Off road

Renegades are always a problem, as the fast-growing micro-SUV segment is about to discover.Jeep's take on the baby crossover adopts the same high-riding hatch formula as its rivals but then ups the ante with a Trailhawk version that combines compact dimensions with serious off-road prowess.Jeep acknowledges that most cars in this class are front-drive, which is why it has 2WD versions to help cut the price, along with all-wheel drive variants for those who want to step up in performance and ride height.Being Jeep, it also has a true four-wheel drive that will clamber up steep slopes, ford streams and rock-hop with the best of them.The squared-off two-box body has the head and legroom to take four adults in comfort, backed by a decent 351-litre cargo area and an exuberant two-toned interior with metal bezels on most of the dash controls and a seven-inch digital driver's display. No surprise that Jeep is chasing "youthful and adventurous" customers with this vehicle.The Renegade is going to be a problem child for Jeep Australia in terms of pricing, for a couple of reasons.The Aussie dollar's decline against the greenback and euro (the American brand's newest car is made in Italy alongside the Fiat 500X) won't do it any favours when it comes time to set prices before the October launch.The Renegade is a demonstrably better car than the Patriot in every areaJust as troublesome is the stablemate Patriot, now $25,500 drive-away.The Renegade is a demonstrably better car than the Patriot in every area, from driving dynamics to interior design, so it is hard to see this light SUV being priced below the larger Patriot.That will give the impression that the Patriot and similarly-sized Compass are beyond their use-by date, even though a replacement for the pair isn't due until 2017.In the US the base Renegade Sport front-driver sells for $US18,990, climbing to $US26,990 for the top-spec Trailhawk 4WD. A straight currency conversion equates to $24,400-$34,700.Rivals such as the Nissan Juke and Peugeot 2008 start at about $22,000, while the Skoda Yeti is $23,490 and the Holden Trax costs from $23,990.The Jeep has a higher quality interior with smart use of an airiness the competition can't match, another spanner in the pricing works.A front-drive Renegade Sport with 1.4-litre turbo engine and six-speed manual was the appetiser in the models rolled out for media testing in the hills around San Jose. Not many people will buy it, but those who do will have the performance pick of the litter.The engine wants to rev and does its best work from above 2500rpm. As the torque champion of the petrol engines, it easily overcomes the base Renegade's relatively hefty weight of 1381kg and doesn't need as many gear shifts, even on decent inclines with tight turns.The ride is sportier than regular light SUVsThe Australian line-up is expected to start with a manual 1.6-litre, largely to keep a lid on costs. The US doesn't get this variant, so we've yet to drive it. The outputs won't challenge the turbo sibling for acceleration times.The Limited and Trailhawk use a 2.4-litre four-cylinder matched to the best example of Jeep's nine-speed we've driven yet. Good thing, too, as the engine itself doesn't feel like a headline act.Much improved on upshifts, the auto can still hesitate before deciding how many ratios to kick down in response to right-foot pressure.The ride is sportier than regular light SUVs, to the point where it can be tiresome on badly broken or ridged surfaces. The upside is that body roll and floatiness are all but eliminated.Grip is noticeably absent, though, so most owners aren't likely to push the Renegade too hard. Given how well the suspension works and the solidity of the body — this vehicle uses the greatest proportion of high-tensile steel of any Jeep — the tyres are the obvious culprit and I'd be trying better aftermarket hoops to improve its contact on bitumen.The electric steering is direct and has decent heft but is largely lifeless. An electric park brake is more user-friendly and has freed up space in the centre console for a pair of full-sized cupholders.The MySky removable roof panels, a nod to the Wrangler's top-down ability, stow in a bag beneath the boot floor.It eats gravel roads and mud with easeOff the beaten track, the regular all-wheel drive models enjoy 200mm of ground clearance, backed by Jeep's Selec-Terrain drive mode setup that optimises steering, shift points, throttle mapping and stability control intervention for various surfaces.It eats gravel roads and mud with ease. The plastic cladding around the lower body and wheel arches is there for practical rather than decorative purposes.The Trailhawk takes off-roading to the next level, with a low-speed crawl ability, an extra off-road mode, hill descent control and 220mm of clearance backed by 205mm of wheel articulation and decent approach/departure angles.

