Towing

Fighting for visibility in the compact SUV market is probably like making a speech in the Taiwanese parliament - you have to do some swinging while getting your message across.Mitsubishi's little ASX has had a tweak to its face and features list but the punch from the drivetrain is unchanged. Mostly, that's not a bad thing, but the absence of an auto is hurting this competent all-rounder.We're sampling the updated top-spec Aspire turbodiesel model with a six-speed manual.The Aspire four-wheel drive flagship is priced from $34,990 and has plenty of features to go with that pricetag, which slots it in in the upper reaches of the price range for compact SUVs.The top-spec ASX gets plenty of gear - a touchscreen controlled infotainment system, with USB and iPod access, Bluetooth phone and audio link, a reversing camera and parking sensors, 17in alloys and leather trim.The front seats have heaters, rain-sensing wipers, automatic headlights, a fixed glass roof (with a solid cover and ambient lighting), keyless entry and go, a power-adjustable driver's seat, reach and rake adjustable leather steering wheel with phone and audio controls.Sadly, the satellite navigation and a Rockford-Fosgate sound system upgrade are on the options list.It's not exactly a cutting-edge drivetrain when you consider how long manual gearboxes have been around - the ASX flagship is available only as a six-speed manual, which no doubt erodes its appeal on showroom floor in this market that is addicted to two-pedal operations.The nice manual gearbox is hooked up to a 1.8-litre turbodiesel that develops 110kW at 4000rpm and 300Nm at 2000rpm - it has common-rail direct-injection and it is a willing unit.The combined fuel economy claim of 5.7 litres per 100km is well within reason - we averaged in the 8s during our most recent stint in the car but a fuel economy drive undertaken last year in a similar machine had sub-5s over 1000km of driving.The ASX dwells in the soft-roader realm but it can run in front-wheel drive only (for slightly better economy) or automatic (but front-biased) 4WD, which sees most of the engine's outputs still heading for the front wheels but up to 50 per cent heading aft as required.There's also a 4WD lock mode that - as the name suggests - locks in that 50/50 split for more demanding terrain.Based on the Concept cX from the 2007 Frankfurt motor show, the ASX didn't get all the funky styling cues but you can see where they wanted to go.While it is not the prettiest soft-roader going around, it's not going to shame the rugrats at school pick-up to the point of parking around the corner either.While it sits on the Outlander platform the overhangs are more abrupt, but boot and cabin space don't suffer - quite the contrary, it has good bootspace and comfort in both rows of seats wasn't an issue. The only concern was for adults in the back as there is limited rear headroom.The ASX ranks five stars with NCAP and Mitsubishi says that's due in no small part to what the company calls its Reinforced Impact Safety Evolution body structure - basically a body structure that has impact beams and other structures to diffuse impact energy.There's also no shortage of electronic assistance - dual front, front-side and curtain airbags, as well as one for the driver's knee, plus stability and traction control, a hill start system, anti-lock brakes and electronic brakeforce distribution and emergency braking assistance.The little ASX is a neat little machine, despite the lack of an auto. The manual is far from difficult when it comes to swapping cogs, and with 300Nm on offer you'll be starting off in second (unless it's uphill) and short-shifting to fourth or fifth.Make the most of the outputs and you'll go close to the 5.7 combined cycle figure. The engine does need 1500rpm on board to keep the turbocharger force-feeding the engine, but it will get along at a better-than-good rate.The update has also included a re-rating of the braked towing capacity to 1400kg. There's decent boot space - 416 litres says Mitsubishi, or 1109l with the seats down - and reasonable occupant space in the quiet cabin.Ride quality is no issue either, although the ASX isn't as dynamically adept as some other SUVs - Ford's Kuga and the new Mazda CX-5 are two that spring to mind.But the ASX is capable and gets the job done when the road surfaces . The lock function on the 4WD system gives more assurance and ability - certainly above the class average - on unsealed surfaces and it feels capable of more than what most will ask of it.

