What happened to commercial tag-alongs?

Just been looking at a list from 10 years ago of companies that offered commercial off-road tag-along tours. Of a dozen listed, many are now gone and among the survivors only three are still in the tag-along business. Not many new ones have come forward to bolster the ranks. How come? I believe the companies had to charge more than the general public wanted to pay, to make it commercially viable. And I don't believe the demand was ever there to sustain a dozen or so operators. Your views are welcome.

First look at upgraded Land Cruiser 200

Down in Palmy yesterday for the launch of the new Camry car. Toyota has finally engineered some spirit into its mid-size mainstreamer, but the highlight for me was getting taken aside for a quick look at the facelifted Land Cruiser 200, that's to be released in a couple of weeks. It's one of these "let's fiddle with it" updates with modifications to the nose, tail and interior but both models, the VX and VX Limited, have the interesting steering-assist feature. Functioning only in four-low, it brakes individual wheels to rather cleverly tighten the turning circle, which is already quite good for its wheelbase at 11.8m. I was told the prices for the newcomer on a sealed-lips basis. I will say, however, that there's a surprise for those with the hots for this $100,000-plus wagon.

Good info on next Range Rover

Autocar in the UK has some interesting new information on the next Range Rover here. Well worth a look, even if you don't have your $200,000+ already saved.

Holden Colorado breaks cover – here mid year

Photos released today by Holden of the next Colorado prompt 4wdNewz to again wonder what they were on when they did the exterior styling? Still, if you're going for "odd" might as well do a Hilux with mumps rather than something from Fairyland, like Mazda's BT-50. Not to worry though; under its skin the Colorado has some good stuff, including two new diesels and braked towing of 3500kg from the bigger of the two engines chosen for the New Zealand lineup. The ute will be here in June.

It's good to see that Holden hasn't gone made in the torque race, making do with a quite adequate 350Nm from the 2.5 litre 110kW diesel and 470Nm from the 2.8 132kW unit that most people will want. That output drops to 440Nm on five-speed manual models.

Like its newer rivals, Colorado has lots of safety stuff, including driver and front passenger airbags, side curtain airbags, ABS with Electronic Brake Force Distribution and Electronic Stability Control. "Lifestyle and comfort" features include Bluetooth, aircon, power windows, auxiliary plug and USB port, two auxiliary power outlets and an iPod compatible audio system.

Presumably traction control will also be part of the Colorado package, but Holden's initial dripfeed of information makes no mention of it. 
Here's our first look at the truck.

Those were the days: Land Rovers in the early 50s

I've had these photos for ages; they were sent to me by Ken Sibly, the well-known writer on 4WD matters, including the South Island off-road guides. Click on any of the pictures to enlarge.

Thirteen new Land Rovers outside the Christchurch Car Exchange in St Asaph Street near the corner of Colombo Street in 1950. Wonder where they all went? Standing at left is Laurie Smith and on the right, Jack Carthy. The Christchurch Car Exchange was the agent for Rover cars after the Second World War so naturally became agent for the Land Rover. The company name later changed to Carthy Motors.

New Land Rover, somewhere in Christchurch.

Bruce Kahn (left) and Max Carthy (right) with a new Land Rover outside the Christchurch Car Exchange.

Land Rover negotiates the Avon River just downstream from the Armagh Street Bridge in the centre of Christchurch.

The Land Rover comes up the stone ramp by the Armagh Street Bridge.

A new Land Rover and a new 1949 Rover 75 outside the Sydenham Fish Supply in Colombo Street (1950)

A Land Rover equipped to load Tiger Moths in the early days of aerial topdressing.

New Land Rover with an unknown driver somewhere in Christchurch.

Tribute to a great all rounder

An early petrol Surf takes on the mud … until its electrics got too damp.

Surfs are up! The no nonsense Toyota is one of the most popular 4WD used imports. The Hilux Surf, or 4Runner as it was known in export markets including New Zealand, was conceived as a wagon bodied Hilux, primarily for the North American market. Those that began to filter into to New Zealand in the dawn of the used import era came first with the two litre petrol motor or the 2.4 litre turbo diesel. In 1987, the 1998cc motor was replaced by the larger 2247cc motor and fuel injection replaced carburetion. A 3.0 V6 petrol version, developed principally for the North American market, was sold here both new and as an import, but its improved performance and smoothness came at the cost of relatively high fuel consumption.

When imported new, the 4Runner was available with the 2.4 litre petrol motor producing 75kW of power and 185Nm of torque (at 2800rpm); the 2.8 diesel producing 65kW and 183Nm (at 2400rpm); and the V6 producing 105kW and 240Nm (at 3400rpm).

Although the five speed manual rules the roost, Surfs were imported with a four speed automatic gearbox.

The Surf gradually became more refined, getting four doors, a fully integrated wagon body and double wishbone independent front suspension replacing the beam axle. Although the IFS was quite good off-road, some serious owners retro-modified their Surfs to a beam front axle.

By 1989, the part time 4wd system had become more sophisticated, Toyota ditching the basic auto hubs for units that electrically engaged by a switch on the transfer case lever.

