4x4 Magazine - January 2021

4x4

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

PICK-UP OF THE YEAR

The wild Hilux that blazed a trail for the era of 200bhp pick-ups

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Project D-Max GO2: the story so far of Isuzu’s off-road hero

JAN 2021

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21/08/2020 10:43

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EGR RollTrac is the all new roll top cover that keeps cargo fully protected, wherever your pickup truck is heading.

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January 2021

CONTENTS

32

“The double-cab market in the UK is still getting with each passing year”

24

64 | JANUARY 2020

2-3 Contents Jan.indd 4

62

56

4x4 01/12/2020 21:31

54 12 MAGAZINES FOR THE PRICE OF 3!

Subscribe to Britain’s only 4x4 magazine and save a massive 75% by getting it delivered to your door every month. What’s not to love?

4x4 Scene: News, Products and More…

8 9 10 10 12 13 14 18 18 20 22 22 23

Toyota Hilux Bigger engine spearheads big changes for new-look model Nissan Qashqai Popular crossover returns with revolutionary power train Defender SVR Bowler-built 110 will cost £200,000 Jaguar Land Rover Pioneering the use of new, lightweight materials Land Rover Discovery New engines and improved interiors join range Kia New military platform could yield low-volume off-road models Celtic Routes Winter package offers overland routes in northern Scotland Bridgestone All-terrain tyres approved as OE fit on Ineos Grenadier Evans Coolants An oft-forgotten way of looking after your 4x4’s engine Lazer Lamps New fitting kits for Toyota’s biggest beats Petzl Latest head torches in stock at Euro 4x4 Parts Britpart Expedition roof rack for new Land Rover Defender 110 Osram High-performance bulbs for your vehicle’s headlamps

Driven 24 28

Bentley Bentayga Properly off-road in the second-generation luxury SUV Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 3dr Hardcore Jeep is almost a rarity in 3dr form

32 Pick-Up of the Year 2021 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48

Ford Ranger Still a dominant force in the twighlight of its life Isuzu D-Max All-new model arrives in the UK just in time to be included Mitsubishi L200 Living on borrowed time, but still a big name Nissan Navara Reigning champion gets better still as AT32 model returns SsangYong Musso Can anything unseat it as the value for money champ?

Toyota Hilux A legendary name – with major updates due imminently Volkswagen Amarok Down to residual stock as new model approaches PICK-UP OF THE YEAR 2021 The winner is unveiled!

Every Month 6 13 16 54 80

Alan Kidd What have we learned during the year of the virus?

Coming Soon Trucks and SUVs set to be launched in the near future Calendar Lots of reasons to look forward to life returning to normal…

Subscribe Stay at home and get 4x4 delivered – and save a huge 75%!

Next Month Part 2 of our annual awards: it’s time for 4x4 of the Year!

Features

stronger and stronger

50 56 62

Hilux Sport Concept The truck that heralded the age of the 200bhp pick-up Tough 90 The shortest pick-up around… but also the longest lived Mighty Samurai Turning a Suzuki into an off-road work of fabricated genius

Our 4x4s

68

68

Isuzu D-Max GO2 The story so far of our much-modified double-cab

Travel 74

VetRun 180 A pioneering adventure designed to help veterans with PTSD

50 4x4 2-3 Contents Jan.indd 5

JUNE 2020 | 3

01/12/2020 21:31

4x4 Alan Kidd Editor

I

t’s still the back end of November as I write this. By the time you read it, rather a lot is likely to have changed – and by the time my next stream of thoughts is published, it will be the second week of January: nasty old 2020 will be gone and we’ll be full of hope for a brighter year to come.

What will we have learned from the year of the virus? And, assuming the vaccines we’re all hanging on do get approved and life is back to normal by around the time the seasonal green lane closures come back off, what can be look forward to being different about the future?

First and foremost, we’ve been reminded about the power of fear. When the virus arrived and lockdown was announced, people felt helpless and afraid. We had no idea how this was going to pan out, or if things would ever be the same again.

We didn’t know when, or if, there would be a vaccine. The whole world, everything we thought we knew and could take for granted, was grinding to a halt and, not to put too fine a point on it, we panicked.

There’s much to take from what happened during those dark months. Aside from the obvious tales of heartbreak and loss (some of them very close to me), of wrecked livelihoods and families kept apart, often at the exactly the times when families most need to come together, there have been positives and negatives we can look at – and either hope or fear that that’s what the future will be like.

Most obviously, a good many people have stepped up to help others. At the height of the panic, Captain Tom became the poster boy for this new-found wartime spirit, and quite rightly so, but everywhere there were people keeping an eye out for their elderly and otherwise vulnerable neighbours. When the NHS appealed for volunteers to help delivering medicines and so on, within a day of the website going live more than three quarters of a million people had registered to help.

You can see the parallel to our own little world of 4x4 ownership, can’t you? Like Captain Tom, 4x4 Response Networks are the poster boys for our willingness to help others. When storms, floods, ice, snow

6 | JANUARY 2021

6 Edline Jan.indd 4

You’ve got a strong vehicle – now it’s up to you always to live up to it and so on come along, Britain’s care givers and emergency services know that a small army of volunteers is ready to help ensure those same most vulnerable people will still get their medicines, meals on wheels, nurse visits and so on.

It didn’t take a pandemic to make this happen. Public spirited 4x4 drivers have been helping others since 4x4s were first invented. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve done tip runs for friends and neighbours because I was the one with a pick-up truck, or stopped to lash up a tow rope when it’s been snowing and I’ve found someone stuck at the bottom of a hill.

Then there are the negatives. If you ask people about one 4x4-related story they remember from the last year, it’ll be the one about that mob who broke lockdown to go playing on the lanes in Wales.

Selfishness has been the big downer this year. Whether it’s the lads you see strutting round Tesco with no mask because they want an excuse to start on whoever tells them off, or the students having endless drunk parties, or the political types who don’t think the rules apply to them, we’re in this together right up to the point where we remember that actually, no, we were in it for ourselves all along. People hate how Amazon has made billions during the crisis, but mainly because they wish it was them who’d started Amazon in the first place.

Obviously, selfish 4x4 owners do our reputation no good – especially as other selfish people are quick to paint them as typical of what the rest of us are like.

We can’t change that. But what we can do is resolve, at the start of a new year and (hasta la vaccine, baby) the end of the Covid crisis, always to be the good guys.

This year has reminded us to look out for the most vulnerable among us. It has reminded us that to care is to be strong.

Covid will go away, but that will never change. You’ve got a strong vehicle – let this year be your reminder always to live up to it.

Tel: 01283 553243 Email: enquiries@assignment-media.co.uk Web: www.totaloffroad.co.uk www.4x4i.com Online Shop: www.toronline.co.uk Facebook: www.facebook.com/totaloffroad www.facebook.com/4x4Mag Editor Alan Kidd Art Editor Samantha D’Souza Contributors Mike Trott, George Dove, Dan Fenn, Paul Looe, Olly Sack, Gary Noskill, Kaziyoshi Sasazaki, Ifor Evans Photographers Harry Hamm, Steve Taylor, Richard Hair, Vic Peel, Gavin Kaps, Lawrence Baker 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 742970. Prices for 12 issues: UK £42 (24 issues £76); Europe Airmail/ROW Surface £54; ROW Airmail £78 Distributed by Marketforce; www.marketforce.co.uk Every effort is made to ensure the contents of 4x4 are accurate, but Assignment Media accepts no responsibility for errors or omissions nor the consequences of actions made as a result of these.

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

© Assignment Media Ltd, 2020

4x4 01/12/2020 17:54

New Accessory 18th Catalogue

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www.britpart.com/request - fill in your details and we’ll send you a copy!* Note - Sorry but catalogues can only be posted to UK addresses. Catalogue can be viewed online at www.britpart.com/cat *Alternatively write to the Marketing Department, Britpart, The Grove, Craven Arms, Shropshire, SY7 8DA.

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NEW 4X4S

NEW ENGINE THE HIGHLIGHT AS HILUX GETS MID-LIFE MAKEOVER

2.8-litre diesel joins range • Improved steering and suspension • From £21,541 ex-VAT

T

oyota has introduced an updated version of the Hilux. With sharpened-up looks to distinguish it from the pre-facelift model, this is most notable for offering a new engine option at the top of the range – however it has been improved in a wide range of other areas too,

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Scene Jan.indd 8

prompting Toyota to say it ‘strikes the perfect work/life balance.’

The engine, which is shared with the recently revised Landcruiser, is a 2.8-litre four-cylinder diesel. It develops 201bhp; this is backed up by 310lbf.ft from 1400rpm with a manual gearbox, or 369lbf.ft from 1600rpm with an auto.

In addition to the new unit, the Hilux will continue to be available with the 2.4-litre diesel that’s featured beneath its bonnet since launch. This will indeed power the bulk of the range; the 2.8 is reserved for the Invincible, in which both engines are available, and range-topping Invincible X.

Down below, the Hilux also gains revisions to its suspension and steering. These are designed primarily to enhance its road manners – though Toyota also promises that the vehicle will remain just as capable off-road.

Among the changes are a new rear spring design in which the main leaf has been extended, a helper added and self-lubricating rubber used in the rear shackle bush. Up front, the power steering system has been revised for lighter inputs off-road and around town and better weight at higher speed.

Toyota has also given the Hilux an optional limited-slip differential, promising that this will ‘improve its on-road ride and handling and its off-road controllability.’ This is in addition to a new electronic traction control system which Toyota says will replicate the effect of a mechanical LSD when running in rear-wheel drive.

The Hilux also has Active Traction Control, which operates when

4x4 01/12/2020 17:56

NEW 4X4S

New platform and revolutionary powertrain set to feature on third-generation Qashqai

the vehicle is in low range, as well as hill-start and hill descent assistance. Most importantly, Toyota hasn’t forgotten about the locking rear diff that has helped make the Hilux a consistently stellar performer off-road down the years.

Helping still further on the revised model is a lower idle speed on the 2.4-litre engine, down from 850rpm to 680rpm. In addition, throttle responses have been retuned for more controllable inputs, and the stability control programme and power steering have been amended to better meet the needs of off-road use. The Hilux gains a tyre angle monitor, too, which is one of those things that sounds trivial but can actually be remarkably helpful in the real world.

Climb in to the revised model, however, and that’s unlikely to be the first thing you notice. Icon, Invincible and Invincible X variants gain the latest Toyota Touch 2 multimedia system, which looks far more modern than the unit in the old model; this supports smartphone mirroring through Apple CarPlay or Android Auto and, in the Invincible X, also runs its own satnav system.

Entry-level Active models don’t get this system, however they do

4x4 Scene Jan.indd 9

still give you Bluetooth and a USB port – as well as air-con, auto headlamps, a locking rear diff and Toyota Safety Sense (a package including Pre-Collision System, Adaptive Cruise Control, Lane Departure Alert and Road Sign Assist). This is the only grade in which Single and Extra-Cab models are available, and these come as standard with wipeclean PVC trim; it can also still be had in Double-Cab form, in which this is replaced with fabric.

Icon models add 17” alloys, LED fogs, side steps, a reversing camera and DAB radio. It also gains the new multimedia system and automatic limited-slip differential mentioned above.

Move up to Invincible and you add 18” alloys, heated front seats, LED headlamps, automatic air-con and all-round parking sensors. The Invincible X, meanwhile, gives you leather seats with heating and power adjustment up front, a premium stereo, ambient lighting and a body styling package – as well as the new 2.8-litre engine as standard.

List prices (ex-VAT) for the new Hilux start at £21,541 for the Active Single-Cab and climb to £31,608 for the Invincible X. We’ll be driving it in time for next month’s issue – watch this space!

NISSAN HAS RELEASED a teaser image of its third-generation Qashqai ahead of the vehicle’s full unveiling this coming spring. Based on an all-new platform, this is 60kg and 41% stiffer than comparable examples of the current model – prompting Nissan to promise improvements in ride comfort and refinement as well as ‘driving response from a higher segment plus exceptional security in the event of an accident.’

Lighter weight means better efficiency, too, and this will be further enhanced by a choice of electrified drivetrains. The more conventional of these will use a 1.3-litre petrol engine as part of a mild hybrid system – however the vehicle’s arrival will also herald the debut of Nissan’s e-POWER set-up. This combines full electric drive with a petrol engine which, rather than turning the wheels, simply charges the vehicle’s battery pack. Under hard acceleration, the engine-driven generator can also deliver power directly to the electric motor.

As before, the Qashqai will be available with a choice of two or fourwheel drive. Vehicles with the former, and riding on wheels up to 19”, will get a torsion beam rear suspension system, while those with 20” rims and/or all-wheel drive get a more dynamic multi-link set-up.

The new Qashqai was syled by Nissan Design Europe in London and its engineering development was led by the Nissan Technical Centre in Cranfield. It will continue to be built in Sunderland, with production due to get underway by summer.

The Volkswagen Touareg is now available with full remote-control parking. Using an app, the vehicle can be instructed to manoeuvre itself into a space while you stand watching – whereupon its cameras and ultrasonic sensors take over.

JANUARY 2021 | 9

01/12/2020 17:57

NEW 4X4S

DEFENDER SET TO LIVE ON – AS A

CSP 575 set to enter production in early 2021 • Built by Bowler on its CSP chassis • 575bhp

A

pproaching half a decade since the last original-shape Defender came off the production line, the vehicle’s iconic shape is set to be resurrected. There’s a new Defender now, of course, and it’s a very

different beast, but Land Rover has given the green light to plans for the CSP 575 – an all-new performance vehicle with the same silhouette as the old 110.

Set to go on sale next year in very limited numbers, the vehicle will

be built by Bowler Motors – these days, part of Land Rover’s own SVO division. It will be based on Bowler’s Cross Section Platform (CSP) spaceframe chassis and powered by the 575bhp supercharged V8 from the Range Rover Sport SVR – and

Land Rover says it’s likely to cost in the region of £200,000.

Made from high-strength steel, the CSP chassis was developed with motorsport and military applications in mind. Its shape suggests a double-cab body style, however the CSP

Aerospace tech to the fore as Land Rover researches lightweight new body materials ALUMINIUM BODYWORK will forever be part of the Land Rover story. But the company’s future models are set to feature panels made from revolutionary new materials as part of a weight-saving process made possible by the use of sensor technology borrowed from the aerospace sector.

Currently, Land Rover is taking part in a two-year research project in which advanced lightweight metals and composites are assessed for their suitability to automotive use. In particular, the materials are being tested in various locations around the world for their response to corrosive environments and the stresses created by rigorous off-roading.

The test programme involves samples of the new materials, monitored by aerospace-grade sensors, being installed on vehicles which are driven

10 | JANUARY 2021

Scene Jan.indd 10

hard in what Land Rover calls ‘some of the world’s most extreme physical conditions.’ In North America alone, where it gets both hotter and colder than pretty much anywhere else a Land Rover is likely to go, the test rigs will put in around 250,000 miles.

The sensors on board these research vehicles will feed back data on the materials’ performance to Jaguar Land Rover’s engineers, allowing them to forecast how each metal and composite will behave on production models.

The company says this will ensure that they deliver ‘a longer-lasting, high quality finish.’

The research programme is being conducted by the Gesamtverband der Aluminiumindustrie, a spectacularly names consortium of aluminium

4x4 01/12/2020 17:57

NEW 4X4S

£200,000 OFF-ROAD SUPERCAR

supercharged V8 from Range Rover Sport SVR • Four-seat interior • Likely to cost £200,000 Bowler’s CSP spaceframe chassis was developed with motorsport and military applications in mind. Since Land Rover took over the company, an SVR-badged vehicle has always been a likelihood – and as these official pictures show, it’s a Defender by any other name in terms of the way it looks 575 will be a station wagon containing four individual sports seats.

The vehicle will be Bowler’s first new model since 2016, and the first since the company was rescued from financial difficulties by a Jaguar Land Rover takeover towards the end of last year. Land Rover describes it as a ‘rally-derived’ machine, adding that it will offer ‘some comfort features such as air-conditioning.’

Bowler has continued to operate from its base near Duffield in Derbyshire since becoming part of the JLR empire, and it’s here that the CSP 575 will be manufactured by the same team that builds its celebrated competition cars. Land Rover says the small number of vehicles to be built will be aimed at customers in the UK and ‘select European and overseas markets.’

‘We’re excited to announce the first major project since our acquisition of Bowler,’ said SVO boss Michael van der Sande. ‘The CSP 575 will combine Supercharged V8 performance and four-seat practicality with Bowler’s rally raid-proven CSP platform, broadening the appeal of the brand. This high-performance road-going model will sit alongside Bowler’s evolving range of rally raid models, which continue to enjoy

success in the world’s toughest motorsport events.’

It’s possible that the vehicle will be called the Defender SVR or Bowler SVR when it goes on sale, though there’s a chance that the CSP 575 codename will be retained. Land Rover says that full details will be revealed early next year.

Although the idea of a £200,000 Defender, however advanced, may once have appeared absurd, the 2018 Defender Works V8 proved the existence of an eager market for 90s and 110s at stratospheric prices – as has the success of various high-end independents over years and indeed decades. While the CSP 575 is a Defender in silhouette only, it carries the appearance and character of the original – as well as what for many customers is the all-important badge of authenticity.

Land Rover makes much of the fact that it licensed the vehicle’s shape to Bowler – an apparent swipe at Ineos, whose forthcoming Grenadier bears obvious similarities to the old Defender, but not perhaps as huge a coup as it would once have been for the Derbyshire firm considering Solihull was in effect granting a licence to itself.

‘The Bowler name has stood for innovation for 35 years,’ says Gener-

al Manager Calum McKechnie. ‘The licence agreement to produce vehicles with the classic Defender shape gives us a unique opportunity. We’re excited to combine our motorsport

experience with the expertise available from Special Vehicle Operations to produce a thrilling competition-inspired Defender 110 Station Wagon for the road.’

manufacturers and car makers researching the longevity of materials and how they can be made lighter and more durable. Land Rover’s participation is part of a wide range of initiatives forming its much vaunted Destination Zero programme – for ‘a future with zero emissions, zero accidents and zero congestion’ – which also includes research into recycling premium aluminium and reducing the weight of in-car electronics through the use of printed structural circuits.

‘This research project is a prime example of our commitment to developing lightweight, durable and robust materials for our future vehicles,’ said Matt Walters, JLR’s Lead Engineer for Metals and Process Materials. ‘Using advanced aerospace-grade technology, such as these sensors, is testament to the quality and standards we are achieving.

