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Dave Lane gets behind the wheel of Mitsubishi's 3.2 DI-D Shogun in short wheelbase form and after blasting down the highways of Gloucestershire finds it hard to give back. A couple of months ago we were one of the first magazines to bring you details of the much-modified Defender 110 built by Special Vehicles for the forthcoming Tomb Raider movie. Nick Dimbleby was one of the first journalists to drive the vehicle at an exclusive event at Pinewood studios Chief tester David Lane gets behind the wheel of the longer wheelbase mini-Shogun Pinin and finds it a little too grown up. Nick Dimbleby concludes his profile of Land Rover Special Vehicles, this month looking at conversions based on the Range Rover, Freelander and Discovery. Land Rover's Special Vehicles department has been about in various guises since the 1950s. Nick Dimbleby pays a visit to the SV workshops in Solihull to see what they've been doing to the Defender over the past few years. Sometimes it is still possible to discover radical new design and technology, Rollo Piaf reports on the new off roader to emerge from the Czech Republic. No scantily clad girls tearing about on roller skates with barely a Martini logo to protect their modesty I'm afraid, but another contender in the somewhat undefined 'soft roader' market. WOR's chief tester David Lane tackles all types of roads in the appropriately named Audi Allroad 2.7 T Fifty years of the Land Cruiser The Land Cruiser turns Fifty this year, here is World Off Road's quick guide to the evolution of the world's most prolific off-roader. After a couple of months featuring soft roaders, World Off Road goes back to basics with a full test of the Nissan Patrol. Dave Lane reports from the driving seat. Fifty years young and still strong If you think Land Rover is the first choice around the world for those who need a rugged and reliable working vehicle then you'd be wrong. Some people wouldn't give a XXXX for anything other than the Toyota Land Cruiser, which celebrates its 50th birthday this year. Colin Dawson went to Sweden to drive the latest models The Foot and Mouth epidemic notwithstanding, trekking around the beautiful hills and valleys of Snowdonia can be a dangerous business. Nick Dimbleby profiles a specially-prepared Defender 130 built by Frogs Island 4x4 for the Ogwen Mountain Rescue service. In the Land of the Free(lander) At the end of this year, the Land Rover Freelander will be making its way across the pond. Nick Dimbleby profiles two special Freelanders built for pre-launch publicity. Nick Dimbleby pays a visit to Hudderfield Land Rover Centre, who currently have a quartet of very interesting Range Rovers for sale. Charles Robinson takes the scenic route (groan!) and delivers his views on the new Renault RX4. After last month's report on the Volvo Cross Country world tour, Nick Dimbleby samples the V70 XC under more modest conditions and comes away mightily impressed. After all, Volvo estates shouldn't be interesting... Dave Lane has just spent a week with a New Discovery V8 automatic and comes away mightily impressed with the benefits of traction control. World Off Road's Columnist Colin Dawson reviews the latest thing to roll out of the Lexus garage, the Lexus RX300. Police vehicle expert Julian Berry reviews the latest 4x4 motorway vehicle to be adopted by UK Police - The ML320. Nick Dimbleby finishes his rebuild of his Range Rover/Land Rover hybrid TEW. This month it's the fitment of the hood, interior and those ever so time consuming fiddly bits. With one eye on the American market, Land Rover has announced a V6 powered Freelander - along with a new common-rail TD4 diesel for Europe. Nick Dimbleby travels to the Beaujolais region of France to try them first hand. A clean sweep for TEW part two In Part 2 of the three part series Nick Dimbleby continues to tells the story of his prized Range/Land Rover, while he sits and watches it pulled to pieces for a costly rebuild to americanise it. Nick Dimbleby tells the story of his prized Range/Land Rover, while he sits and watches it pulled to pieces for a costly rebuild to americanise it. The Suzuki Vitara was a that Andy Blois hated. It was ugly, slow, poor off road and that was without considering its image. It's little brother the SJ had character, it was cute and appealing to the state you could forgive its foibles. Andy Blois revisits this much maligned 4x4. WOR's usually down-to-earth and laid back David Lane, joined the jet-set, got out out his diamond