army colour actually is we can accept that it’s close enough to warrant the name. Just as well, because the same colour appears on the bodywork, including the wheelarch flares and door mirrors. The bumpers are finished in

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black powder-coat, as is a JPP hoop protecting a Warn winch (electric, of course), then up top there’s a tan canvas hood. The original Willys didn’t have any doors at all, which might be considered a bit much now, but a set of half doors from Jeep Performance Parts means no-one’s going to be feeling claustrophobic on board. Then comes the really cool stuff. Jeep knows how to milk its concept vehicles and the ’41 demonstrates that to perfection. There’s even a thing called the Jeep Graphic Studio, an in-house source of funky stickers for the Wrangler and Gladiator, which created a custom stencilled graphics package for the vehicle – including a faux-military serial number and distressed America flag on the bonnet, a matching ’41 badge on the front panel and, the coup de grace as far as we’re concerned, an ‘Electric 4 Wheel Drive’ motif on the back that looks like it belongs on a movie poster from the 1940s. Inside, the seats are trimmed in canvas with military-style stitching and inserts whose digital

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camo design may remind you uncomfortably of all that time you spent playing Minecraft back in the day. The facia from the current Wrangler, which manages to be very modern and very Jeep at the same time, is finished in the same version of olive drab as the rest of the vehicle and set off by a slightly random looking image of a Willys towing a 37mm anti-tank gun. It does appear to be taking off, perhaps in reference to the famous image of a Willys getting enormous air with one of these rigs in tow during trials in North Carolina in 1941; either way, if you were to try and replicate that stunt aboard a modern Wrangler, 4xe or otherwise, if would be as game for it as any Jeep ever. ‘Every Jeep has a unique story to tell,’ says Jeep, ‘with a legacy that links back to the original Willys MB – a trusty 4x4 the US Army specifically requested. The MB did everything, went everywhere and was a significant influence on 4x4 vehicles built thereafter.’

They’re not wrong there. Quite whether Karl Probst and Barney Roos of Willys-Overland could have envisioned their design for a simple reconnaissance vehicle one day providing the inspiration for a plug-in hybrid concept car is open to question – but for sure, the technology in this vehicle is there to help cement a future in which Jeep will continue building some of the world’s best off-roaders.

4x4 01/06/2022 23:08

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24/04/2022 13:05

TUBEWAY BARMY Early Land Rover Discoverys are famous for many things. Among them is an insane degree of body rust – which is why many of those that survived beyond middle age have ended up on the sharp end of an angle grinder. This 300Tdi buggy is one of the more creative results we’ve seen – but despite everything, deep down it’s still a Disco Words and pictures: Dan Fenn

e know how it goes with Mk1 Discoverys. They’re great old vehicles with the tried and trusted offroad tech from a Range Rover, and they’re also been described as a 100” Defender – only one that won’t deafen, freeze, bake or disable you. We know all this from experience. We also know that on top of all this good old technology is a body that rusts away to nothing – which is the main reason why there are so few of them left. If you have the time, the skill and the equipment, a rotten old Disco can be brought back to the way it once was. But there’s also the option of turning it into something it never was. A few companies have gone down the route of offering kit car bodies as a way of helping owners turn grotty old sheds into funky new buggies. But mainly, Land Rover owners being the kind of people they are, when you see a Disco based special it’s a home-brew. Some look more like Discos than others. Some indeed look more like Defenders than others, while some mainly look like your worst nightmare. This one doesn’t really look like any of those things, but it deﬁnitely looks hard. We photographed it seven and a half years ago, so we don’t know if it still looks as hard these days. And all we can remember of the owner was that he was called Hugo. But we did take some notes, so at least we were paying attention a bit, however for one reason or another the vehicle never made it into the magazine at the time. Er, well there’s no point rushing these things.

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Below left, centre: Believe it or not, the bonnet is the original Discovery unit. Hugo removed the frame from underneath it, leaving just a sheet that could be shaped around the new tubular front end. This is a good illustration of how much length the vehicle has lost out of its front overhang, too Below right: The rock sliders, which are tied in to the chassis, were orginally just a footing for the roll cage. Later on, Hugo added the angled front edge and tubular tree sliders you see here, making the most of their potential as nerf bars

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Below left: The rear chassis was cut down to give the vehicle the best possible departure angle. This is better than 90 degrees, so job done. As well as tying the chassis legs together, the new crossmember is an anchoring point for the back of the cage structure and supports a body designed to keep itself as far out of trouble as possible Below centre, right: The radiator is mounted in the rear to keep it away from mud. This leaves a big hole in front of the engine, because Hugo also removed the intercooler; the rad you see front lefty under the bonnet is an oil cooler

