Off road

The all-new Grand Cherokee from Jeep is the first visible sign of the massive shift at the American maker since it emerged from bankruptcy in the USA.

There was no love at first sight. The HiLux looked a bit soft, the driveline — auto transmission and V6 — sounded harsh, the driver's seat was a touch too high for a taller driver and that bloody seatbelt warning chime was fired up by the least amount of movement.Maybe it was after years of jumping in and out of diesel-engined utes — once rattling loud but these days quite smooth and reassuring — that the Toyota's V6 felt coarse.  Maybe the HiLux's style, inside and out, had gone too fancy-dancy for a work truck; there's even LED sparkles for parking lights. And the single cab-chassis ute looked a little low at the front.But a week, and a tonne of gravel later, this four-wheel drive SR Toyota had become a handy home-away-from-home. For all the car-like qualities, the HiLux remains a faithful worker, down the highway and across the paddocks.The HiLuxes were the first of the latest generation utes; smarter and more comfortable and bigger than the last lot. To date Toyota, Nissan (Navara) and Mitsubishi (Triton) have moved on with the Ford/Mazda, Isuzu and Colorado still to follow.Today the HiLux, two and four-wheel drive, remains the country's best-selling ute although there is a fair whack of commercial business compared with private business in those sales.  This seventh generation Toyota ute arrived in 2005 and kept the HiLux name (now 30 years old in this country) moving forward, since then there's been little updates to both style and mechanicals.By October last year there were 32 variants of HiLux with two and four-wheel drive versions, three cabin styles, three engines, manual and automatic transmissions plus three grades of equipment.  The single cab-chassis, four-wheel drive SR HiLux with auto and V6 we tested sits somewhere around the middle of the pack.Fit-out and equipmentComfort features range from power windows to a stereo with USB port and Bluetooth compatibility, SR grade also scores a most comfortable four-spoke steering wheel with audio controls.  A bonus in the cabin is a couple of dashboard cubby holes for storage. And outside this one arrived with a decent factory dropside tray with wooden floor.DrivingSo off to the gravel shed, load up with a tonne of 20mm stones and head out of town. This settles the ute down. Settles it down quite a lot, plenty of grip at the rear but a little less steering feel up front.Steady as it goes then and the HiLux, at around 90km/h, is comfortable with the workload. The big hills need some respect, maybe a drop down from fifth and a little more throttle.But now the driveline no longer sounds rough around the edges. With a job to be done the ute feels and sounds happier. Only the warm smell of brakes on the other side of the big hills confirms there is real work here.Into four-wheel drive, slow and easy across the creek without a bump or scrape. Up a damp dirt hillside track with a little momentum and time for a beer. The hard work was next day, shovelling off a tonne of rock.  By the time the HiLux was headed for home, there was affection for the machine.Unladen it steered, braked and rode with decent manners. The engine and transmission no longer felt coarse, the back end well-behaved and the HiLux loped along at an easy highway pace.  All this cost close on 14 litres per 100km, quite acceptable for the roads and the load.And so the adventure ended with a little more love... apart from that bleeping seatbelt chime (most annoying when working in the paddock). The HiLux is a pretty decent machine, albeit at a pretty decent price.Toyota HiLux SRPrice: from $38,140Body: Single cab chassisEngine: 4-litre V6Power: 126 KW/3600rpmTorque: 343 Nm/1400rpmTransmission: Five-speed auto, four-wheel driveMax rear axle capacity: 1600kgMax towing: 2250kg

THE champagne corks have been popping at Land Rover. Not only has the Range Rover turned 40 (see page 50-51), but the Freelander 2 is also celebrating a milestone.  The company has just built the 200,000th Freelander 2 - a blue TD4-e - at its Halewood plant in the UK. The Freelander 2 has been around since 2007 and