My 2010 Nissan Patrol turbo-diesel has begun to overheat when towing our caravan, or when travelling up a steep hill without the caravan. I have towed the caravan half way around Australia with no problems until recently. I have had it back to the dealer six times and have had no joy yet. They have replaced the fan, the thermostat and the coolant. Any ideas?

Recently we did a trip of around 1600 km in our 2004 Toyota Hilux 4x4 3.0-litre diesel towing a 780 kg van. It was mostly normal road driving, but with some high range driving on unsealed roads. We had a problem with the cluster bearing in the gearbox, which failed and chipped one of the teeth off the gears resulting in the gearbox having to be rebuilt. The repairer said that if I continue to tow this would probably happen again. Should I be towing in fifth gear on the flat?

My VY Commodore Series 2 V6 generally does a fantastic job towing my 1700 kg caravan. It performs very well and returns around 14.5 L/ 100km, but it has a chronic, intermittent, uneven running problem when coming to idle, while towing the caravan. It runs as if it has a chronic misfiring problem. We have replaced the distributor pack, plugs and leads, and it has also been electronically tested on three occasions, but no abnormalities have shown up. Do you have any suggestions as to what the problem could be?

The Patrol has landed. Well, almost … After a wait of more than 18 months, we've finally had an impressive first drive in the sixth-generation Nissan Patrol.It's bigger than before, with more heft and much more quality, and lines up nicely against the benchmark Toyota LandCruiser with a starting price promised from less than $85,000. But, and it's a very big one, the first customer deliveries are still more than four months away even though Nissan Australia has more than 6000 people with a confirmed Patrol plan.The reason for the delay is simple: demand for left-hand drive Patrols in Russia and the Middle East was overwhelming, with more than 40,000 deliveries to date. Australia went on the back-burner and the lack of right-hand drive focus is even reflected in an automatic shift lever that's still set for left-hand driving.Nissan Australia has high hopes for the Patrol and defends its local introduction, which includes a plan to sell the old and new models - officially the Y61 and Y62 - side-by-side. The old car continues as the diesel driver, as there is only one engine - a 5.5-litre V8 petrol - in the newcomer. "I'm not apologising," says Bill Peffer, managing director of Nissan Australia."There is no delay that is acceptable. But we have to follow the product lifecycle." Peffer says cumulative Patrol sales in Australia will top 100,000 next year, helped by the 14-year-old Y61. But the new focus is the Y61, "We're getting to the pointy end now. It's on sale officially in January but we'll have it at the motor show in Sydney," says Warwick Daly, model line manager for Patrol at Nissan Australia. "We've got a lot of interest and from the show onwards people will be able to place orders. It will basically be on sale from October.""The base will start from less than $85,000," Bill Peffer says simply. That means the new Patrol will go head-to-head with the latest Toyota LandCruiser, which currently starts at $83,490. Typically for Nissan, there are three model grades from the ST-L to the Ti at less than $95,000 and the fully-loadedTi-L for less than $115,000. Those prices are sharp for the class but there is more, as Nissan says it is aiming to conquest owners of luxury four-wheel drives up to the Range