I wish to purchase a Toyota FJ Cruiser, JTEBU11F4OK203866, a 2014 model. But the VIN code, seventh position, tells me it is made prior to 2010 and the 10th position of the VIN is a fig 0 that is not in the VIN code so what are Toyota up to? Why are they hiding the true build date?

I never liked the Land Rover Freelander. It was too cramped, too costly against Japanese rivals, and not classy enough against new-age European SUVs.Then there was the time a Freelander 2 engine detonated on a beach in Morocco and I had to abandon ship as the car caught fire.Its replacement, the Land Rover Discovery Sport, is altogether different and altogether better.The car looks good, it's quiet and refinedIt will take a proper local drive to know exactly how much better, because the global press preview was held in the extreme landscape of Iceland in winter, which could not be more different from an Australian summer.But the car looks good, it's quiet and refined, there is much more space in the cabin — including fold-down occasional seats for a seven-place layout — and it's right on the money at $53,300 for the manual TD4 SE. It will be more like $60,000 once you get an auto and anything but white paint, and the top model is $69,000, but the sales team won't have to work very hard to top the 1200-a-year performance of the Freelander, even though it started at only $44,900."We don't particularly want to compare this model to Freelander. But if you look at the standard features, it's a very different vehicle," says Matt Weisner, sales and operations director of Jaguar Land Rover Australia."We feel this vehicle is incredibly competitive against the BMW X3 and Audi Q5. For that price, you get navigation, electric seats, 18-inch alloys, and rear-view camera, and grain-fed leather seats. It's a pretty compelling package."It can carry more passengers and luggage than anything in its classMore importantly, it's a total rethink and rework of the starter car in the Land Rover family. That's why the Freelander name is dead and gone.The Disco Sport — which gets some rub-off from the popularity of the full-sized Discovery — gets back to the idea of a compact SUV for families, not a four-wheel handbag like the Evoque, with smart detailing that even runs to air vents for the third-row jump seats."We think it's the most practical and versatile compact SUV. It can carry more passengers and luggage than anything in its class," says Murray Dietsch, the head of the Discovery Sport program who has been with Land Rover for nine years after a transfer from Ford Australia."We see it as a cracking opportunity. It's a car, from a quality point of view, that allows us to be positioned against the BMW X3, Audi Q5 and Volvo XC60. It can draw from below as well, from the Japanese brands."But if you're thinking it's a workhorse, think again. It's not as fashion forward as the Evoque, which provides the basic mechanical package from the bumper through to the rear seats, but it's elegant and refined.You can see it in the dashboard layout with a new multimedia system, and feel it in a nine-speed automatic and vastly improved suspension and four-wheel drive. There's also the larger boot with a lower loading lip, sliding second-row seats and much more.Nothing remotely challenges the Discovery SportThe Iceland preview drive, with Dietsch running point, ran to about 300 kilometres in the 2.2-litre turbo petrol model with 177kW/340Nm and the high-output turbodiesel with 140kW/420Nm which is expected to be most popular powerplant in Australia. The conditions changed from dry coarse bitumen to rugged snowy tracks and even a fast-flowing icy river.Nothing remotely challenges the Discovery Sport, which is clearly worthy of a Land Rover plate. It is easy to handle, utterly competent, and often better than the drivers in the tough stuff.The nine-speeder makes sublime shifts, the engines are punchy from the get-go, and the suspension is compliant in all conditions. I'm not sure about Australia, but it wins in Iceland.It's just as easy to appreciate the quality in the cabin, a safety package that includes seven airbags and auto emergency braking — Land Rover says it's just won five stars in Euro NCAP testing — and the extra space in the cabin. There is 86 millimetres of extra legroom in the back and, although not advisable for long trips, I slid into the ($1990) third-row jump seats to confirm they are even fine for 178-centimetre adults.For me, it's also important that the legroom in the front is a lot better than the Freelander, that it's much quieter, and that the look and feel is more as you would find in an Audi.The Discovery Sport goes on sale in May and is crucial to the future of Land Rover in Australia. It's the first step up the ladder to the Range Rover and I can — finally — see and feel the family connection.It's also more family focused than its German opponents, and more off-roadable as well, which are both good things. And towing capacity is up to 2200 kilograms

Alistair Kennedy road tests and reviews the Jeep Cherokee with specs, fuel consumption and verdict.

Peter Barnwell road tests and reviews the Jeep Cherokee Limited Diesel with specs, fuel consumption and verdict.

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Murray Hubbard road tests and reviews the Jeep Cherokee Limited Diesel , with specs, fuel consumption and verdict.