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Anyway, here we are looking back on a shatteringly cold and wet February afternoon at Butcher’s Wood in Sussex. We were there at the invitation of CORSE, a club which had started up the previous year and was there setting up a trial event for the following morning, and we shot a variety of motors including an old-school Samurai and what was probably the best Jeep Wrangler YJ we’ve ever seen. Hugo’s buggy came at the end of the day, when the light was starting to fade (so about three in the afternoon, given the plight of the weather), and if we remember rightly the photoshoot came to an end when he blasted into a mud run, didn’t make it out the other end and couldn’t find anyone left on site with a heavy enough vehicle to get him out. The Nissan Qashqai we had arrived in probably wouldn’t have made things any better… Anyway, the vehicle started life as a 300Tdi Discovery with an R380 manual box and, when Hugo bought it, a snorkel made from what looked like a combination of rubber tube and boiler flue. At this point, it was entirely standard but for this

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one addition, which must have looked a little out of place. Not to worry, it wasn’t going to stay that way. Hugo didn’t mention whether the Disco’s body was rotten when he bought it, but he did tell us that he replaced it with a tubular one which he made up himself using that good old Land Rover favourite, scaffold. This finishes up at a new rear crossmember which anchors the back of the cage structure, in the process reducing the departure angle to better than 90 degrees. The rear body, such as it is, was shaped to be as out of the way as possible in extreme off-road situations. The front of the chassis has been cut off too. Hugo first welded in a winch mount crossmember then finished it off a while later with a recovery bar, tidying it up a bit and providing an easyaccess towing point for those get-me-out-of-thismud-run moments. Along the sides, Hugo made up his own boxsection rock sliders. These started out as just a footing for the cage, with tubular outriggers tying

them to the chassis, but as the vehicle developed he added angled leading edges and tubular tree sliders to give them more of a nerf bar effect. Underneath, the axles are standard up front and a Salisbury unit from a 110 at the back. These hold the vehicle up on Bearmach springs and Pro-Comp shocks in Terrafirma towers; brakes are standard, though when we took our pictures they were also new. There’s a set of heavy-duty steering bars on the front axle, while at the back a pair of Terrafirma dislocation cones helps get the best from the standard A-frame and trailing links. Under the bonnet, the 300Tdi is more or less standard though Hugo removed the intercooler – feeling that this helps make it more responsive at off-road speeds. It breathes in through the aforementioned snorkel and out through a sideexit exhaust. The radiator meanwhile has been moved to the back to protect it from mud. Under the bonnet (which is the original Discovery one with the frame removed from underneath so it’s just a sheet, bent over the tubular front body), the rad you see at the bottom left as you look from the front of the vehicle is an oil cooler. The R380 box has been retained and the whole plot turns a set of 35x10.50R16 tyres in a pattern roughly based on that of the classic Simex Extreme Trekker. This is the stuff of hardcore off-road fun – which, having finished it, is exactly what Hugo started used it for at CORSE events and beyond. Where people just about managed to recognise it as a Discovery – though without its original doors and windscreen, that job would have been a great deal more awkward. As the original Discovery gets rarer and rarer, keeping them alive is always a noble cause. Land Rover traditionalists might not always approve of the way off-roaders do it, but what was that we were saying about the Disco being like a 100” Defender? If that’s right, then with its new body this one is among the most definitive examples you’ll ever find.

4x4 05/06/2022 22:59

The 200Tdi engine has achieved legendary status and Jonathan chose it without any hesitation, ﬁrmly believing that it’s much stronger than the earlier 2.5 Turbo-Diesel and also the 300Tdi that replaced it. This particular example started life beneath the bonnet of a Discovery, which saved a lot of pain when buying it but added plenty when it came to installing it

Standard front and Salisbury rear axles hold the vehicle up on a set of Bearmach springs and Pro-Comp shocks in Terrafirma towers. Terrafirma makes the dislocation kit used at the back, too. The snorkel, which is rather less of a branded item, was the only modification on the vehicle when Hugo bought it

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82 SIN

ARCHIVE STORIES FROM THE FIRST YEAR OF OVERLANDER 4X4

Land Master First Impressions by Mike Hallett

The sons of Cornwall have long been known for their engineering ability and it would appear

that they have yet another potential winner on their hands. In keeping with the traditions of that county, it is the mining industry that once again provided the initiative, if not the incentive, for a totally new 4x4 vehicle – the Land Master. Several years ago, one of the Sunday supplements carried a story about a Cornish engineer, Mr Stanley Metherell, who had the contract A wide, ground-hugging stance – not too happy about those Cibies, though to supply and

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maintain a large ﬂeet of Land Rovers on behalf of the English China Clay people at St Austell. China Clay is washed out of the ground with water jets and the waste products are left in large heaps around the countryside, equalled in size only by the huge holes from whence it came. Mr Metherell’s experience of Land Rovers working in that environment was vast, and he rapidly came to the conclusion that even they were not man enough for the job. It is not unknown for a vehicle to last less than a year after suffering the ravages of wet sand and clay and a multitude of indifferent drivers hammering them over a ’Lunar’ landscape.

