At least it's recognised ...

Just had it pointed out that TheRoxor, a site that ranks the importance of websites to the US market rates 4wdNewz at 7,207,400th! Apparently the site gets 300 visits a month from America and has an estimated worth of $537.48 – well, that bit's about right.

March 2013 update: It's slipped on TheRoxar's ratings list to 7,761,816th place but worth has soared to $781.10.

Indirect tyre monitoring: I like it

One of the only interesting things about the new Mazda CX-5 crossover for those of us who like "proper" 4WDs is indirect tyre pressure monitoring system (TPMS) that, as the name suggests, monitors pressures using data sent from sensors that already perform other functions, and not from an additional sensor inside each rim/tyre. Those of us who have "direct" sensors know that they're a pain in the arse when wheels are changed. If the technician doesn't know what he's doing, the sensor assembly will get broken and there's a bill right there of $100 or more. When it happened to me, Beaurepaires picked up the bill for a replacement, as they should.

There are also issues with some aftermarket rims that cannot accept the factory sensor, and issues about fitting the correct sensor to the correct wheel; for example you might be in for all sorts of further trouble if you fit the sensor for, say, the left from to the right rear. TPMS is almost more trouble than it's worth. The CX-5 system (the car was launched to the media today and I'm posting this from the deepest Wairarapa) does away with this nonsense. Let's hope the industry widely adopts indirect monitoring.

Wikipedia has a useful article on TPMS here, that provides background on the direct and indirect systems.

Dreaming on

The new Land Rover Defender family, due in 2015, could become the marque's biggest-selling model, according to the company's brand manager, John Edwards. UK Autocar magazine says the firm is targeting the success of the Toyota Hilux, which sold 549,000 units worldwide in 2011. So they have some way to go; the Defender sold just under 20,000 units last year, more than 27 times fewer than the ubiquitous Toyota.

Pajero's generation gap

First- and second-generation Mitsubishi Pajeros have a strong following among off-road enthusiasts. You see them everywhere from winch challenges to easy tag-alongs. I've never thought they were all that good off-road, but really liked driving them on the road. Off the highway, their independent front suspension put them at an immediate disadvantage to their beam-axled Nissan, Toyota, Land Rover and Jeep rivals. Still, lots of people obviously like them for the tracks and trails. Not so of the third and fourth generations, though. I rarely seem them on the track. The Gen 3s were pretty useless off-road, what with their all-independent suspension, until the factory fitted electronic traction control. Since then, they've been good, as long as the vehicle has enough ground clearance.  

The trouble with the Pajero now, I've decided after a week with the top Exceed model, is that it’s become a bit tired. That’s no fault of the vehicle itself; blame the march of technology. It’s falling behind in such areas as NVH, ride and handling. The 3.2 litre 150kW and 448Nm engine is too noisy, rough and power-strapped for the 2012 market. I guess you could get the V6 petrol but you’d be swapping 9.2 litres of diesel per 100km for 13.5. Update: NZ4WD magazine has rated this Pajero as unbeatable by its rivals off-road. No, it wasn't the April Fool's issue either, but in November 2012. You go figure!

Is all that torque just talk?

Nissan’s going to hate this, but when I’m driving around in their Navara STX 550 ute I keep thinking of a Ford. Not even the new Ford Ranger, the current darling of the ute world, but one from back in the ’noughties when the company introduced its F-250 pickup here. The F-250 was one of the most American of utes; big, brawny, excessive for many New Zealand needs and, at the time, priced around $100,000.

It’s the effortless performance of the dainty-by-comparison STX 550 that conjures memories of the Big American. The F-250’s turbo V8 diesel produced 684Nm of torque at 1800rpm, the torquiest ute I’ve ever driven in New Zealand. The STX 550’s turbo V6 diesel produces 550Nm at 1750rpm, making it the second torquiest ute I’ve driven here.

More: the big Ford, seen right in a Ford NZ publicity shot, produced 175kW of power while the mighty Navara is only 5kW off that mark, making it New Zealand’s most powerful diesel ute. And while the Ford sent its drive forward and aft through a now old-fashioned four-speed auto, the Nissan uses an electronically minded seven-speed tiptronic-type auto that helps it achieve 9.3 litres per 100km, overall.

Neither the Ford nor the STX 550 – now the New Zealand ute torque champ –actually needs all that twisty force. The Navara STX 450, which produces 100Nm less, dispatches even the hardest jobs perfectly easily. Much the same can be said for others that struggle by with torque in the 300s.

So why bother? In Nissan’s case, because it can. The engine was developed by the Nissan-Renault alliance for various larger Renaults and some Infinitis, the Nissan luxury equivalent of Lexus.

Unfortunately, there are some things the mighty 550 doesn’t do. Towing is still 3000kg, braked – the same as all 4WD Navaras. I don’t know what the Japanese are thinking sometimes when they tow-rate their utes but surely the three-tonne limit must disappoint New Zealand dealers. It also can’t keep its weight down, listing at 2177kg, a 148kg penalty over the four-cylinder STX 450. However, payload is 833kg, a small 57kg improvement over the 450 auto.

It’s going to be a little better off-road thanks to overall low gearing of 40.2:1 compared to the STX 450’s 35.73:1. And there might be times on the track when the extra torque makes an obstacle easier to surmount.

The ute costs $67,990, automatic only, to head the Navara lineup that has been somewhat revised – partly to put more distance between the 550 and the 450, which costs $59,490 in auto.