encrusted Rolex and ventured forth in Mitsubishi's latest offering. Honda CRV Rapid Response Vehicle When you hit that '9' button three times and ask in a trembling voice for an ambulance, you probably expect exactly that. A big modern ambulance to arrive within minutes at your crisis and the two crew to rapidly whisk the victim off to hospital in their spacious, well equipped wagon. Not any more! At weekends my name is Samantha Back in February, Suzuki launched the latest in the Jimny line-up, their Soft Top. New recruit Charles Robinson goes out of his way to test this latest arrival based on the likely target market. The advertising campaign for the new Shogun Pinin suggests that you should "identify yourself" by driving one, Dave Lane on the other hand found himself having to identify himself whilst he was supposed to be driving one… Nick Dimbleby wishes Happy 30'th to Range Rover. The Nissan Terrano II Van micro-test. Anyone for a weekend in the Cotswolds? Dave Lane tests the new Shogun Sport and finds it a rather grown up car. Which is interesting because we're not sure if he is very grown up person. Can Kia, like Skoda, prove that value for money is more important than the badge on the bonnet? WOR's roving reporter Dave Lane sets out to invetigate the credentials of Kia's revamped and less expensive Sportage. Does Nissan's flagship luxury Terrano II Touring SE offer good value for money or is your hard earned cash better spent else where? Jake Barton takes a closer look. The Explorer has been over here since 1996 though has never sold as well as expected. In an interesting co-branding exercise Ford has now teamed up with The North Face to bring out a special edition. Bob Maclaren has been seeing just how special it is. Ken Slavin takes a look at the current state of the lucrative 'Aid Market' and Land Rover's failure to exploit it in recent years. Andy Blois spends time with a brace of Nissan pick-ups to discover how they stack up against each other and their competitors. Is Mitsubishi's Challenger really a worthy challenger? Jake Barton tests the turbo diesel variant to find out. Putting the Sport into Utility Fancy an Impreza Turbo but need slighty more room and off-road ability? Jake Barton drives the new Subaru Forester S-Turbo to see if it's got it where it counts. Bob Maclaren drives Mitsubishi's top of the range Shogun to see if it really fits in the luxury end of the 4x4 market. One Wedding and Land Rover's Funeral Land Rover's latest Defender comes with five cylinders - Andy Blois decides whether it deserves five stars. A Day (and a bit) at the Races With the factory-backed Team ORECA Chrysler Vipers racing at this years Le Mans 24 hour race again, we thought it seemed a good opportunity to put their distant cousin through its paces on an endurance trip. Bob Maclaren reports. Continuing our quest to find things bigger and better we test the Toyota Landcruiser Amazon. Rally cars drive on tracks, so technically it's off road. Anyway we were so impressed we had to run a story on it! Dave Lane has a day off to enjoy sauntering around Goodwood estate, oh and, er, he found a new pick up whilst he was there The eternal problem - a rotting chassis and a rebuild needed, so why not fit coils and discs at the same time? Jake Barton takes Subaru's new jacked-up Legacy for a spin to find out what's new. Abandoning the current double cab 'fad', David Lane goes king size and tries out Mazda's B series king cab pickup Nick Dimbleby test drives the new Jeep Grand Cherokee on and off-road in the Highlands of Scotland. Bored with all the obvious choices when it comes to choosing a 4x4? Bob Maclaren has been driving Chevrolet's new right-hand drive Blazer to see if it is as good value as it looks. Les Roberts takes a factual and reader friendly-look at the history of the land rover conversion everybody knows of, but few actually know anything about. Bob Morrison wheels his trolley round a land rover supastore Can a new badge make a difference to a car? Daewoo seem to think so. Jake Barton investigates. They say size doesn't matter, it's what you do with it that counts. We all agree strongly with the saying, but decided it was time to test the theory. Bob Maclaren drives Suzuki's latest small offering - the bizarrely named Jimny. The idea of a vehicle as a 'lifestyle' accessory is becoming ever fashionable with manufacturers who are not quite sure where one of their products sits in the market. Instead of the Toyota Hilux Double Cab complimenting his lifestyle, Andy Blois finds the