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DRIVEN Range Rover P400 i6 HST off-roaded
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STILL THE REAL THING Just when you thought there were no real-world Defenders left, proof that people are still using them for what they were made to do
Hilux meets Landcruiser in a hybrid with a difference
£4.99
WORKSHOP Sorting out some historical horrors on our Jeep
JULY 2020
When you’re in the wilderness and your truck breaks in half… 4x4 Cover July SM.indd 1
02/06/2020 13:42
NEW 4X4S
TOYOTA HIGHLANDER TO MAKE UK DEBUT EARLY NEXT YEAR
Seven seats as standard • 2.5-litre hybrid with 42.8mpg • All-wheel drive with Trail mode
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oyota has announced that it is to bring the Highlander SUV to Britain. Due for launch early next year, the seven-seater will sit above the RAV4 in the company’s line-up – and it will be available in the UK exclusively with all-wheel drive. First unveiled in at the New York Auto Show in April 2019, the current Highlander (also known as the Kluger in some markets) is the fourth generation of vehicles to bear the name. It’s based on the same GA-K platform as the RAV4, which bodes well, and all UK models will be powered by a hybrid system mating a 2.5-litre petrol engine to twin electric motors. This delivers 241bhp and returns promising WLTP figures of 42.8mpg KIA WILL INTRODUCE its first dedicated all-electric model next year. The vehicle, a crossover SUV, is being designed on a new EV-specific platform and will offer a range of more than 310 miles as well as a fast-charging time of just 20 minutes. The Korean company has also committed to including at least one hybrid or full electric vehicle in the range of every new model it launches from now on. Most of these will be available in Europe, where Kia says it has been encouraged by the success of its EV offerings to date. These vehicles will include a number of SUV and 4x4 models. Following the launch of the new electric crossover next year, Kia intends to have a total of 11 fully electric vehicles in production around the world by 2025.
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IN PROGRESS Scene July.indd 6
and 146g/km. The transmission is governed by a Drive Mode Select system with Eco, Normal, Sport and Trail modes, the latter allowing the vehicle to turn in a credible performance off-road. All four modes can
still be used when the Highlander is set to run as a full EV. Toyota’s Global Platform architecture, of which the GA-K unit is part, has been widely praised for the blend of refinement and precision
is delivers. The RAV4, which won its class in our 2020 4x4 of the Year awards, has a quiet and superbly put-together cabin as well as athletic handling and peaceful motorway manners, and the Highlander can
Over-the-air updates for Mustang Mach-E FORD’S NEW ALL-ELECTRIC SUV, the Mustang Mach-E, will feature over-the-air software updates allowing it to literally get better with time. Almost all the vehicle’s modules can be accessed through a cloud-based platform allowing Ford to deliver performance enhancements and even entirely new features which might not exist when customers first take delivery of their vehicles. Ford has also quoted charging times based on real-world testing which improve upon the projected figures it had previously been working with. These suggest that versions of the Mach-E with all-wheel drive and the extended-range battery option will be able to gain 66 miles of range in ten minutes when using an Ionity fast-charging station. Ford expects to be delivering its initial over-the-air updates around six months after the first Mach-E customers take delivery of their vehicles. This in turn is expected to happen just in time for Christmas; said customers will have paid from £46,750 for a model with all-wheel drive.
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New Yaris Cross SUV will have four-wheel drive
be expected to match it in all these ways. This is in spite of it being significantly larger – at 4950mm, its overall length is the same as that of the massive 200-Series Landcruiser which was withdrawn from UK sale in 2015. These proportions allow a genuine seven-seat interior, with a 180mm sliding range for the second row of seats – allowing easy access and spacious third-row accommodation for two adults. With both the rear rows folded flat, meanwhile, the Highlander’s luggage capacity leaps from its standard 658 litres to a huge 1909 litres. Elsewhere inside, Toyota promises excellent oddment stowage and plenty of USB ports for connectivity, as well as a wide range of premium including satellite navigation, head-up display, wireless charging and an infotainment system running
Apple CarPlay and AndroidAuto. Heated and vented front seats are also on the list, along with a digital rear-view mirror whose picture is unobscured by rear-seat passengers or headrests. Externally, the Highlander will feature 20” alloy wheels to go with its striking styling – which uses the same cues as the RAV4 but, when seen next to the smaller vehicle, is noticeably more aggressive, with pronounced wings and wheelarches giving it a more muscular look. Towing capacity tops out at 2000kg. Pricing for the new Highlander will be announced in the autumn, as the vehicle’s launch date approaches. We’d expect it to start where the RAV4 leaves off and roughly shadow the price of the Landcruiser, however, which would suggest a price of around £35,000 for entry-level models.