‘We are working alongside world-class partners on this ground-breaking research project and will improve the correlation between real-world and accelerated testing as we continue to raise the bar for quality and durability.’

4x4 Scene Jan.indd 11

JANUARY 2021 | 11

01/12/2020 17:57

NEW 4X4S

TRIO OF NEW ENGINES ADDED TO DISCOVERY RANGE

P360, D250, D300 six-pot mild hybrids • Wide ranging interior upgrades • From £53,090

L

and Rover has updated the Discovery for 2021, with new engines and improved infotainment systems to complement a mild freshen-up for its exterior styling.

The new-look Discovery gets what Land Rover calls ‘a bold exterior evolution optimised to project a more confident road presence.’ This comes from new LED headlights, tail lights and front and rear bumpers, and there’s also a new R-Dynamic model with its own styling tweaks to add further to the vehicle’s purposeful stance.

Under the bonnet, there’s an almost completely new range of engines. Only the 2.0-litre P300 remains from before; it’s now joined

by P360, D250 and D300 six-pots, all of them 48-volt mild hybrids. The entry-level D250 sounds like it might be the pick of these, with its 249bhp backed up by 420lbf.ft from an impressively low 1250rpm.

The new six-cylinder engines are mated to an Intelligent All-Wheel Drive system, also making its debut here, which constantly adjusts the torque split between the front and rear axles for optimum traction, on-road dynamics and driveline efficiency. Land Rover says this comes with ‘no compromise to Discovery’s trademark all-terrain capability’ – indeed, the Terrain Response 2 system now comes with

12 | JANUARY 2021

Scene Jan.indd 12

Wade Mode, so it ought to be better than ever.

Discos with the P300, P360 and D300 engines also get Adaptive Dynamics suspension, with active

shock absorbers which adjust themselves in response to driver or road inputs to allow greater body control.

Inside, there’s a new-look steering wheel with hidden-until-lit switches, as well as redesigned metal shift paddles and a new gear selector which Land Rover says ‘provides instinctive control of the powertrain.’

The second row seats have been revised, too, with reprofiled cushioning material to support a better posture for their occupants.

The Discovery also gets Land Rover’s latest Pivi Pro infotainment system, displayed on an 11.4” full-HD touchscreen. This promises to be quick and logical to operate, and there’s also a 12.3” electronic instrument panel containing a highres sat-nav display. An on-board 4G Wi-Fi hotspot is also standard, as

are Click and Go tablet holders for passengers in the second row.

‘New Discovery is a beautifully proportioned and sophisticated SUV,’ said Land Rover’s Gerry McGovern.

‘This compelling and versatile vehicle has been refined in every detail, enhancing its characterful exterior and hugely versatile interior to ensure it maintains its position as the most capable and family-friendly full-size SUV in the world.’

The revised Disco is available to order now, in S, R-Dynamic SE and R-Dynamic HSE guises. You’ll pay from £53,090 to £68,050 at list.

The Commercial model remains, too, and it also gets the same updates. Available only with the D300 engine, this is offered in SE and HSE guise, starting at £58,450 and climbing to £63,150.

4x4 01/12/2020 17:57

NEW 4X4S

COMING SOON Forthcoming 4x4s due on sale in the near and medium-term future

Kia goes to work on new chassis for military applications THIS, BELIEVE IT OR NOT, is a Kia. Best known for its funky looking SUVs, the Korean outfit has built in excess of 140,000 military vehicles to date – and now it’s developing a platform for 2.5 and 5.0-tonne trucks The platform will be adapted from the ladder-frame chassis already found beneath Kia’s hefty Mojave 4x4. Kia says that the all-terrain vehicles the project yields will ‘not only be deployed for military purposes, but will also be used in various fields such as industrial and leisure sectors.’ Bringing the cycle of research full circle, the company then intends to use the technology and know-how it gains in improving the durability of its SUVs. Kia is also working on ways of integrating electric propulsion, autonomous driving and hydrogen fuel cell technologies into the military sector.

Just under a year ago, Kia announced a long-term business strategy based on an increased diversity of activities including the development of Purpose-Built Vehicles. The company describes this as ‘small-volume production of specialist vehicles with excellent body durability’ which will be developed using the same process as military models.

THE POLICE SERVICE OF NORTHERN IRELAND has taken delivery of 50 Skoda Kodiaqs for front-line duty. These will be used as part of the force’s interceptor fleet (a division whose brief is to combat those using the country’s road network to commit crime) as well as in the most rural parts of Northern Ireland – for which purpose Skoda says the vehicle’s 4x4 capabilities were key to securing the contract.

Land Rover specialist Arkonik has been engaged to build a special one-off Defender. The vehicle is to be designed by Etienne Salomé, whose creations during 12 years working for Bugatti included the company’s unique La Voiture Noire. Work is due to get underway in January, with a debut expected before the end of 2021.

4x4 Scene Jan.indd 13

Aiways U5 Alfa Romeo Tonale Alpina XB7 Audi Q4 e-tron Audi Q5 facelift BMW iX3 Bollinger B1 Bollinger B2 Cupra Formentor Ford Mustang Mach-E Ford Ranger Hyundai Tucson Hyundai Tucson PHEV INEOS Grenadier Jaguar F-Pace PHEV Jeep Jeep Cherokee Desert Hawk Jeep Grand Commander Jeep Compass 4xe Jeep Grand Wagoneer Kia Kia Sorento PHEV Land Rover Defender 130 Land Rover Defender EV Maserati Mercedes-Benz EQB Nissan Ariya Nissan Qashqai Peugeot 3008 facelift Peugeot 5008 facelift Pininfarina Pininfarina Renault Arkana Rivian R1T Rivian R1s Skoda Enyaq iV SsangYong Korando EV Suzuki Across Tesla Cybertruck Tesla Model X Tri-Motor Tesla Model Y Torsus Terrastorm Toyota Highlander Toyota Hilux facelift Toyota RAV4 Plug-In Hybrid Toyota Yaris Cross Vauxhall Mokka Volkswagen Amarok Volkswagen Golf Alltrack Volkswagen ID.4 Volvo XC40 P8 EV

Electric SUV Small SUV Performance SUV Electric SUV Medium SUV Electric SUV Electric off-roader Electric pick-up Performance SUV Electric SUV Pick-up Medium SUV Hybrid SUV Off-roader Hybrid SUV Small SUV Performance Off-Roader Large SUV Hybrid SUV Luxury SUV Crossover EV Hybrid SUV Off-roader Electric off-roader Medium SUV Electric SUV Electric SUV Crossover Small SUV Medium SUV Electric sports SUV Electric luxury SUV Coupe-SUV Electric pick-up Electric large SUV Electric SUV Electric SUV Medium SUV Electric Pick-Up Electric SUV Medium SUV Off-road van Large SUV Pick-up Medium SUV Small SUV Small SUV Pick-up Crossover Electric SUV Electric SUV

Mid-2021 2021 2021 2021 Late 2020 June 2021 2020 2021 Late 2020 Early 2021 2022 Late 2020 Early 2021 Late 2021 Spring 2021 2021 2021 2021 2021 2022 2021 Early 2021 March 2021 2023 2021 Early 2021 Spring 2021 Summer 2021 January 2021 January 2021 2022 2023 July 2021 Spring 2022 Summer 2022 Spring 2021 2021 Late 2020 Late 2022 Early 2021 2021 Autumn 2020 Early 2021 December Spring 2021 Early 2021 April 2021 2022 Early 2021 Late 2020 Early 2021

JANUARY 2021 | 13

01/12/2020 17:57

RIGHTS OF WAY

Celtic Routes introduces Winter Warmer package on luxury 4x4 tours in the Scottish Highlands

A

couple of months ago, we introduced Celtic Routes in these pages.

A new venture from the people behind the renowned Peru Safari, it aims to let clients enjoy the thrill of adventure travel without having to go through the hassle of catching flights, crossing borders and so on.

In other words, it’s overland travel for the Covid era.

With a bit of luck, that era’s days are numbered. But for now, Celtic Routes has an extremely pleasing message: ‘When things are going south, escape to the far North!’

We’re telling you about this again because the company is running a winter promotion on its tours, which offer clients the opportunity to hire a fully expedition-prepped Discovery 4 equipped with a virtual guide in the shape of an app on in in-car tablet.

This is top-end stuff, as you’d expect when you’re springing for a week aboard someone else’s adventure wagon. The vehicles are good ones, too, from the second half of Disco 4 production and in really straight condition, so it’s not going to be like renting a car on holiday in the Med and ending up aboard something that would already have been scrapped back home. Peru Safari is renowned for looking after its customers and vehicles alike (its owners, who hail from the UK, use late-model Hiluxes down there) and while setting up Celtic Routes they chose Discoverys that had been

14 | JANUARY 2021

Scene Jan.indd 14

lightly used, well looked after and kept in immaculate condition.

That sets the tone for the itinerary itself, which the company says ‘loosely follows the better sections of the North Coast 500 route.’ If you’ve ever been up that way, you’ll know that the landscape in the Highlands is completely different to the rest of the UK – it’s easy to forget you’re in Britain up there, especially when you see road signs pointing to places like Buldoo, Taagan, Beinn Eighe and, in particular, Lost.

But there’s a welcome benefit to finding adventure so close to home.

‘Luxurious lodges, castles, and light-

houses allow for winter comforts along the way, not to mention the wild and rugged scenery of winter in the Highlands,’ says Celtic Routes.

‘Think breathtaking classic highland routes through Skyfall and Outlander country, with a day rounded off by a single malt, a roaring log fire and a sumptuous lodge by a loch. It’s the ideal escape from the winter blues.’

We mentioned the company’s virtual guide earlier, and this doesn’t just give you turn by turn navigation.

It puts special routes, places to eat, eateries, hotel details and real-time weather forecasting right there in the cabin of your Discovery.

The vehicle is also loaded up with traditional maps and guidebooks, too, so you’ve got a self-propelled library of must-have info right there with you. And another welcome in-car amenity is a tea and coffee making kit; if you’ve ever been in the north of Scotland in the winter and actually got out of your vehicle, you’ll know how welcome that is going to be the moment you get back in…

Celtic Routes also has a route available in Wales, and during 2021 it intends to add itineraries in Ireland, Brittany and Galicia. For now, a six-night luxury tour including all your accommodation and some

evening means costs £1540 per person, and if you quote Landy/4x4/WA when booking a bottle of Speyburn 10-year oak-aged single malt whisky will also be yours.

You’re definitely not roughing it on a budget with these tours, then.

But when you consider the quality of the accommodation and service you’re getting, it’s barely any more expensive than flying out for a week in a soulless box on the Med with the aforementioned clapped-out old snotter as your only means of getting around.

And instead of a holiday you’ll struggle to remember (if you even want to), you’ll get an experience you’ll never forget. You can even opt to kick it off with a half-day course aboard the new Defender at Land Rover Experience Scotland – which might come in handy if you’re new to Terrain Response, because despite the lack of a proper green lane network in Scotland, Celtic Routes’ itinerary will definitely take you on some off-tarmac adventures.

Sounds good? You know it.

Celtic Routes says vehicle availability is limited, as is hotel space, so don’t hang about. Head for www. celticroute.com (note the spelling in the web address) and prepare to set your sights for all points north!

4x4 01/12/2020 17:57

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*255/55 R19 (111Q) has a 2-ply sidewall construction

Visit our website for further technical information and details of your nearest 4X4 stockist

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CALENDAR KEY

P Off-Road Playday

G Green Lane Convoy Tour

A Overseas Adventure Travel

S 4x4 Show

Important: In the wake of the coronavirus crisis, most green laning and adventure travel companies have redrawn their calendars from scratch. As a result, some of the information on these pages will inevitably be out of date. In addition, some dates are for rearranged tours which had to be cancelled this year and which may already be full. Most operators are still prioritising existing clients over new business; some are yet to start accepting new bookings. While we do go to great lengths to ensure that our 4x4 Calendar is accurate and up to date, it is essential to check with the site, operator and/or organiser that events are still going ahead. Even without a pandemic to deal with, events are always prone to being rearranged, sometimes at very short notice, so this advice will always apply – we accept no liability for the consequences of any inaccuracies in this information.

12-13 December

G Wye Valley G Trailmasters Wales

4x4 Adventure Tours

13 December Without a Club P 4x4 Aldermaston, Berkshire Rochford and District 4x4 P Essex, Rayleigh, Essex P Protrax Tixover, Northamptonshire Safari P Slindon Slindon, West Sussex

20 December Off Road P Explore Silverdale, Stoke-on-Trent 4x4 P Frickley Frickley, South Yorkshire P Hill’n’Ditch Mouldsworth, Cheshire Bottom P Muddy Minstead, Hampshire

Valley 4x4 P Thames Slab Common, Hampshire

28 December

P Hill’n’Ditch Mouldsworth, Cheshire 29-30 December

G Ardventures Lake District

3-12 May 2021

Off Road Centre P Kirton Kirton Lindsey, North Lincs

A Portugal

31 January

15-29 May 2021

Leisure P Cowm Whitworth, Lancashire Off Road Centre P Kirton Kirton Lindsey, North Lincs

Overland A Atlas Portugal

Active 4x4 Adventures

20 May – 2 June 2021

A Morocco Extreme Trailmasters

3 January

13-24 February 2021

Bottom P Muddy Minstead, Hampshire Wood P Picadilly Bolney, West Sussex 4x4 P Parkwood Tong, Bradford P Protrax Tixover, Northamptonshire

A Ardventures Galicia

24-28 May 2021

6-25 March 2021

A Provence

Active 4x4 Adventures

A Protrax Morocco

25 May – 5 June 2021

26 March – 11 April 2021

A Portugal

Landtreks

8-24 January 2021

A Ardventures Morocco

28 May – 11 June 2021

A Ardventures Morocco

27 March – 11 April 2021

A Peru Inca Tracks / Macchu Picchu

10 January

Events G UKLakeLandrover District

Rochford and District 4x4 P Essex, Rayleigh, Essex Safari P Slindon Slindon, West Sussex

26 December

24 December

30 January

Peru Safari

World Overland A Lost Morocco

7-16 June 2021

3-20 April 2021

A Pyrenees

Active 4x4 Adventures

Safari A Peru Kuelap / Cloud Warrior Tour

9-23 June 2021

17 January

4-17 April 2021

Without a Club P 4x4 Aldermaston, Berkshire Off Road Centre P Kirton Kirton Lindsey, North Lincs Landrover Events G UKTynedale

Off Road P Explore Silverdale, Stoke-on-Trent P Hill’n’Ditch Mouldsworth, Cheshire Bottom P Muddy Minstead, Hampshire

Overland A Atlas Morocco

A Pyrenees 12-27 June 2021

18 April 2021

A Pyrenees

27 December

23-24 January

19 April – 3 May 2021

Adventure Tours G 4x4 Bath Leisure P Cowm Whitworth, Lancashire Off Road Centre P Kirton Kirton Lindsey, North Lincs P Protrax Tixover, Northamptonshire Slindon Safari P Slindon, West Sussex

G Protrax Wales

A Trailmasters Morocco Marrakesh

21-27 June 2021

24 January

22 April – 6 May 2021

Safari P Slindon Slindon, West Sussex P Protrax Tixover, Northamptonshire

Safari A Peru Peru Inca Tracks / Macchu Picchu

A French Pyrenees 21 June – 1 July

1-14 May 2021

A Corsica

16 | JANUARY 2021

Scene Jan.indd 16

British Land Rover Show S Great Newark, Nottinghamshire

Overland A Atlas Portugal

Protrax

Ardventures

19 June – 4 July 2021

A Jaguar Tracks Tour Peru Safari

Landtreks

Atlas Overland

4x4 01/12/2020 17:57

• Frame - Powder Coated UV Stable Dark Grey Hammerite Finish • Doors - Powder Coated UV Stable Light Grey Smooth Textured Finish • Other Colours Available to Order • Locks - Black • Solid Side Doors • Front Panel - Fixed Clear Glass • Rear Door - 4mm Toughened Glass • Roof Rails come as standard • Pressure Equalizer Vent Load Bearing to 2500kgs

CANOPY ACCESSORIES • LED Lights • Aluminium Cupboard/Sidelockers • Wolf Box Holder • Jerry Can Holder • Brushed Stainless Steel Table • Table Storage Roof Bracket • Insulation - Roof & Doors • Tailgate Dust Kit • Drop Down Shelf • Eye Hooks • Sliding Windows In Side Doors • Air Vents/Dog Vents • Roof Cross Bars

38 | FEBRUARY 2020

TOR Folios and classifieds.indd 48

PHONE: 01299 250174

E-mail: enquiries@apbtrading.co.uk

4x4 02/06/2020 15:38

PRODUCTS

Bridgestone all-terrain announced as OE tyre for forthcoming INEOS Grenadier

W

hen the fervently anticipated new INEOS Grenadier finally goes into production at the end of 2021, it will do so on Bridgestone Dueler A/T 001 tyres. These will be fitted in two different sizes – 265/70R17 and

255/70R18, which stand at 31.6” and 32.1” tall respectively.

Bridgestone says the tyres that will be supplied to INEOS have been tuned specifically for the Grenadier.

Their brief was to suit the vehicle’s ‘resilience, robustness and ability to take on all terrains.’

The tyre’s maximum load capacity has been increased to allow for the weight of the vehicle itself and the loads it will carry, allowing it to retain its ride and handling at optimum levels when running fully laden and/or towing. In addition, a new tread compound has been employed

to deliver enhanced performance in snowy conditions, allowing the tyre to achieve 3PMS certification and carry the Three Peak Mountain Snowflake symbol on its sidewalls.

Bridgestone describes the Dueler A/T 001 as ‘a versatile all-terrain tyre that balances on and off-road characteristics for a comfortable journey’ and ‘enables drivers to keep going in all conditions, regardless of terrain.’ Its tread is designed to provide strong traction and braking, with enhanced grooves that deliver improved water evacuation while also keeping a lid on road noise.

‘At Bridgestone we love working with automotive newcomers who force us to continuously innovate and improve what we do,’ commented the Consumer Business VP Steven De Bock. ‘INEOS Automotive is a company that is building a vehicle from the ground up with the end user at the heart of the design.

It’s an exciting opportunity and we’re thrilled to be involved in a project that has interested so many people around the world.’