Rover and Porsche Cayenne.To do that, the Ti-L gets everything up to leather trim and auto zircon to a 13-speaker Bose sound system, around-view monitor camera system, electric tailgate and tyre pressure monitor. The advantage for the Patrol is a seven-seater cabin - including a fold-flat third-row bench - although the two lesser models are full eight seaters.The Patrol is still an old-school four-wheel drive, with a body that sits on a chassis frame and permanent four-wheel drive including low-range crawler gears. But its 5.5-litre petrol V8 is a thumper, and the base for Nissan's attack next year on V8 Supercar racing, making 298 kiloWatts and 560 Newton-metres of torque to ensure a 3500-kilogram tow rating.But the weights are hefty, too, up to 2829 kilos. The suspension is fully independent, brakes are big four-wheel discs, and the four-wheel drive system has driver-selectable 'modes' for different terrain, low-range gears and a differential lock.It has a range of other good stuff, lots of it for safety, but the highlight for many potential owners is the hydraulic body motion control system that applies pressure to keep the wheels in contact with the ground during off-road work and minimise body roll and improve cornering on the road. It's not on the bottom model.What can you say? The Patrol is a big, boxy, four-wheel drive that's designed to carry up to eight people and do heavyweight off-road and towing work. So it's no beauty. But it is way more stylish that the outgoing Patrol, with smoother edges and more - dare I say it? - LandCruiser looks.Inside, the cabin is well equipped and roomy but the ambience is 1980s. There is fake wood trim across the board and chintzy fabric in the ST-L, with lots shiny highlights. It probably works for the target buyers, but it's not as stylish or sophisticated as the luxury 4wds that Nissan is targeting.Nissan promises plenty of safety equipment, from front-side-curtain airbags and ABS brakes and ESP stability through to a rear-view camera on each model and the all-round four-camera system on the flagship. The Ti-L also gets blind spot warning and lane-departure assist, active cruise control, Xenon lamps and more.At last, the Patrol is more than a workhorse that drives like a truck. It is everything I had expected, and feels far more like the latest LandCruiser than the primitive model it replaces. We only have a brief trial drive, because the first two Patrols in Australia are not certified for road use, but it proves the Patrol is hugely competent off-road and quite nice on bitumen.It easily conquers a long uphill climb, where the torque of the V8 is more than enough for the conditions and the multi-mode grip compensates for rocks and loose sand. Then it's into a deep water crossing with no worries, with the transmission again matching its settings to the grip. It's definitely a Patrol and most owners will give up long before they approach the off-road limits of their car.On the road, the new Patrol is hugely roomy, cushy-style comfortable and well equipped. It rides nicely enough and there is acceptable cornering grip, but I need more time at the wheel to make any final judgement. But I know I don't like the chintzy trim below the Ti-L, and the shift lever is a big stretch across the console and that's annoying. How much extra would it have cost to do the right-hand drive conversion properly?For now, the Patrol looks good. But we need more time and a wider variety of conditions to give a proper Carsguide verdict.After 14 years the Patrol is finally new again. It's good, but probably not great.