A Rugged Machine The answer: To design and build a vehicle that would take the punishment, drawing on his own experiences to do so. The result: A rugged machine which, after many trials and tribulations, appears to have avoided

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Robust rear end with well protected lamps

Not a curve in sight – makes for easier body panel repairs

Transatlantic would have looked more at home, but then this is intended as a workhorse, not a ‘Chelsea chariot’. In keeping with modern trends, the power plant fitted is the alternative large diesel – a 4.05-litre Perkins 6-cylinder – churning out a useful torque figiure of 163lbf.ft at 2000rpm. I should imagine that turbo-charging would be a fairly straightforward modification, but I doubt if it is really necessary. Power seems to be adequate at 101bhp. Other engines offered are the Chrysler 5.9-litre V8, at 170bhp, or the smaller Perkins 3.8-litre 4-cylinder diesel with 75bhp. One of the most interesting features of this vehicle is a forward hinged bonnet which opens in two stages, allowing servicing to be done while standing alongside the engine. Accessibility is positively superb. I don’t know what the fuel consumption of the Perkins is, but with a 17-gallon main tank and 13-gallon auxiliary you should not have to stop too often to fill up. With easy cruising near the legal maximum, this should make for good journey times. Bodywork is two-door with a horizontally split tailgate. In this, it is remarkably similar to an overweight LWB Land Rover Hard-Top. It is double skinned in aluminium alloy and there are no curved surfaces. The military will love it. A casual look underneath reveals very few places for mud to accumulate on the channels, outriggers or wheelarches. Neither can it reach the back of the headlights. Ground clearance under the diffs is approximately 9”, and nearer 15” under the lowest parts at the centre of Well designed wheelarches keep mud and water where they belong the vehicle. The most of the undesirable features of the Land Rovers with which Mr Metherell has struggled. There is no disguising the fact, though, that the Land Master has put on a few inches around the waist. ’Tis a big, mean-looking machine. The chassis is a substantial steel ladder frame in large diameter, heavy-gauge tubing. This is suitably reinforced with deep channel sections welded to the underside in the critical areas. The crossmember under the gearbox is fabricated and bolted to facilitate easy removal of the transmission. The Spicer front and rear axles are underslung on heavy-duty leaf springs all round, hydraulically damped and with coil assistance at the front. Servo assisted brakes act on large ventilated front discs at the front and drums to the rear, and the handbrake operates on the rear wheels via a cable. The transmission in the vehicle depicted is a four-speed manual feeding through a New Process 203 transfer box. This is a full-time 4x4 system with the centre diff-lock all rather neatly controlled by one lever (Land Rover please note), marked simply ‘Lo Loc, Lo, N, H, H Loc’. Part-time 4x4 and automatic transmissions are also available as options. The all important grip on Mother Earth is achieved by 8-ply MkII Avon Rangers which, even at 7.50x16, look rather insignificant. I can’t help feeling that a set of 9.00s or even something

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Kick plates on the door and winding windows too! The Bostrom seat is not a standard fitting

wheelbase on this model is 115”, with approach and departure angles on a par with a Land Rover.

Nice Touches The heavy-duty towing pintle is on a crossmember which itself is triple-mounted to the back end of the chassis. It can only be described as ‘massive’ and drew gasps of Anglo-Saxon admiration from a local farmer who knows about these things. He was pretty keen on the wagon too and kept casting envious eyes over it. Other nice touches were the lower tailgate release button, recessed neatly into its top edge, and rear light clusters well protected from damage in a galvanised channel section. This is in three pieces for easy replacement should you do something silly. The battery also sits in a heavily galvanised tray and is securely located well up on the front bulkhead out of reach of the elements.

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All is revelaed – and accessible, too

The interior is not unattractive as far as utility vehicles go. The seats are comfortable, with two buckets in front and a very wide rear bench. We comfortably seated four far from slim agricultural types on this and they could sit with their legs almost outstretched. Behind the bench, which is reached easily by tipping the front seats, there is a substantial load space. The spare wheel is stored vertically to one side in the back, complete with cover. A large cubby box between the front seats and a deep shelf in the facia cope easily with most of the stuff that people tend to gather around them in their cars. Instrumentation is comprehensive and there are warning lights for all the usual things including handbrake and seat belts. The latter lights up for eight seconds or so on switching on but then shuts up and minds its own business thereafter. There’s a pair of good size door mounted rear-view mirrors which, though designed to fold back, were firm enough to resist doing so when

Massive chromed bumper appears to have come straight from a Dodge Ramcharger or similar and doesn’t look right

we took a very narrow and muddy green road for a mile or two.