need to adapt his lifestyle to suit it. Yet another Mitsubishi 4x4 hits our roads - Bob Maclaren takes a first drive in the new Challenger. Having driven Isuzu's new turbo-diesel SWB Trooper and loved it, Jake Barton takes the wheel of its larger brother to see if the recipe works throughout the range. David Lane, currently absent from the office in order to organise this years Webster Trophy (so he says), reports on his now shiny Discovery. Fed up with people asking us what the best 4x4 on the market is, we devised an innovative scoring system to find our vehicle of 1998 The 2.8 three door Mitsubishi Shogun sounds good on paper but what is it like in the flesh. Jake Barton investigates. Andrew Blois finally realises his life time ambition of becoming a hair dresser and drives the Toyota RAV4 Not content with other people's views about the new Discovery, we opt for first-hand experience of the machine. Andy Blois sets about answering some important questions and takes the Discovery to Devon. Queen of Puddings or Bomb Surprise? Jake Barton spends time with the latest Nissan Patrol GR SWB to find out if it's a half baked lemon or a right sweetie. If you ask a person in the street to name a 4x4 chances are they'll reply either 'Land Rover' or 'Jeep'. Both have been names synonymous with off road culture since it was first introduced. Bob Maclaren has been driving the Sport version of the Jeep Wrangler to see if you really can buy a legend with only a modest budget. We always considered the overland-prepared Unimog to be the ultimate form of off-road travel. We were obviously very wrong. Andy Blois and David Lane drive the awesome Tatra 813, and come away with a new addition to their 'must have' list. You are after an honest, hard working pick-up truck. Are the benefits of a double cab as good as manufacturers would have you believe? Bob Maclaren drives the L200 and L200 Double Cab to shed some light on the matter. Continuing our commercial vehicle frenzy, Jake Barton casts aside his illusions of grandeur and spends time with the humble TATA Loadbeta 4x4 Tdi pick-up. Land Rover's new five cylinder diesel engine will form a vital part of their future. The proof of this particular pudding is in the driving and we like the taste. Richard Howell-Thomas drives the new Discovery. The Vauxhall Frontera has never been a particularly outstanding vehicle. The new one however has all the right ingredients to be a winner. Bob Maclaren drew the long straw yet again and drives the new model range. A media trip to Poland seemed like the perfect opportunity to test the theory of the 'ideal 4x4'. Andy Blois leaves our green and pleasant shores yet again equipped with nothing but a Landcruiser Colorado. It's silver and black, out of this world, yet in production in Japan. We drive the Vehi-CROSS, Isuzu's radical concept vehicle turned reality. They say big is beautiful. We put the theory to the test with the Long Wheel Base Isuzu Citation V6. They invaded our shores five years ago and they're definitely here to stay, if popularity is anything to go by. We do time with the Jeep Cherokee 4.0 Sport, to see what the fuss is about. Land Rover's Freelander is the hottest thing on the block. But does it stand up to all the hype and branding? Andy Blois finds out. Want to save £14,000 on the cost of a Range Rover HSE? Jake Barton tries out Jeep’s Grand Cherokee Orvis as a viable alternative. Can you compete successfully at Le Mans in a diesel Frontera Estate? Bob Maclaren did and claimed outright victory. Intrigued? Read on…. Double cabs have proved immensely popular in many countries around the world. Finally Mitsubishi have responded to customer demand and introduced a UK specification five-door version of their highly acclaimed L200 pick-up. Bob Maclaren has been trying it out. It's new, it's small and the one we had was purple. Intrigued? Bob Maclaren explains. Bob Maclaren recently travel to the Nurburgring to test the new Grand Vitara 2.5 V6. No such luck for Jake Barton. He's stuck in Suffolk with the old Vitara diesel, albeit the intercooled turbo version David Lane looks back on ten years of life with ‘Baby’, the constant modification and development of a vehicle to suit the owners changing requirements. No we don't think the new Isuzu Trooper is a pile of poo. We just felt we couldn't call the article Super Trooper like everyone else! Bob Maclaren has been drooling over the Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.9 LX for a week and aggravating other road users. We take a look a Bob Close's