Protection and performance from Evans Waterless Engine Coolants WE ALL LIKE TO THINK we drive the coolest truck around. Whether it’s because we’ve got a slick set of alloys, a hardcore lift and big winch or lots and lots of stickers, or indeed because it was just really, really expensive, everybody wants to believe their 4x4 is cooler than the next bloke’s.

Problem is, going out and spending a grand a month on a Range Rover Sport or fitting all sorts of equipment to the mighty old wagon of your choice might be guaranteed to attract the attention of everyone who sees it. But the bloke next door might still have a cooler truck without you ever noticing.

That’s if he’s using Waterless Engine Coolants from Evans. These are like traditional water-based coolants only, well, they’re waterless. What’s the advantage of this? There are, the company says, several.

The most obvious is probably that water freezes. That’s why the good Lord gave us antifreeze, of course, but Evans’ coolants go a step further by offering long-life protection and resistance to freezing way down to below -40°C. At the other end of the scale, the coolants are also incredibly effective against overheating and boil-over. Your engine can hit 180°C before brewing up with these things in its water jacket.

Better still because they don’t contain any dissolved oxygen and are almost completely non-conductive, these coolants don’t cause oxidation or electrolysis – meaning they do an excellent job of preventing internal corrosion. And compared to the water-based alternative, Evans says they generate very low vapour pressure, thus reducing strain on the engine’s hoses, water pump and other cooling system components.

No wonder, then, that the company claims its coolants ‘are proven to improve the reliability, durability, and performance of Land Rovers and 4x4 vehicles. Whether the duty is road, field, track or desert, Evans Coolants ensure you get the most from your engine.’

There’s also the small matter of improved combustion efficiency, brought about by eliminating the pre-ignition and detonation caused by overheating – which ultimately means an engine cooled by this stuff can develop more power. All of which goes some way to explaining why Evans is used and recommended by a number of leading 4x4 specialists including Terrain Tech, Devon 4x4, Off Road Armoury and Rimmer Bros.

‘Why not protect your investment and offer long life protection to your vehicle?’ asks the company, and it’s a question you might want to ask yourself too. The answers are to be found at www.evanscoolants.co.uk, as is a link to your nearest stockist.

18 | JANUARY 2021

Scene Jan.indd 18

4x4 01/12/2020 17:57

MUSSO FROM

l.3lm

£2I,995

*

BIG,TOUGH WEIRD NAME Save up to £4,600

†

l.6lm

CAR OF THE YEAR 2020

Pick-up Less than £28,000

NEW MUSSO

RHINO LWB

SSANGYONG MUSSO & NEW MUSSO RHINO LWB BEST PICK-UP SsangYong Musso

The fully loaded 4x4 pickup, now featuring the longest load bed in its class.

Fuel consumption figures in mpg: Combined 31.4-35.8. CO2 emissions in g/km 235-211. Models featured are a Musso Saracen at £27,930 ex. VAT, and a Musso Rhino LWB at £30,930 ex.

VAT inc. optional metallic paint at £575 ex VAT. *Including delivery charge, Vehicle Excise Duty & First Registration Charge, ex VAT. †Figure shown is based on Musso Saracen manual. To qualify for discount, you must be a member of an accredited agriculture, country profession or country pursuits organisation, a member of an accredited building and construction organisation or a front line worker including NHS, care home workers, and blue light organisations. Requires proof of membership/affiliation – check with a dealer for more details. Cannot be used in conjunction with any other SsangYong affiliation scheme including BASC, Ringlink Scotland, NFU Scotland, Mole Valley and the Caravan and Motorhome Club free towbar offer. Warranty covers 7 years or 150,000 miles. Prices are correct at the time of going to print but may be modified or changed at any time. Offer available until 31st March 2021.

SSA010031 MUSSO A4_4X4 3011.indd 1

30/11/2020 16:04

PRODUCTS

Lazer Lamps fitting kits now available for 70-Series

L

azer Lamps has launched its latest Grille Integration Kits – which allow its LED driving lights to be fitted discreetly to two different versions of the Toyota Landcruisers.

First up is a system for installing Lazer’s ST4 Evolution lights to the 70-Series Landcruiser from 2007 on.

Supplied complete with the lights themselves, the kit is designed for vehicles that don’t have a bull bar fitted (quite a rarity in Australia, where the majority of these Cruisers are to be found).

The job is done with the grille in situ, leaving a tidy installation that’s flush to the surface of the grille.

Next comes a kit

Ford Ranger Big Brake Kit Ad - Jan 2020 - UK.pdf

1

28/01/2020

for the colossus that is the 200-Series Landcruiser from 2015-on. This uses Lazer’s Triple-R 750 LED lamps, which are available with or without a position light function, and once again the kit comes with all the bracketry and hardware you need – along with cutting guides to help ensure an OE-quality installation.

Talking of quality, Lazer’s brackets are made from ASA material that was chosen for its durability and UV stability. Both the ST4 Evolution and Triple-R 750 lights are fully road-le-

17:31

RLG Tyres

BIG BRAKING PERFORMANCE!

Tyres cheap. Not cheap tyres!!

WITH PEDDERS TRAKRYDER EXTREME BRAKE KITS

OFFICIAL STOCKIST

BRAKE KITS

ADJUSTABLE 4X4 SUSPENSION

C

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Main supplier of

Stainless steel abutments.

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.

20 | JANUARY 2021

Scene Jan.indd 20

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

4x4 01/12/2020 17:57

PRODUCTS

and late 200-Series Toyota Landcruisers gal, and like all Lazer’s products they come with a highly impressive five-year warranty.

The only problem is the vehicles themselves, as neither of these Landcruisers is actually a UK model.

They do exist here, albeit only

4x4 Scene Jan.indd 21

normally in the hands of enthusiasts – but then, an enthusiast is just the kind of person who’ll know what it’s worth to invest in kit like this. In which case, they’ll be clicking on www.lazerlamps.com before you know it.

JANUARY 2021 | 21

01/12/2020 17:57

PRODUCTS

Latest Petzl head torches now in stock at Euro 4x4 Parts

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

20012015 JEEPJEEP WRANGLER JK CHEROKEE XJ 2.8CRD

2015 JEEP WRANGLER JK 2.8CRD

2007 DODGE 2018 JEEP NITRO 2.8CRD RENEGADE 2007 DODGE NITRO 2.8CRD

2014 RANGE 2016 2006 JEEP 2011 ISUZU ISUZU ROVER SPORT 4.4 D-MAX 2.5 DIESEL WRANGLER TJ RODEO V8 DIESEL 2014 RANGE 2016 ISUZU ROVER SPORT 4.4 D-MAX 2.5 DIESEL V8 DIESEL

2016 RANGE 2008 NISSAN ROVER EVOQUE PATHFINDER 2.0 TD4 2016 RANGE ROVER EVOQUE 2.0 TD4

2014 2010 JEEP CHEROKEE MK5 MITSUBISHI L200 KL 2.0 MULTIJET 2014 JEEP CHEROKEE MK5 KL 2.0 MULTIJET

JEEP 2007 LAND HONDA 20152010 RANGE 2012ROVER 2008 2013 TOYOTA CHEROKEE MK4 DISCOVERY 3 2.7 CRV 2.2 CDTI ROVER EVOQUE MITSUBISHI ASX HILUX KK 2.8JEEP CRD 2007 LAND TDV6ROVER 2010 CHEROKEE MK4 DISCOVERY 3 2.7 KK 2.8 CRD TDV6

2008 HONDA CRV 2.2 CDTI

2006 NISSAN 2006 JEEP 2006 JEEP GRAND 2015 LAND 2004 JEEP CHEROKEE WK PATHFINDER 2.5 GRAND GRAND 5.7 V8 HEMI ROVER DCI 2006 JEEP GRAND 2006 NISSAN DISCOVERY CHEROKEE WK CHEROKEE WJ CHEROKEE WK PATHFINDER 2.5 Charlton Recycled Auto Parts SPORT DCI 5.7 V8 HEMI

THE LATEST e+Lite and Hybrid Concept head torches from Petzl are now in stock at Euro 4x4 Parts. Priced from €25, these are light, compact and powerful, making them an ideal item to carry in your vehicle for those after-dark emergencies.

The e+Lite is particularly small yet punches out 30 lumens of constant or flashing light in white or red. It comes with two CR 2032 batteries and Euro 4x4 Parts says you can store it for as long as ten years and it’ll still work when you need it to. It’s waterproof to IPX7, too. Perfect cubby box fodder.

The Hybrid Concept takes things to another level with 300-450 lumens in a multi-beam pattern. Waterproof to IPX4, this too offers the option of red light for better night-time vision – and it can be used with either standard AAA or rechargeable batteries.

This is more of a torch you buy to use rather than keep in reserve – though it would be a proper lifesaver in the latter role too. In each case, you can find these lights by visiting euro4x4parts.com.

BRITPART INTRODUCES EXPEDITION ROOF RACK FOR NEW DEFENDER 110 BRITPART HAS MOVED quickly to introduce a range of accessories for the new Land Rover Defender – including this low-line expedition roof rack for the 110. Made from anodised aluminium rails set in a cast alloy powdercoated black frame, it’s light in weight and has a fully integrated design which Britpart says ‘enhances the exterior style of the vehicle while providing easily accessible, extended roof carrying capability.’

Fitting directly to the roof rails to provide a flexible roof carrying solution, the rack has been designed with an aerodynamic shape that minimises drag and wind noise. It also comprises T-track bars to allow a variety of accessories to be attached.

The rack is fitted using the Defender’s roof rails. Its bespoke design takes into account the position of the vehicle’s standard antenna and is shaped to let the sunroof, where fitted, continue to operate as normal.

Depending on the tyres fitted to the vehicle, the rack will carry up to 132kg, and Britpart says it can easily be removed from the vehicle when not in use.

You’re likely to pay just under £1000, at least before the VAT gets plonked on top; your nearest Britpart dealer can be tracked down by visiting www. britpart.com.

Vehicle Recycling Centre, Gravel Pit Hill, Thriplow, Cambridge, SG8 7HZParts Charlton Recycled Auto Tel 01223Gravel 832656Pit Hill, Thriplow, Vehicle Recycling Centre, Email parts@charltonautoparts.co.uk Cambridge, SG8 7HZ PLEASE VISIT WWW.CHARLTONAUTOPARTS.CO.UK Tel 01223 832656 Email parts@charltonautoparts.co.uk PLEASE VISIT WWW.CHARLTONAUTOPARTS.CO.UK

22 | JANUARY 2021

Scene Jan.indd 22

4x4 01/12/2020 17:58

PRODUCTS

This year, see the light on Christmas morning…

B

right lights are arguably what Christmas is all about,’ says Osram.

Resisting the temptation to come back with a supercilious dig like ‘Jesus wants a word’ or something, we do have to admit that here in Britain in this avaricious modern era of ours, Christmas is largely all about presents. Specifically, of course, presents that aren’t socks.

Light bulbs aren’t socks.

And that’s where Osram comes in. ‘Lights may not be the obvious stocking filler,’ it says, in an understatement of truly breathtaking proportions. ‘(But) a bulb upgrade can brighten up that number one car fan’s Christmas.’

If you’re the number one car fan in someone’s life and were hoping for a PS5, start practising your best fake smile.

Osram’s wide range of bulbs ‘offers something for everyone’, the company says. Everyone with a car, at least (or a sleigh, possibly). The Night Breaker Laser, for example, sounds like a weapon in Terraria but is in fact a nextgeneration halogen bulb with laser ablation technology and a filament whose performance is up to 150% brighter and 20% whiter than the required legal minimum.

4x4 Scene Jan.indd 23

MILNER OFF ROAD Est. 1981

TOYOTA

FILTERS • DISCS • PADS • BELTS • CLUTCHES • TYRES • SNORKELS NEW & Click ct e coll ice serv

Cool Blue Intense, meanwhile, sounds like after-shave but is another halogen bulb. This time it delivers a bluish-white light with a colour temperature of up to 4200 Kelvin. Designed to mimic the output of a xenon bulb, it ’gives real design fans their money’s worth.’ It’s up to 20% brighter than a standard xenon bulb and comes with a silver cap, making it ideal for use behind a clear-glass lens.

Finally, the LEDriving HL is a retro-fit LED bulb with a colour temperature of up to 6000 Kelvin.

Suitable for use in high and lowbeam applications, it’s designed for use as a replacement upgrade for halogen bulbs, promising ‘high compatibility and easy installation for an even wider range of models.’ Available for 12V and 24V systems, they come complete with a five-year guarantee. Which is more than you can say for socks.

See, Christmas is all about bright lights after all.

MILNER

www.milneroffroad.com TEL: 01629 734411

Mon-Fri: 8:00am - 5:00pm

Old Road | Darley Dale | Matlock | Derbyshire | DE4 2ER | LEADING THE WAY SINCE 1981 | GENUINE & NON GENUINE PARTS | SAME DAY DESPATCH* |

JANUARY 2021 | 23

01/12/2020 17:58

DRIVEN

BENTLEY BENTAYGA Second-generation version of Bentley’s SUV looks better outside and has a more luxurious cabin. And there are few vehicles of any kind that manage to be so good in so many different ways

ELSEWHERE IN THIS ISSUE, you can read about Land Rover’s CSP 575 project – a motorsport-bred spaceframe supercar that looks like a Defender 110 but is powered by the 575bhp supercharged V8 engine from the Range Rover Sport

SVR. Set for production in the new year, it’s going to be built by Bowler and is projected to cost in the region of £200,000.

That, perhaps, is a peculiar way of introducing an article about an entirely different vehicle. But it

illustrates that however far removed it may seem from the world the rest of us live in, there’s no shortage of people willing to spend stratospheric amounts of cash on off-roaders.

It also makes the new Bentley Bentayga look like an exceptional

amount of 4x4 for your money.

At £146,700 before you start adding options, it’s also simply an exceptional amount of money, so for almost everyone it might as well cost ten million for all the chance we’ve got of ever buying one. But

The Bentayga’s interior has been extensively revised, with a new facia housing a superb multimedia system. This is pin-sharp in both its graphics and its responses, and is integrated discreetly into the overall design of the dashboard area

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4x4 01/12/2020 17:52

There are four drive modes as standard, but with the optional All-Terrain Specification pack this is doubled to eight by the addition of four off-road modes. Whichever you’re in, on or off-road, the Bentayga proves outstandingly smooth and easy to drive even at this rarified level, you can still spend an awful lot more and get an awful lot less.

We tested Bentley’s original Bentayga a few years ago, shortly after the launch of the V8 model, and commented at the time that while it didn’t feel as luxurious as we expected, its dynamics were on a different level to any other SUV we had driven. This new model is every bit as superb to drive, but in particular we were struck this time round by the sheer magnificence of its interior.

This features a new facia housing a superb high-res infotainment system which operates as crisply as it looks. You don’t think of Bentley owners as being the sort of people who want to drive a self-propelled froth of multimedia, but there’s no longer such a thing as immunity to the lure of electronics – and in addition to the 10.9” touch screen on the dash there’s a tablet-style interface for those in the back.

Talking of the back, this now has greater knee room. This is not an area in which it appeared to be lacking in any way before, but now you can stretch out further than ever. An all-new frame design beneath the seats allows them to recline twice as far as before, too.

If that’s not enough, buyers can also specify the Bentayga as a four-seater with individual chairs in the rear. Or if you intend to use one as a family vehicle, you can go in the other direction and add a third row in the back and turn it into a seven-seater.

The driver hasn’t been forgotten about in all of this, either, with new front seats which Bentley says are more comfortable than ever. It’s hard to judge when you’re talking

4x4 7pp Road Tests.indd 25

about short journeys, but we rode in an old model then jumped straight into a new one and to be honest, both look after you supremely well. We’d choose either in place of almost anything else for a long road trip.

One notable difference between the old and new Bentaygas is their styling. The original was not the most elegant thing ever to wear a Bentley badge, however its rather awkward looks have been expertly smoothed out in the new one. Its front end now has a more wrappedaround appearance which falls into place with the rest of the current Bentley range; for the first time, it looks comfortable in its own skin.

After our experience with the previous model, we remarked that it was astonishing how such a big and ungainly looking machine could handle with such supple precision.

Its handling was, we said, more like that of a GTI than an SUV.

The new model looks much more dynamic and remains utterly engaging to drive. It’s powered by a 4.0-litre V8 petrol engine with 542bhp and 568lbf.ft, giving it a 0-62mph time of 4.5 seconds and a top speed of 180mph.

Much more important than these mere figures, however, is the vehicle’s remarkable athleticism.

You can use that power as easily as you can access it – and the latest version of Bentley Dynamic Ride, an electric active roll control system, features a 20mm wider rear track for

reduced steering effort and an even more linear response.

The result is a vehicle that’s tremendously natural to drive, even in tight corners and on uneven roads. As before, it rarely feels its size and weight; there’s a palette of four drive modes to help you make the most of what it’s got, but it’s nothing less than scintillating in any of them.

The Bentayga can also be optioned with All-Terrain Specification, which adds another four off-road positions to the drive mode dial.

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01/12/2020 17:53

DRIVEN

Here, the combination of engine torque, automatic gearbox and advanced electronics does a far better than normal job of compensating for the lack of low range – there’s a world of traction management working away in the background, but the results are extraordinary. Even on 22” road tyres, the Bentayga is capable of retaining control over surfaces and obstacles you would never consider taking on if it were your own property, demonstrating the amount of ability it has in reserve for the kind of off-roading it will normally be asked to do.

In particular, we found it far more manoeuvrable than we expected in tight woodland situations, where the margin for error was small and the

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consequences of getting it wrong were unthinkable. Even the shape of the front wings, which slope away towards the corners of the vehicle, allow a level of visibility which, were you to be denied it the way you are in some SUVs, would be sorely missed.

The biggest cliche in the 4x4 world is to marvel at the way a vehicle can defeat really tough terrain

then take you home in sublime luxury. In the case of the Bentayga, it can set your spine tingling on the B-road of your choice into the bargain.

Did we just use the word ‘bargain’ about a £146,700 SUV? No, actually, because the Bentayga we drove was fitted with enough options to bump that price up to more like £185,000.

And of course, we didn’t actually call it a bargain as such.

Yet as we said at the outset, you can spend an awful lot more and get an awful lot less. Breadth of capability is something 4x4 manufacturers love to talk about, but few have so many capabilities as the Bentayga – and in even fewer cases are those capabilities so pronounced. The original was spectacularly good. But this new version of Bentley’s SUV is better in almost ever way.