More families are ignoring rising fuel costs to ditch their family sedans and switch to all-wheel drive wagons, according to the latest industry sales figures.  So far this year almost 95,000 off-roaders have been sold, 24,000 more than last year.Subaru's Forester is the country's best-selling ‘compact’ off-roader and the company's Outback is also among the top 10 picks.  Subaru Australia spokesman, David Rowley, said the Forester had hit a sweet spot with buyers."It goes far beyond the traditional family car," he said.  "It also appeals to a wide audience, from young families to retirees."The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries VFACTS sales figures show that 89,218 cars, off-roaders and commercial vehicles were sold last month, up 13,777 vehicles over the same month last year. The chamber's chief executive, Andrew McKellar, said last month's result proved that sales momentum remained strong.  "All vehicle segments increased during the month, demonstrating a genuine recovery in the marketplace," he said. Mr McKellar said mums and dads were also returning to showrooms.  "It is encouraging to note that private buyers returned in larger numbers last month (up 27.2 per cent) taking over some of the momentum that business buyers have provided over the past year," he said.Toyota remains in No1 sales spot with a market share of 20 per cent, ahead of Holden and Ford on 12.8 per cent and 10.1 per cent.  This year 422,446 new vehicles have been sold, 20 per cent up on the first five months of 2009.Top 10 compact off-roaders (year to date)1 Subaru Forester 57092 Toyota RAV4 53643 Mazda CX-7 39424 Mitsubishi Outlander 36085 Nissan X-Trail 35766 Volkswagen Tiguan 29787 Honda CRV 28468 Subaru Outback 25249 Nissan Dualis 232210 Hyundai ix35 1963Top 10 cars in May1 Holden Commodore 38992 Toyota HiLux 36653 Ford Falcon 32584 Mazda3 29015 Toyota Corolla 27966 Holden Cruze 24847 Hyundai i30 23858 Mitsubishi Lancer 23689 Nissan Navara 197210 Toyota Camry 1966

Diesels have a lot going for them and sales are up in Australia. But they battle to sway buyers put off by agricultural noises from under the bonnet. It's hard enough to convince people in the middle of the weekday when the diesel chatter can be drowned in the hubbub of city noise. But at 5am on a public holiday when you're about the only car on the road, it is deafening. As I drove through the suburbs to start the road trip, the chatter felt loud enough to wake up the locals."Are you going to have to put up with this all day, dad?" asked one teenage daughter. "It'll be fine. Once I get out on the highway, it'll be right," was my hopeful reply. To be fair, once you're on the open road, get used to the noise - and turn up the sound system - you can forget you are in a big, noisy 4WD.The $56,990 5-seat Mitsubishi Challenger XLS was added to the range this year to sit below the Pajero, but above the Outlander, as a serious 4WD that buyers could still live with around town. It has been hailed by writers who took it offroad, but has come in for flak from those who tested it as a big urban runabout. I was trying both in one trip.Around the city the Challenger does feel agricultural, with the 4WD transfer gear stuck next to my left leg, but its size and high-seating position are handy in traffic. On the Hume Highway its a smooth though cumbersome cruiser. It's no sportscar and even old-model small sedans fly past. But the next day when we tackle a rough trek through several abandoned gold mining towns in the mountain forests of the Great Dividing Range the world changes for the Challenger.Faced with a challenge it responds in style. It chugs up the dirt roads that follow the Goulburn River with aplomb. However the onboard satnav is soon searching for answers. Not far out of civilisation and it shows we are driving in the river.And then it goes blank, well green actually. According to the screen we are lost in a forest somewhere. You'd think climbing to the top of the Great Dividing Range you'd actually be getting closer to the satellite but this proves to be uncharted territory. Not so good for an offroad machine.The road deteriorates seriously as we reach the tiny towns of Gaffneys Creek and A1 Mine Settlement - once bustling but now largely abandoned. The Challenger though takes the steep climbs on the narrow dirt roads easily.After passing through the hamlet of Woods Point we climb to the fabled town of Matlock (remember the old TV cop show Matlock Police from the 1970s, but there's no sign of actor Paul Cronin and his police motorcycle now though).What we are confronted with in the dusk is a sign to Walhalla that I think reads 24km. But it actually says 74km and the road becomes atrocious. It's basically a narrow collection of rocks hardly changed since the days of the packhorse. Great 4WD territory but the average speed drops to barely 30km/h as we battle to avoid the gaping potholes. We bounce away around the plateau and begin the descent into the valleys of upper Gippsland. There's no sign of wheel slip on the rocks and the Challenger's high seating position is valuable for peering off the edge of the road into the valley.While this is supposed to be a test of the Challenger's all-round capabilities it also becomes praise for the ability of a humble Toyota Camry. Because around the corner, coming up the hill in the dark we meet a Camry-driving couple with two kids in the back who not only tell us they are aiming to be hundreds of kilometres away near Albury that night, they are low on fuel and the kids are hungry...With the trip now taking a couple of hours longer than Google maps forecast, we roll on through the darkness. The lazy roar of the engine sounds like a bear. The last 10 kays, on the edge of a cliff with a river below, is a narrow one-lane descent. The satnav has given up all hope now. Occasionally a place name appears, drifts around the screen aimlessly and disappears.Finally we arrive at our destination of Walhalla, where the bitumen starts again. The Challenger, now totally covered in dust, has proved its worth as a versatile hauler. Folding the back seats over has given us enough room in the boot for two mountain bikes and our luggage, but you would need a bike rack with the rear seats in use.Fuel economy has been good but not great with the diesel. It averaged about 15L/100km around town but came down to nearer 10-11L/100km on the open road. But it is more frugal than the petrol model.Returning to Sydney via Canberra shows that the Challenger is also a comfortable highway driver. However, it will mostly suit people who are regularly heading off the blacktop. There are better buys on the market, including the Toyota Kluger and Ford Territory, if you rarely leave suburbia.It's a high step to get in and out of the car but once there the leather seats were comfortable and easily adjustable. The reversing camera was invaluable and should be a basic in cars of this size. Overall, it's a big machine, with heaps of lazy power, a bit too noisy, but a delight in the tough stuff.