A weak point of the four cylinder (and V6) petrol motor, as is the case with all petrols, is the vulnerability to water of its electrical system, but otherwise was a good alternative to diesel for people using it off road. It had an ability to lug nicely at tickover speed and, on road, had a reasonable turn of speed. Off road, though, it’s hard to look past the diesel, which particularly impressed with its ability to climb steep hills at almost an idle. 

4WD questions to ponder

Two photos regarding question 10; these were taken years ago when the P38s were still  in production and expensive … but some owners were prepared to wallow.

A baker's dozen of things you, too, may have noticed or been wondering about 4WDs:

1. Why do people keep saying the Suzuki Jimny is a good 4WD off-road?

2. Why won't Land Rover fit an automatic to the Defender?

3. Ditto Toyota and the Land Cruiser 70. The box from the 200 Series would do nicely.

4. Does it also astonish you that the Land Cruiser 70 LX wagon now lists at more than $80,000?


5. When will Jeep put the KK Cherokee out of its misery and give us a new one that lives up to its predecessors?

6. Has the Nissan Patrol had any credibility since they dropped the TD42 diesel?

7. How do you think the Hummer H3 would have gone with a decent engine? Too late now, don't bother answering.

8. What was Toyota thinking when it signed-off the lousy outward vision of the FJ Cruiser?

9. Does anyone use the current-model Pajero seriously or semi-seriously off-road?

10. Why are so few P38 Range Rovers used as club trucks? They're cheap enough.

11. How quickly do owners get sick of their four-door Jeep Wrangler Unlimited?

12. Regarding question six, should we petition Nissan to put the two-door GQ back into production?

13. Have you noticed how owners of straight, low mileage Suzuki Samurais can pretty much name their price?

Let's clog up the courts

The police threat to permanently lower the speeding tolerance to 4km/h is ridiculous; despite modern electronic speedos four kilometres an hour is within the margin of error for many vehicles. The change will do nothing to lower the road toll, only further alienate the police and the public and clog the courts as the number of defended tickets spirals. As an aside, driving home from National Park on low-tolerance Waitangi Day with cruise control set at 100km/h in an effort to tame the Jeep's thirst for fuel, almost every vehicle overtook me, including vans and cars towing caravans.

The easiest way to fix a track hazard

Hand a spade to enthusiastic Auckland 4WDer Peter Vahry, then casually look the other way while he does all the work. Disclosure: Being a bit mischievous here with this example of how the camera lies. Martin Langridge (left) of the King Country 4WD Club and Jack Talbot (centre), Auckland 4WD Club, were pitching in before becoming momentarily distracted. For the How and Why, see the next item.

Preparing for National Park

Hmm, will this bridge stand up to another safari pounding?

Feb 22 update: Too late, the safari is now full. 


Spent Waitangi weekend helping – and I use the term loosely as the others did all the work – prepare for the Auckland 4WD Club's National Park safari, now coming up to its fourth year on March 3-4. It’s open to anyone with the $70 entry fee and a 4WD that has low-range gearing. This year, it raises funds for Ruapehu Alpine Rescue. It's a great spot among some equally great scenery and the Waitangi weekend mission was to make the run as different as possible from last year's event. The two Landcorp farms are littered with tracks, so the mission has been pretty much accomplished. It was mainly a matter of finding out which new ones were drivable and whether they really went where the map indicated. 


Despite the presence of a couple of tough-truck Nissan Safaris, this is an event easily do-able by any 4WD with low range and a driver with a modicum of off-road skills. But don't get too complacent, as the organisers have thrown in a few surprises that might cause a few butts to clench. You can get information on the trip and accommodation here. I reckon that at 70 bucks for one and-a-half days, it's the best value on this year's tag-along calendar. On top of that, the trip finishes around noon on the second day at the 42 Traverse so those who want "one more trail" can knock it off, too.

No, Martin Langridge isn't taking a quick heave; he's confirming that it looks like the bridge will, indeed, stand up to another safari, or so it seems from the underpinnings.

"Hey, I like the cut of your BFGs, big fella."

It's a bit boggy here, but the group fails to get stuck.

Group of spectators decide it'd be better to flock off.

Martin Langridge leads the team.

We stop for lunch at the 42 Traverse, while swarms of blowflies dine on the animal dung that has accumulated on our trucks. The Jeep tasted delicious.

The Trooper gets a hand across the hazard that Peter Vahry is seen digging in the item above.

Chrysler trivia

Chrysler has just built its one millionth Pentastar V6, the one now going into the Jeep Wrangler and Grand Cherokee Laredo. The milestone was 18 months after start of production at the Trenton factory in Michigan.

SUVs rule the market, just not the ones we like

Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs) now represent the largest new-vehicle segment in the market. Figures from the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) show 18,684 sales in 2011, for a 29 per cent share of the market, up from 16,326 and 26 per cent a year ago. A press release from the Motor Trade Association (MTA) says, "the result is that models such as the Toyota Highlander, Holden Captiva, Ford Territory, Kia Sportage and Hyundai Santa Fe, amongst others, all experienced good volume growth in 2011." It's interesting that not one of these has low-range gearing. Most of the growth has again come at the expense of the large-car segment, which, at nine per cent, is now the smallest in the market. Five years ago, SUVs and large cars together made up 38 per cent of passenger car sales, the same proportion as they did in 2011, only now in significantly different ratios.