4x4 01/12/2020 17:53

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DRIVEN

JEEP WRANGLER 3DR RUBICON With heavy-duty axles, locking diffs, crawler gears and more, the short-wheelbase Rubicon inherits the mantle of the vehicle that first brought Jeep’s ultimate off-road spec list to Britain

IT’S STILL NOT THAT LONG since a Jeep Wrangler was a thing with three doors, end of story. But in the not quite decade and a half since the previous-generation JK model was introduced, bringing with it the first ever five-door model, that has been turned on its head.

You can of course still get a short-wheelbase Wrangler. But the five-door is so much more popular that these days, a traditionally proportioned Jeep

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almost looks unfamiliar. In much the same way that the long-wheelbase Unlimited model looked kind of wrong when it first appeared, that’s how the three-door looks now.

If you want to go seriously off-road, though, a short wheelbase is absolutely what you want. And so too is a pair of locking diffs – which means the three-door Rubicon is the one for you.

Throughout the JK’s history, the Rubicon was only ever available with a petrol engine and we wished Jeep would do what they did in other European countries and let us have it with a diesel. Finally, the new JL model arrived and gave us the option of a diesel Rubicon, but it would appear that people don’t want it as much as they used to – because if you’re after a three-door Wrangler, the 2.2 Multijet II engine has quietly disappeared from Jeep’s online configurator.

You can still get it in the five-door, but the short-wheelbase model is now available only with the 2.0 GME petrol unit. This puts down 272bhp and 295lbf.ft through a standard-fit eight-speed auto box, using 25.4mpg in the process (we got 25.5 out of it, actually, which makes us feel quite saintly).

It loves to rev, of course. Peak torque doesn’t come in until 3000rpm, and max power only arrives at 5250. So it’s very much the opposite of diesel, but at the same time it’s Jeep through and through. And with the Rubicon’s extra-deep low-range gearing, combined with a well chosen set of ratios in the auto box, its power delivery is ideal for any off-road situation.

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One difference between the old Rubicon and this one is that these days you get a much more modern interior. It’s still full of traditional Jeep cues such as a very upright dash and cramped rear seats, but there’s a genuine sense of occasion to it It’s not in any way news that the Rubicon is the most dedicated off-roader in the Wrangler range. Which is saying something, because every Wrangler is a dedicated off-roader. Jeep fans can be heard arguing all night long around the metaphorical campfire about whether it’s better to get a Rubicon or start with a standard model and modify it yourself, but straight from the showroom you get Dana 44 axles containing front and rear e-lockers, 4:1 ratio lowrange transfer gears, electronic front sway-bar disconnects and 32” BFGoodrich Mud-Terrain tyres.

We’ll get the boring bit out of the way first. Yes, a set of mud-terrain tyres being turned by a revvy engine with loads of power is a recipe for wheelspin, especially when it’s all going out through the ones at the back when you’re driving on the road. And yes, if you provoke it the Wrangler can snap – more so in short-wheelbase form compared to the five-door, which tends to let go more slowly. But even so, you actually have to try surprisingly hard to make the back end step out, and when it does the standard stability control cuts in more or less instantaneously to bring it back into line.

Obviously, in the real world there’s also the option of not driving like a twit (other similes are available). We tried it and it works.

The other thing to say about the Wrangler’s road manners is that if you believe the mainstream motoring press (you know, those magazines and websites that think every car in the world should be either a fast BMW or a Ferrari), it’s like inviting Sid Vicious round for dinner. If you know what you’re looking at, however, it’s more like being in a lift with Yungblud. Life won’t be whisper-quiet, but you’ll have fun for sure.

Not as much fun as you’ll have off-road, though. The Wrangler has traction almost without end, so long as its tyres can find grip, and being that they’re mud-terrains if they can’t find grip you need to ask yourself what you’re doing driving there. Jeep is very much aware that its customers tend to start modifying their Wrangler the moment they get them home, and its Mopar outfit sells a vast range of parts to get as much of this business as possible, but even in completely standard form it’s just incredibly capable.

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There’s plenty of flex in its suspension, its light steering and short wheelbase make it astonishingly manoeuvrable and, as we mentioned above, power delivery is eminently usable whether you’re threading it in or revving it through.

If there’s a problem with the Rubicon, it’s that it makes off-roading so easy. You might get bored on all but the gnarliest bits of terrain, which can lure you into bad decision making and leave you with a hefty bill or worse.

And a hefty bill is the biggest thing this vehicle has against it. The Wrangler we drove is currently listed at £49,525 and was fitted with £1625 of options, and even in this era of loony-tune pricing that’s a hefty sum.

As always, things are not as simple as they seem. There’s almost nothing else on four wheels that holds its value as strongly as a Wrangler, so while the purchase price and running costs may be steep, you’ll get enough back at sell-on time to leave you up on the deal compared to the bloke next door who did what those mainstream car mags told him and spent the same money on a fast BMW. Much more to the point, you’ll also have a totally distinctive vehicle that’s more fun than a box of monkeys. It’s a proper truck to drive, and the rear seats are totally unsuitable for adults – but, as they say, it’s a Jeep thing.

You might not understand – but if you do, you’ll absolutely get what makes the Rubicon stand out.

JANUARY 2021 | 29

01/12/2020 17:53

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2021

PICK-UP OF TWO YEARS AGO, nine vehicles contested our Pick-Up of the Year award. Last year, it was down to seven, and with Mitsubishi withdrawing from Europe it’s possible that a year from now, it’ll be down to six.

Yet the pick-up market in the UK remains as buoyant as ever. The demise of the badge-engineered Fiat Fullback and Mercedes-Benz X-Class is easy to explain, and the Mitsubishi L200 is simply a victim of its manufacturer’s wider woes. There are already rumours that it will be brought back under another badge after Mitsubishi exits the UK, too.

This year has brought plenty of new metal to the market, too. The Toyota Hilux has just been heavily revised with a new, more powerful engine option and major chassis revisions across the range; sadly, these revisions arrived just too late for us to include it in the judging, but there’s little doubt that they will make a brilliant vehicle better than ever.

SsangYong, meanwhile, has launched the intriguing Rhino LWB at the top of the Musso range, adding an extra chunk of load capacity to its flagship model.

Ford has brought the Thunder model back to the Ranger line-up and Mitsubishi, indeed, has done the same with the L200 Trojan.

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THE YEAR

Best of all, Nissan has reintroduced the brilliant AT32 Off-Roader. Modified prior to registration by Arctic Trucks, this was put on pause last year following the major range-wide revisions which carried the Navara to the overall title – it’s a niche model, and not a cheap one, but it’s tuned right in to what we think makes pick-ups so special.

Two other former winners, the Ranger and the Volkswagen Amarok, are set to be replaced by all new models during the course of 2021. So next year’s awards are shaping up to be very interesting indeed. And there’s another newcomer on the way in the shape of the all-new Isuzu D-Max – which we’ve been able to include in the judging for this year’s awards thanks to an exclusive first drive on British roads.

So as we approach the end of this turbulent, bizarre and, God willing, never-to-be-repeated year, the pick-up market continues to thrive as strongly as ever.

The next 12 months promise to be every bit as intriguing – but as the manufacturers continue to bring out one strong new model after another, there’s no sense at all that we’re playing a waiting game. A couple of contenders may have dropped out – but whether you’re after a work truck, a toy or a family wagon, the one-tonne market in the UK is still getting stronger and stronger with each passing year.

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JANUARY 2021 | 33

01/12/2020 00:27

2021 PICK-UP OF THE YEAR

FORD RANGER

Thunder model rejoins range to add visual appeal • Due for replacement during 2021

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former winner of this award, the Ranger is winding down towards retirement as Ford readies an all-new model for launch around the middle of 2021. It might be coming on for a decade old, however, but this is still a vehicle whose popularity with UK buyers knows no bounds.

That’s as it should be, because even after all this time the Ranger still feels as fresh as ever. It’s had a couple of facelifts along the way, and during the summer of 2019 Ford gave it a huge shot in the arm by introducing a new 2.0-litre engine.

This is available with a choice of

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three power outputs and, on higherspec models, can be mated to an optional 10-speed automatic box.

The 2019 range refresh also saw the arrival of the evocative Raptor model, whose dramatic looks and race-bred technical spec garnered no end of attention. With a high list price and a payload capacity that prevents it from being classed as a commercial vehicle by the taxman, it’s more of a curiosity than a genuine sales prospect for most people.

One step down from the Raptor in the model line-up is this year’s big new addition, the eye-catching Thunder. Based on the erstwhile range-topping Wildtrak, this adds a

slew of styling equipment to make it stand out – which it does, not quite as loudly as the Raptor but with more than enough presence to satisfy buyers who want to get their VAT back as well as being noticed.

RANGE

Further down the range, the Ranger offers you a wide choice of work and lifestyle models. At the utility level, you get three cab styles – two and four-door, plus a Super-Cab in the middle with rear suicide doors.

There are two utility models, named XL and XLT, and even the former gives you cruise, air-con, DAB and Bluetooth. So you won’t go

short of essential comforts, even in a dedicated working truck – and we’ve spent long enough in a number of these to know that they have everything you need in a truck.

All Rangers come with an epic list of options, too, allowing you to add everything from off-road hardware to mains electricity. Unlike some manufacturers, Ford doesn’t gouge you with the price of these items, either. So getting the right model at the right price and making sure it’s right for you shouldn’t be a problem.

CABIN

The Ranger’s cabin was the best in the business when the vehicle was

4x4 01/12/2020 00:26

PRICING List (ex-VAT) OTR (inc VAT) XL 2.0 130 Regular Cab XL 2.0 170 Regular Cab XL 2.0 170 Super Cab XL 2.0 170 Double Cab XLT 2.0 170 Super Cab XLT 2.0 170 Double Cab Limited 2.0 170 Super Cab Limited 2.0 170 Double Cab * Limited 2.0 213 Double Cab * Wildtrak 2.0 213 Double Cab * Thunder 2.0 213 Double Cab auto Raptor 2.0 213 Double Cab auto *

£21,545 £22,195 £22,995 £23,795 £24,355 £25,155 £28,420 £29,220 £29,920 £31,320 £32,965 £41,145

£26,770 £27,550 £28,510 £29,470 £30,142 £31,102 £35,020 £35,980 £36,820 £38,500 £40,474 £50,290

Auto extra £1450 + VAT

CONCLUSION The Ranger has been the one to beat for the thick end of a decade, and it says much for the vehicle that to a great extent it still is. Its cabin is big, stout and very usable, and it’s a pleasure to drive – whether around town, on a long haul or over the sort of terrain it relishes. We’ll be sad to see it go – but we’re very excited to see what Ford comes up with to replace it. first launched back in 2012, and even with the end in sight it’s still right up there. Its seats are excellent and give you a great driving position, and in the double-cab those in the back are the roomiest on the market.

A common grumble with Fords is that the graphics on their buttons can be unclear, and this is the case again on the Ranger. However the controls are good and positive, and their layout is reasonably clear. You do get the occasional groan from the dash trim, however.

Probably more important in most people’s eyes is a vehicle’s media functionality, and Ford has gone in hard here. The Ranger gets a set-up

4x4 34-35 2021 DCOTY Ranger.indd 35

whose features include a mobile wifi hot spot and access to app-based remote control functions, broadening its appeal still further for buyers who need to stay connected.

DRIVING

Wherever you land in the Ranger model line-up, from the XL to the Raptor, it’s a confidence-inspiring truck to drive. It feels wonderfully hefty, assured and imposing on the road, with and excellent blend of dynamics and refinement.

On the latter subject, higher-spec double-cab models even get active noise cancelling. Even without this, however, the cabin is a pleasingly

refined place to be. The 2.0-litre engine doesn’t become raucous, whether under acceleration or when cruising at speed, and wind and road noise are well suppressed too.

This is the case with both the six-speed manual and ten-speed auto gearboxes. The latter can be controlled manually, but doing so can take some of the smoothness out of the shifts, so we’d be inclined to leave it in auto. Actually, we’d be inclined to choose the manual instead, as it’s one of the nicest to use in any pick-up we’ve driven.

You don’t get that option with the Thunder or Raptor, but if you’re after one of those we doubt you’ll mind.

The latter is less like a pick-up and more like a trackday car – just one you’d take to the Sahara rather than the Nurburgring.

Not that you need to spend fifty grand to get the best from the Ranger. On top of its all-round skills on tarmac, it’s exceptionally capable off-road – aided by an options list which includes underbody protection, an alarm and a locking rear diff for a bargainous £300.

You can certainly see why so many off-road enthusiasts have turned to the Ranger for project builds. It might be on the way out, but this is still on of the best trucks the UK has ever seen.

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01/12/2020 00:26

2021 PICK-UP OF THE YEAR

ISUZU D-MAX

All-new model set for UK launch early in 2021 • Current model now on run-out sale

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he current D-Max has been in Britain since mid2012, and in that time it has become a familiar sight on and off our roads. It’s particularly popular with fleet, business and agricultural users, however, while the bulk of lifestyle sales go elsewhere – and this is something Isuzu is seeking to address with the new model, which goes on sale in the UK in the first quarter of 2021.

Although the new D-Max is not yet here, we’ve driven one on UK roads. The actual vehicle Isuzu gave us was not entirely to British spec, however any differences will be seen only in trim choices and other

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details – close enough, certainly, for us to be able to include it in the judging for this year’s awards.

RANGE

As yet, we don’t know what the UK range structure will be. Isuzu won’t leave its core market behind while looking for a stronger presence in the lifestyle sector, however, so it can be expected to retain its strong work-spec offering. The new D-Max is made in the same Single-Cab, Extended-Cab and Double-Cab body formats as before, and all three are likely to underpin the range.

There’s only one engine, a Euro 6 version of the current 1.9-litre diesel,

and as you move up the range it will be available with a choice of manual and auto gearboxes. The vehicle we drove was fitted with the latter.

There are unlikely to be as many lifestyle models as Isuzu currently offers, at least to start with. However Isuzu wants to attract buyers looking for statement vehicles; the current AT35 and XTR are there to do that, and a similarly eye-catching version of the new D-Max is sure to be part of the company’s strategy.

CABIN

First impressions of the cabin are excellent. The seats in particular look fantastic, with big, pronounced

bolsters like those of a wing chair.

Our vehicle’s brown leather seats won’t be coming to the UK, however.

Despite those huge bolsters, the seats don’t actually grip you as snugly as they look like they should.

There’s plenty of support there, however, and a small but extremely strong point in the new model’s favour is that lumbar adjust is standard across the range. There’s plenty of leg and head room; Isuzu says the seats are positioned slightly lower to the floor than in the old model, which doesn’t sound like anything good can come of it, but we didn’t notice any significant difference from behind the wheel.

4x4 01/12/2020 00:25

PRICING (Based on outgoing model) Utility Single-Cab Utility Extended Cab Utility Double-Cab Eiger Double-Cab* Yukon Extended Cab Yukon Double-Cab* Yukon Nav+ Extended Cab Yukon Nav+ Double-Cab* Utah Double-Cab* Blade Double-Cab* XTR Double-Cab* XTR Nav+ Double-Cab* AT35 Double-Cab* * Auto extra £1000 plus VAT

List (ex-VAT)

OTR (inc VAT)

£18,594 £19,694 £20,494 £21,694 £21,694 £23,694 £22,844 £23,844 £25,394 £28,494 £33,684 £34,834 £39,680

£23,593 £24,532 £25,513 £26,953 £26,953 £28,153 £28,333 £29,533 £31,393 £35,113 £41,341 £42,721 £48,536

CONCLUSION The old D-Max has been a game changer in some ways, and the new one promises to pull off the same trick. It looks good from the outside and fantastic on the inside, and it’s a quantum leap forward in almost every theatre of road driving. It’s not the only big-name truck launching in 2021, but it’ll be trhe first – and it’s now the one to beat.

As with the current D-Max, legroom in the back seats is generous.

Even with the front seats all the way back, a six-footer can position himself in there without a fight.

Headroom is only average, however – the same six-footer will be brushing the head lining, and that’s without a sunroof to encroach on your territory.

Most noticeably, though, the D-Max’s dash area has been transformed. The cabin looks, in a word, amazing. It’s dominated by a superb looking 9” media touch screen, which comes on like a horizontal tablet and offers a spot-on combination of graphics and response times.

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There are analogue buttons below it which appear similarly slick and classy, as does the multi-function steering wheel.

DRIVING

One of the criticisms we’ve had of the current D-Max is that its engine is not very refined. That’s particularly the case in lower-spec models, so we’re not necessarily comparing like for like, but the new one is different.

The revised 1.9 diesel is quiet and, in particular, very smooth – as is the automatic gearbox, which changes almost imperceptibly. Kicking it down doesn’t appear to do much in terms of get up and go, however.

The theme of smoothness continues into the way the vehicle rides. We drove it on some typically awful urban roads and even on the 265/60R18s that come with its range-topping spec, the D-Max dealt well with the bumps and pot holes of everyday city life. Its steering feels very natural at these speeds, too – it’s lovely and light but still full of feel and easy to place on the road, especially considering it’s such a big vehicle.

Unlike the current D-Max, indeed, it rarely feels its size. It remains composed at faster speeds; its steering retains all its feel and precision on the open road, and there’s

next to nothing in the way of body roll or rebounds when changing lane at speed on the motorway.

Off-road, the big news is that whereas the current model has never been available with a locking rear diff, the new one remedies that.

Similar overall proportions and the same suspension layout suggest that broadly, its ability over more testing terrain than we have had the opportunity to tackle thus far will mimic its predecessor – which is to say that it will be impressively agile and very tractable, but also that there will be situations in which that rear locker will transform it from good to great.

JANUARY 2021 | 37

01/12/2020 00:25

2021 PICK-UP OF THE YEAR

MITSUBISHI L200

Seven-strong model range • Full-time four-wheel drive • Soon to be discontinued in UK

L

ike all Mitsubishis, the L200 has the air of a dead man walking. Around six months ago, the company announced that it is to withdraw from Europe – meaning the vehicle that once dominated the UK pick-up market has nothing more ahead of it than a slow decline.

It’s a sad end for the L200, which only last year was relaunched with extraordinary new styling. Even by the sometimes outrageous standards of the pick-up market – and the L200 in particular – the current model is spectacularly in-your-face.

