Thread: 4wd Action on D2 TD5

I am in no way affilliated with this magazine but here is a picture of the first issues introduction. (sorry for the pic but you should get the jist)

It sounds promising for those that want something to read but are fed up with the other toilet paper grade publications.

ok..... in the uploading process it has shrunk the image down and compressed it, sorry!

Just go to a newsagency and flick through the old fashioned way....

Originally Posted by mattyg

ok..... in the uploading process it has shrunk the image down and compressed it, sorry!

Just go to a newsagency and flick through the old fashioned way....

Posting pics on this forum is a dark art. I struggle with it at times.

Originally Posted by Tank

Basil, if you look in the top left hand corner there is a shot of the front end, Phil mentioned that he had heard of problems with bushes in the front end, with comments underneath from 4wdaction, so there is 2 items they picked from the interview, Regards Frank.

what i told 4wdaction was there was issues with the D3 (controll arm bushes)( and there were aftermarket superpro bushes available), but i wasnt aware of anything relating to the D4 yet. dont recall saying anything about servicability??
and for the ''only modle ide buy again'',,,slightly out of context, it was yes to a D4 again as it suits my current situation. they made it sound like the previous LR's ide owned didnt cut the mustard..not the case.

the negitaves they picked were not really worth a mention, but hey, where would they be if they actually told the general population how good the D4 actually is!

cheers phil

Being new to Oz and the 4WD stuff over here I've bought the last 3 copies of this magazine (also handy because it came with 'free' copies of the Camper Trailer mag and we're interested in one of those) just to try and learn something about the differences & requirements for travel / making the most of the car once it arrives. It's been useful for that.

OK, I can see that the vast majority of 4WD's over here are Japanese, so it's no surprise that they cater for and promote these vehicles over anything else. I've no doubt they're as capable of performing the same function as a LR product and the vast majority of the marketplace is geared up to provide every aftermarket widget that your heart could ever desire so it's in their own interest to promote them over anything else, they're likely surviving on the advertisers revenue. Take into account that LR only manufactures ~150000 vehicles a year, whereas Nissan or Toyota probably do that many in a month so there's not exactly a huge incentive to promote anything LR.

The article about the D4 was interesting, as was the one about a Defender (Bruce Davis I think?) but even taking out the 'emotion' of being a LR owner, they just seem to pick on the unreliability aspect and the 'having to modify it to make it capable / reliable etc'. That's horse**** IMO, out of the box the LR range is one of the most capable out there, if not the most capable out there. and as for unreliability, I've used the Jap 'utes' back home at work and found them to be just as bad, in some cases worse than the LR's we used to run as well.

I guess Land Rover's are also seen as a bit of a lifestyle thing now, they've gone far more upmarket with the D4 range upwards, even the Defender in some cases so knocking them down in the mag is an easy thing to do, the "look at how much money you've spent to buy it and it wont climb this rock face, unlike the big ugly Patrol / Cruiser on the next page" . Difference being that the ultra modified Patrol / Cruiser on the next page has probably had as much money spent on it to give it the same capability even though it's not worth anywhere near as much as it's cost, but of course they conveniently forget to mention that as it's not really newsworthy. I'm damn certain from reading it though that the Patrols & Cruisers they worship have as many, if not more failings than Land Rovers. Engines blowing up seems to be a favourite and they mention suspension lifts causing issues as well, so all is not rosy in the Japanese garden, just as it isn't in the LR garden.

Suffice to say when my subscription copies of LRO magazine arrived last week, I was over the moon. You know it's wholly biased towards LR but they're also critical of them as well. The last few months have seen them doing articles on upgrading their own D3 and some decent bits on the RRS. The journalism content is also much higher and I'd not appreciated that until having the mags side by side. 4WD action is aimed at a different demographic / market and that's very clear to see. It's there to be flashy & generate sales by perhaps being inflammatory and in this case, as others have said, it's worked perfectly as we're all discussing it and I've typed out war & blummin' peace !

In future, if there's an article in it I want to read or a DVD I want to watch then I'll buy a copy (the Vic High Country DVD was a good one, enjoyed that). Other than that, I'll not bother. LRO's an easy one to subscribe to and the content always relevant and interesting, 4WD Action isn't on the same level by a long way.

Originally Posted by mattyg

I am in no way affilliated with this magazine but here is a picture of the first issues introduction. (sorry for the pic but you should get the jist)

It sounds promising for those that want something to read but are fed up with the other toilet paper grade publications.

I bought 3 DVD's made by the editor of this magazine. I was less than impressed with the tone of his discussion on the first Simpson Desert Crossing.

In the Simpson Desert special mag which came with the latest 4wd Action, Ruthy talks about fond memories of riding on the tray of his Dad's Landrover!

Next time I am in the newsagent I will have a quick speed read of this new mag..... I'll give him a second chance.