On gravel roads with the computer constantly deciding engagement of four-wheel drive the Holden Captiva is dangerous. Why doesn't it have a light on the dash telling you that it is in 4x4 mode?

But Mitsubishi has taken the letters and massaged them into its newest off-roader and called it the Active Sports Crossover, or ASX.  The newest member of the Mitsubishi team arrives in local showrooms in August.It will line up next to the Kia Sportage, Hyundai ix35, Holden Captiva 5, Suzuki Grand Vitara and Nissan Dualis in the ultra-competitive sub-$30,000 compact off-roader arena. Mitsubishi Australia Ltd president and CEO, Masahiko Takahashi, says it will be sold as a manoeuvrable city car that could bring new buyers into the Mitsubishi family.  "It also has the added benefit of being very smart, especially in terms of the technology that drives its engineering, design and all-wheel drive ability," he says.The ASX was originally born as the cX concept at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show.  The finished product has links with both the Outlander and Lancer Evolution X and borrows the ‘family’ look front end.  In size, it is 345mm shorter than the Outlander and 200g lighter.The production car also uses a one-piece hatch instead of the two-piece doors on the concept.  Japanese versions are powered by either 1.8 or 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engines.  Although local specifications are yet to be released, both petrol and diesel engines – as well as front or all-wheel drive versions – are tipped.Takahashi says as an entry off-roader, the ASX has the potential to drive strong sales to supplement the Triton, Outlander and Pajero.  It will be pitched into the profitable compact off-roader segment, which is experiencing massive growth.Off-roader sales are up 35 per cent this year as buyers move out of family sedans and into lifestyle vehicles.  "The global trend is for smaller compact off-roaders," he says.  "We believe this trend will become very noticeable in Australia as well."With the appeal of front-wheel drive crossovers growing, the new Mitsubishi chief says the company is also looking at adding a front-drive version of the bigger Outlander later this year.  "It's under consideration," he says.