AT THE OTHER END of the size scale, early next year Toyota will also introduce the Yaris Cross – a compact SUV which, unusually for its class, offers all-wheel drive to go with its raised ground clearance. Based on the forthcoming all-new Yaris hatchback, the Cross is 240mm longer and its ground clearance is 30mm higher. Toyota says its AWD-i 4x4 system ‘provides extra stability and traction in everyday driving, in poor conditions and on low-grip surfaces.’ The wheels are turned by a petrol-electric hybrid powertrain with a maximum output of 114bhp. Economy figures are yet to be confirmed, however the front-wheel drive model returns a provisional 120g/km and Toyota says the vehicle will achieve better fuel consumption than any comparable SUV.
New Mokka shows off-tarmac skills during pre-launch testing
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auxhall has released images of the new Mokka, which will go on sale in the UK early next year. The pictures show a disguised vehicle under testing in various
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conditions – including on snow and ice and in what looks like a simulated wet green laning environment. It’s not yet clear whether the Mokka will offer the option of all-wheel drive, however this is an all-new model based on the PSA Group’s CMP platform – meaning it will offer a choice of traditional petrol and die-
sel engines alongside an all-electric drivetrain option. While a large part of Vauxhall’s testing has concentrated on giving the vehicle its own unique driving characteristics, the Mokka will have many similarities to the latest Peugeot 2008 – which is also based on the CMP platform. This means it will no longer be available with the option of all-wheel drive, instead offering the Advanced Grip Control system previously seen on a variety of other PSA Group products. This offers a choice of drive modes governing the traction control and other settings, similarly to programmes like Land Rover’s Terrain Response – however in this case only the front wheels are driven.
A further advantage of the new platform is that it allows the Mokka to be up to 120kg lighter than the old model. This helps with efficiency as well as road manners – which are aided further by a 30% improvement in torsional rigidity. Vauxhall says Mokka production will commence late this year. Full UK specs and prices can be expected during the autumn, with the latter likely to fall into the £20-30,000 range for petrol and diesel models.
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02/06/2020 15:53
DRIVEN
RANGE ROVER SPORT P400
Supercharged straight-six petrol engine is more subtle than SVR’s V8 – and probably even faster from A to B in the hands of most drivers ON TEST Range Rover Sport P400 HST
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he ultimate accolade for any kind of expensive or look-at-me car is probably to have its name dropped by a rapper. You can hardly listen to Radio 1 without getting bombarded with Benz references, at least a few of which will have something to do with Mercedes, and just recently someone has come out with a track full of references to his Range Rover Sport. It’s an SVR in this case, needless to say. But if you were behind the wheel of the P400 HST model tested here when said song came on, you’d probably feel quite pleased
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Road Tests July.indd 26
with your choice. Of cars, if not of radio stations. This is a Rangey for people who want to be noticed. It has extra styling enhancements on the outside, focusing mainly on carbon fibre trim for the bonnet, grille and side vents, and if you thought its bodywork was red, you should see its brake calipers. It’s a Rangey for people who want to feel good about themselves, too. You won’t spend even one moment on board without being aware of the colours and materials that come with the HST badge. Dynamic seats with 16-way adjustment are
incredibly comfortable, as well as adding to the visual drama with their two-tone styling, and an already stylish cabin is enhanced still further by the use of chrome shift paddles and suedecloth
covering on the gearlever and steering wheel. Everything you see and touch reeks of class and quality – it might not be to your own personal taste, but it’s easy to appreciate nonetheless.
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This interior is like Boris Johnson smeared in Marmite and wearing a Millwall shirt – whatever your opinion of it, you’ve definitely got one. Build quality is very good, and of course it’s gloriously comfortable as well as being impressively practical. We don’t think the red and black colour scheme was chosen in homage to the international flag of the anarcho-syndicalist movement, but we’d love it if it was… As always with the Sport, you get a superb view all round as well as no end of electronic parking aids to help you with low-speed manoeuvres. The driving position is exceptional, and there’s plenty of leg, head and elbow room. Rear-seat passengers are very well looked after, too, and there’s a monstrous great cavern of space to fill when it’s used in cargocarrying mode. None of that is new, but the P400 engine was only added to the range last year. It’s a mild-hybrid unit, with a 2996cc straight-six petrol engine assisted by a 48-volt electric motor – and the battery for the latter also powers a supercharger to fill in the holes while the twin-scroll turbocharger is spooling up. The result is 400bhp and 406lbf. ft – figures which translate into a 0-62 time of 6.2 seconds, a top speed of 140mph and WLTP fuel consumption figures of 24.927.4mpg. To deal with that last matter first, during our week with the vehicle we found that we were averaging around 23-24mpg on a typical journey. Either way, expect to spend a lot on fuel and, if you want to be carbon neutral, on planting trees. Expect also to get up to speed with utterly ridiculous ease. It would be easy to say that the HST is a sort
of SRV-lite in the Sport range, but in reality it feels just as fast as its full-house brother. In fact, there are an awful lot of real-world situations in which its performance is easier to access. Power delivery is beautifully smooth, linear and, in particular, quiet. You couldn’t call it a street sleeper, not with these looks, but whereas the SVR is a snorting, thundering brute of a thing, the HST is a study in subtlety. It’s like the difference between and angry rhino and a cheetah. The eight-speed auto box doesn’t do its job quite as smoothly as the engine, which is the sort of thing we find ourselves saying more frequently than we’d like. It’s utterly immaculate around town, and cruising up the motorway you might as well be sitting at home in your favourite armchair, but even in Dynamic and Sport we found ourselves willing it to be more urgent when we were pushing on.