When a vehicle’s appearance is so dominant, it can be easy to be fooled

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into thinking its looks are all it’s got.

Here, the L200 potentially does itself a disservice, because there’s a great deal more to it. That facelift in 2019 also brought major revisions to the vehicle’s engine, gearbox, brakes and suspension – creating the model which, we now know, will soldier on until toughening emissions regs administer the coup de grace.

RANGE

There’s just one engine in the range, but no less than seven different spec levels. Most of these are pitched at the lucrative lifestyle end of the market, but there’s still a basespec 4Life model – which is even

available in Club Cab form, as it to cement its working credentials.

There’s something else that the 4Life offers, however, which is a locking rear diff. Higher-spec models get full-time four-wheel drive and have traction control instead of the rear locker. Given that the 4Life also has air-con, Bluetooth, 16” alloys and cruise control, you might reasonably think it’s all you need.

Continue upwards, though, and the L200 gains a premium kit list. In particular, in addition to the usual bigger alloys, leather seats and infotainment systems, it has an impressive set of safety features – though you need to go all the way

to the top of the range to get them, which is disappointing.

The top two models also have a set of Off-Road Mode options, with settings for Gravel, Mud/Snow, Sand and Rock. In a vehicle with low range as standard, you might well decide that the base-speccer with its 16” tyres and rear locker sounds a better option for off-road use.

CABIN

The Off-Road mode is engaged by a button on the floor console, next to the rotary dial that operates the transfer case. Switchgear is good in general, with a logical layout and graphics that are easy to read, and

4x4 01/12/2020 00:19

PRICING Club Cab 4Life Double Cab 4Life Double Cab Trojan* Double Cab Warrior* Double Cab Challenger Double Cab Barbarian* Double Cab Barbarian Plus Double Cab Barbarian X Auto *Auto extra

List (ex-VAT)

OTR (inc VAT)

£21,700 £22,945 £24,704 £26,675 £27,545 £29,600 £30,350 £32,530 £1420 + VAT

£26,355 £27,849 £29,960 £33,325 £33,367 £35,835 £36,735 £39,351

CONCLUSION The L200 used to be a very common sight on the road, but when did you last see a current one? Its looks are perhaps now so outrageous that they’ve started putting people off – or perhaps it’s simply that the competition is so much stronger these days.

Either way, this could be the last time you see the L200 in Pick-Up of the Year. Mitsubishi’s decision to pull out of Europe came as a shock, and now we’re into a period of slow decline. The one good thing is that there are likely to be some strong deals available as a consequence. the facia is styled with the same vibrancy as the vehicle itself.

It looks funky despite being executed in fairly plain, hard plastics that feel quite scratchy to the touch.

This contrasts with the seats which, in the Barbarian X model, look really good with their suede and leather finish and ‘six-pack’ styling.

They’re comfortable, too, and as spacious as you could ask for. It’s not as roomy in the back, however, where tall adults will struggle for headroom and, if riding behind a similarly tall driver, knee room.

The infotainment system is effective and responds very quickly to commands, though its screen

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isn’t huge. Even at the top of the range, you don’t get sat-nav – the system supports phone pairing, and Mitsubishi leaves it to you to use this for navigation instead.

Stowage provision is everything you could want, without breaking any new ground. And that could be a verdict on the interior as a whole – it’s classy, good looking, well equipped and well made, but it doesn’t move the game forward.

DRIVING

The L200 has an all-aluminium 2.2-litre engine developing 150bhp and 296lbf.ft. The latter comes in from 1750rpm, and you certainly

do feel it pulling very willingly from tickover as you move off.

It’s not the quietest of units in operation, with a bit of a bark as the revs rise – which they do, a little more than we’d like, with the new auto box. Paddle-shifting it works well enough, but it’s still no substitute for the control a manual gives – and which you therefore can’t have if you want the range-topping Barbarian X model.

We’d always choose the manual because it’s so well suited to the L200’s gung-ho handling, allowing you to pin it down as you pull out of corners. Body roll is there, of course, but it’s predictable and, with full-time

four-wheel drive giving you grip without end, there’s an athleticism there that you don’t associate with pick-ups. It’s a blunt instrument compared to a GTI or something, but one which the average GTI driver might be shocked to find keeping up with him.

On their 18” alloys, top models do fidget somewhat on rough roads.

This latest L200 is heavier than the pre-facelift version, and we’d expect a low-speccer with taller tyres to be more compliant.

It would be better off-road, too.

The L200 is extremely capable in all forms – but it’s the simplest form that’s most capable of all.

JANUARY 2021 | 39

01/12/2020 22:11

2021 PICK-UP OF THE YEAR

NISSAN NAVARA

Reigning Pick-Up of the Year champion • AT32 Off-Roader reintroduced during 2020

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issan gave the Navara a subtle facelift last year, along with some deep technical improvements, and the result was a truck which won the overall title in last year’s awards. That makes it the one to beat, and it remains a brilliant vehicle – not least because the last 12 months have also seen the arrival of a new AT32 model, adding serious off-road capability to a package that was already strong in this area.

Thanks to covid, we haven’t yet had the chance to a drive the AT32 in its new guise. We can draw on our extensive knowledge of the model from before the facelift, though, which was the best turn-key off-

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road vehicle in the pick-up market.

The new one has the same set of enhancements, again applied for Nissan by Arctic Trucks, so we’re comfortable in our expectation that it will be similarly outstanding.

RANGE

The Navara range is particularly wide in what it offers. At the top, you get a choice of SUV-like spec packages – however the working man has not been forgotten, with the entry-level Visia and Acenta models available in King-Cab and Double-Cab layouts; the Visia can even be ordered as a chassis-cab.

Even this comes with air-con, cruise control, DAB, Bluetooth, a

multi-function steering wheel and more, so there’s no such thing as a poorly equipped Navara. At the other end of the scale, meanwhile, the N-Guard model has all the bells and whistles – leather, 18” alloys, sat-nav, autonomous emergency braking, you name it.

There’s also a step up in engine output as you climb the range.

All models have a 2.3-litre diesel engine, but this is tuned for 160bhp and 313lbf.ft on lower-grade models and 190bhp and 332lbf.ft on the N-Connecta and above.

The higher powered engine is also available with a seven-speed automatic gearboxbox instead of the standard six-speed manual,

which is the only option with the 160bhp unit.

CABIN

It’s common knowledge that the now discontinued Mercedes X-Class was based on the Navara but tried to step it up in terms of premium quality. To Nissan’s credit, it’s the Navara that always felt more like the premium one.

This impression is only enhanced by the infotainment system that was adopted last year. It has a bigger screen and a more powerful interface, with crisp graphics and hassle-free phone pairing as well as prompt response times – and, no small thing, it’s well integrated into

4x4 01/12/2020 00:24

PRICING List (ex-VAT) OTR (inc VAT) 163 Visia Chassis King-Cab 163 Visia Chassis Double-Cab 163 Visia King-Cab 163 Visia Double-Cab 163 Acenta King-Cab 163 Acenta Double-Cab 190 N-Connecta Double-Cab* 190 Tekna Double-Cab* 190 N-Guard Double-Cab* 190 AT32 Double-Cab* * Auto extra £1600 plus VAT

£22,350 £23,200 £22,650 £23,500 £23,600 £24,450 £27,375 £29,025 £30,775 £35,708

£26,820 £27,840 £27,180 £28,200 £28,320 £29,340 £32,850 £34,830 £36,930 £42,850

CONCLUSION The Navara was notable at launch for using rear coil springs rather than leaves, and the smoothness with which it rides when unladen helps enhance its SUV-like nature. So to does a beautiful six-speed manual gearbox, which makes it as enjoyable to drive on A and B-roads as it is to cruise in on the motorway. It’s immensely capable off-road, too, even in standard form, and the AT32 option makes it better than ever.

There are few negatives, however its cramped rear seats are a serious disappointment. If you want a pick-up to be your daily driver, the reigning title holder remains an exceptionally strong contender. the design of the dashboard, making it look like it’s actually meant to be there. We still find ourselves rolling our eyes when we climb aboard expensive pick-ups with what look like aftermarket systems sticking awkwardly out of their dashboards, so credit to Nissan for designing theirs from scratch to accommodate modern technolgy.

The new system is standard on N-Connecta models and above. It also includes a rear-view camera – something that’s extremely useful in a pick-up, though it’s prone to being blinded by other people’s headlights and we found that in wet and wintry conditions, the lens tends to get covered in road crud.

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The Navara’s back seats remain cramped for adults, however, with limited legroom when you’re sitting behind a tall driver and serious headroom issues on vehicles with a sunroof. This is standard on the range-topping N-Guard, which as far as we’re concerned is a deal-breaker for that model, but so long as you don’t tick the box by accident when ordering a Tekna you’ll be okay.

DRIVING

Despite the frustrating but unavoidable delay in bringing the AT32 into the light, we’ve spent a lot of time aboard Navaras since the current model was launched. We’ve driven it in all sorts of conditions, on and

off-road (where the presence of a locking rear diff once again demonstrates its value) – and we’ve come to admire it greatly. That’ll be why it’s the reigning Pick-Up of the Year.

In particular, the manual gearbox is exceptional, with a beautifully smooth, precise operation that makes it a pleasure to use. Its spread of ratios gives you unfettered access to the engine’s torque, allowing you to drive it around town on its huge in-gear pull and drag it up on to the cam with a twitch of the loud pedal where previously you would have been dropping a cog and using revs, and therefore diesel.

The engine’s strength is matched by a sky-high level of refinement,

too. It runs really quietly, without ever sounding harsh even when you push it hard. This is complemented by a smoothness that makes it really easy to live with whether you’re tooling around in town or cruising on the motorway.

It also steers and rides with real sophistication, and handles with a positivity that makes it a benchmark in the pick-up sector. It’s extremely stable under hard braking, too.

In each case, the enhancements made in 2019, which helped it win our Pick-Up of the Year award 12 months ago, also aid its stellar off-road abilities – and continue to make it one of the most SUV-like double-cabs around.

JANUARY 2021 | 41

01/12/2020 00:24

2021 PICK-UP OF THE YEAR

SSANGYONG MUSSO

New long-wheelbase model at top of range • Choice of coil and leaf-sprung back axles

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he big story with the Musso this year has been the arrival of a new range-topping model.

It’s called the Rhino, which is also what the old one was called, but this time it’s the Rhino LWB – and those three letters matter. It’s based on SsangYong’s brilliant Rexton, giving it a cabin that’s more SUV-like than anything else in the pick-up market.

It also comes with a monumental 7-year, 150,000-mile warranty – and yet it’s cheaper to buy than any of its like-for-like competitors.

The Rhino’s wheelbase is only about 4.5” longer than the standard model’s. But its rear overhang comes

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close to doubling that difference, the result being a load bed that’s 1.61m long as opposed to 1.3 for the rest of the range.

Interestingly, the Rhino LWB also differs from the rest of the range in that its solid rear axle is leaf-sprung.

Other Mussos all use coils here.

This may or may not appear compatible with the fact that it’s also the most lavishly kitted model available.

RANGE

Not that there’s any such thing as a stingy Musso. The base-spec EX model has 17” alloys, air-con, DAB and Bluetooth, and by the time you reach the Rhino (which is top of a

four-model pile) you’ve got nappa leather, 9.2” sat-nav, all-round parking sensors, powered, heated and cooled seats, smartphone pairing and a reversing camera.

The Rhino also gets various hightech safety systems which aren’t available anywhere else in the range.

Nice to know what you’re worth.

You get the idea. Buy a Musso, any Musso, and you’ll be looked after. There’s more to it than just this, though. The Musso is based on SsangYong’s Rexton, a former winner of our 4x4 of the Year title, and that means its cabin has the most SUV-like styling and materials of any pick-up ever sold in this country.

The Rhino is also SUV-like in that it comes exclusively in auto form, while the EX is only available as a manual. The mid-range models have the latter box as standard, with the auto a £1250 option.

CABIN

The Musso’s cabin is extremely well put together. It’s trimmed in quality, good-looking materials and the controls are well laid out and pleasing to operate. Also worthy of note is that never in our entire experience of doing this job have so many people climbed into a vehicle we’ve been testing and immediately remarked on how comfortable its seats were.

4x4 01/12/2020 00:23

PRICING EX Rebel Rebel auto Saracen Saracen auto Rhino LWB auto

List (ex-VAT)

OTR (inc VAT)

£21,676 £24,176 £25,426 £26,676 £27,926 £29,676

£26,331 £29,331 £30,831 £32,331 £33,831 £35,931

CONCLUSION The Musso is boldly determined to follow its own path. SsangYong has never been scared of doing things differently and, though its products have become less wacky over time, the Musso remains unusual in the way its model range lines up.

For a vehicle to be available with a choice of coil or leaf-sprung rear suspension is highly unusual. More so when its the leaves that go to the top of the range. But that’s what the new Rhino LWB has become.

We don’t think it necessarily adds something radical, but it’s more of the same – and that means it’s more of a good thing.

That was in an EX model, whose fabric trim provides an excellent combination of tactile feel and hard-wearing toughness. As you go higher up the range, the leather option is far nicer than what you’ll find in a lot of other pick-ups.

Legroom for those in the rear is limited behind a tall driver, however.

As a consequence, carrying a crew of strapping lads does require a bit of compromise, but headroom in the back is way better than average.

As we’ve mentioned, the Rexton connection means the Musso is very SUV-like inside. The image is genuinely premium, though perhaps not as convincingly classy as some

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of the most expensive trucks – if only because some of the trim feels a little out of place in a pick-up.

DRIVING

The first thing to say is that the Rhino’s leaf springs don’t make it feel any different to drive to the rest of the Musso range. Nor do its 18” alloys and lower profile tyres. It feels heavy but not harsh over rough road surfaces, and handles with the gung-ho swagger of a proper truck.

That’s not to say it’s completely settled, particularly at the back, but even without a load on board the bumps are kept at arm’s length.

Again, this is the case for coil and

leaf-sprung models alike; it’s a little fussy on the motorway, but without being offensive.

Similarly, if the wind and road noise were a little more muted and the steering would settle a little more around the straight-ahead at speed, it would be a much better cruiser. It’s not far off, just not quite as good as the best.

All models have a 2.2-litre diesel with 181bhp and 295lbf.ft. It pulls strongly throughout the whole of its rev range and is seldom noisy, only making its presence felt a little if you hang on to a gear for too long under heavy acceleration – at which point it becomes somewhat gruff.

The engine will tow 3500kg, but only with the auto gearbox. The manual is only rated to 3200kg, but our biggest issue with it is that we found the clutch too fierce for us ever to get used to.

For off-roading, the Rhino’s leaf springs and pronounced rear overhang point to any other model being better than it. Sure enough, the coil-sprung rear axle that’s standard across the rest of the range articulates very effectively over really uneven ground, allowing it to maintain contact and therefore traction. It’s effective without a rear locker – which is just as well, as you don’t get one to fall back on.

JANUARY 2021 | 43

01/12/2020 00:23

2021 PICK-UP OF THE YEAR

TOYOTA HILUX

Major revisions for 2021 • New 2.8-litre, 201bhp engine • Improved cabin electronics

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oyota recently announced a major set of mid-life upgrades to the Hilux, led by the introduction of a new 2.8-litre engine on the top models in the range. Unfortunately, this arrived just too late for us to be able to include it in the judging here, however these improvements promise to make a good truck better than ever.

The Hilux is of course a legend (some would say a cliche, but when you’re knocking on for 20 million global sales you can afford to sneer at that), and the current version is the physically strongest there’s ever been. Toyota set out to make it the most SUV-like, too – though it’s still

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very much a working tool at heart, with all the robustness and ability you’d expect – as well as an excellent range of work-spec models, though these aren’t available with the new engine.

The revised Hilux also has new suspension and steering systems for greater ride comfort and more refined handling at all speeds.

Toyota says the vehicle is better off-road, too, thanks to a lower idle speed and new electronic control system for enhanced grip in rearwheel drive mode.

RANGE

It says something about the Hilux’s intent that more than half the range

is made up of base-spec Active models. This is available in the usual single, crew and double-cab body styles, and there’s also a couple of chassis-cab options.

The Active is a no-nonsense work truck, but it’s still comfortable and adequately equipped. Most private sales go higher up, though; the midrange Icon could be seen as a sweet spot for its price and equipment, though the Invincible and range-topping Invincible X give you a lot for your money too. The latter has leather and sat-nav as standard.

It also has the new 2.8-litre engine, whose 201bhp output is likely to make a significant difference to the Hilux’s performance – particularly in

automatic form, where the existing 2.4 (which is retained throughout the rest of the range) can be found wanting in some situations.

We’ve found that the smaller unit’s 150bhp is more than adequate in manual models, particularly those with a less lavish spec level. At the top of the range, however, the Hilux competes against vehicles whose performance beats it by a long way, so the 2.8 will be a welcome addition to the range.

CABIN

The revised Hilux gains a new instrument panel and, on Icon models up, a more modern infotainment screen.

This was overdue, as the displays

4x4 01/12/2020 00:22

PRICING List (ex-VAT) OTR (inc VAT) 2.4 Active Extra Cab Chassis 2.4 Active Double-Cab Chassis 2.4 Active Single-Cab 2.4 Active Extra Cab 2.4 Active Double-Cab 2.4 Icon Double-Cab* 2.4 Invincible Double-Cab* 2.8 Invincible Double-Cab* 2.8 Invincible X Double-Cab* * Auto extra £1250 plus VAT

£22,120 £22,745 £21,541 £22,791 £23,416 £25,624 £28,233 £28,628 £31,608

£27,590 £28,340 £26,895 £28,395 £29,145 £31,795 £34,925 £35,400 £38,975

CONCLUSION It’s a pity that the revised Hilux arrived just too late for us to drive it in time for these awards. But there’s no doubt that Toyota has addressed one of the most obvious failings that held back the old model by adding a more powerful engine option at the top of the range.

Between this and its improved cabin electronics, we expect the new Hilux to be as convincing in high-spec form as it already was as a work truck. Which is to say we expect it to convince our socks off.

Toyota says it has also improved the vehicle’s ride and handling, which is welcome news. Best of all, though, the Hilux remains good value for money – especially as you’d bet on it to be a truck that will last forever. in the old model felt, well, old. The tablet-style media screen is still attached on to the dash rather than being integrated into it, however.