The Ride is Firm You will have gathered by now that we like this vehicle enormously. The ride is firm, as is to be expected, but it is not uncomfortable and there was no jolting. The body does not roll when cornering, even when pushed hard (as a Range Rover driver, I found this very attractive). It is not prone to leaping about on the rough and, because of its wheelbase, there is little or no pitching. We were not able to try it out on anything really sticky or rough. This was, after all, only the seventh vehicle off the line and the very first in private hands (we are extremely grateful to the proud owner who, would you believe, has waited patiently for five years to take delivery, such was his faith in the final product). The Land Master if anything is over engineered but it must be remembered that it is expected

to work for its living with the minimum of down time for repair or servicing. It would not surprise us to learn that Mr Metherell gained his engineering spurs in the Royal Navy, because there is no doubt that this machine is built like a battleship. Mr Metherell has been struggling for five years now to get Government assistance to set up a production line. So far with little success, despite Cornwall being an area of severe unemployment. The first prototype has now served in the clay pits for two and a half years without any problems. There is a Forward Control prototype running and, by all accounts, startling the living daylights out of unsuspecting Cornish motorists with its performance. Devon and Cornwall Constabulary have got one on trial and the military is sniffing around as presumably it has got to replace its ‘Trucks 1-tonne Rover’ with something or other fairly soon. It would be a great pity to see this project die for lack of investment – and anyway, Land Rover could do with some real competition!

The Land Master Forward Control chassis-cab. Larger tyres would make this photo more impressive

50 | JULY 2022

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4x4 01/06/2022 23:20

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DON’T RUSH IT… With vast areas of desert and one of the world’s largest canyons, along with towns and It’s also a place you can easily rush through when South Africa is your final destination Words: Raymond and Nereide Greaves Pictures: Raymond and Nereide Greaves, and as credited

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cities that resemble something out of Bavaria, Namibia is a nation of great contrasts. – but to do that would be to miss out on what is a highlight of any overland journey

hen you’re on a road trip, it can be all too easy to rush through the sort of places that really deserve to be visited properly. This is even the case on an overland expedition – particularly if you’re approaching your journey’s end and have either become tired of life onthe road or started to run up against time constraints. So for anyone driving from the UK to South Africa, Namibia is at particular risk of being passed over. We had set off from London almost four months previously in our L322 Range Rover – the first of its kind, as far as we’re aware, ever to make this journey – and having travelled through some sixteen countries including Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania, it would be hard to exaggerate how excited we were to see our first road sign to South Africa! This was in Botswana, as we travelled west towards the border with Namibia. And it could certainly have prompted us to rush on towards our final destination, because the roads in this part of Africa are far better than we had become used to as we followed the classic route down the eastern side of the continent from Cairo. But Namibia is a land that deserves better than to be seen in a blur. There’s no such thing as a border crossing you want to spend more time at, on the other hand. But the

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Above: When you’ve been travelling for month after month on a mission to reach South Africa, seeing your first road sign to your final destination is a pretty exciting event. This is especially true when your route has taken you through various regions where road signs are notable mainly for the fact that there aren’t any Above right, right: Salt production at Walvis Bay involves allowing seawater to evaporate in huge pans. Throughout the process, the water changes colour – some pans are vibrantly green, others bright pink and others blood red. The salt itself is a reassuringly familiar white

checkpoint at Buitepos came pretty close, taking a mere 12 minutes to pass through. We can’t let this pass without making an ever so slightly clichéd comment about German efficiency. Not something you would normally associate with Africa – however while the rest of the continent was being colonised mainly by France and Britain, in 1884 Namibia became part of the German empire. Germany only controlled Namibia for 31 years before being driven back out by South African forces,

but during that time much happened to shape the nation’s character. Today, you will find German architecture, German street names, German coffee shops and a significant German speaking population – and, in enormous contrast to some parts of Africa we had visited en route, everywhere is extremely tidy. In addition to this, there’s also a strong South African presence in Namibia; its giant neighbour had varying degrees of political control for 75 years after ending the German occupation, with full independence

only being achieved in 1990. As a result, it’s a linguistic melting pot with English, Afrikaans, Nama (the Bushman language, characterised by distinctive clicking sounds) and German all spoken. Following a tumultuous century which included four obscene years of German genocide against the Nama and Herero people and a period of life (also obscene) under the apartheid regime of its South African masters, Namibia is now a stable, multi-party parliamentary democracy. It’s also largely considered

free of malaria, which we found very welcome – and in another measure of political stability, its currency is equivalent to, and directly interchangeable with, the South African Rand. So we were looking forward to this being a mercifully hassle-free part of our expedition! Mainly, at least. The capital, Windhoek, is a fascinating blend of modern architecture with Bavarian and even Alpine-looking colonial buildings – but the guide book we were relying on made it sound absolutely horrible, painting a picture of a

The architecture in Windhoek is remarkable, with the influence of the colonial era very clear. While the rest of Africa fell mainly under French and British rule, Namibia became part of the German empire; today, its towns and cities are reminiscent of those in Bavaria and even the Alps. They’re notably very clean and tidy, too, which is in marked contrast to many other parts of the continent

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Above left, centre: Swakopmund is another of Namibia’s main cities, and once again there are areas in which it resembles Europe – half close your eyes and you could be looking at Southend Pier here. In other ways, though, it’s distinctly African Pics: Swakopmund, Namibia by Domenico Convertini @ flickr.com, CC BY-SA 2.0

