It's a bird … it's a plane … it's a bit of a stuff-up, actually

Lots of readers won't remember this 4WD, or blinked and it was already gone. Back in 1995 Suzuki showed a concept car based on the two-door Vitara. The crowds apparently loved it … or said they did. Buoyed by this reception, Suzuki put it into production and quickly found there was a big difference between what the crowds said and what they actually did: the X-90 was a huge flop and vanished after little more than a year. A few came to New Zealand and one was even given away by an off-road magazine. In its favour, the two seater had a fair amount of interior room, a nice T-section roof, and was mechanically identical to the Vitara-Escudo. The 1996 JLX shown here is still registered, with about 138,000 embarrassing kilometres under its ladder-frame chassis.

One man's affair with the Suzuki X-90

4wdNewz gets comments from all over, not just New Zealand, including an email from Don Watson in Florence, Colorado, who has two Suzuki X-90s and was drawn to the site by the item above. He writes: I own a 1996 in same color (Arctic Ice) as the one in the photo, and a 1998 in dark green, kind of like British Racing Green  but called Oregon Green. I absolutely love them and have never had a single problem. The 1998s are kind of rare as only 477 were sent to the USA. I had one before that had 106,000 miles on it but found an identical one with only 41,000 miles (the pair shown above) so I sold the other 98 and replaced it with the lower mileage one.

Another sign of the times

Nothing to do with New Zealand, but an agreement has been signed to build Land Rovers in China. A new Chery factory near Shanghai will also make Jaguars. Land Rover's not saying which product or products will roll off the line from 2014, but outside sources say the Freelander is the likely initial candidate.

Revisiting Barry and Scotty's Hilux adventures

4wdNewz came across this site while looking for something else. It's a repository of all the Toyota television commercials, including the wonderful Crumpy and Barry Hilux series and the "Bugger" ad that made the naughty word mainstream.

Short back and sides for the 42 Traverse

One of the more popular tracks, the 42 Traverse in the centre of the North Island, has had some attention from off-roaders who are prepared to put something back into their recreation. Organised by the Auckland 4WD Club, 26 volunteers turned up and worked-up by bagging 100 sacks of road gravel sweepings provided by Ruapehu District Council at the Owhango end of the track. Some of the gravel sacks were used to harden soft spots and at least one water eroded track edge.

Then they moved into the Tongariro Forest to trim vegetation. The volunteers put in about six hours of labour on the Saturday, then were back at 8.00am on Sunday at the Owhango end for a bit more clearing until noon. Joining the Auckland contingent were others from Taupo, Havelock North and Wellington, and two DoC field staff. No one logged the distance covered at the time, but organiser Peter Vahry later estimated they tidied at least six kilometres.

So you say a Wrangler's no good for camping …?

American company Thaler Design is turning out a nicely-designed camper unit for the Jeep Wrangler. It adds a fibreglass camper shell with a pop-up soft top, providing enough living space for two people.The top adds 200kg to the curb weight, after the factory top, rear doors, rear seat and roll bars have been removed. The top can be taken off, but there's a fair amount of heavy lifting involved. ActionCamper is said to have plenty of storage space, a refrigerator, stove, toilet, sink, fresh-water tank and sewage/drainage tank. An extendable nozzle from the sink can be used as a shower. 4wdNewz knows of no New Zealand distributor; it just seemed like a well thought-out rig worth sharing.

Just what we need, another Chinese ute

You choose whether to read the heading as dripping with sarcasm or as warmly welcoming, but however you take it, we're about to have the Foton thrust upon the market, from one of China's major truck manufacturers. Signage by the outside mirrors boasts that it's "powered by Cummins". This vehicle, which has been running around in Auckland for a short while, is sitting on GT Radials Savero HTs. Here's a link to a good article on the truck's entry into the Australian market.

Spending time with the latest Land Rover Defender 110

If you want a good physical workout, go spend a day in a forest with a new Defender 110. I've just done that and can tell you it's better than a gym, what with its slow, heavy steering, its ponderous turning circle (14.36m) and the workout the left arm gets, forever changing the Defender's six-speed manual gearbox. I used to do this all the time and thought nothing of it – although in a 90 so didn't have to confront the turning circle or the extra gear ratio – until an automatic, light-to-steer Wrangler Rubicon softened me up. Maybe the sweat was showing when, on a track at Jeep Woodhill 4WD Park near Auckland, I met a pair of Jeeps being driven by South Africans: "Sis, man, you should trrrade that Land Rover in," called one of them from the driver's window. Little did he know that in a decent challenge my piece of crap would staple, spindle and mutilate his piece of crap, an early Cherokee, in five minutes flat. So no, this isn't another anti Land Rover rant, just a few observations.