Bauxite is an age-toughened rock or gravel that can be turned into metal (aluminium). But it is so tough it can just as easily turn metal into gravel.

Big, broad and ready to work, but ride height is no longer a clue to the drivetrain.Light-commercial buyers opting for rear instead of four-wheel drive won't get an inferiority complex from being looked down upon - quite literally - by the 4WD ute brigade. Ford has the Hi-Rider Ranger and the new Colorado 4x2 range sits in a similarly lofty position to its 4x4 sibling, just don't go marauding into a big mud bog while hunting for the (absent) rotary 4WD on-the-go switch.The dual-cab LTZ five-speed manual is priced from $40,990 - $9000 cheaper than its 4WD equivalent, which is about par for the course in the segment. The flagship LTZ sits on chunky 17in alloy wheels, with a full-size spare, front fog lamps, power-adjustable and folding external rearvision mirrors, a soft tonneau cover (although the test car has the hard cover, for $2520), an alloy sports rollbar, side steps.There's also cloth trim, bucket seats, driver gets electric adjustment, single zone climate control, power windows, three in-cabin 12v outlets, LED tail lights, Bluetooth, cruise control, trip computer, leather-wrapped steering wheel and gearshift, eight-speaker sound system and wheel-mounted controls for the phone, sound and cruise control systems.The light-commercial brigade is not at the forefront of new technology - the rear leaf springs in the suspension date back to Cobb and Co horse-drawn mail wagons - but the segment has some up-to-date equipment. The 4x2 is about 53kg lighter than its 4WD sibling but is propelled by the same powerplant - a 2.8-litre double-overhead cam turbodiesel four-cylinder, an old-school turbodiesel.The five-speed manual has to make do with less torque - 440Nm - but the same 132kW power figure. It's an iron engine block with an alloy head, fed by common-rail direct-injection using a variable-geometry turbocharger. The turbodiesel also has an electronic throttle valve and a cooled exhaust gas recirculation system to cut down reduce exhaust emissions.While a five-speed manual gearbox might seem so last year compared to the six-speed auto, it is 1.2l/100km less thirsty than the auto, a gap that was borne out after our time in the car. The 4x2 manual returned 9.6l/100km, not quite the ADR number of 7.8; it's also claiming to be 0.1l/100km less thirsty than the 4WD equivalent.This is no prissy-looker, as the General has taken a similar path to Ford's Ranger, giving it a strong, square look that says it's ready to shoulder a load. The flanks and rump are generic dual-cab ute - the top-spec Colorado comes standard with side-steps, the alloy sports ropllover bar and a soft tonneau cover that allows better use of the rear tray.The test car had the hard tonneau, which offers better security (it and the tailgate are key-lockable, although not with the same key) but offers less loadspace flexibility. The interior is good without being outstanding - the seats are comfortable and the driver gets electric adjustment (but tilt-only steering), decent amounts of in-cabin storage and three 12v outlets - two in the front, one in the back - but no vents for backseat passengers. Surely it gets hot in Brazil?Holden is making hay will it has five shiny stars for Colorado's ANCAP rating, which is a big step up from the old car's two-star result. The safety features list includes dual front airbags (but no front-side airbags) and full length curtain airbags, stability and traction control, anti-lock brakes (with rear drums) with electronic brakeforce distribution and hydraulic brake assist.Holden does get points for three childseat top-tether anchor points in a useful position high behind the back seat, which makes them easier to utilise. Some of its opposition have the fixture points in difficult-to-reach places that make it hard work for the ute to double as weekend family transport.Having stepped out of a 4x4 LT into the 4x2 LTZ and not being hugely impressed with the LT, I wasn't expecting the manual rear-driver to be much different. It wasn't. The ride quality hadn't suffered for the upsized wheel/tyre package and the cabin has enough room and is a comfortable place to spend time.The Colorado's powerplant is still on the noisy side and can get a little bogged down if you don't keep the revs up to it.It suffers from numb steering, a large turning circle and too many turns lock-to-lock and the handling is not up the segment leaders. The five-speed manual feels as though it teams more effectively with the engine than the auto - the change is not going on any sportscar benchmark lists but there's less drivetrain snatch that afflicts some of the other key players in the segment, particularly when there's a fair load of torque going through the driveline.Fuel economy and sharp pricetag help soften the average first impressions of the Colorado, as do the five-star crash test rating, the one-tonne payload and 3.5-tonne braked towing capacity. Once up and cruising on the open road the big ute lopes along reasonably well, offering good visibility through the front and from the external mirrors - the mirrors on the Commodore that followed (that look small at the best of times) look even smaller by comparison.Despite only driving through the rear, the LTZ didn't dislike unsealed surfaces and didn't suffer the tail-happy habits of some of its opposition in the same terrain, even with electronic nursemaids on a break and some provocation. The Colorado ute is not a bad vehicle, it's just that when you consider the US$2 million development budget - twice what Holden had for the VE Commodore program - there was an expectation it would be a bigger step forward, and it's not.