The Mazda CX-7 is a serious contender in an increasingly well-supplied section of the market – comfortable SUVs with just enough ability to let you wander off the road on weekends. But a lack of real ground clearance, coupled with the absence of a locking differential, means that those who want to head into truly rough terrain have to look elsewhere.However for the majority who will drive their CX-7 around the urban battleground, the six-speed manual transmission in our test car could prove to be a trial, even if it’s mated to the punchy 2.2-litre intercooled turbodiesel. At 3500 revs the engine spits out 127kw of power, but it’s only once you get through the 1500 mark that you feel any extra gravity, and you are left waiting for the engine to catch up with your intentions on the first two gear changes off the line.The reported economy of the diesel engine is good at 7.6 litres for every 100kms travelled on the open road, but you can expect around 9 for city driving. You can also expect to put 202 grams of CO2 into the atmosphere for each km you travel.The structured curves of the CX-7 front are attractive and flow pleasingly from front to rear, but a walk around the back disappointed a little, even if it did provide an answer to the age-old question of ‘who ate all the pies’. The slender top of the tailgate seems out of place on the wide mid-section and square bottom, and inside reflects this with an almost triangular luggage space. I also found the cargo area cover required two hands to secure it; a hassle if you have a set of golf clubs or a baby under one arm.In the cabin, the well-configured dash keeps everything important at your fingertips with large-enough buttons on the centre console to keep your eyes on the traffic while you scroll between CD’s in the six-stacker.   I’m not a fan of the Mazda instrumentation and its use of the silver-rimmed tube (deeper on the CX-7 than other models), but having said that, it’s easy to keep an eye on your speed and revs under a wide range of driving conditions.A generous goodies list includes climate control aircon, heated front seats with eight-way power adjustment, cruise control, leather trim, power mirrors and windows, Bluetooth and MP3 compatible 240 watt Bose audio system, reversing camera, sat-nav and trip computer among the impressive list of interior features.The 18-inch alloy wheels are halted by an anti-lock braking system with electronic brake-force distribution and emergency brake assist (EBA), while the safety is upped by dynamic stability control and  six airbags (front / side; driver and passenger, curtain; front and rear).Without being exceptional, the seats are comfortable for several hours of driving or watching, and the interior layout is pleasingly usable.   While on the small side, the sat-nav and reversing camera were a welcome inclusion and the map seemed up-to-date during our test.But the glare from the sat-nav to dash to windscreen at night is annoying — and surely something the engineers could have avoided.   Setting up the voice-command Bluetooth connection was intuitive and easy, and it came in handy in situations where both hands were needed to shift and steer.The manual transmission and slightly finicky clutch will most likely put off a segment of otherwise interested buyers who spend significant time in start-stop traffic, but the benefits of the high-torque drivetrain outweighed the trouble of regular shifting.Initially I was surprised to find myself craning around or behind the A-pillar during right-hand turns, but seemed to get used to this the more I drove it.   On the highway it felt sure and slightly caged, with the little 6 on the gear shifter tempting you to push past the speed limit and into a licence-risking range.It’s on more flowing stretches of sealed roads that the CX-7 really turns up, especially when you find some well-manicured curves to point the unseen bonnet into.  Entering corners with steady power felt comfortable and controlled, while breaking late or entering under power tended to pull the front in slightly, helped along by the grip of the 18-inch alloys.Despite the reported improvements in cabin isolation from the previous model, on b-grade sealed roads the tyre roar was surprisingly loud — but no match for an extra couple of points added to the nine-speaker Bose sound system.It’s off-road that the CX-7 shows that it is a true SUV rather than a 4WD with the low road clearance of 170mm (the Sorento gives 184mm, the Tiguan 195mm, and the Grand Vitara and Captiva are both 200mm) requiring extra care to avoid grounding the car on rocks and in the muddy ruts left behind by bigger trucks. However, on flatter or better groomed sections of dirt it maintained the sureness it displays on tarmac, thanks in part to the traction control system.It had no trouble with a weather-worn fire track at low speeds, easily coping with some steeper sections where the footing could be unsure, but we didn’t feel confident enough in its balance to test above third gear — even on a road I am reasonably familiar with.   On any surface the driver could be caught short by steeply pitched corners at low revs, and this clutch / gearbox combination certainly wasn’t designed with snap-shifts in mind.Serious off-roaders would most likely be looking elsewhere for their next ride, but I was pleasantly surprised by the way it handled and the range offered by the miserly diesel (7.6 L / 100km) could help sway the casual camper. Indeed, I would like to re-run this test with 500+kg of people and gear in this car, as my guess is that some of the sharpness would be clipped from the suspension and the available torque would show why it’s really there.