Above right: Sand boarding is one of the most common reasons for visiting Swakopmund. As the name suggests, it’s like snowboarding, only on sand, meaning you travel more slowly and it doesn’t hurt as much when you stack. Which, as you can see from the tell-tale patch of sand here, does happen… city whose streets were taken over at night by gangs of armed robbers. To us, it really didn’t feel like that at all – even when we put the theory to the test by accidentally leaving the Range Rover unlocked overnight with all our valuables in it. Fortunately, everything was still on board in the morning. Next we headed for Swakopmund, which is on the west coast of Africa. As we passed through the Namib Desert, descending towards sea level, the temperature dropped from a scorching 37 degrees to a breezy 20 degrees over a distance of no more than about 20 miles. We realised here that we had now driven to the shores of no less than five different seas: the English Channel, Aegean, Mediterranean, Red Sea

7pp Lilongwe Down Namibia.indd 57

and Indian Ocean. And now we were on our way to the Atlantic. Swakopmund is a combination of German, Swiss-German and South African influences. There were lots of European cars around (including the Mark 1 Volkswagen Golf from the 1980s, which were still being made in Southern Africa up until 2009) and the architecture was very reminiscent of southern Germany. Swiss and German guesthouses lined the streets. A small African curio market was the only thing that gave away the fact we weren’t in northern Europe. Along the seafront, the houses had all been painted in pastel colours. A house with a traditional thatched roof and a very modern looking full glass front stood out

like an elephant in a ballet. Come to think of it, there were quite a few ‘elephants’ around with tacky wildlife paintings on the external walls. We circled surreal Swakopmund, taking it all in. Our home for the next few days was the Sea Breeze Guest House, where the room we stayed in was large enough for five people with its own kitchen, garden and balcony. We took the opportunity to unload the entire contents of the Range Rover, spreading out our giant map of Africa on the table and setting up our laptops. The accommodation quickly became a Lilongwe Down situations room for planning the next phase of the trip! One of Swakopmund’s principal attractions is sand boarding. This sport is exactly like snowboarding

but much slower and easier on your backside if you happen to be a beginner. We drove to the very precisely named Dune 7, where we were met by a man with four snowboards and a decent quad-bike which acted as a desert chairlift. The dune was more of a small hill in skiing terms, but since Nereide didn’t know anything about boarding and Raymond wanted to sledge down, it was quite big enough. As it turns out, it was pretty easy to board down in a slow diagonal or a straight line without wiping out. Meanwhile, however, Raymond sledged down at an uncontrollable speed and in an uncontrollable direction in complete hysterics. Then something astonishing happened. It began to rain.

01/06/2022 22:57

The Namib Desert has about 5mm of rainfall annually, which means it normally only rains for about ten minutes each year and that’s it. It had already had its entire year’s quota the week before we arrived and now it was going to be doubled! Needless to say, any downhill movement after that was completely impossible. Another great activity in Swakopmund is quad biking the Namib Desert. We hired a quad each, along with a guide to take us through the

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desert for a couple of hours. The view of the orange sculpted dunes juxtaposed against a perfect, cloudless blue sky was like nothing else. There was a cool breeze keeping us from feeling the harsh sun on our backs. Sand tracks led us over the top of dunes, round the sides and through steep drops and jumps which were very reminiscent of skipiste topography. The view of the desert was all-consuming, stretching out for miles in front of us. The dunes

4x4 01/06/2022 22:57

were big enough to hide a person lagging behind as we rode between and around them. We rode through craters, pushing hard on the power to reach the top of the bowl before turning into steep declines full throttle, the wind racing against our faces. Great fun! Aside from tourism, other key industries in Namibia are salt and uranium production. We went to see the Walvis Bay salt works, which is close to Swakopmund. Salt is produced from pans of seawater

evaporated by the sun, which in turn produces an unusual phenomenon: the seawater turns different colours at each evaporation stage. Some of the pans were blood-red, some seaweed green and others Pink-Panther pink. Very unusual. None of this was asking any particularly searching questions of our Range Rover, but that changed when we made tracks towards Fish River Canyon. Located some 375 miles south of Windhoek, this is reminiscent of the Grand Canyon – after

Main picture: Werner Bayer

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which it claims to be the second largest in the world. The road out of Windhoek wound its way to over 2000 metres before gently descending into vast, open flatness where you could see for dozens of miles at a time in all directions. This was broken up by some jagged mountains far in the distance. For hundreds of miles at a time, we would see virtually nothing, which impressed upon us Namibia’s incredibly low population density – just two million people in a country about the size of Germany. Out here the temperature was starting to feel a great deal cooler and fresher, something we had noticed as soon as we drove south of the Kalahari Desert. For the first time in months, the jeans and jerseys were re-emerging from deep within our luggage. To access Fish River Canyon, we had to drive down about 45 miles of gravel tracks. Always a test of a vehicle’s traction, not least because unlike in the rest of the continent, untarred roads in Namibia are smooth – allowing you to maintain speeds of 60mph or more, always accompanied by a huge plume of dust behind the car. The landscape was mountainous and rocky and there was a total lack of any vegetation, apart from the odd Quiver tree.

