Next Range Rover revealed, but first a question

Land Rover has released photos and many details of the fourth generation Range Rover, ahead of its launch at the Paris Motor Show. The info's all over the web, so 4wdNewz isn't repeating the same stuff. However, its imminent arrival prompts the question as to whether any New Zealand enthusiasts are using early examples of the current version as "club trucks"? Prices of the earliest ones are well down and they're certainly capable, if a bit complex.Your feedback appreciated as comments, below.

Narva's tidy new accessory fusebox

Narva has an interesting new fusebox with a built-in common earth return so accessories can be wired back to the box with a single negative feed point, for connection to the battery. It helps provide a tidy and serviceable electrical system. The box has dual power inputs so accessories can be run from two separate circuits to best suit an application, such as ignition or auxiliary. The inputs can be bridged to run accessories from a single circuit or power source. The box is suitable for standard ATS blade fuses or ATS plug-in circuit breakers. It has a lockable transparent cover and comes with a sheet of 86 symbol decals. The unit carries up to 30A per circuit with a maximum of 120A per block and has a maximum voltage of 32V DC. If you're interested, the part number is 54450.

Defender owners: Don't show this to your insurance company

The UK's main car insurers are refusing to cover Land Rover Defenders with side-facing seats. Ouch, that's a big share of the entire production run prior to 2007, when they changed to front-facing seats in the back. The side-facing seats are deemed dangerous in these OSH-coddled times. They probably are – and really uncomfortable, too; but why not go further and refuse to insure the Defender altogether: no airbags, no structural rigidity if you roll, no this, no that? Just kidding, don't write in. Here's the full story from Autocar in the UK.

Toyota adds double cab 70 Series

New Zealand is hot on the heels of Australia with a new version of Toyota's Land Cruiser 70 Series workhorse. Arriving here next month, the LC79 is a double cab version of the rugged 70 Series cab-chassis ute favoured by contractors and high-country farmers. The vehicle was developed with Australia’s mining industry in mind and can even be fitted with rail arms to travel on mining train lines. However, the ute has much wider application and a Toyota New Zealand spokesman told 4wdNewz that customers have been asking “for years” for a double cab version.

An aftermarket supplier not associated with Toyota has even been building custom versions from cut-down 70 Series LX station wagons. Toyota Australia said the same thing had been happening over there, providing impetus to do it at the factory. As with the rest of the 70 Series range, the double cab uses Toyota’s powerful 4.5-litre V8 turbodiesel mated to a five-speed manual gearbox and part-time 4WD with a two-speed transfer case. The Euro IV-compliant V8 engine delivers 151kW of power at 3400rpm and torque of 430Nm from 1200rpm to 3200rpm. The double cab has a one-tonne payload and can accommodate five adults.

The LC79 will be offered in two grades, one a basic “working” truck, known as the Workmate in Australia, and the GXL with a range of comfort and convenience gear. This includes alloy wheels, over-fender flares, remote central locking, differential locks, fog lamps, power windows, carpet and cloth seats. Pricing has not yet been set, but in Australia they start at around $NZ78,000. The 70 Series family sells here in small but steady numbers, the single cab cab-chassis averaging about nine units a month, the commodious Troop Carrier wagon version about three a month and the more luxurious LX wagon a couple a month.

Upgrades for Suzuki's Jimny

Suzuki has introduced a bunch of minor changes to the Jimny, making it longer and decreasing the approach angle. Oh well. New front bumpers increase overall length to 3675mm, a 30mm stretch, and the approach angle drops by 3deg to 34deg. There's a new bonnet with central scoop, redesigned headrests, new seat trim, a driver’s seat belt warning lamp and two ISOFIX child seat tether anchorages. To help separate the two models, the base JX now has a horizontal-strip grille, the Sierra a body-colour vertical-strip grille with five air inlets.

A 132-page Amarok brochure – or is there more to this book?

Out There North
A 4WD Adventure in New Zealand's North Island 

Chris Morton and Tony Bridge
Out There Media, 2012, 132 pages
ISBN 978-0-473-20284-2 $49.99

 
It's taken a while to catch up with this coffee table book, published earlier this year. Still being seen by most publishers as not important enough to receive review copies, 4wdNewz has to beg, borrow – but so far not buy – new 4WD titles. The question is, has this wait been worth it? Out There North is beautifully produced but it reminds me of a Chinese meal that looks wonderful, promises much but leaves you hungry for more just 20 minutes after eating it. The book tries to deliver too much on one plate and ends up not dishing up a big enough helping of anything. 