If you check this earlier report on the Defender you'll see I had some reservations about the major revisions that occurred in 2007. Five years on, it was good to have an opportunity to give the current model a good run to see if I'd changed my mind – even if it was a 110! I don't mean to be hard on the 110, it's by far the most popular variant here and has great capacity, makes a better tow vehicle than the 90 and rides better, but I prefer a shorter 4WD, like a 90 or two-door Wrangler, especially amongst trees.

I still can't come to terms with the six-speed manual. On paper, Land Rover did the right thing making first really low for crawling and also easing the top ratio for cruising, so that at 100km/h the engine's only doing a wee bit over 2000rpm and getting brilliant fuel economy from a vehicle with the aerodynamics of a slightly sculptured brick. No problem there, but the first gear is a pain in the arse around town and, sadly, second is a wee bit tall to start from, most of the time. Off the road in low range, the first gear is too low to be of much use. I used to routinely start off in second-low in the five-speed 90 and you can usually choose second or third on the six-speed. Low second still lets you crawl nicely between trees and descend slippery slopes without starting to slide because the wheels are turning too slowly.

The new dashboard was a bit of a shock when it came out. What horrified me was the way it stuck out so much farther into the cabin, compared to the previous version; it seemed claustrophobic. But five years on, I don't mind it and I suspect the only people who may moan will be those coming straight out of an older model. One great feature is that there's a large tachometer in the instrument cluster, after decades of being told by Land Rover that we didn't need one.

This was the first Defender I've driven with the 2.2 litre engine, derived from the 2.4 which came out of the Ford Transit. Output of 90kW and 360Nm at 2000rpm is as before; the changes were to make it meet new Euro emissions rules, and included pruning 200cc of capacity. I quite like this engine and – along with the 2.4 – it may turn out to be the best that's ever been in a Defender. Despite modest capacity and power of "only" 90kW it always did what was asked of it without complaint, suggesting once again that some of the current crop of high-output diesels are more to please the manufacturer's marketing department than for practical value.

I was fortunate to be one of the first to extensively try a Defender after traction control became available on it in NZ and was impressed, although it was no match for a Defender with cross-axle diff-locks. It's fairly obvious that these electronics have been tweaked in the ensuing years because the 110 was brilliant, able to easily clamber up and over track obstacles that would have stumped the early model, at least on its first attempt. This was probably the single most impressive aspect of the 2012 model, especially as I hadn't helped it by airing down the 235/85 x 16 tyres (see separate item below).

Almost as impressive was the fact that after 9000km the 110 was still almost entirely rattle free. My 90 had rattles and vibrations for Africa by 5000km. This was also the best fitted and finished Defender I've seen and the Fuji White paint job was exceptional. The current Defender's years are now numbered, so it's great to see it going out on a high.

But hold the phone: some Solihull people 4wdNewz has spoken to hint broadly that the "new" Defender, due 2015, will be sold alongside the "old" Defender, at least in some versions, for several years. Update: Here's an interesting article on the next Defender posted on Autospy.co.nz.

Continental's CrossContact AT, a challenger for the BFG All-Terrain

Finally, a serious rival for the BFGoodrich All-Terrain tyre. Despite a marketplace overflowing with all-terrains, I've considered the BFG to be the best overall, an opinion based on personal experience and watching them perform on many types of vehicle in a wide range of conditions. Their disadvantage is that they cost more than some competitors, but it's a price I'd be willing to pay. However, I've just spent a fair bit of time with the Continental CrossContact AT, in 235/85 x 16 size on the Defender 110 (above). It's a tyre I'd not seen before and wouldn't expect them to be widely available, but if ever there's a contender for the AT championship, this is it. 

 

The pictures show a tread pattern quite different from the BFG's, and with decent voids that help move mud and, like the American tyre, has the makings of side lugs. I was impressed with how well they handled a wide range of off-road conditions without needing to air-down. On the road, they handle well in wet and dry and are not particularly noisy. They're not going to take you into Centipede country any more than a BFG or any other all-terrain, but they're well worth a look as a possibility for an all-rounder that won't embarrass you on safaris and non-extreme club trips.

