Mazda gets serious about next-gen BT-50 gear

Mazda has introduced a range of BT-50 accessories for "serious" four-wheel-drivers. Shown at the Australian International Motor Show in Melbourne, the stuff all comes with factory warranty. Sadly, the steel bumper does nothing to disguise the yet-to-be released ute's unfortunate styling.

Limited Defender tipped for NZ

Land Rover keeps its hand on the ball to maintain interest in the Defender.

Land Rover New Zealand has told 4wdNewz that it's interested in offering some of the Defender Limited special edition, photographed today at the Australian International Motor Show in Melbourne. Available in Zermatt Silver or Nara Bronze (pictured) with a Santorini Black roof and wheel arches, the specials also have 16-inch Saw Tooth alloys with Goodyear Wrangler MTR tyres. Seats have leather side bolsters and LED tail lights are fitted. It looks really good. The Limited was made in 110 and 90 models, but the Aussies ordered too few 110s and too many 90s! We can apparently expect an outpouring of special editions as a way to maintain interest in the Defender until the replacement arrives about 2014.

Other recent Defender posts:
• The last good Defender
• Hints about the next Defender
• Another prediction

Next Holden Colorado: shame about the styling

Holden unveiled a show-car version of the 2012 Colorado at the Australian International Motor Show today, saying production versions will be similar, although the ones we will be able to buy probably won't have as standard the 20-inch satin-finished wheels on Cooper Zeon LTZ 285/50 tyres. It'll be powered by a 2.8 litre turbo-diesel but Holden isn't giving power and torque figures. The next Colorado will be sold around the world and may include a wagon version. Styling has been praised but, sorry, 4wdNewz just wants to reach for the sick bag.

New Defender will still offer 'utility'

Land Rover boss Phil Popham has confirmed to 4wdNewz that the next Defender will still be a utility vehicle rather than an upmarket lifestyle 4WD as some pundits have been predicting. It will, however, be a much more refined vehicle than the current model. It will probably appear around 2014. Design and engineering teams are now seriously working on the replacement.“We have to replace an icon and our designers and engineers have a big task on their hands," Mr Popham said. “Both the press and customers worldwide will be looking very closely at what we do.” He said that a company policy is to build more vehicles on fewer platforms, suggesting that the Defender might be built on, say, a version of the Discovery’s. “That’s certainly one of the options open to us,” he said. Land Rover presently sells fewer than 20,000 Defenders a year.

Hilux facelift breaks cover

First photo of the facelifted Toyota Hilux, which will go on sale October-November. It's business as usual under the revised sheetmetal which, in 4wdNewz's view, is a vast improvement. Stability control is more widely available in the range and a 4WD extra-cab wellside is making a return. An all-new Hilux will be introduced in 2013 and a lot of development work is being done in New Zealand. So far, 35 factory engineers have come down in three groups to work on various aspects of the design and New Zealand has been chosen as a site for endurance testing next year. You read this first in 4wdNewz!

Below: A couple of shots of the single example on show at the Australian International Motor Show in Melbourne.

Toyota FJ Cruiser: an overview

I've finally got an FJ Cruiser for a decent time and will be posting several reports, most likely broken by a  mid-week trip to the Australian International Motor Show in Melbourne to look at some 4WD stuff coming our way. 4wdNewz has already published several items on the FJ and links to these are at the end of this article. It's a fascinating vehicle, on one hand the styling's contrived and bordering on the silly, in other ways quite compelling, especially as it is listing at less than $70,000 and the first round of dealer demos are on sale now for around $62,000-$64,000.

One of the FJ Cruiser's attributes is superb access thanks to the small open-out suicide doors, or Access Doors as Toyota calls them. The red-trimmed seat covers are extras.

Rear access is also good and the cargo area is hose-down trail-ready. Capacity is 990 litres as shown, 1370 with the seats down. Passenger compartment floors are also hose-down.

Now THAT's s strut! The FJ Cruiser might have Tonka-like styling, but that's where its toyishness stops.

To set the scene, the FJ is built on a lengthened version of the SWB Prado's chassis, has a 3956cc V6 petrol with an automatic five-speed; independent front suspension with a coil-sprung live axle at back; and has part-time 4WD. An electrically-operated rear diff-lock is standard. Overall low gearing is an unimpressive 33.61:1. By comparison, the 4wdNewz Wrangler Rubicon has an overall low of 46.6:1 thanks to a 4:1 transfer ratio. The Toyota's is 2.566:1.  In size, the FJ Cruiser sits roughly between the current Mitsubishi Challenger and the Jeep Wrangler Unlimited, although it's wider than either and has a shorter wheelbase of 2690mm.

Approach and departure angles are 36 and 31 degrees respectively. These are average by today's standards, but well short of a Defender 90's 49/47. At 12.4m its turning circle is kind-of wide and in keeping with such 4WDs as the Wrangler Unlimited and Nissan Patrol (both 12.2m), or its kin the Land Cruiser 70 LX wagon at 12.6m. The rear diff is 235mm from the ground which is okay, but measured on the same spot of ground, my Wrangler offers 25mm more air. (I'm not turning this into a Wrangler vs FJ Cruiser comparison, the Jeep just happens to be handy!) As it rolls from the showroom, the FJ has 265/70 x 17 tyres, in the case of "my" one, Dunlop Grandtrek AT22s, which are somewhere between a BFG All Terrain and a street tyre.