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Then we were there, and the Fish River Canyon opened up like a vast gash in the flat landscape of the desert. Whether it really is the world’s second biggest is open to question but we could see for miles along the gorge and the Fish River itself was very narrow at this point. The river only flows from March or April for about six months before drying up and at this stage it was still only a trickle. We took a good walk along the edge of the canyon and were struck by the totally unforgiving nature of the landscape; sharp rocks underfoot, no shade anywhere and no water or vegetation. This is a place where you need to be totally self-sufficient otherwise you run into major trouble very quickly. Having put in so many miles to reach the canyon, now at last we were close to the South African frontier. And the excitement was definitely rising as we continued towards what was going to be our final border crossing. Not that we were in a hurry to leave. With its pretty towns, fast roads, great service, civilised culture, kind people and good places to eat, Namibia had been a welcome surprise. It was a positive surprise, and somewhere we had thoroughly enjoyed visiting.

But now it was time to get yet another stamp in our passports. Although we were still some way from Cape Town, after this we would have plentiful fuel stations, excellent places to eat, first-world health

care… even the AA! In fact we both had a creeping feeling of guilt that this was about to turn into a glorified holiday. Though having driven 13,200 miles to get there, we reckon we had just about earned it!

4x4 01/06/2022 22:57

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4x4

07/06/2022 17:02

ROADBOOK

NORTH BERKSHIRE

Widely varied rights of way amid a sweeping landscape of chalk downs

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ROADBOOK Many of the unsurfaced rights of way that criss-cross the rolling downlands of the Vale of White Horse are wide, smooth and very easy to drive. Some of this long, scenic route is like that – but here and there, the going gets trickier and, at times, scratchy enough to make it suitable only if you don’t mind your paintwork taking a bit of a beating. Your reward is some moments of glorious solitude, in a part of the country not noted for offering such a thing, during which you can enjoy having a wonderful, wide open landscape all to yourself

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.

4x4 14pp Roadbook July 22.indd 63

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

ANTIS

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

DO…

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

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

• Ensure you have a right to be

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

• • • •

DON’T…

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

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

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

• Cause a noise nuisance, particularly after dark

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

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ROUTE GUIDE

is it suitable?

START FINISH HOW LONG? TERRAIN HAZARDS

TYRES

OS MAPS

Step

0.0

World’s End (SU 487 767) Chilseldon (SU 191 803) 54.75 miles / 6-7 hours Woods and chalky downland Ruts, at times quite deep; surface water; tight woodland; other users, especially on horseback; farm traﬃc; hazardous road junctions; fast traﬃc on some roads Landranger 174 (Newbury and Wantage)

SU 487 767

Start outside The Coach, a pub in the hamlet of World’s End. Zero your trip with the pub to your right and set off headed north, immediately into the village of Beedon

Step

64 | JULY 2022

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DAMAGE

Step

4 Primary School Stanmore

SU 482 786

1.4 Step

0.45

WEATHER LOW BOX SOFT-ROADERS SCRATCHING DRIVING

At least an all-terrain when wet; not ideal for low-proﬁle tyres Can get very slippery when wet Can be done without it At a push, but only with back-up Inevitable and quite severe Tricky navigation in places. Lots of ruts and trees to steer clear of Potential exists for panel damage

Follow the track round to the left when you see the A34 in front of you. This leads you down and under the main road – the track is prone to ﬂooding under the bridge

2.2

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Step 4: It’s apt to be ﬂooded as you pass beneath the A34

Step

2.25

3.85

Step

9 It gets quite rutted and bumpy for a spell up ahead, but mainly for now just enjoy the splendour of green laning in full view of a busy dualcarriageway…

Step

2.35

3.9

Step

3.8

West Ilsley Peasemore Abingdon Oxford

4.0

3.3 Step

Oxford (A34) West Ilsley Stanmore

Keep slow between the houses

Step

12 4.25

112 4 11 17

SU 489 812

Extreme caution – the track is entered across the junction, like you’re turning left then instantly right, so there’s no way of signalling what you’re doing to other drivers without confusing the life out of them. This track gets quite tight and scratchy up ahead

Step 12: The junction is a nasty one – you’re coming from the bottom of this picture and turning across the road on the left. However you try to signal, any other drivers nearby will be bewildered by what you’re up to

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Step 13: The track has recently been resurfaced where it goes into trees, but it’s still pretty tight and scratchy

Step

Follow the byway sign

6.15 Step

Follow the byway sign

6.45 Step

Here’s where the tight stuff starts. There’s enough of a drop-off into the ﬁeld on the right for you not to want to ignore it, too