On one unfortunate level, it's no more than a giant brochure for the Volkswagen Amarok ute, which had just been introduced here when the team behind the book struck a deal to use a fleet of (it seems) three for the North Island adventure. The result is that almost 60 per cent of the pictures contain an Amarok sitting there or doing something and the text is full of descriptions of the vehicle's prowess. For example: "Another ardent double cab user [farmer Snow Brownlie] is fascinated by the Amarok and takes a few brochures. What do we think of the ute? Great. Has it proved itself? Absolutely." The italics are mine. Almost the only negative seems to be that it was a bit wide for the 42 Traverse, but one assumes that was the fault of DoC for making the trail too narrow for a vehicle spanning 2228mm at its outside mirrors. No disrespect to the Amarok, but I'd have enjoyed the book much more if the team had assembled a fleet of different vehicles and was able to contrast their strengths and weaknesses – and provide more variety in the pictures.

On another level, the book provides insights to life in parts of the country only accessible by 4WDs or to people in 2WDs who are happy to press their luck. Tony Bridge's text does this well for the most part, but there's not enough of it. I wonder how many more interesting observations and vignettes could have been included by chopping back on the Amarok adoration? Or leaving out the too-frequent pointless chit-chat information that nobody gives a toss about: "We have time to unpack … Nick's family own a bach at Hauparu Bay … where we can spend the next two nights. It doesn't take long to unload and get ourselves sorted out. Apart from the trip up the mountain tonight and in the morning, tomorrow will be a day off, an opportunity to rest and restock our supplies and for Chris and I to go over our photographzzzzz …" Fortunately, such pointless dross is balanced by some superb writing; I'm thinking particularly of the chapter on driving through Army land at Waiouru, the best account I've read about off roading on this great tract, transcending anything I've seen in the country's two 4WD magazines.

On yet another level it's a picture book, capturing the moody grandeur that is the New Zealand back country. Picture books of New Zealand scenery are thick on the shelves, but Out There North acquits itself well on the image front, particularly in the Waiouru and Ruapehu chapters, which are also largely free of bloody Amaroks. Mind you, it's good to see iphotos of 4WDs that are technically excellent, well composed and superbly printed (in China, of course). Their work just shows up the visual slop that's served up most of the time by the local 4WD mags; if only they'd spring a few bucks for a copy of 4x4 Australia to see how it should be done.

All of the areas covered in the book should be known to anyone with a portfolio of 4WD club trips or tag alongs under their belt. Out There North should also be useful for would-be visitors to get a taste of areas they're considering visiting on an organised trip. So that's yet another level. The book offers no "how-to-get-there" instructions or route directions – that's not a criticism – so would be good to read in conjunction with Andy Cockroft's 4WD North Island series.

Out There North follows an earlier title, Out There South, mercifully not done in a fleet of Amaroks. That book also bypassed 4wdNewz when it came out but a copy is on the way to see how it compares and what we've missed, so watch this space. Update: The copy arrived and is noted below.

Phil Hanson

Out There South: the Mainland rules

Out There South appeared in 2010, so it's old news now and this is just a quick comment rather than a review. The first thing that struck me about the volume that led to Out There North (above) was the excellence of photography, compared to the newer book. It's not that the photographers lost their skills in the two years between volumes, it's just that the South Island is so much more scenic … especially in out-of-the-way places where 4WDs can go. This time they used three rental Toyota Prados which, unlike the Volkswagens in Out There North, weren't always perfect in every way. Sadly, the text is not up to the photos. As with the North volume, it reads like a well-prepared 4WD club magazine report, only more so. I really don't care that Chris was busy charging the UHF radios, I'd far rather read more about the areas, the tracks, and how to drive them.

Must-read for dreamers, the curious or the very rich

Autocar in the UK has just published the best article yet on what the next Range Rover will be like. Check it here.

Put a ring around 2015

Looks like 2015 is going to be a vintage year for 4WD enthusiasts – or at least those who follow two particular brands. Jeep has announced there will be fundamental revisions to the Wrangler; think along the lines of a sanitised-for-safety model with a turbocharged four and maybe even independent front suspension. And as we all know by now, it's also when we're likely to see the totally new Land Rover Defender, several concepts of which have already been shown.

Mistakes you're probably – almost certainly – going to make

If you're new to four wheel driving, you will almost certainly make these mistakes. But don't worry, almost everybody does so you're in good company.

