Off road

I took my 2012 Nissan D22 4x4 on sand and ended up with a cracked radiator after a creek crossing and some wild bumps. Nissan claims that the independent front suspension on modern 4x4s is at fault. Is that right?

I go weak at the knees just thinking about big 4WDs with V8 engines.

Nissan Patrol is one of the best-known and longest established nameplates on the Australian 4WD scene having been on sale here for almost 50 years.

The challenge was how to shoehorn it into a shopping centre parking bay. Nissan's new Patrol V8 is a big machine, more than 5.1m in length and close on 2m wide and tall.

Land Rover has launched the world’s first hybrid production offroader. We’ve seen several hybrid soft roaders before, but this is the first one with serious offroad ability.The British manufacturer has built the hybrid technology into its two flagship models: the Range Rover Vogue and the Range Rover Sport – both of which will arrive in Australia in the second quarter of 2014.Until now, hybrid technology was problematic in offroad vehicles because water and mud could harm the electric motor and batteries. But Land Rover says significant work has gone into protecting the hybrid technology from damage, and that the hybrid Range Rovers are as capable as their conventional siblings.Mounted below the front passenger compartment, the motor and batteries add 170Nm and 35kW, bringing the Rangie to a total of 250kW and 700Nm – matching the new 4.4-litre V8 turbodiesel also launched as part of the new line-up.Unlike previous petrol-electric SUVs where the electric motor only powers two wheels, the Range Rover’s unit is integrated into the ZF eight speed gearbox, meaning all four wheels are powered by the same source. This ensures that consistent wheel speeds are maintained on surfaces with poor traction.In addition, Land Rover has further departed from traditional petrol-based hybrids by making the Range Rovers diesel-electric – offering the extra range, towing capacity and torque that offroad enthusiasts prefer. The combination of electric and diesel power has resulted in a torque curve that peaks from 1500rpm to 3000rpm.This means that both models offer plenty torque from almost idle speeds, which will assist with towing, tackling challenging obstacles and carrying weight. This also results in a fuel consumption of 6.4L / 100kms, and a reduction of CO2 emissions to 169g/km.Despite the 120kg increase from the hybrid system, the Range Rover Sport has a claimed 0-100km/h time of just 6.7 seconds, with 0.2 seconds more for its bigger brother, the Vogue. That’s considerably ahead of the Lexus RX400 hybrid’s claimed 7.8 seconds – coming from a 221kW 3.5-litre V6 petrol-electric hybrid system. However, the latter trumps the Rangies on fuel economy by 0.1L/100km.The Range Rovers’ spritely performance is partially due to lightness of their aluminium structure  -- part of a platform shared across both models for the first time – which has shaved over 400Kg from the weight. Importantly for offroaders, the location of the hybrid system also means a full size spare wheel is still included, and the Range Rover Sport maintains its ability to carry seven passengers, if you forgo the full size spare in favour of a space saver.The trade-off is that the small battery pack in the Range Rovers will mean the car will only travel close to two kilometres in electric-only mode. However, regenerative braking means the batteries will be topped up on the go. 

I think I'm in love. I've been singing the praises of Subaru's CVT auto together with its turbocharged petrol engine for a few weeks. Then along comes the Outback diesel with the same CVT transmission and by golly it's a cracker too.PRICE AND FEATURESPrices for Outback start at $39,990 ($42,490 for the 2.0D with CVT) rising to $45,490 for the top of the line Premium (the subject of our test).  The CVT adds $2500 to the price.The entry-level CVT model includes satnav while the 2.0D Premium with CVT adds a variety of features including leather, power adjust driver's seat, an electric sunroof and ‘electroluminescent’ gauges with colour information display.But it's a shame the Outback misses out on a couple of things found in the donor Liberty. For instance the Eyesight safety system is missing and so are heated front seats for those frosty winter mornings.ENGINE AND TRANSMISSIONThe CVT has been a while in gestation but the extra time spent in development seems to have paid dividends. The diesel uses a high-torque version of Subaru's Lineartronic CVT, strengthened to suit the high torque output of the diesel. It's designed to compensate for the narrow power band that typifies diesels that would otherwise see drivers changing gears constantly. The turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder Boxer diesel delivers 110kW of power at 3600 revs and 350Nm of torque between 1800 and 2400 revs.SAFETYFive stars of course even though it misses out on Subaru's acclaimed Eyesight emergency braking system which is yet to be calibrated to work with the diesel engine.DRIVINGThe Outback offers a comfortable cabin, with a high driving position favoured by many drivers and chews through the kilometres with little fuss. We've already notched up quite a few kilometres in this car, travelling up and down the coast some of them with the rear seat down and a load in the back.The Outback takes it all in its stride, with fuel consumption rising perhaps a couple of percentage points to account for the extra weight in the back. The clever thing about this transmission is that it automatically slips into manual or stepped gear mode when you put the boot in, so it feels more like a traditional auto.The rest of the time it's as smooth as silk with no discernible change points, characterised by an engine that turns over at a constant number or revs despite the fact you might be going uphill. It's freaky, but that's the way CVTs work. Fuel consumption is rated at an impressive 6.5L/100km and carbon dioxide emissions at 172 grams/km. We've been getting just under this at 6.4.

The Toyota FJ Cruiser has surprising abilities in a field of competent four-wheel-drives offered by Toyota from big daddy LandCruiser, the Prado and Hi-Lux ranges to the Kluger and RAV4.

