Thread: 4x4 Australia best 4x4

There's a huge thread on this somewhere. However, I particularly liked the bit about the Defender towing the non-starting Jeep out. Just a shame it wasn't the Toyota.

Did the Defender get the 2nd place?

And was it for a particular category?

Xav

Originally Posted by Reads90

Well got the lastest Aussie 4x4 and the rangie sport is the best 4x4 in Australia and the defender is number 2 with the RR Vouge number 4
The Disco was not tested.
Not bad to have 3 trucks in the top 5 in a country where most people tell you Land Rovers are crap

Those that say Land Rovers are crap, usually own asian vehicles
Oh, and two young to remember the Land Rovers in the early fifties.

Land Rovers are the sort of 4x4 others try to mimic, their the only choice for me, I was once invited on a 4x4 run with the toymota club over 15 yrs ago and after my series 2 got through the major bog hole in one go with no help, she just went chug a chuga chuga in one side and out the other, the toymotas were all bogged, v8 screaming whinching and snatching, I was politely asked to not come back with my $1,000 4x4. They were embarrased at not being successfull in their $40,000 plus 4x4s. I have never done a run with that club since.
Jealousy is a curse.

Originally Posted by timaus13

Land Rovers are the sort of 4x4 others try to mimic, their the only choice for me, I was once invited on a 4x4 run with the toymota club over 15 yrs ago and after my series 2 got through the major bog hole in one go with no help, she just went chug a chuga chuga in one side and out the other, the toymotas were all bogged, v8 screaming whinching and snatching, I was politely asked to not come back with my $1,000 4x4. They were embarrased at not being successfull in their $40,000 plus 4x4s. I have never done a run with that club since.
Jealousy is a curse.

Mate, you get that
The Land Rover guys put their vehicles through extensive tests.
The other ask a few ladies if they would be happy to take the kids to school in it, then hit it hard with the "Ugly" stick, and off to production it goes.

I wonder if the asians test drive there "er..SUV's" in any hard yakka?
I have only ever seen them in BMW's and rice rockets

Originally Posted by RonMcGr

<snip>

I wonder if the asians test drive there "er..SUV's" in any hard yakka?
<snip>

I remember reading in the mid eighties the local motor scriblers being flown to Japan for the latest unveiling from Daihatsu, and being driven around the test track.................in a bus !

Each vehicle was assigned one engineer with two Aussies, and they reckoned the poor engineers eyes nearly popped out of their heads and their hands couldn't keep up with their notations when the Aussie motor noters turned hard left off the track and bush bashed to see how they would really work.

Another time, 'IIRC it was the last of the 60 series wagons, were launched in the Daintree with all the development engineers from Japan present.
Again, they were shocked to see the conditions we expected vehicles to be used in, and finally understood why the Aussie Toyota engineers insisted on long travel, relatively soft leafies, at least according to the quote from their chief engineer.
I think they kept sending Japan sets of OME and Ultimate suspensions trying to get through to them what was needed our here.

To be fair though, I think the Jap 4WD's generally are pretty good also. The one that really impressed me was the Pajero, particularly the TD over the petrol. We run the LC100 at work and its a workhorse and performs well though will be replaced with a TDV8 Troopy shortly, the hiliux as a workhorse is even better when loaded beyond the max and bashed through the bush, likewise the 1Hz LC78 Troopy. We had some patrols in 4500 petrol and 3.0TD time bomb specs and likewise they were really liked. All of these vehicles have been worked hard... very hard.

Still my choice is LandRover, but the JapCrap isn't too shabby.

Originally Posted by RonMcGr

Mate, you get that
The Land Rover guys put their vehicles through extensive tests.
The other ask a few ladies if they would be happy to take the kids to school in it, then hit it hard with the "Ugly" stick, and off to production it goes.

I wonder if the asians test drive there "er..SUV's" in any hard yakka?
I have only ever seen them in BMW's and rice rockets

I understand Toyota has a pretty decent testing ground in Japan. Shame they don't come out here and "test" that pitiful excuse for an air conditioner, and likewise their cooling systems which overheat when climbing with a trailer on - and thats the relatively new trucks too.