The arrival of an all-new SUV should be a free kick for Mitsubishi in Australia.  It has always done well with four-wheel drives and the latest Challenger, just off the boat, should be a serious threat to anything in the running with serious off-road credentials. But that is two 'shoulds' with no certainty.  The new Challenger looks tough, and it is well equipped with plenty of gear and five or seven seats, and yet ...After driving the latest Toyota Prado, even though it sits a long way up from the Mitsubishi on price, the Challenger does not rate as highly as I expect. And there is something about the lack of refinement in the on-road package, and the lack of go from the turbodiesel engine. . .Still, Mitsubishi Australia is selling the new Challenger against the Nissan Navara, the Holden Captiva, and even the Ford Territory, and so its off-road and towing power will be a significant drawcard.  It is priced from $44,990 with five seats, or $48,890 with a third-row bench, and Mitsubishi has decided to go all-diesel on the engine front with automatics on everything beyond the basic LS model. Moving up through the line-up brings everything from leather seats and giant alloys to a reversing camera.The Challenger is actually a comeback car in Australia, as an earlier model was sold from 1998 and 2006. It now drops back in below the Pajero and above the Outlander wagon.  The previous model was all about off-road work but Mitsubishi says things have changed with the new one.“Owners of the previous model Challenger prized the vehicle for its real-world four-wheel drive ability, rather than its on-road comfort.  When it came to designing the new model, the clear intent was for the design to offer the best of both worlds – and we think we’ve nailed it,” says Rob McEniry boss of Mitsubishi in Australia. “This vehicle is completely new in every aspect and drives like a dream, both on- and off-road.”The Challenger takes a traditional approach to four-wheel drive work, with a body sitting on a ladder frame. It's suspension has wishbones at the front with coil springs in the rear and stabiliser bars to control roll. There is, of course, a set of low-range crawler gears.The 2.5-litre turbodiesel engine makes 131 kiloWatts with 400 Newton-metres of torque, with a claimed fuel economy as good as 8.3L/100km and a tow rating of 2500 kilograms.  The Challenger has a basic LS specification that still includes six airbags and ESP stability control.It's no surprise when Mitsubishi drops a fully-loaded Challenger XLS seven-seater into the Carsguide garage, still wearing battle scratches from a serious off-road drive at the Australian press preview. It looks tough in basic black with side steps and big allows, and a lot nicer than the latest Prado.But then I turn the key. And the diesel engine is much noisier than I expect, both from Mitsubishi and from 2010.  It is also lacklustre on the long climb away from home and the steering is vague, with far too many turns of the sporty little wheel. I'm hoping for better as I spend more time with the Challenger.Things definitely get better when we load the seven seats, and explore the luggage space - with the third row up and down - and the Challenger feels it can easily handle the worst of Australian roads and bush tracks. It's a serious off-roader and you can feel it, even around the 'burbs.But I do not like the shapeless seats, or the too-high driving position, and I can never feel comfortable with the effort needed to get the engine to go. It is a disappointment for day-to-day commuter use, even with the automatic gearbox.  I do like the final finishing, and the design of the dash and cabin, and to know that I could easily go towing or head out into the bush. But I spend almost all my time in day-to-day family work and I can think of plenty of other SUVs I would pick ahead of the Challenger for my needs.I know it will be great for off-road work, and is a great saving on a Pajero or Prado, but the Ford Territory is just as big and nicer for commuting and, provided you don't need to tow and only drive on gravel roads, something like the Toyota Kluger would be more relaxing and easier living.The Mitsubishi Challenger is just that - a challenge to drive.  I find the steering, handling and overall performance a bit sluggish and heavy.In fact, the steering is like driving a barge, except barges I have handled on the water are better. And the engine is as noisy and rattly as the Toyota HiLux I remember from long family trips in the 1980s.Even the rear-vision mirror wobbles in time with the engine, which is something new for me on a test car in 2010. On a positive note, the Challenger is great in the back seats with plenty of storage compartments for extras like shopping. The boot is a great size and could fit plenty even with the rear row seats being used, the reversing camera is big and clear, and the leather trim in the test car is well finished.The Challenger looks good, too. Nice and grunty, without being too futuristic.I like seven seats, with the last row being reasonably comfortable with own air-con vents and cupholders, as well as six airbags, so its a good attempt by Mitsubishi but one that I don't think challenges its rivals enough.The Bottom Line: Looks tough, too tough to drive.