It doesn’t matter which one you’re in, though, if what you want is build quality – because here, it’s nothing short of outstanding. Fixtures and fittings are rock-solid, as is the basic structure beneath them.

As we’ve already said, even the base-spec Active is comfortable, with excellent seats and a superb driving position. You can do better for knee room in the back, however, where tall adults are likely to feel more than a little cramped. If you’re carrying children in the back, on the other hand, they’ll be very happy –

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and you can think of few vehicles whose cabins are better equipped for dealing with family life.

DRIVING

You can still get a Hilux with the 2.4-litre engine and an auto box, but this engine is much better with the manual unit. Either is fine as you build speed, but towards the top and when swift acceleration is called for, the vehicle feels sluggish.

What it lacks here in get-up-andgo, it gives you back in noise. So while refinement is generally fine it drops off under a heavy throttle. We have no doubt that the new 2.8-litre unit will be far superior with the auto option – and when mated to the

manual box, it ought to be a bit of a flying machine.

That’s not to say the manual unit is the slickest thing ever. But there’s a mechanical feel to it which makes it very satisfying to use, whether you’re aboard a work-speccer or lording it on big old 18” alloys.

Not that 18” is enormous by the standards of some of the rims you see being bolted to pick-ups, and that’s one reason why the Hilux doesn’t fuss and fidget on rough surfaces. Toyota’s latest suspension upgrades are designed to make it ride more smoothly, but we didn’t see much wrong with it in this department in the first place. It’s docile around town (where the auto is in

its element) and agile enough not to trouble you on the open road.

There’s some real ability built in to it off-road, too. We’d definitely choose a lower-spec model here, as they come on nice, tall 17” tyres, but any Hilux will tackle rough terrain with real competence.

Pleasingly, Toyota still fits every model with a locking rear diff. This allows you to pick your way over uneven surfaces – and, when running unladen, can compensate for the lack of weight over the back of the vehicle. It’s a classic example of old tech being the best – and, though there’s nothing old-tech about the Hilux, chimes perfectly with the truck’s status as a pick-up icon.

JANUARY 2021 | 45

01/12/2020 00:22

2021 PICK-UP OF THE YEAR

VOLKSWAGEN AMAROK

Former Pick-Up of the Year champion • UK’s best premium truck • New model next year

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wo years on from the Amarok’s overall triumph in these awards, it remains one of the most popular pick-ups around with buyers who like their trucks classy and carlike. There’s an all-new model on the way next year, however – and with attention turning in that direction, production of the current one has already ceased.

Truth to tell, the Amarok has already slipped down the pecking order by this time last year. Following the mid-life launch of the brilliant 3.0 V6 diesel engine, we were kept waiting for the promised arrival of a work-spec model and a manual

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gearbox. The latter was particularly important as it was the only variant with a dual-range transfer case.

These crucial additions arrived at last in 2018 and they completed the range – only to be withdrawn again soon afterwards. Thus the Amarok is available exclusively with an auto box, full-time four-wheel drive and no option of low range.

RANGE

At its height, the 3.0 V6 engine was available in a choice of four different power outputs. This has dropped to two now – a 204bhp unit that has plenty of pull and a 258bhp version that has absolutely loads.

With production having come to an end, however, VW dealers are already down to selling residual stock.

So it’s going to be a case of take it or leave it in terms of what’s available. The range showed four trim levels prior to the factory shutting down; all of them are generous, and towards the top of the range the Amarok is kitted to a level that would put most SUVs in the shade.

The same can be said about its pricing, however, with the highest spec versions comfortably busting the fifty grand barrier. Not that this appears to have stopped people from splashing the cash during the Amarok’s time on sale, with its

combination of style, kit and build quality gaining it a reputation as the premium choice among pick-ups.

CABIN

And the Amarok does indeed have a premium feel to it. It’s very well put together using high-quality materials and feels made to last throughout, with typically restrained Volkswagen styling inside. Some pick-ups try to disguise their working background by putting on a garish set of clothes, but Volkswagen’s approach is to have a better set of overalls than anyone else.

The driving position is excellent and the front seats are very com-

4x4 01/12/2020 00:18

PRICING List (ex-VAT) OTR (inc VAT) Trendline 3.0 V6 204 Highline 3.0 V6 204 Highline 3.0 V6 258 Black Edition 3.0 V6 204 Black Edition 3.0 V6 258 Aventura Black Edition 3.0 V6 258

£28,600 £32,680 £36,310 £34,835 £38,465 £40,995

£35,403 £40,299 £44,655 £42,885 £47,241 £50,277

CONCLUSION By this time next year, there’ll be an all-new Amarok in the game. It’s being developed with Ford and will be related to the next-generation Ranger, so it can be expected to address the current model’s flaws – namely an off-the-pace towing weight and the apparent treatment of low range as an afterthought.

For now, the vehicles left in stock in VW’s dealers are still the most premium pick-ups you can buy in the UK. For a work truck, though, a 163 or 204bhp manual from two or three years ago is by far your best bet. fortable indeed, whether they’re clad in fabric or leather. It’s good and spacious up front, too – however the rear seats are not so generous.

The Ford Ranger, Isuzu D-Max and SsangYong Musso all do far better in this area.

What Volkswagen does get absolutely spot-on is the Amarok’s infotainment system. This doesn’t have the biggest screen around, but it’s crystal clear, instantly responsive and very easy to navigate, and all models get an excellent phone pairing system.

The rest of the controls are just as easy and convenient to use, too.

It’s typical Volkswagen – a very

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well laid out cabin with good quality switchgear whose logic makes it as intuitive as it comes.

DRIVING

With the range-topping 258bhp engine, the Amarok surges forward on a rising tide of torque. It generates 428lbf.ft from just 1400rpm, and you feel every bit of it .

We mourn the passing of the manual box, but the auto is a very good unit, changing smoothly and promptly on the way both up and down. You can control it manually, too – though it’s so good as an auto that we tend to think this is just making work for yourself.

It’s superb around town and on the open road, with loads of grip and sky-high refinement levels which make it an excellent motorway cruiser. Go to the top of the range, though, and you’ll be riding on 20” alloys, which give it a fussiness that’s not present on more modestly equipped models. The bigger rims do perhaps add a bit of bite to the Amarok’s handling, however – though it steers pretty niftily as it is, and body control is excellent by pick-up standards.

With such a comprehensive set of strengths, the Amarok seems as if it ought to be perfectly set to score a maximum on towing weight. How-

ever for some reason, it’s only rated to 3100kg – still a hefty load, but there are plenty of pick-up buyers, particularly in the agricultural sector, to whom anything less than 3500kg just won’t do.

Less surprising is the fact that without the option of low range, the Amarok is a busted flush off-road.

This is a shame, because it’s one of the most agile trucks on the market.

You do get an off-road programme in the drive mode palette, and first gear is deep enough to let you crawl around, but on tight terrain you’re constantly holding it back on the brakes – which is certainly not the way to treat your vehicle.

JANUARY 2021 | 47

01/12/2020 22:11

2021 PICK-UP

BEST VALUE SsangYong Musso

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BEST INDIVIDUAL MODEL SsangYong Musso Rhino LWB

4x4 01/12/2020 00:21

OF THE YEAR BEST VALUE SsangYong Musso The pick-up market is laden with good-value trucks. But none of them can match the Musso for its combination of low purchase prices, high specs and stout towing and carrying abilities.

It also comes with a 7-year, 150,000-mile warranty that remains the best in the pick-up business.

The Musso’s interior finds the holy grail by being the most SUV-like of any pick-up, too. It also drives well enough to pass muster, and it’s laden with kit. It’s much more than just a cheap truck – and for the third year in a row, it’s the best in the business in terms of value for money.

BEST INDIVIDUAL MODEL SsangYong Musso Rhino LWB The Musso has held the Best Value title for three years, but the Rhino LWB gives it something new. With a longer wheelbase and rear overhang, it has a massively enhanced load bay to enhance its already formidable practicality.

You could certainly question the logic of dressing such a work-focused vehicle in the smartest suit SsangYong has available – especially as the Rhino uses leaf springs in place of the coils found elsewhere in the range.

But it drives as well as its stablemates – and even the most expensive Musso delivers exceptional value for money.

BEST OFF-ROAD Nissan Navara AT32 The AT32 was absent last year, as Arctic Trucks redeveloped a new model based on the heavily revised Navara. Now it’s back, and it continues to serve up the same winning menu – taller suspension, bigger tyres, meaningful protection and the options of a snorkel and locking front diff.

The revised Navara is already an even better off-roader than before, and the AT32 package improves it as effectively as ever. It’s not cheap, but it compares well with similarly priced pick-ups in terms of what you get. If you’re buying a truck for off-roading, it makes a compelling case for itself.

BEST OFF-ROAD Nissan Navara AT32

2021 PICK-UP OF THE YEAR Isuzu D-Max The D-Max has been building a strong presence in the work truck market since the old model arrived in 2012. The all-new model, which is due to arrive in Britain during the first quarter of 2021, gives it a platform from which to have the same impact in the lucrative high-end sector.

Despite having a version of the same engine, this D-Max is far more refined to drive on the road. It’s smoother and quieter at all speeds, with steering and suspension that disguise its size – an area in which the old model, much as we admired it, was never that good.

Hence it promises to be a much better SUV substitute. And to this end, its cabin is a quantum leap forward, with cutting-edge electronics mounted in a superb looking dash. Isuzu has finally given it a locking rear diff, too, so it will be transformed off-road. Get ready: the first truck in a new era of pick-ups is on its way.

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POWER BROKER

There’s a new Toyota Hilux on the way – and it’s going to have an engine that makes it one of the liveliest trucks around. As we prepare for our first experience of Toyota’s 2.8-litre diesel engine in the company’s world-leading one-tonne pick-up, we’re reminded of the time when the old-shape model finally came of age – courtesy of a radical concept vehicle with more power than any truck the UK had ever seen Words: Ifor Evans Pictures: Lawrence Baker

T

he current Toyota Hilux is about to get a major mid-life facelift, featuring a new 2.8-litre engine which will be shared with the latest version of the Landcruiser. Not before time, some might say – because while the vehicle is outstanding in many ways, its performance isn’t the most sparkling thing about it.

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But that seems to be the way Toyota rolls. The Hilux arrives in the UK, it’s brilliant but it’s low on power… then a model year or two later, along comes a bigger, gutsier unit to answer everybody’s prayers.

To be fair, if your Hilux has a manual box you’ve probably not been praying for anything. But in auto form, the current engine does have a ten-

dency to run out of puff on the motorway – where kicking down is rewarded more by noise than by acceleration.

For high-end Hiluxes, then, the 201bhp and 369lbf.ft of the new 2.8-litre engine will be a very nice step up from the 148bhp and 295lbf.ft the current 2.4 unit dishes up. Back when the previous model was still relatively new on the scene,

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however, the bigger engine wasmore than just a step up – it really did transform the vehicle.

When the Mk7 Hilux reached Britain towards the end of 2005, it was almost everything a truck should be. It quickly gained praise for its looks, build, off-road ability and blend of ride and handling, but there was a problem. Despite its many qualities, it was still powered by Toyota’s old

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2.5 D-4D turbo-diesel engine – and with a paltry 103bhp, it lagged way behind the opposition.

Toyota acted quickly to sort this out. Within a year, a far livelier 3.0 D-4D engine had joined the Hilux range; it still wasn’t quite the most powerful truck in Britain, but with a lighter kerb weight than the enormous Nissan D40 Navara it was now the fleetest of foot.

Buoyed by this new-found pace, Toyota GB decided to go a step further still – with a limited-run engine upgrade from Toyota Motorsport GmbH which pushed the 3.0-litre unit’s power output to 201bhp. Sounds familiar?

The output might be the same as the new 2.8-litre unit, but there was one big difference between then and now. This is of course that in 2007, you could still organise a motor show without killing everyone who turned up.

And so it was that visitors to the 2007 Commercial Vehicle Show at the NEC were blown away by the eyeball-grabbing vision you see on these pages. The Hilux Sport Concept had the looks of a full-house pose truck – but it had the honour of being the vehicle that took the UK pick-up market over the 200bhp barrier for the first time.

What it didn’t manage to do was transfer its stunning looks over to the production version of the Hilux. At the time, the Mitsubishi L200 and Nissan Navara were way ahead in terms of sex appeal – and though Toyota could load up on kit with the best of them, even in top-spec Invincible form it didn’t have the same SUV-like presence of the latter or the sheer brashness of the former.

Yet the Hilux Sport Concept was by any measure a spectacular looking machine. Its job was to attract attention, and that’s exactly what it did. It made sure everyone who looked in its direction knew the Hilux was now available with a 3.0-litre engine and automatic transmission – and in a lifestyle market which had long been dominated by all sorts of blinged-up L200s, it left no-one in any doubt that Toyotas could turn heads too.

‘One of the key focuses of the Hilux design team,’ said Paul Fricker, then Toyota’s commercial vehicle boss in the UK, ‘was to make it robust and attractive – and fitting every market around the world, depending on what the need might be. In Thailand, where it sells in enormous numbers, it’s very much a passenger car. In South Africa, it’s still a working vehicle. In the UK, it’s a bit of a crossover between a workhorse truck and more leisure use.

‘We just thought that we could add a few more styling items – outsize alloy wheels, powerful

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Outrageous 22” black alloys, shod with 285/35R22 Toyos, were very much at the heart of the Sport Concept’s appearance. In addition, its windows were tinted in limo black and its lights were smoked out using an acrylic tint. These wouldn’t be legal on a road-going vehicle, while the twin-exit exhaust would simply have been impracticable as it wasn’t compatible with the dealer-fit towbar that’s ordered by seven out of ten Hilux buyers. None of that matters on a show car, however, which is exactly what this was exterior statements, very much as an attraction to our stand at this year’s CV Show. Toyota in the US did something very similar with the Tundra, and it gained an awful lot of coverage.’

Those outsize alloys measured a whopping 22” in diameter, and the 285/35R22 Toyo tyres wrapped around them look not unlike the world’s coolest rubber bands. Sourced through the UK aftermarket, the wheels and tyres went on without any modification to the Hilux’s brakes or

suspension, which means any customer with the inclination was able to replicate the look – though whether you’d want to, given what you’d do in the process to the way it rides, is another matter.

With so little sidewall to flex away your cares when you lean on it in corners, too, such a truck’s handling could be expected to be on the snappy side on wet roads. No small matter when you’ve got 201bhp going exclusively to the rear wheels – especially as a vehicle built in this style

could reasonably be expected to spend most of its life running unladen.

Fricker did admit that ‘with 204 DIN horsepower in a truck, on a wet day, and no load in the back… it may be a little bit skittish. But you can certainly see the customer appeal of something like that.’

Interestingly, at the time Toyota’s product plans involved replacing the Hilux’s gearbox options with the six-speed manual and five-speed auto

The Sport Concept had the looks of a full-house pose truck. But it also had the honour of being the vehicle that took the UK pick-up market over the 200bhp barrier for the first time Toyota went to US hard-top specialist Snug for the Hilux’s unique rear canopy. One of the main findings it brought back from the vehicle’s appearance at the 2007 CV Show was that people wanted one just like it – though ultimately, most of them would simply have ordered it instead of one of the existing options in Toyota’s dealer-fit range, so there was no real business case for putting it into production

52 | JANUARY 2021

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gearboxes from the 120-Series Landcruiser. This of course had full-time four-wheel drive. History shows that though the technology clearly did exist, the Hilux stopped short of getting its SUV cousin’s transfer case to go with those primary gearboxes; these days, full-time four-wheel drive is less of a rarity in pick-ups than it was back then, when only the L200 and Land Rover Defender had it to offer, and one wonders whether, in truth, it might have been a stronger selling point than the handful of 201bhp editions that followed the Sport Concept. Not that selling in big numbers has ever been a problem for the Hilux, obviously…

Something else that didn’t come to pass as a customer option was the rakish hard-top which was designed and built specifically for the Sport Concept by Californian specialist Snug. Following the response it got at the CV Show, Toyota GB did look at putting it into production, but ultimately concluded that it would simply cannibalise business from other existing hard-tops.

Further mods on the vehicle include F1-inspired graphics and a highly polished twin-exit tailpipe.

Interestingly, the latter wouldn’t have been suitable for production – because around 70% of Hiluxes are specified with Toyota’s dealer-fit towbar, and the funky exhaust wasn’t compatible with the unit the company was supplying at the time.

Also unsuitable (make that illegal) on the road would be the black limo tint on the windows, which is a strong no-no ahead of the B-pillars. The acrylic black tint on the headlamp, tail lamp and foglight lenses would score you a ticket, too.

4pp Hilux Sport Concept.indd 53

Nonetheless, Toyota did go some way down the road with a production version of the Sport Concept. When we spoke to Paul Fricker, the sums had already been done on how much additional weight was available to accommodate these modifications – and he said it would be comfortably possible to build a showroom model while retaining the essential 1000kg payload, without which a double-cab fails to qualify for commercial vehicle status.

‘If we were to create it as a grade of vehicle,’ he told us, ‘we would have to test it with the ministry and get approval. It wouldn’t be an issue, though, because the Hilux’s GVW still has some capacity to go up.’

Perhaps it was the case that the Sport Concept did its job by grabbing attention for the 3.0 D-4D engine and that was enough. Or maybe, like so many great vehicles at the time, plans for a production version were torpedoed by the financial crash that came a few months later.

Either way, the Hilux Sport Concept was a wonderful diversion at a time when the pick-up market was bursting with confidence. It didn’t turn the lifestyle tide against the Navara and L200, and none of us back then could have foreseen what the Ford Ranger was about to become, but it was Britain’s first 200bhp double-cab – at a time when that seemed like a very big deal.

Most of all, it helped take the Hilux from the bottom of the performance pile and launch it right to the top. Whether Toyota made the most of this in the face of look-at-me opposition from

so many of its rivals, or whether indeed it cared, is something you could argue about all night long.

But in the dozen years that have passed, the Hilux has never again lost its place at the top table of the double-cab market – and with the new 2.8-litre engine set to give it another massive shot in the arm when the revised model hits the road, perhaps the spirit of the Sport Concept has lived on for a lot longer than people’s memories of the vehicle itself.