The price makes the BT-50 the must-have four-wheel-drive ute for the family There's a lot more going for the pretty boy of the pick-up crowd than slick looks. The Mazda BT-50 may appear to be a jacked-up car but its underpinnings (shared with the Ford Ranger) make it a steroid-infused party animal in any environment.

Malcolm Flynn road tests and reviews the new Jeep Cherokee diesel, with specs, fuel consumption and verdict.

Many dream of the tough stuff - the trail-rated Wrangler, Cherokee and Grand Cherokee tackle it. High expectations are a big part of Jeep ownership. The US-based SUV brand defines off-road toughness in terms of the hits its vehicles will take and the terrain they can traverse.That legacy originates from the Willy's Jeep, which formed the backbone of the US infantry's mobilised assault during World War II.The Jeep name and signature seven-slot grille are not without historic irony. The grille is a modification of the vertical staves fitted to versions produced under licence by Ford during the war. After the war, Ford unsuccessfully sued Willy's for the Jeep name and then in 2001 Daimler (Jeep's then owner) sued GM for the Hummer's use of a similar grille design.Fast forward to 2014 and Jeep regards its 'trail-rated" models as direct descendants of that original go-anywhere Willy's.Trail-rated refers to the vehicle's ability to manoeuvre, articulate (keep wheels on the ground), maintain traction, maintain ground clearance and achieve water crossings.All of the above criteria are able to be objectively assessed in the design phase as well as in real-world testing.Today, every Wrangler sold in Australia achieves this standard, along with a host of Grand Cherokees and the top-spec Cherokee Trailhawk.The appeal lies in the fact that many people dream of doing it tough, even if they only tough it out over a sandy track.To prove the point, Jeep Australia took a selection of thus-rated tough-mobiles on a Victorian alpine jaunt that involved rock-stepped trails, clay-covered descents and enough water to keep the windscreen wipers working.Wrangler OverlandThe Wrangler remains the most authentic - though far from the most popular - Jeep. Its panels can still be removed and the windscreen dropped to provide a Willy's-style silhouette, though there are now three and five-door options.Harking back to the hard-working military vehicle of WWII are the ladder-frame construction and live axles - for now, anyway, given there's talk of an alloy unibody chassis for the next generation.The downside to Wrangler ownership lies in the above. Its unsurpassed rough-road riding comes at the cost of passenger comfort. The suspension is designed to move the wheels - and the occupants along with it - as it traverses logs, drop-offs and underbody-crushing obstacles.Watch the Wrangler Overland in action hereGrand Cherokee Overland The absence of occupant consideration is a trait that has been engineered out of the more modern Grand Cherokee and its smaller Cherokee sibling.As recent arrivals on the 4WD scene, both vehicles have a more benevolent approach to keeping those aboard intact over major obstacles. That consideration extends to the cabin refinement - unlike the Wrangler, you can't take a hose to these interiors to clean them out.Touchscreens and soft-feel plastics are the norm here. Flashy buttons on the centre console activate not just the software, including advanced hill-descent control, but also the hardware, such as low-range all-paw drive.The Grand Cherokee owes its basic structure to the Mercedes-Benz ML, courtesy of the previous combination of the two companies. The four-wheel drive, however, is Jeep's unique property, giving this otherwise street-friendly SUV a bush-bashing capacity that rivals the Wrangler.The regular $67,000 Overland can be upgraded to a trail rating for just $650, which adds protection for the fuel tank, front suspension, transfer case and underbody while trimming the wheel size from 20 to 18 inches.Watch the Grand Cherokee Overland in action hereCherokee TrailhawkOpt for a mid-sized SUV and the Cherokee Trailhawk costs $47,500. It is so far removed from the donor Alfa Romeo Guilietta that most passengers will refuse to believe it.The smaller price comes with a scaled-down interior but no compromise to the vehicle's ability to traverse some of the worst trails we could find through the Mt Buffalo National Park.Watch the Cherokee Trailhawk in action hereVERDICT Most people will be content to dream but for those who want to live it, the trail-rated Jeep range delivers a drive that doesn't differentiate between extremes of on and off-road behaviour. The Wrangler is the least refined of the group in terms of bitumen behaviour but can't be bested when the going gets tough.Ultimately it comes down to your needs, finances and how many people you need to fit but all trails track back to the Jeep.