4wdNewz no longer has access to a 20deg ramp to get a Ramp Travel Index, but American reports say the FJ Cruiser scores about 515, which is on the lower end of average.

Here's a collection of earlier posts on the FJ Cruiser. Click "older posts" at the bottom right of the page the link will take you to, for another batch. And here's a good American FJ Cruiser forum, in case you get hooked on the truck.

Update: Toyota has told 4wdNewz that the FJ Cruiser will be facelifted in the coming year, but it's expected to be minor.

There's a useful covered stowage bin in the right rear and just look at those man-sized tie-down points.

4wdNewz would live in fear of smashing one of the
stick-right-out rear light clusters.

FJ looks too much like a Dyson vacuum cleaner with styling details like this.

It's easy to fit a snorkel but a second battery might be a mission, although a spiral-wound Optima-type could be useful. The four-litre V6 engine's basically that of the petrol Prado with minor power and torque differences. In the FJ it produces 200kW and 381Nm at 4400rpm. Overall fuel consumption is rated at 11.5 litres per 100km and it sprays CO2 at the rate of 267 grams per kilometre.

Toyota FJ Cruiser: the underbelly

Large and reasonably strong protective plating provides a smooth approach. Like so many 4WDs these days, fitting rated recovery hooks to the front may be a mission, without going to a replacement bumper like ARB's. It's not an issue at the back.

Looking towards the nose. The vulnerable stuff has been packed out of the way. Front suspension is double wishbone with coils and a stabiliser bar. Some American FJ Cruiser forums report that the swaybar links are prone to bending and breaking. Steering's speed-sensitive rack and pinion and although the turning circle is a lazy 12.4, it's only 2.7 turns lock to lock.

Exhaust is protected by a chassis crossmember where it takes a 90-deg turn.

Rear suspension is four-link with a lateral control rod and another stabiliser bar. Toyota says the front and rear suspension settings were calibrated for "Oceania" conditions, whatever they are.

FJ Cruiser: interior design

It was designed for an LHD market but there's nothing on RHD models to give that away. The transmission is the electronically controlled five speed A750F unit with AI ('artificial intelligence') and lock-up torque converter. 4wdNewz wondered what all those blank switches were for, but they're also mostly blanked in photos of US dashboards. However, one is for an on-off switch to control a 115v inverter; a 220v version would be nice for our market.

Nice instrument panel and there's an accessory gauge console on top of the dash. with compass, outside temperature display and inclinometer. Oddly, there's no trip computer.

Here's something you don't often see – side sunvisors; and big ones, too.

 

I love those three energetic wipers! Click the little triangle to watch.

Toyota FJ Cruiser: flying more or less blind

The greatest weakness of the FJ Cruiser is poor outward vision; it's particularly unsatisfactory off-roading and there's more on that later. The problem is that function has followed form. There are monstrous side blind spots behind the back seats, a small rear window the view from which is hindered by the top of the spare wheel, and outside mirrors that are too small. Toyota tries to mitigate the rear view with a reversing camera in the spare wheel cover but the screen, which is built into the rearview mirror, is tiny and not much use. I'm really liking other aspects of the FJ Cruiser, but this one has me worried.

Toyota FJ Cruiser: going off-road

Check figures in the overview section and it's obvious the FJ Cruiser should do well as it comes off the showroom floor for even fairly serious off-roading. 4wdNewz took the vehicle to the Jeep Woodhill 4WD Adventure Park, which replicates most typical New Zealand track conditions except for rivers and paddocks. It quickly became clear that the wagon is very much at home off the road and a lot of this is due to its well developed electronic traction control. Electronic traction controls are a mixed bag, some refusing to do much until the driver boots the throttle, which may be the last thing the conditions require. The FJ Cruiser's, on the other hand, just seems to "know" when it's needed and works unobtrusively on the driver's behalf. This attribute makes it easier to forgive fairly average wheel travel and articulation because, with one or two wheels off the ground (or maybe even three; this opportunity did not present itself), the traction control will get it through. So effective was the traction control that the rear mechanical diff lock was needed only a couple of times, on some nasty rutted uphill tracks with surface roots and dips immediately before them.

Not only can each ratio of the automatic box be selected manually, the chosen ratio will be held, providing peace of mind on, say, steep descents. This is unlike some automatics that will take it on themselves to shift up a gear once some pre-set parameters are reached. However, with overall low gearing at slightly less than 34:1, and without the aid of a diesel's high-compression-ratio engine braking, steep descents are too fast without calling on the brakes. Fortunately, with big discs at each corner, there's no harm in using them up to the point that they cause loss of traction.

Ground clearance was not a problem on the test tracks, although we avoided others where it could have/would have been. However, the overall width of 1905mm was a problem and it took careful driving to get between some trees and other obstacles. That's common to any wide 4WD of course, not just the FJ Cruiser.

What let the vehicle down for me was its poor outward vision. The driver sits too low to be able to accurately place the vehicle on tight tracks and at descents with steep drop-offs. There's little headroom, so raising the seat a few centimetres isn't going to be a fix. Then there's the poor rear and three-quarter rear vision that makes backing in tight spots hair-raising without a spotter. The reversing camera is little more than confusing. The FJ's stylists have a lot to answer for; it would have been so easy to make the wagon more off-road friendly.

Suspension isn't particularly supple. Rear wheel is already off the ground, but traction control keeps it going.