It you’re really, really going for it, you might find the engine running out of urge as you get towards the top of the rev range. This doesn’t happen until you’re going way faster than the speed limit allows, though, but if it’s something that bothers you the SVR awaits. As it is, for real-world fast driving on A and B-roads we found the HST every bit as enjoyable as the SVR. You don’t get the same bellow from the i6 engine as you do from the SVR’s supercharged V8, but you do get a level of performance that’s easier to access and less unsettling to use, meaning than in an everyday pair of hands (such as ours) we’d put our money on the HST to be quicker from A to B. As this suggests, the HST’s handling is every bit as fluid as its power delivery. It feels natural to steer, whichever drive mode you’re in, and with very well balanced body control it’s as positive as anything to handle.
Like the SVR, it’s a very capable off-roader too – if for some unknown reason that’s what you want to do with it. Just as you’ll only ever access a fraction of its dynamic abilities on the road, though, you’ll barely scratch the surface of what it can do on rough or loose terrain – something which will be limited by its standard tyres, in any case. Really, the limiting factor off-road is that £81,250 price tag. Our test vehicle had £10,660 of options on it, too, including the red paint, 22” alloys and two-tone interior you’ll see in our pictures, so it’s knocking on for SVR money as it is. Not, as we say, that this should be seen as a Sport for people who can’t afford an SVR. They’re two very different vehicles, and in some ways we’d say this is the smarter choice. It’s just as fast 99% of the time, and more relaxing all the time. It’s just that you’re less likely to catch a blud droppin’ it on Radio 1…
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02/06/2020 13:55
AERIAL B
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6pp Tony Vincent 90.indd 48
4x4 02/06/2020 13:15
BOMBARDMENT Words: Paul Looe Pictures: Harry Hamm
The first thing you’re likely to notice about Tony Vincent’s Defender 90 is that it has a lot of antennae. But it’s more than just a self-propelled base station – it’s a HF/VHF/UHF rig that can broadcast from the sort of places where radio stations are seldom to be found
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ay back in October 2009, we ran an article about a highly modified Land Rover Discovery built by a chap called Tony Vincent. He’s gone on to become a pretty well known name in off-road circles, as he’s the man who created Bonkas 4x4 – one of the most active clubs anywhere in Britain. Bonkas, and Tony, are based in South Wales and have come to know the region’s lanes and playday sites very well. The club is also known locally for its volunteering, and when the weather gets dodgy round there its social media pages quickly light up with members offering assistance to those in need. While Bonkas has been getting steadily bigger, Tony’s Land Rover has been getting smaller. The Discovery has given way to a Defender 90 200Tdi, though while it’s shorter in reality there’s nothing very small about it. Apart possibly from how you feel when you’re stood next to it, because as well as a +3” lift and 35” tyres it has about a foot and a half of roof rack sat on its gutters – and enough radio antennae to make you wonder whether BBC actually stands for Bonkas Broadcasting Club. Starting at the bottom, those tyres are 35x12.50R15 Cooper Discoverer STT Pros. They sit on steel modulars, which in turn are bolted via 30mm spacers to a pair of axles containing Ashcroft halfshafts and four-pin diffs. Sitting on top of the axles are +3” springs and +5” shocks. The latter are hosted up front by tubular top mounts, while those at the back are Terrafirma units with an adjuster dial on their lower body. Staying at the back, the springs sit on lifted mounts and run relocation cones up top. The trailing links here are cranked to allow
Yes, we know this isn’t Tony’s Defender 90, It’s the Discovery he built back in the day, which was featured in Total Off Road magazine in October 2009
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