The dual-cab ute segment is going gangbusters and Holden has been itching to get a new model into the segment. The Colorado - a global truck developed by GM Brazil at a cost of US$2-billion - is sourced from the company's Thai plant and comes to market with a sharp price tag and upgraded grunt.The first stint in the new model is behind the wheel of the LT dual-cab automatic, with some Holden accessories on board as well.The LT is priced from $45,490 and that's well and truly in the ballpark when stacking it up against the opposition, most of which also comes from Thailand. The standard fare is a five-speed manual transmission but the optional six-speed auto adds $2000.The features list includes air conditioning, power windows, Bluetooth phone link, two 12v outlets, cruise control, a leather-wrapped steering wheel with audio, phone and cruise controls, power mirrors, 16in alloy wheels and cloth trim.Sadly, there's only tilt adjustment for the steering wheel, no rear air vents and while the cover says there's a USB input point within the dash, what's beneath it is not even close. The test car had a few options - among them $3510 worth of Genuine Holden Canopy, which has a rear light for the tray but no demisting capability.The Colorado up-spec models are powered by one of the GM global powerplants - a 2.8-litre double-overhead cam four-cylinder turbodiesel, which won't be mistaken for a petrol engine.Holden says it (when teamed with the optional six-speed auto) deliver 132kW and 470Nm - 10 per cent more power and 40 per cent more torque than the superseded 120kW/333Nm three-litre turbodiesel. The new model's iron-block alloy-head engine has common-rail direct-injection feeding the four-cylinder turbodiesel, which uses a variable-geometry turbocharger and a balance shaft for greater smoothness. The intake side of the equation uses an electronic throttle valve and there's also a cooled exhaust gas recirculation system to reduce exhaust emissions. The new model is a little heavier than the old one, which might explain the slight increase in fuel use - up from 9 to 9.1l/100km despite extra gears in the auto, which puts it on par with the heavier Ranger.GM has gone the bull-nose route taken by Ford with the Ranger, but once passed the nose it's a fairly straightforward dual-cab ute. The tray on the test car was covered by a Holden accessory canopy that has fold-up windows on the sides and at the rear, as well as a sliding "pass-through" window butted up against a solid rear window for the cabin.Holden says the sliding front window was a deliberate design for the canopy to allow access to clean the rear window of the cabin, but I'm not sure - a drop-down or flip-up system (like the side windows, but folding inwards) might have made more sense.There's some useful touches to the interior storage, with two gloveboxes ahead of the front passenger and a half-decent centre console, while the rear seat gets a 12v outlet but no rear vents - something that is not as common industry-wide as it should be.It's one of the key selling points in the segment now some companies are demanding ANCAP five-star ratings and Holden has it with this new LCV, a two-star jump from the old car. The active safety features list includes stability and traction control, anti-lock brakes (albeit with rear drums) with electronic brakeforce distribution and hydraulic brake assist, as well as the ability to run in 4WD if the going gets truly treacherous.Inside the cabin there's dual front airbags (but no front-side airbags) and full length curtain airbags, but the Holden has three childseat top-tether anchor points behind the back seat, which are easy to utilise - some of its opposition have the fixture points difficult-to-reach places and make it hard work for the ute to double as weekend family transport.The big Holden ute has presence a-plenty on approach, like the Ranger you're not going to miss it on the road. The cabin is comfortable enough in terms of seating but the driver gets only tilt steering and manual seat height adjustment, making an ideal driving position not easy to achieve; cold morning starts were further delayed by the glacial pace of the windscreen demister.First impressions underway reflect the specs - the engine is noisier and, despite claiming the similar outputs to the Ford Ranger, feels more lethargic. The Colorado drivetrain feels underdone compared to the Ranger/BT-50 powerplant, something that can also be said for the chassis.Ride quality is reasonably good in the Colorado but at the expense of turning and body control - the Ranger in particular manages this compromise with more dexterity. The steering ratio makes for busy arms for quick changes of direction and don't expect the wheel to offer much in the way of information regardless of surface.It feels more at home on the dirt, chugging over most terrain with little fuss, or you can leave it in two-wheel drive and turn the electronics off - the low-end torque becomes a little more apparent and the arms get busy on the wheel again. On the open road the Colorado lopes along at a good rate, with the engine's torque giving it good cruising range - the fuel use at the end of our stint was just over 10 litres per 100km. The 3.5-tonne braked towing capacity will get it plenty of attention but that alone won't be enough to get it to the top of the LCV heap. For US$2 billion and 2.5 million kilometres of development, it should be better than it is.

If you are looking for a new one-tonne ute, you couldn't have picked a better time to go shopping. All of the main players have been upgraded within the past 12 months, most of them with new-generation models, so competition is fierce and prices are sharp. Holden's new Colorado range is a good example. Value & Models

We bought a 2011 Navara Dual Cab STX diesel automatic that we often use to tow a 2.8-tonne caravan. We were assured several times by the dealer that an external cooler would not be necessary, but following your comments in Carsguide I wonder if that's correct. I prefer peace of mind, rather that a surprise along the way.