We have had a few problems with our VW Amarok as outlined here. In May we drove 180 km from Bendigo to Geelong with the headlights on high beam and the lights are so dull not one vehicle, including two police cars, flashed us. The service we have received from our dealer is appalling. My wife had the vehicle in for a warranty claim on one of the broken door handles and the service manager told her that we would have to pay $150 as the vehicle had done over 100,000 km and was out of warranty. My wife explained to him that it had a 3-year unlimited km warranty, but he insisted that she was wrong until a young mechanic explained to him that he was wrong and the vehicle did have a 3-year unlimited km warranty. The same day they had to replace a headlight globe again. The vehicle had to go into the same service centre after we had had it for one month regarding a problem with the cruise control and Bluetooth. The service manager told me to take it back to wherever we had purchased these items, as they were aftermarket. I asked him to have a look at the tax invoice they had provided us and see that they had these items installed. Our own auto electrician has made some adjustments to the lights, but they are still not good. Our dealer's service manager told me that the Amarok was not designed to have a Bull-Bar and that is the problem with the lights and that if we wanted a n improvement we would have to install driving lights.

When I was a young fellow getting seriously into road testing cars back in the 1980s, Brock Commodores were the kings of the Australian roads. On the main straight at Oran Park raceway in Sydney I strove to get standing quarter mile (400-metre) times under 15 seconds from each new Brock as it was introduced, but could never quite manage it.Fast forward to 2013 and I’ve just done acceleration figures on a hot ‘car’ on the drag strip at Willowbank raceway in Queensland. It ran an easy 13.4 seconds up the strip, almost two seconds quicker than the hot Brocks. That 13-second ‘car’ was actually a truck, a Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT to be precise.Like the hot Commodore the SRT had a big-cube V8 engine. While the modified Holden had a capacity of ‘only’ 5.0 litres, the big Jeep had no less than 6.4 litres behind its iconic seven-slot grille.Not only was the Jeep SRT helped by the relentless improvements in automotive technology over the years, it also had the benefit of four-wheel-drive to minimise wheelspin off the line, electronic launch control ensured each of the Jeep’s four tyres got just the right amount of torque from moment to moment through the Quadra-Trac 4WD system. Finally, it was running on sticky tarmac at Willowbank.OK, it had a lot going for it, but the big Jeep SRT was still a two-tonne truck and it was putting down ridiculously quick times. I mentioned the relentless improvements in technology, but the engine of the Grand Cherokee SRT (the acronym for Sport & Racing Technology) is still an old-style Hemi V8 without any overhead camshafts or multi-valves. No, siree, this big 392-cubic inch, 460 powerplant has just two overhead valves per cylinder and they’re activated by old-fashioned pushrods.Where the technology is evident, though, is in a thoroughly modern electronic fuel injection system. The Hemi V8 produces 344kW of power at 6250rpm (big revs for a large capacity V8) and a handy 624Nm of torque at 4100rpm.Fuel consumption? If you need to ask you should be shopping for something else. Despite having an engine that can revert to being a four-cylinder unit in light-duty running this big machine still likes a drink. Expect to be using 12 to 15 litres per hundred kilometres in normal driving, and even more in around town commuting.On the subject of safety, the big Jeep Grand Cherokees have numerous crash avoidance and/or minimisation items. These include Forward Collision Warning with Crash Mitigation; Adaptive Cruise Control; Reversing camera; and ParkSense park assist. The 4WD models also have Hill Ascent Control and Hill Descent Control.Secondary safety sees the protection of seven airbags (multi-stage driver and front passenger); front seat side airbags; curtain airbags; and a driver’s knee airbag.There’s no mistaking the new Grand Cherokee SRT thanks to its sporting body features, with a black, seven-slot front grille. The LED tail lamps have black surrounds. A new design of rear spoiler is integrated into the electronically-operated tailgate. Naturally there are SRT badges, done in the new design for this latest upgrade of the model.Priced at a pretty reasonable $77,000 (plus on-road costs) the hot Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT is something for those who love big and brash stuff in their motoring lives. Grand Cherokee SRT has standard 20-inch Goliath polished alloy wheels, 20-inch split five-spoke Spider Monkey alloys are available as an option.Should you get tired of the sound of the engine, which seems unlikely, the Grand Cherokee SRT has a high quality 19-speaker, 825-Watt Harman Kardon surround sound audio system.Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT uses an exclusive leather interior in two colours combinations – Black Nappa leather with perforated suede and light slate grey accent stitching as standard, and Laguna leather with perforated suede in Sepia with silver accent stitching as an option. Both leather trim combinations are matched with sporting carbon fibre details on the instrument panel and doors.Not only did the big Hemi V8 perform to perfection on the dragstrip, it sounded the part as well. After winning my two drag races against other journos (it’s hard to sound modest when you’re talking about a hotrod like this!) I stood at the start line and enjoyed the big V8 roar as others competed. The way the noise echoed from the concrete side walls was simply magnificent.Out on public roads we loved the sound and feel of the big Jeep, though it has to be said the feel is on the firm side at times on rough and ready Aussie backroads. Near instantaneous acceleration and the fast acting eight-speed automatic transmission made for ridiculously short overtaking distances, making this one a very safe SUV.

Back in July 1996 Sydney residents looking skywards would have seen a skywriting aeroplane spelling out the letters P-R-A-D-O. The name would no doubt have puzzled the vast majority of those who saw it, unaware that it was part of Toyota Australia's launch of a new, slightly smaller version of its long-established