Step

4.85

6.85

Step

5.95

0.6

Step

6.05

1.0

70 | JUNE 2022

14pp Roadbook July 22.indd 66

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4x4 01/06/2022 23:37

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32212 (68) 4x4 (full).indd 1

29/04/2022 13:03

APB_FP.indd 1 60 Ford Siberia.indd

06/04/2022 07/04/2022 17:22 14:17

Step 22: The signs unhelpfully tell you there’s no right of way ahead; perhaps the person who made them didn’t know the byway slides out into the trees next to the Cat A farm track

Step

Join the Cat A farm track

1.4 Step

22 23

Just after Step 21, a pair of signs unhelpfully inform you that there’s no right of way ahead. They’re correct – but what they don’t mention is that the byway dives off to the right into the trees to run parallel to the main track

24 2.0

4x4 14pp Roadbook July 22.indd 69

Step

26 3.1

Rejoin the Cat A track

1.7 Step

25 2.3

1.4 Step

Step

27 3.3

Stay on the main track

Step

Brightwalton

SU 430 794

4.1

JULY 2022 | 69

01/06/2022 23:37

Step

4.4

6.7

Step

4.9

7.0

Step

34 35

31 5.2

9.4

Step

5.5

11.5

Step

33 70 | JULY 2022

14pp Roadbook July 22.indd 70

(M4) Hungerford A338 Great Shefford

6.3

SU 426 806

38 Brightwalton

East Garston East Bury Lambourne

134 234 4

SU 372 757

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

12.4 4x4 01/06/2022 23:37

Step 45: Another helpful set of signs from the ‘get orff moi larrnd’ school. At least they’re a good landmark to show you where the byway dives off on to the grass

Step

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

12.6 Step

40 41

Step

45 4.5 Step

Stay on the main track

13.6 Step

Step 46: Ignore the previous junctions, which are very well waymarked, then turn left when you reach the wooden pylon

4.7

SU 359 796

At the byway sign, where once again the road sprouts signs telling you there’s no right of way, follow the tyre tracks with the fence immediately to your right. You’ll soon come to a three-way byway sign, where you continue straight ahead

Don’t turn too early – there’s another byway signposted on the left a little way before this. What you’re looking for is a T-junction with a wooden pylons in front of you, just after the chicken sheds on the left. You’re back on to ﬁrm chalky ground here, rather than grass

Step

ZERO TRIP

14.5

4.8

Step

1.5

5.3

The main track swings right, but the one you’re following on is still very clear

Step

43 1.9

Eastbury Lambourne

3 4 1

Step

44 2.6 4x4 14pp Roadbook July 22.indd 71

Eastbury Grange

JULY 2022 | 71

01/06/2022 23:37

Step 50: The correct right of way is a grass track running parallel to the concrete road Step

Turn left in front of the dark red barn

6.0 Step

50 6.05

Step

55 7.6

Ahead of you is a concrete road with a much less obvious grass track running alongside it on the left, at ﬁrst across the grass verge and then between the tree line and ﬁeld edge. There’s no signposting to guide you, but the correct route is to follow the track until it runs out and you’re taken back on to the road

Step

56 8.0

Step

7.1

8.6

Step

7.15

0.95

Step

7.3

1.15

Step

7.35

2.95

51 52 53 54 72 | JULY 2022

14pp Roadbook July 22.indd 72

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

57 58

ZERO TRIP

SU 345 773

59 60

Woodlands St Mary

Caution – this is a fast, busy road

Lambourn B4000 Baydon

4x4 01/06/2022 23:37

Step

61 3.4

Step

SU 336 749

64 Bridle Road to Lambourn

4.35

Step

3.6

4.4

Step

3.9

5.55

62 63

4x4 14pp Roadbook July 22.indd 73

There’s a short, wet section at the valley bottom a little way after the previous junction

JUNE 2022 | 75

01/06/2022 23:38

Step 71: You come upon the turning quite suddenly, and the byway sign is as good as impossible to spot as you approach. The farm buildings and MOT testing station sign are your best landmarks here

Step

It’s not clear which road has the right of way

Step

5.6

5.95

Step

5.85

0.1

74 | JULY 2022

14pp Roadbook July 22.indd 74

Turn left then immediately right again for Upper Lambourn, Ashbury, Shrivenham and Equine Hospital

ZERO TRIP

70 Baydon Village

4x4 01/06/2022 23:38

Step 75: You won’t be able to spot the turning on the left as you approach – just look out for the Upper Lambourn sign and be prepared to turn immediately after it Step

71 1.1 Step

SU 310 781

The junction is on a corner immediately after the Farncombe Farm buildings on the right. There’s a byway sign, but it’s on the left side of the road and you can’t see it as you approach in any case

The ground is pretty uneven as you climb up into the junction and begin to turn

Step

75 Step

76 4.15

Step

2.35

4.95

Step

2.8

5.15

4x4 14pp Roadbook July 22.indd 75

This is opposite the road on the right for Upper Lambourn

3.75

1.65

SU 313 802

77 78

JUNE 2022 | 77

01/06/2022 23:38

Step 87: The barn is a good landmark as you approach the junction; there’s another to the right opposite it, too Step