new T1 Toyota Colorado racer and cast an eye over the UK off road motorsport scene. Right then. A practical £20,000 turbo diesel is order of the day. What have you got to choose from? We put SsangYong's new turbo diesel Musso against a couple of well proven competitors in our Group Test. Jake Barton drives the Subaru Forester and finds a car which is either suffering an identity crisis or is setting a new standard for multi-purpose vehicles. Is the latest craze of jacked up four-wheel drive estate cars enough to meet the needs of the average 4x4 owner? Bob Maclaren been driving Volvo’s V70 XC to see if it is a viable alternative to proper off-roaders. Continuing our look at cross-country four-wheel drive estate cars, we’ve spent time with Subaru’s Legacy Outback. Is it a useful tool or an old nail? The Isuzu Trooper has been the working vehicle choice of many people for many years. How well does it fare today in a fiercely competitive sector of the market? Andy Blois has been finding out. First Impressions: Suzuki Grand Vitara There is a new kid on the block in the SUV sector - Suzuki's new Grand Vitara. Bob Maclaren has been out to snowy Germany for the European launch to find out what all the fuss is about. The Range Rover is perceived to be the King of Off-Roaders. Does the reality live up to the legend? Bob Maclaren has been driving a 4.0 SE to find out... It drove around the world and into the record books. We drove it around Luton and pronounced judgement. Andy Blois takes the driving seat in the World Challenge Frontera for a World Off Road exclusive. Overshadowed by it's larger, costlier and over-manicured sisters the 2.5TD GLX SWB Shogun is a competent little performer. We've spent time driving the base model to see how it stacks up. The Jeep Wrangler can trace its roots back further than the Boston Tea Party. Probably. We spend time with its latest incarnation, the coil sprung top-of-the-range Sahara 4.0 litre to see what all the fuss is about. First Impressions: Land Rover Freelander In association with International Off Roader magazine, we bring you a first look at the 4x4 everyone's been talking about; the new baby Land Rover - The Freelander. In association with International Off Roader magazine, we take a longer look at SsangYong's latest offering, the Korando. Not to everyone's taste perhaps, but it still has much to offer. Don't judge a book by its cover You've no doubt seen a SsangYong Musso on the road somewhere, but like us you probably knew very little about them. Well we've just spent a week with their fire breathing GX220. 1997 World Off Road Vehicle of the Year To mark our first birthday, the World Off Road team bring you the low-down on the cars we tested during 1997, our likes and dislikes, the ones we want and the ones we don’t want. We'd seen Shoguns do their stuff on the Paris-Dakar year after year. We'd seen them at horse events. But we'd never experienced one for any real length of time. We have now. Buckle up, there's a beast on the loose. We put Ford's latest offering, the Explorer, through its paces to see how the worlds best selling 4x4 fares in the English countryside. There seems to be a lot of excitement at the moment surrounding compact 4x4s such as the Freelander and CR-V. There is one compact 4x4 however that seems to have been overlooked. Having experienced a Sportrak at first hand for some time, Bob Maclaren spends time with its elder brother, the Fourtrak, to see how it fares. A week's excursion to the Scottish Highlands provided the ideal opportunity to put the turbo diesel Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo through its paces. Continuing our series of vehicle reviews, we put a Land Rover Discovery Tdi ES Auto through its paces. First Impressions: SsangYong Korando In association with International Off Roader magazine, Richard Howell-Thomas offers his first impressions of the new SsangYong Korando. In association with International Off Roader magazine we bring you the first impressions of Daihatsu's new Terios at it's official launch in southern Ireland. Why compromise when you can have it all? We give you the low down on a very special Ford Explorer from California. Once a HiLux always a HiLux? Nope, some grow up different to others. Read the amazing story behind a special Toyota. There are 4x4s and then there are 4x4s. We take a look at the mother of them all. A review of a kit car built for specifically for the rough stuff. A review of our Sportrak Midnight. |
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