Out & About Autumn 2021

Out&About leisure

MOTORS

Get a grip – MAURICE HARDY says when it comes to dealing with difficult terrain, there are some decent four-wheel drives out there, but a 4x4 hybrid doesn’t cut it

W hile

wheels regain traction and then ease off while retaining grip. Hitting the brakes turns your vehicle into a two-tonne sled, yet hill descent control depends on pumping the brakes to slow the vehicle. It sounds great, but on the first vehicle to offer it widely, the Land Rover

gearboxes are the norm on many 4x4s and while it means that you never lose traction during a gear change, the correct approach is to select the correct gear for the conditions before entering the difficult terrain and then sticking to it. That doesn’t always mean the

and it’s worth bearing in mind that, while effective, it can be expensive to maintain. Haldex units need new fluids and filters on a regular basis and that’s often overlooked so check when viewing a second- hand 4x4, even the more car-oriented ones from the likes of Audi, Skoda and VW. True 4x4s with purely mechanical systems are now largely in the classic market and things like original Range Rovers in restored condition can cost more than the latest models. There’s huge demand, hence the stupendous prices, for the very last Defenders that will only retain their value as long as they are not used. If you are thinking about buying a 4x4, consider carefully how it will be used. For general, day-to- day assuredness, cars like the Kuga or VW Tiguan and their equivalents will suffice. The ability to green lane travel these days is severely restricted and realistically a soft-roader is all we need. But a 4x4 hybrid is not the answer, although a car from Citroen, Peugeot, or Vauxhall with their Grip Control technology gives a very good and cheap-to-run alternative that will match just about any soft-roader.

meteorologists neatly snip the

various quarters of the year into three-month lumps, we all know that winter is the longest period and summer often the shortest. So we hanker after the extremes, a convertible for the hot times and a 4x4 for the cold. It is possible to combine both with a classic Land Rover or Jeep, but the compromise is too great for either season. In the summer you bake because they are almost too slow and over-exposing, while in the winter staying warm has long been a no-win, particularly with Series and Defender Land Rovers and their notoriously inefficient heaters. With the arrival of hybrids and electric cars it appears our options may have expanded, but not really. Effective 4x4s for extreme surfaces, whether that’s rutted country, deep snow or just difficult conditions, need a mechanical link from front to back that electronics just can’t provide. Therefore, I detest hill descent control, the antithesis of safe steep slope descent. Believe it or not, when grip is lost on the descent the requirement is to accelerate gently until the

From that day on I’ve never really trusted electronics to do such a vital job and that’s why I like to have a proper 4x4 where there’s a physical link from front to back and preferably a low range gearbox

Freelander, the lesson not to rely on anything stronger than an electrical connection was learned on a by-way between Faccombe and Combe when the system decided the brakes were too hot and just cut out after about 800 yards, leaving me feeling as helpless as if I been swinging from the nearby gibbet. From that day on I’ve never really trusted electronics to do such a vital job and that’s why I like to have a proper 4x4 where there’s a physical link from front to back and preferably a low range gearbox. Automatic

lowest gear, rather the one that minimises engine revs because throttle happy means spinning wheels. Slow and gentle is the way to progress. automatic with four-wheel drive to replace our Galaxy MPV. The Kuga will give us the mobility we need for difficult roads. Even so, the Kuga uses the same Haldex technology as virtually all the other soft 4x4s, including Land Rover’s Freelander 2 and even the massive original Volvo XC90 (which mechanically was a Freelander underneath) That said, we’ve just ordered a Ford Kuga

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O&A AUTUMN 2021