Step

6.55

9.65

79 Step

83 Step

Dead slow through the farm

7.15

11.15

Step

7.95

0.6

Step

The track’s not signed at all, and it’s hard to spot as you approach. It’s in a wooded section just after you’ve reached the top of the hill, and it’s the only turning there is, so just stay slow and keep your eyes open. Don’t panic if you overshoot, anyway – there’s a zero point coming up for your trip meter

ZERO TRIP

85 86

82 8.4

SU 263 790

Swindon Cricklade

9 15

0.75 Step

Swindon B4192

SU 254 763

This is immediately after some barns on the right. Start slowing and indicating early on and look out for the white byway sign as you approach

1.55 Step

88 1.7 76 | JULY 2022

14pp Roadbook July 22.indd 76

Byway to Snap & Ridgeway

4x4 01/06/2022 23:38

Step

Join the new, well surfaced section of track

3.25 Step

Step

94 5.3

Turn right up a long hill

Step

3.5

6.0

Step

3.85

7.7

Extreme caution – this is a horrible turning on to a fast, straight main road. Traﬃc from the left comes over a blind crest so you won’t see it until it’s almost upon you

Pull in to the Plough on the Hill pub for the end of the route

Step

92 4.05 Step

There’s a long, steep descent after the junction

4.9 4x4 14pp Roadbook July 22.indd 77

JULY 2022 | 77

01/06/2022 23:38

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07/06/2022 17:46

4x4

NEXT MONTH IN…

The Half-Track Fox is an engineering marvel – and it became one of the rarest off-roaders ever built Tested: New-look Skoda Kodiaq, Peugeot 3008 and base-spec Isuzu D-Max Utility Plus: Land Rover’s legendary 90 SV brought back to life… and the day we met the mighty Daihatsu F20

ON SALE: 15th July

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

71 34

Step

Cautio the iate as you climb steps to negot hillside

ROADBOOK: Moorland lanes in the borders of Cumbria and Northumberland 13 13 Step

12.3.1

a Abbey Strata Florid

8.75

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

Step

Ste p Step

4328

Step

48 15.2

Step

16 17

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

15.0 Step

13.4

11.7

Step

followed by a long

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

1312 .1 .6

10.9

11.8

More rock steps, water trough

Step

44 Join the Cat A

track

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

13.65 Step

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

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

Name Address

Step

18 12.8 88 | JAN UARY 2020

14.7

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

Step

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

4x4

14.9 4x4

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

80 | JULY 2022

Next Month July.indd 80

4x4 01/06/2022 23:23

www.osram.co.uk/ledriving-lights

Light is Adventure OSRAM LEDriving® Working and Driving Lights The OSRAM range of intense LED lights are built to step up to the challenge when the going gets tough. Leave the tarmac behind and see clearly what lies ahead of you off the beat track. The LEDriving ® range of robust and stylish spotlights, reversing lights and lightbars can improve near- and far-field vision whilst enhancing driving performance, even under the most extreme conditions. Don’t let the darkness spoil your next adventure. For more information visit: www.osram.co.uk/ledriving-lights or email: automotive@osram.co.uk

Light is OSRAM

WITH MORE CAPABILITY, IN MORE CONDITIONS, AND MORE PRESENCE THAN EVER, THE ALL-NEW ISUZU D-MAX ARCTIC TRUCKS AT35 IS LIKE NOTHING ELSE ON OR OFF THE ROAD. AND IT KNOWS IT.

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All fuel consumption and emission values are based on the WLTP (Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure) test cycle which uses real-world driving data. Official fuel economy for the standard Isuzu D-Max range in MPG (l/100km): Low 25.1–27.6 (10.2–11.2). Mid 31.4–36.4 (7.8–9.0). High 36.0–39.4 (7.2–7.8). Extra-High 29.0–30.8 (9.2–9.7). Combined 30.7–33.6 (8.4–9.2). CO2 emissions 220–241 g/km. Visit isuzu.co.uk for full details.

4x4 Magazine - July 2022

Articles inside

Namibia Much more than a place to hurry through on the way to South Africa

Tubular Disco Early ones rot – but can still make top off-road toys

Jeep ‘41 Military nostalgia meets modern technology in a classic concept

Mercedes-Benz EQB Classy EV is fast, fun and a practicality sleeper

BMW iX3 All-electric version of X3 impresses in every way

Alan Kidd There were 4x4s, then there were SUVs, now there are RUVs

Kia Sportage First drive in all-new version of monster-selling family SUV

Isuzu D-Max New AT35 gets expedition-ready for CV Show

Land Rover Defender 130 New range-topper a long way from 130 of old

Gearmate New ranges of hard-tops and tonneaux for work and play

Breasthigh Pass Major repair work begins on iconic Cumbrian trail

Hennessey Mammoth It’s huge… but the really huge thing is its horsepower