Sign of the times as Suzuki offers a 2WD Grand Vitara

Suzuki is introducing a two-wheel-drive version of the Grand Vitara as off roaders grow softer and softer. The 2WD is visually identical to the 4WD but costs $4500 less, at $34,990. Available only with automatic, the rear-wheel-drive gives a four per cent improvement in fuel consumption compared to the equivalent 4WD. It's the first time a Vitara or Grand Vitaras has been offered New Zealand-new with 2WD. Suzuki says it "provides a new opportunity for motorists who do not need four-wheel-drive capability."

No luck with lock

Mitsubishi Australia has added a rear diff lock to the specification of all 2013 Pajeros. However, Mitsubishi New Zealand is not planning to offer the locker, perhaps a sign that people on this side of the Tasman no longer buy the Pajero for off roading.

Taking AIMS – 4WDs at the Australian International Motor Show

Holden's Colorado 7 shows lots of promise as a rival for the Mitsubishi Challenger and recent used-import Toyota Surfs. It's based on the Colorado ute, but its chassis was separately developed. Drivetrain is the same as the ute's and includes a limited-slip diff. It's a decade since we last saw a wagon with low range gearing in the Holden lineup. It was one of the most interesting off roaders at this year's AIMS at Sydney's Darling Harbour.

New wagon has seating for seven. There's nothing particularly exciting about the interior design, but nothing wrong with it, either.

Here's a reminder of the Colorado 7's roots. This ute's decked out with a snorkel and bumper available from the dealer network.

And here's Isuzu's take on the same truck, a D-Max SX fitted out for use in the mines. Presumably it'll be a familiar bit of gear to many of the New Zealanders seeking their fortune in the Lucky Country. The mine-spec package includes external rollover protection; checkerplate floor in the alloy tray; high visibility markings; a pair of 3m-tall flag mounts; a 4.5kg extinguisher; a light bar with LED tail lights, a revolving beacon and work lights; UHF radio; wheel nut indicators; and a combined jump-start, starter motor and battery isolator.

Volkswagen, meanwhile, was showing a single cab Amarok with a really nice alloy deck, available from dealers in Oz.

There's more than $27,000 Aussie dollars worth of luxury tax plus $8000 worth of NSW stamp duty on this diesel G350 G-Class; the main reasons why New Zealand buyers get a better deal on this amazing (but sadly amazingly expensive) vehicle.

4wdNewz was first with the news that the new V8 petrol Patrol will come to New Zealand, after giving up on getting a diesel any time soon. The Aussies have managed to keep the pricing commendably low, but Nissan NZ is still working on what we'll pay.

Nissan reckons the new Patrol will really pull the women.

The show was used to unveil the new Range Rover to Australasia. It's a stunning vehicle, but will be so expensive and is so luxurious that it's almost irrelevant to off-road enthusiasts. Still, it's nice to look and touch!

The ground clearance is almost car-like as Land Rover goes all out to make the Rangie more … car-like! Good job the clearance grows deeper at the turn of a knob.

Looking for an average off-roader? Then check out the Terracan

This 2004 V6 Terracan GL auto wasn't up to much when new, so why would anything have changed? It's still active, with around 130,000km on the clock.

Had a question from a visitor to 4wdNewz about the wisdom of buying a Hyundai Terracan, the wagon based heavily on Mitsubishi's Pajero and built from 2001 to 2007. Check Trademe and you'll see that good ones are available for around $20,000, which seems a bit high to me. The would-be owner probably asked the wrong person, because I didn't think much of the Terracan when new and nothing's really changed, except they're older and cheaper. As an all-rounder, the Korean was average in every way and the V6 version used way too much petrol. Off-road, it had limited articulation, limited approach and departure angles and limited all-round ability. Aftermarket products to improve its off-road competence are relatively thin on the ground, compared to major makes. I'd sooner just get a better vehicle and not bother with coaxing more out of what is now an orphan. Still, people do persist and modify a Terracan for club-type activities. If you're thinking of becoming one of these people, here's an excellent website with lots of good info.

It's showtime in Australia again

4wdNewz is packing its bag and heading west tomorrow for the annual Australian International  Motor Show, now one of the best in the world. The big exhibition alternates between Sydney and Melbourne and it's Sydney's turn this year. The mission: to seek out all the interesting 4WD stuff among all those bloody cars. The preview day isn't until Thursday, so if you're interested in what we'll be seeing here next year, check back later.