• Your first 4WD will be all wrong. The vehicle friends tell you to buy, that the specs tell you to buy and your wife tells you to buy will not be the one you need for club-level off-roading. Only experience will tell you what is the right vehicle.
• Don't try to fix the above mistake by buying all sorts of accessories and modifications. Once you have off-road wisdom, cut your losses, get rid of the dog you own and buy the one you really need. It may still need modifications, but the basic vehicle will be right.
• After a few months of hitting the tracks and trails, you're not as good an off-road driver as you think you are. Be very careful.
• You don't need an expensive long-travel suspension AND front and rear differential locks. Choose one or the other. I'd go with the lockers.
• Always know where your wheels are pointing.

Update: Check the comments below for readers' additions to the list.

All the right gear, including Top Gear

Photographer Simeon Patience poses the Land Cruiser 200 VX Limited for a feature in the August issue of Top Gear New Zealand. It's about a day with the big fella in the Jeep Woodhill 4WD Adventure Park. He captured some pretty good action shots to go with the words.

Life after the low box

Volkswagen couldn't have chosen a better, or worse depending on your point of view, to introduce its new eight-speed auto Amarok double cab ute. After days of heavy rain, the farm south of Auckland was really heavy and its creek the highest 4wdNewz has ever seen it. Nevertheless, and as we've now come to expect, modern electronics saved the day and did a creditable job of traction-controlling the trucks around on their street tyres.

But this was more than just another new ute. The eight speed Amarok has full-time 4WD but now low range. Instead, the first two gears of the ZF automatic are quite low, sort-of mimicking the kid of ratios you get from a conventional box in low range. Based on some steep downhills (with traction) on the farm, low first appears to be similar to that of a typical automatic 4WD with transfer case. That, of course, is not very good compared to a manual. Standard hill descent control (HDC) should bring the ute down the hills slowly and under full control in any gear but was malfunctioning on the ute 4wdNewz drove, and on one other.

There's every possibility that the no low-box off roader with "crawler" ratios will become popular in the quest for lighter vehicle weight and better fuel economy and the Amarok suggests that it might be quite viable, coupled with today's electronics. It's also a no-fuss way to drive off-road, particularly on routes that require frequent swapping between high and low range.  On the other hand, it'll take a lot of refining before it'll be a satisfactory low-box replacement for the kind of off-roading many 4wdNewz readers enjoy.

The optional recovery device wasn't needed.

This guy needs to either improve his bow-wave technique, or get a snorkel.

Beyond the low box

Seikel snorkel is a factory option. This Amarok also had Mickey Thompson mud tyres, giving it a big edge over the others on street rubber.

Volkswagen couldn't have chosen a better – or worse depending on your point of view – day to introduce its new eight-speed auto Amarok double cab ute. After days of heavy rain, the farm south of Auckland was really slippery and its creek the highest 4wdNewz has ever seen it. Nevertheless, and as we've now come to expect, modern electronics saved the day and did a creditable job of traction-controlling the trucks around on their street tyres.

But this was more than just another new ute with electronics. The eight speed Amarok has full-time 4WD but no low range. Instead, the first two gears of the ZF automatic are really low, mimicking the kid of ratios you get from a conventional box in low range. Based on some steep downhills (with traction) on the farm, first appears to be similar to that of a typical automatic 4WD with transfer case in low range. That, of course, is not very good compared to a manual. Standard hill descent control (HDC) should bring the ute down the hills slowly and under full control in any gear but was malfunctioning on the ute 4wdNewz drove, and on one other.

Digging into the specs, the Amarok's first gear is in fact nowhere near as low as a typical automatic 4WD. It's 4.714 which, when multiplied by the 3.7 final drive ratio, gives overall low gearing of 17.44. The ubiquitous Hilux has a first gear ratio of 2.804, but its overall low works out as 26.8. Manuals do much better: a decent 4WD will have an overall low of around 45:1. The current Defender manual (and Wrangler Rubicon automatic) can top 60:1

However, there's every possibility that the no low-box off roader with "crawler" ratios will become popular in the quest for lighter vehicle weight and better fuel economy. The Amarok suggests that this might be quite viable, coupled with today's electronics. It's also a no-fuss way to drive off-road, particularly on routes that require frequent swapping between high and low range. On the other hand, it'll take a lot of refining and even lower ratios before the configuration will be a satisfactory low-box replacement for the kind of off-roading many 4wdNewz readers enjoy.

The optional recovery device wasn't needed on the day.

This guy needs to either improve his bow-wave technique, or get a snorkel.

So how many gears goes your ute have?

It had to happen sooner or later … a ute with an eight speed automatic. That's what Volkswagen's offering when it launches an upgraded Amarok in a couple of weeks. The new automotive website Autospy has the story here.