01/12/2020 00:01

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SHORT AND TO THE P The Land Rover Defender 90 is definitely the shortest 4x4 pick-up there’s been. That’s in strictly physical terms, though – because in typical Defender style, they tend to be very long-lived indeed…

Words: Paul Looe Pictures: Vic Peel

R

estoring a Land Rover Defender is an honourable task, but it’s hardly something that will make you unique. There are still ways of finding your own niche in the Landy game, however – as this 90 truckcab demonstrates.

Recently rebuilt by Luke Ogden, it does an excellent job of treading a line between the

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full-house off-road projects of old and the blingy street machines you see so many of today.

There’s nothing wrong with off-road builds or blingy street machines, we hasten to add – it’s just that the former have waned in popularity as Defenders’ values have gone through the roof, while the latter can all too easily end up being too nice to use the way Land Rover intended.

One look at this 300 Tdi and you can see it’s fit for purpose. But it’s also just, well, fit. In a way Solihull could never have envisaged back when it was new. It was towards the end of the Tdi era that Defenders with alloy wheels and (gasp) body-coloured roofs began to become a common sight, but this one is an early 300 – and, being a truck-cab, you can be pretty sure its first port of

4x4 01/12/2020 00:04

POINT

call after leaving the dealership would have been a farm.

Time past, the miles racked up and by 2010, the 90 was starting to feel its age. That was when it copped its first MOT fail for chassis rust. A load of welding later, it was good for another few years, but then in 2016 the worm was back. Another patch-up job was enough to secure another

4x4 5pp Ogden blue 90.indd 57

01/12/2020 00:04

Both axles are standard, so at one level there’s not much to see here. But what this illustration is showing is the level of the refurbishment that’s gone on underneath the vehicle, not just in the amount of new parts but in how very clean it is Luke went to Terrafirma for the 90’s suspension, which is mounted in tubular towers up front and runs polyurethane bushes all round.

There’s a bit of lift here, but it’s about combining decent sized tyres with original levels of reliability rather than going all-out for flex like some sort of wannabe challenge god

year’s ticket, but after that the vehicle was taken off the road.

It resurfaced in January 2020, having become Luke’s property just under a year previously. Safe to say it was looking a bit different to when he first dropped it off his trailer and into his garage.

First off, he stripped it down completely.

And then he did the thing everyone does when confronted by a Land Rover with a rotten chassis, which was order up a new galvanised one. His came from Marsland, and as if to prove that he likes to do things properly he sprayed it with

Buzzweld chassis paint before starting the rebuild. It’ll be a while before this one gets its collar felt by the MOT man again…

It wasn’t just the vehicle that was stripped down, either. Its 300Tdi engine got the full treatment, too – Luke says he renewed every component that’s capable of being replaced. The suspension is new, too, with a full set of Terrafirma springs, shocks and hardware and polyurethane bushing all round.

The idea here was to lift it while creating a Defender that rode and handled the way a Defender should. Luke wasn’t trying to create either an extreme off-roader or a street machine stripped of its original character, but a proper 90 that also happened to look cool – and the suspension definitely helped here by making room for a set of Predator alloy wheels shod with 285/70R17 BFGoodrich All-Terrain tyres. Not the most common of sizes for a 90, but if you don’t mind

The cage could be described as cosmetic, being that it’s mounted to the rear body. A CCVT scrutineer wouldn’t be impressed, but at the same time you’d sooner go over in this than in the same vehicle without any cage at all

58 | JANUARY 2021

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Window deflectors have forever divided opinion, but you can’t go wrong with a snorkel. This one is a genuine unit from Luke’s employer, which just happens to be Land Rover… the bigger rim size and shallower sidewall it’s knocking on for 33” tall while only being just over 11” wide, so actually it’s a decent answer for people who start feeling uneasy at the sight of a Defender on fat rubber.

It’s also a decent answer for anyone who likes 4x4s to be awesome to look at but hard as nails as well. Big wheels and low-profile tyres can look, well, questionable on any kind of 4x4, let alone one like this that was born to slop around fields on a set of 7.50s Firestone SATs (remember those?) But these BFGs are still good and truck like, even if you’ve got a mental block against anything larger than a 16” rim – and when it comes to

the way the 90 looks, it gets better and better the closer you get to it.

That’s because its cool blue and black colour scheme was achieved using full-body Raptor.

The coarse textured protective paint from U-Pol has risen and risen to become something of a fashion item over the last few years – and as well as looking immense when tinted with, well, whatever colour you fancy, it renders a vehicle virtually scratch-proof. This isn’t the first Defender Luke has finished in this way – he previously did it on a factory V8, using a grey tint to contrast with the sheer black of a set of panoramic windows – and it’s yet more proof that as so

many other vehicles have demonstrated, this is a winning technique for making your vehicle as tough as it is classy.

Above left: Which are you paying more attention to – the tubular winch bumper or the high-gloss grille and headlight surrounds? Both combine nicely with the use of a Raptor finish to create a winning example of the ‘off-road cool’ image. The headlamps themselves are of the LED variety, so you’ll definitely see it coming Above right: Mounted on Predator alloys, the 90’s BFGoodrich All-Terrains stand just under 33” tall. They’re not the most common of sizes for a Defender, though, at 285/70R17

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JANUARY 2021 | 59

01/12/2020 00:04

Top left: We always cringe when we see Land Rovers for sale with ‘heavy-duty sills’ that are just the flimsy standard jobs with a strip of chequer plate riveted to them. Luke has trimmed the door bottoms for those of you who like the stuff, but down below is the real deal, complete with tree sliders and high-life jacking points Above right: The unmistakeable texture of Raptor. It’s not that long since the ultra-tough coating was seen as a thing for pick-up truck beds, but then people started using it all over and now it’s almost a fashion item. Being tintable obviously helps here – you can mix it with literally any colour, and the effect Luke has achieved on the 90 is superb. The finish conrasts really nicely with the gloss black details, too Above left, left: Without going all-out for the luxury look, the 90’s cabin is significantly upgraded from standard.

Exmoor Trim seats and a matching cubby box would do this on their own, but a full carpet set and suede-lined lower dash help too – as of course does a sports steering wheel. In the middle, Luke has installed and pre-wired a Raptor dash so that whoever owns the 90 after him can instal their choice of stereo As it started going back together, on went the funky bits. Heavy-duty rock sliders, tubular winch bumper, swing-away spare wheel carrier, Land Rover Genuine Parts snorkel… there’s also an SVX-style high-gloss front end including that vehicle’s pronounced radiator grille and headlamp surrounds. The latter contain LED lights with angel-eye DRLs, which is practical as well as being very contemporary to look at.

The good stuff didn’t stop there, either. In fact, you could argue that it’s inside the cabin where this 90 really makes a case for itself. There’s a pair of heated seats from Exmoor Trim flanking a matching cubby box, and the dash is highlighted by a very cool sports steering wheel. Its suedetrimmed down below, too, and the whole cabin is carpeted. Luke also installed a Raptor dash, which he pre-wired for a stereo system – though he hasn’t actually fitted one of these, for a very good reason. ‘I prefer it without a radio! It needs finishing – all the cables are pulled through for the speakers, but the vehicle never had one from the factory.’

So if he prefers it without a stereo, why bother installing a slot for one and spending all that time on wiring it up? By his own admission, Luke enjoys building vehicles more than driving them

(his daily, would you believe, is a Tesla which he bought as accident-damaged and repaired himself, which illustrates the level of skill he’s got) – so he kind of knows they’re unlikely to be around for long once he’s finished.

There’s another reason why this 90 could be yours for the right money, too. ‘I want to buy a house,’ Luke says. ‘But this involves having funds!

Hence all my cars and projects are for sale.’

Naturally, our view would be that you can’t have too many cars and projects, even if that means living in one of them. But our view is also that Luke is one of those people who knows ex-

actly what they’re doing. Which means that when he buys a house, it’s going to have a big garage.

We seriously doubt this Land Rover will be his last… and we’re certain that whatever he builds next, it’ll be cool…

If you’re interested in becoming the next owner of Luke’s 90, drop the editor a line at alan.kidd@ assignment-media.co.uk and he’ll pass it on

60 | JANUARY 2021

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01/12/2020 00:04

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HAND-ME-DOWN

Building an off-road project normally involves going shopping for a long list of parts. As this hardcore Suzuki Samurai demonstrates, however, a lot of hard work and a willingness to reuse other vehicles’ hand-me-downs is all you need to create a toy to be reckoned with Words: Paul Looe Pictures: Harry Hamm

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W

hen you look at this Suzuki Samurai, it’s hard to believe that once upon a time it was a painted, polished, big-wheeled mini-monster.

We’re sure it was very cool and all that… but we’re equally sure it wasn’t as cool as it looks now.

A left-hooker which started its life in Spain, the vehicle found its way to Britain less than three years into its life in January 1990. About a decade or so later, after a blown engine put it out of action and it spent a while laid up in a garage, one of the guys who worked at the garage in question did a deal with the owner and bish bosh, he had a project on his hands.

The Samurai’s new owner was Steve Stimpson.

His son Ashley is a well known figure in the offroad scene in the North-West – and as you do, he had a set of 33” tyres lying around.

‘We thought “we can fit those,”’ he recalls.

And with modded springs and a bit of wheelarch abuse, it turned out he was right. So Steve took it to his mates in the paint shop at work and what emerged from the spray booth was no longer just a Samurai but a shiny bigfoot toy.

Now, a good many people built a good many bigfoot Samurais back in the day. Mainly, the vehicles spent a few years tarting around the place before falling into the hands of someone who knew their off-roading and could set about making them right, but this one was different. Steve

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There are plenty of off-road vehicles with tubular bodies, but not many of them can hold a candle to the elegance of these wing bars. These are attached to a cage which looks as if the rest of the structure was designed as part of it, though in fact the wings and rear tray were added later. The rock sliders, on the other hand, are part of the structure, being welded to the chassis on heavy-duty outriggers

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Left, above: The front axle holds up the vehicle on Vitara rear springs which were sourced from a friend. The rear unit was taken from a Vitara which Steve bought specifically to break for parts; retaining its standard A-frame location, it runs coils from, of all things, a Ford Focus Estate. Both axles were moved away from the centre of the vehicle, adding stability and achieving greater travel by allowing for longer links Above right: The same Vitara also donated its 1.6-litre engine. The most unusual thing to notice here is the air chamber above the offside wheel; this contains a hot water coil to help prevent the SU carb from freezing up, a common cause of lump running in cold weather already knew his off-roading (and he had Ashley to keep him on the straight and narrow, too) – so as time passed, those 33s started getting used the way 33s should.

Which in turn meant the bodywork got beaten up the way bodywork, well, shouldn’t.

‘As we got more brave and adventurous, more panels came off,’ remembers Ashley. What replaced them was a series of tubular arches culminating in a full trayback design at the rear, so that when you look at the truck now you’re seeing an original cab and bonnet and not a lot else.

The roll structure runs down to a pair of box-section rock sliders, the rear stays mount the spare tyre (it’s on 35” rubber nowadays) and the front wing bars and bumper culminate in a stinger. No wonder that at first glance, it appears to be made entirely of steel.

Steve was in his element here, as in Ashley’s words he’s the family’s star welder. They’re all

are able to do a bit if necessary, but Steve’s the man they turn to for tip-top work. ‘We did build it together,’ says Ashley. ‘But he’s the one who does all the graft!’

When it comes to the kind of graft you don’t see without clambering underneath a vehicle, a decade-long process of development saw its old leaf spring replaced by coils. The things you’re seeing in these pictures are Vitara rears at front and, at the back, a pair from a Ford Focus Estate.

Well, obviously. ‘They’re really long!’ says Ashley.

‘But they have to be from the estate – the hatchback doesn’t seem like it was made to carry as much weight.’

The axle at the back was donated by a Vitara which Steve bought specifically to butcher for parts (this was back in the days when it was still possible to do such a thing). Rather than coiling a Samurai unit, it was easier just to slide the Vit axle into its place – or rather, three inches behind its place, which is where they decided it should go to enlarge the truck’s wheelbase. Not a problem when you’ve got to weld on all the suspension brackets anyway and therefore get to choose where they go.

They retained the Vitara’s A-frame set-up there, but up front they were free to choose whatever system they wanted, what with there not being anything original to work from. The result was a four-link set-up, using Nissan Patrol rear lower links up top and fabricated jobs down below. The truck also runs a demountable panhard rod, which goes on for road use – yes, it’s road-legal, and it remains taxed and MOT’d to this day.

Yes, even with a stinger on its front bumper.

‘I’ve had one on all of my off-roaders,’ says Ashley.

‘We’ve heard people saying things about them,

but we’ve never had a problem with them at the MOT. When you get pulled over by the police it’s normally just that they’re interested in it – they’ve never given us any grief about it and I think they recognise us now!’

The propshaft behind the front axle is a true home-made affair which Ashley built from a lengthened SJ rear unit. Out back, it’s a bit more simple – they got a Hi-Lux prop to fit perfectly, and better still it bolted straight up to the flange on the Vitara axle.

That Vitara also donated the truck’s engine, a 1.6 carb unit which drives a 5.1:1 Rock Lobster transfer case through a standard SJ gearbox. This is protected by a home-made rock bucket and held on by Land Rover engine mounts which were used because ‘they were the right shape.’ The engine runs a home-made four-branch exhaust and SU carb, the latter fed through a custom snorkel – via an air collector fitted with an internal hot water coil to prevent the common problem of the air in the carb freezing up.

The engine also powers a steering box from a right-hand drive Nissan Patrol, which is perfect because it was designed to sit outboard of the chassis rail – so when you move it to the left, where this Suzuki’s steering column is, once reversed it sits inboard. Better yet, the drop arm points forwards, which was ideal as the truck’s wheelbase was further enlarged by moving the axle 4” closer to its nose.

Also from a Patrol is the vehicle’s heater, which shares cabin space with a pair of Ford Fiesta seats. The radiator came from a Mazda and the fans from a Maserati, if you please. At the opposite end of the scale to that, the headlamps are from an old Ferguson tractor.

The Samurai used to run a hefty great steel bumper that was weighing it down, but this made way for the tubular job you see here. Not that there’s any shortage of metal still attached to its front end, with that highly braced stinger structure framing the winch mount.

There’s nothing quite like a stinger to make a vehicle look like a bona fide rock rig, and of course there’s also nothing like it for turning a potentially catastrophic endo into a simple flop-over on to one side

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Left, above: The front axle holds up the vehicle on Vitara rear springs which were sourced from a friend. The rear unit was taken from a Vitara which Steve bought specifically to break for parts; retaining its standard A-frame location, it runs coils from, of all things, a Ford Focus Estate. Both axles were moved away from the centre of the vehicle, adding stability and achieving greater travel by allowing for longer links Above right: The same Vitara also donated its 1.6-litre engine. The most unusual thing to notice here is the air chamber above the offside wheel; this contains a hot water coil to help prevent the SU carb from freezing up, a common cause of lump running in cold weather As you can see from all this, what you’re looking at here is a self-propelled advert for the virtues of making stuff go again. ‘It’s never had a penny spent on it,’ says Ashley. ‘Everything on it is hand-me-downs. There’s nothing new that’s been bought for it at all.’

And that doesn’t just make this a vehicle whose smiles-per-pound factor is off the scale. When you compare it with the sort of off-road truck that’s been built using pallet after pallet of new kit shipped in from every corner of the globe, think of the amount of energy, materials and CO2 that

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goes into them – and precisely none of which needs to be spent on a truck like this.

Even then, builds like these are incredibly environmentally friendly because they tend to be their owners’ only cars and, very much unlike the sort of electrobox we’re all being pressured into, they’ll still be doing their thing two decades from now. It’s a long time since Steve’s Samurai was used as a daily, on the other hand – but even longer since it last cost the planet any significant energy or resources. Here it is, deep into its fourth decade and still going as strong as ever – and

still providing a good home for parts taken from vehicles that turned out not to be able to match its longevity.

Most of all, though, it’s just a brilliant little truck whose original form has been completely reimagined, taking the miniature style wagon of old and turning it into an off-road plaything that’s an absolute credit to the people who created it. Steve and Ashley are a father-and-son team whose skills and hard graft have been responsible for many fine vehicles – and this redoubtable little Samurai is one of the very best.

01/12/2020 18:48

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

The Story So Far… OUR D-MAX HASN’T APPEARED in these pages for two or three months. And with this being our Pick-Up of the Year issue, which always attracts a good number of readers who don’t normally see the magazine, we thought it would be a good time to bring you up to date with the story so far.

The small matter of all the shops being shut for a chunk of the year means there’s not a lot of people, subscribers apart, who’ll have caught every step of the build either.

So here we have, in summary, parts one to six of Project D-Max GO2.

Why GO2? It’s because the truck can ‘go to’ more places. And

because G and O are the initials of the Editor’s sons, who had been looking forward to getting aboard ‘Daddy’s new muddy truck’ ever since our old Landcruiser Colorado went off to its new home. If you’re the sort of person who always scores more on Pop Master than the guy who made it on to the radio, you might also recognise that the name is also a reference to an early album by Swindon’s finest, XTC. Initially, we were going to do a pastiche of that album’s cover on the truck’s bonnet for its launch appearance at the 2020 CV Show.

But the first rule of the 2020 CV Show is that there was no 2020 CV Show, so that went by the board.

Based on a 1.9 Utah model first registered in September 2018, GO2 was conceived as a high-spec off-roader that would create a buzz around the D-Max. The idea was to

demonstrate the vehicle’s potential, showcase some of the kit in Isuzu’s accessories range and build something bespoke, and cool, using equipment from a range of goodquality aftermarket suppliers.

In particular, Isuzu has a strong working relationship with Australian suspension specialist Pedders. The company’s lift kits feature on the Huntsman Plus and XTR versions of the D-Max, and for this project it supplied its Extreme system – a version of the set-up used on the latter with remote-reservoir shocks and multi-setting adjustability for bump and rebound alike. It went on with Pedders’ own forged upper wishbones, which are designed to work at the angles required by taller springs and shocks and are shaped to allow clearance for bigger tyres.

Tyres like the 285/75R16 General Grabber X3 mud-terrains we’re

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You don’t often see cart springs being used in conjunction with remote-reservoir shocks. But with the ever increasing popularity of doublecabs for off-road builds, this is going to become an ever-more common sight. As is the Pedders logo on said springs and shocks, if our experience of the Australian company’s suspension kit is anything to go by – the D-Max is the third vehicle we’vehad with Pedders kit, and we rate it very highly. The kit is comprehensive – it includes a new anti-roll bar for the rear, along with the hardware to mount it, while the front suspension comes with brackets for the remote reservoirs. We also used Pedders’ forged upper wishbones, which provide more clearance than the original for larger than standard tyres like the 285/75R16 General Grabber X3s we were fitting – they work beautifully, but we found out the hard way that the coil-overs go on much more easily if you fit them before the wishbones rather than after… using on the vehicle. Standing at just under 33”, these are right on the limit of what the taller suspension will allow – beyond it, in fact, without a few complimentary modifications.

First, there’s a body mount riding on an outrigger at the rear edge of the front wheelarches with two mounting positions to suit different panels used in various markets around the world. Happily, UK vehicles only need the rear one, so there’s about an inch of metal nearest to the roadwheel that’s redundant and can be ground off.

Just as well, because that’s the bit that was getting in the way.

The wheelarches also needed to be flared out a little, using some heat and a very nifty little arch roller designed specifically for the job.

And then there’s the front bumper,

which… was removed altogether and replaced by a proper heavy-duty one from ARB. The Australian off-road giant supplied a number of items, indeed, via its UK importer Britpart. In addition to heavy-duty front and rear bumpers, the shipment included a set of rock sliders and a locking rear diff – as well as a Safari Snorkel and Britpart’s own-brand winch.

Going back to the suspension, this went on pretty easily along with Pedders’ rear brake disc conversion.

Bigger, better brakes are always a welcome addition on anything that’s going to go on to bigger tyres – it’s an easy one to ignore, but brake fade can be a very scary experience.

We got a dose of it in our old Discovery 2 on one occasion and we’re fine to leave it at that, thank you very much.

One awkward bit during the suspension fit was getting the nearside front strut into place. By this time, the Pedders upper arm had already been fitted so that the suspension and steering could be cycled to see if the roadwheel was going to foul – and as it turns out, it’s a whole lot easier if you fit the strut first. It did turn out to be possible, aided by removing the anti-roll bar and grunting a lot, but you live and learn. And doing the same job on the other side of the vehicle was no problem at all. That’s the perils of prototyping…

It’s also the fun of prototyping, too, though. We had some of the best people in the business working on the vehicle, and all of them told me how much they enjoyed getting something out of the ordinary through the workshop.

We’re not sure how much they enjoyed heaving that ARB winch bumper into place, though. It’s a sodding big lump of a thing, and it’s as heavy as it is big. Reassuringly so, you might say, especially with a winch bolted into it.

Now, Britpart sells bumpers for a certain other make of off-road vehicle too, and these can be fitted simply by doing up four bolts. It’s simplicity itself. Or it can be, at least – it’s been known to kick off with all-our war to get the old bolts to free off and finish with a welding job when the new one goes on but then one of the dumb irons holding it falls off. But we were enjoying the benefits of working with a new vehicle for once in our lives – so while this fitting job was a lot more complicated, at least it was clean and tidy.

We had some of the best people in the business working on the vehicle, and all of them told me how much they enjoyed getting something out of the ordinary through the workshop

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OUR 4X4S

Above left: With the wheel and tyre fitted, the suspension and steering are fully cycled – showing which parts of the vehicle’s bodywork will need to be trimmed to prevent them from fouling Above centre, above right: This compound body mount was the first hurdle. You can see a second, unoccupied hole in it – this is only used on models built for certain markets, but it’s present on all D-Maxes. This means it can be cut off and the mounting plate reshaped, which is good news as otherwise, it would get right in the way of our tyres

Above left: The portion of the body mount that needs to be removed is marked up – definitely a case of measure once, cut twice, because overdoing it and weakening the remaining part of the structure doesn’t bear thinking about Above centre: With the excess cut away, using a grinder and air hacksaw, the new piece is welded in to fill the cut-out then, once cool, the area is smoothed off Above right: Here’s the finished repair, all done and ready for painting Right: This is the portion of the inner arch that needed to be removed – it’s not much, but it makes all the difference Below right: At 285/75R16, as well as being taller the new tyres are usefully wider than standard. This means they need to be on very well offset rims to keep them from molesting everything in sight – which in turn means they’re pushing the limits of legality in terms of how close their tread gets to overlapping the line of the wings. The solution is an arch roller, which bolts to a mounting plate on the hub and can then be used to gently push out the line of the arch A lot more complicated? Well, the job starts with you needing to remove the original bumper, mark it up using a template then cut it the whole way across its length.

ARB’s steelwork will leave a gap, you see, and the original bumper (remains of) will need to be reused to fill it in.

After that, it’s a case of going through the instructions – which are comprehensive, clear and generally excellent – and building up the mounting points for the new bumper. These use the anchors for the bolt-on crossmember that lives behind the standard bumper, which is also removed to make way for the new one.

Another part of the job involves rewiring the indicators (and fogs, if you’re using them) which live in the ARB bumper. And talking of wiring, the winch needs to be thought about too. Its cradle is almost completely enclosed within the body of the bumper, meaning it needs to be bolted up in advance and the whole lot installed as a single unit.

There’s a degree of adjustability built in to the mounting brackets so that the bumper can be lined up correctly with the truck’s bodywork, which means being patient and checking, checking then checking some more until you’re satisfied it’s all good.

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Top left: You’d better be sure you really want to do this. The original bumper, or at least a bit of it, gets reused as a trim infill above the ARB unit. Here, it’s been masked and marked up in preparation for cutting Top centre: Now you can build up the brackets, which are basically complex chassis extensions. The wires you see here are for retrieving hardware from within the chassis legs later on if the bumper ever needs to be removed Top right: With the bracket fully assembled, you can torque up the main mounting bolts Above left: A quick test and the new indicators work. Things are going in the right direction, and so on…

Above centre: With the bumper placed on a stand, the winch can be dropped into position.

Not literally dropped, obviously…

Above right: Happy with the bumper’s position? Now the bolts can be tightened up Right: You’ve already tightened up the bolts, but the last job while you can still get at them is to torque them up

There are other things to think about as well when fitting one of these bad boys, however. The first is that, perhaps surprisingly, it doesn’t come with recovery points already fitted. ARB sells these separately, and you’ll certainly need them, so that’s something to plan for – ours had to be sent from Australia, which is why there’s no sign of them in these photos.

You may also need to plan for how the winch is going to be operated. The bumper comes with a front grille that has a couple of hinged access flaps in it; theoretically, these are there to let you get at the freespool level on one side and plug in the wanderlead on

4x4 Our 4x4s Jan 21 D-Max.indd 71

the other, but not every winch will allow you to get at them this way – especially if you’ve got big hands.

Britpart’s DB9500 winch does come with both wired and wireless controls, so obviously we had an answer there. When you most want your winch to work, however, it tends to be because if it doesn’t, that’s kind of a disaster, so we wanted the reassurance of a hardwired connection as back-up if nothing else.

Moving to the back of the vehicle, ARB’s front bumper was balanced out by the same company’s Rear Step Tow Bar. This too came from Australia, as it was out of stock in the company’s European warehouse

– yet it arrived so far ahead of the anticipated delivery date that we were taking bets on when it would show up without realising we had our cups of tea balanced on its box.

Of course, one of the drawbacks of using a double-cab as your offroad wagon is that it has a big rear overhang. You can draw the sting of this to some extent by lifting the vehicle, but that doesn’t change the fact that there’s an awful lot of metal back there.

Had the vehicle been our own, we’d have been very temped to remove the pick-up bed altogether, fit a full exo cage and turn it into a trayback. We can just imagine what Isuzu would have said about

us doing that to their property, however. Hence the ARB unit.

Compared to the front bumper, this was almost a simple bolt-off, bolt-on replacement. But of course, nothing is ever that simple. There’s some wiring to be done, for one thing, and a surprising amount of fine adjustment is required before the bumper can be tightened up – all the while supporting its enormous weight, which is not something you can do with your free hand while bashing away with a ratchet.

Talking of heavy stuff, it won’t have escaped your notice that pickups’ tailgates are prone to coming down with an enormous crash.

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OUR 4X4S

Above left: Having removed the towbar, next the rear bumper is freed off and lifted away.

Take care before you start to lower it to ensure that everything has indeed been undone Above centre: It definitely helps if you’ve got the right equipment in your workshop. Trying to mount a heavy-duty bumper without some sort of lifting aid would be an accident waiting to happen, and being able to ease it into position bit by bit is far and away preferable to having to do all the lifting in one big heave Above right: The beaver panel tidies up the tail end a treat. We’ve seen vehicles with empty areas left naked when the trim came away to accommodate a heavy-duty bumper and/or body lift, and it looks all kinds of rubbish Right: You can just about see the receiver hitch in the bumper here, which is designed to accommodate a 50mm tow ball. The electrics from the old standard-fit tow bar were relocated in the bracket ARB provides for this very purpose – we didn’t build the GO2 with towing in mind, but it’s a useful extra skill in the vehicle’s locker

Above: Lining up the bracket where the tailgate damper mechanism attaches to the back body is a fiddle. It’s not hard, though, and once you and an assistant have got it lined up the rest of the job’s a breeze Right: Here’s the tailgate with the mechanism in place, showing it attached using the bolt in the picture above Far right: The hydraulic strut attaches to the edge of the tailgate and the side of the back body to complete the installation Not good for their own hinges and brackets, and certainly very bad if, like an ever increasing number of pick-up owners, you’ve got small children about the place. The answer was to fit a damper from Isuzu’s own accessory range – this is basically a torsion bar running the full length of the tailgate, combined with a pair of miniature shock absorbers which go in place of the simple anodised steel arms fitted as standard.

It’s not a long or difficult job, but it is quite fiddly and two pairs of eyes

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are definitely better than one when you’re lining up the brackets. As an aside, if like us you’re also fitting an ARB rear bumper, the damper should go on first – otherwise you’ll need to pull the beaver panel back off again to instal it. It might be a prototype, but no point in doing the same job twice if you can help it…

And that’s the story so far.

The idea of this project was to turn the D-Max into a high-quality adventure wagon of the kind for which more and more people are turning towards double-cabs now.

Lockdowns permitting, it’s been making regular appearances in our monthly roadbooks since hitting the road – and when the world starts getting back to normal, we’re hoping to take it on some of the randonnées that attract people across the Channel to France.

Some sort of overland travel might be on the cards, too. And, since the base vehicle is a Utah model, we’re dreaming about shipping it across the Atlantic for a bash at Moab. Then the Rubicon, since we’re out that way anyway.

And then the Dempster Highway up to the Arctic. Because it’s there.

Accent on the word ‘dreaming,’ here, obviously. But we first started talking to Isuzu about a project like this at the D-Max launch in 2012, pretty much exactly eight years before finally getting our hands on it. So the very fact that we’re now able to go laning in it is pretty much a dream come true. That’s the story so far… but with the start of a new year, and the freedoms we all hope it will bring back to us, there’s a whole lot more still to come.

4x4 01/12/2020 00:13

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JANUARY 2021 | 73

01/12/2020 22:37:48

JUNE 2019 | 51

SUPER TROOPERS VetRun180’s Portuguese expedition was a creative way of helping ex-servicemen deal

Words: George Dove Pictures: Gavin Kaps

L

and Rovers have a special relationship with the Armed Forces in the UK. They can be a source of great nostalgia and comfort to ex-military personnel whose time in the forces has come to an end – some of whom have even been

74 | JANUARY 2021

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known to reunite with the actual vehicles alongside which they used to serve.

With numerous cumulative years of service across the charity, VetRun180 are well aware of this, and it is what gave them their inspiration. The charity offers relief

to war veterans who have suffered with PTSD as a result of their time in service, by re-living the fun side of frontline adrenaline, only without the inherent danger.

‘We needed the toughest, most adaptable vehicles we could find to take military veterans, suffering

from PTSD and physical injuries, on adventure therapy expeditions in Portugal,’ said Matt Bispham MC, an Afghan war veteran who has been battling PTSD himself and is a co-founder and trustee of VetRun180. ‘There was only one choice of vehicle for our charity!’

4x4 30/11/2020 23:59

with the effects of PTSD

boggy swamps. I don’t know anywhere else you could get all those environments in such a concentrated area.’

Although the participants were all either ex-Army or former Royal Marines, some had never driven a Land Rover before. Certainly, none had experienced doing so in such unforgiving terrain.

‘It was such an adrenaline rush.

I haven’t experienced anything like that since I was in the forces,’ said Dave Stubbs, who served six tours of Northern Ireland and fought in the Gulf War. Andrew Pritchard was a Territorial Army transport driver in Iraq during the second Gulf War, and said: ‘There were times when I couldn’t believe any vehicle would make it up such huge rocks and

So it was that their convoy of four Land Rover Defender 110s, two Discovery 4s and a rally-prepped Range Rover departed from Portsmouth for ten days on the very best Portuguese terrain (and there’s a lot of competition for that title). They were blazing a trail as they went,

gullies. Our Defender was being thrown around like it was in the North Sea. But it made it – over everything. It was quite remarkable.’

Matthew Abbott, also a former Royal Marine and co-founder of VetRun180, is recovering from being wounded by a rocket in Afghanistan and dealing with the psychological impact it has had. But just a few days into the veteran’s expedition, he was ecstatic at the performance of the vehicles and also what the men were getting out of it.

‘We hit massive rocks and fell sideways into gullies so deep that we had to be winched out. We went through rivers and sandy bogs, and not a single vehicle had a mechanical problem. The worst thing that happened was we lost a

too – for this was to be VetRun180’s inaugural therapeutic expedition.

‘Some of the tracks we experienced were unbelievable,’ recalled Bispham. ‘Water, sand, mountains, horrendous rock climbs and descents. We went from the rocky mountains to sand dunes to muddy

4x4 4pp VetRun.indd 75

30/11/2020 23:59

‘This trip has changed everything. Just getting behind the wheel of a vehicle that can pretty much do anything, in amazing scenery, has made me want to travel and have some adventures of my own’ bit of trim on one Disco and a few Defender aerials.

‘These vehicles are warriors.

But even better than that, our own warriors had grins from ear to ear, and they were whooping and cheering as they made it up the steepest slopes. You can’t put a price on that.’

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Simon Dedman, another trustee of VetRun180, did the expedition in his 2005 Range Rover Sport which was made for the G4 Challenge in Malaysia. He has also taken it to Australia, China, Vietnam, Russia and most of Europe. It has had to be rebuilt a few times, but 80,000 hard miles later it is still going strong.

‘This beast is pretty indestructible,’ he said, as he summited another climb with ease. ‘But she is very thirsty. She doesn’t go far on a gallon of fuel!’

VetRun180’s mission is to take military veterans on adventure therapy trips worldwide, to help get them out of destructive cycles of anxiety and depression. All of the veterans on the Portugal trip had tried traditional therapies or medications, but without any success they turned to something different.

‘I think it takes something a little bit extreme, a little bit bonkers, to bring service people back to something they are used to; to get some adrenaline moving and a sense of purpose again,’ said Bispham.

Abbott and Bispham rediscovered their own motivation while crossing the Moroccan Sahara a few months earlier. ‘Just sitting in a car, driving and chatting with someone else who understands what you have been through and where you are

now is far better therapy than sitting in an office talking to someone,’ explained Abbott.

‘It was like a defibrillator for me,’ added Bispham. ‘Before that trip I’d isolated myself from anything military and was just sitting at home.

But being on a driving challenge brought back the old me.’

And it seems very much as if the inaugural VetRun180 was a success, as Pritchard felt the same about the Portugal trip: ‘It was amazing.

I loved everything about it. I could feel that guy, who went to Iraq 14 years ago, returning with every mile that we drove!’

Stubbs, who has been struggling with PTSD for years, fuelled, he believes, by having to bury Iraqi soldiers in mass graves and by the cocktail of vaccines soldiers were subjected to in the Gulf War, said he had given up driving at home altogether, his anxiety had got so bad.

‘I didn’t want to go out. My son, who is a para, tried to encourage

4x4 30/11/2020 23:59

me, but I was getting worse not better. But this trip has changed everything,’ his smile more telling than his words. ‘Just getting behind the wheel of a vehicle that can pretty much do anything, in amazing scenery, has made me want to get out more, see things, travel, and have some adventures of my own.’

Before setting off on the first stage of the VetRun180 – which ran south from northern Portugal and back up through Spain – the veterans were briefed on the idiosyncrasies of the Landies.

‘It took us quite a while to get the hang of the diff,’ laughed Tim Rushmere, a veteran of two Afghan tours who served with 29 Commando – an artillery regiment attached to the Royal Marines. ‘We were always trying to work out whether we were

4x4 4pp VetRun.indd 77

in or out of diff, and in the beginning, we didn’t have any idea what the diff was. I suppose that’s normal for Land Rover rookies. Thankfully we’d taken along a young mechanic from the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) Regiment. He never had to fix a vehicle, but he was very popular with all of us as he constantly came to our aid.’

‘Speed was a slight issue because we were top heavy with the Hannibal roof tents on the Defenders, so when we opened them up to test the handling on a flat piece of track, we soon slowed down,’ added Rob Burgess, a former Royal Engineer, who had joined the trip in a bid to get over the memories of seeing his best friend killed on an operation.

‘But we didn’t need to go fast. It was more the challenge of getting these

magnificent beasts over anything, and just being on a joint mission again with like-minded people. I miss the forces every day. Every day.

But during that ten-day expedition, I felt like I was back in.’

Each veteran was given a Fitbit to wear for the entire trip, to measure the physical effects of relaxation and exhilaration on their respective conditions, with all the data being sent to the King’s Centre for Military Health Research for analysis.

‘I didn’t need to even look at my Fitbit app to see what it was doing for me,’ said Stubbs. ‘After banging around all week in the Land Rover, I actually slept for the first time in years, which was a revelation to me.’

Following on from the success of this first trip, VetRun180 is planning to take dozens, maybe even

hundreds, of British military veterans on adventure therapy expeditions every year.

‘Having the Land Rovers readily available means we can also offer vets a bit of a challenge here at home too,’ continues Bispham. ‘Our headquarters and warehouse is in Mirfield in Yorkshire. We know how important it is for the guys to meet up again after these trips, to keep that sense of camaraderie and community going, so we will organise some off-roading there too. These vehicles are going to see a lot of service and hopefully, in these trying times when veterans’ suicides are spiralling, help save lives too.’

To find out more about this event and the charity behind it, pay a visit to vetrun180.org

DECEMBER 2020 | 49

30/11/2020 23:59

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