4wd OTY VICTORY SHORT LIVED

**Slunnie** · 31st January 2008, 05:37 PM

Originally Posted by HangOver

The thing is did the LC200 meet the criteria set out or was the criteria set out to meet the LC200?

What was the criteria and what was the scores?

The only change that has been made over the years in the Overlander 4WDOTY judging criteria has been the addition of the "Overlander factor" which relates to the offroad ability of the vehicles. Apart from that I don't think it has changed much if at all over the last lot of years.

1. Value for money
2. Soundness of engineering
3. Fulfilment of intended function
4. Progressiveness of design
5. Overlander factor

The Overlander factor is about bush practiality of the vehicle such as 4Wd ability, design robustness, touring range, load space, tyres, aftermarket kit etc. Its also where most people seem to do their evaluation of whats a good 4WD on here, but I tend to think that the award is probably also more geared towards being a manufacturers award judging by the criteria rather than a drivers award which is based around the Overlander factor. Perhaps its a bit like F1 where you have the constructors championship and the drivers championship. One of the things that Mat said during his presentation though, was that every vehicle that was in contention was a great vehicle and it needs to be remembered that they were looking at the best group - a bit like the movie Top Gun.... the best of the best.

Dunno re the scores.

**Slunnie** · 31st January 2008, 05:42 PM

Originally Posted by Tank

Definitely not "all of a sudden", being a crap mag has nothing to do with the 4WDOTY, couldn't care less, IMO the Land Rovers are a better vehicle than the Toyo's.
The first third of the mag is devoted to toy 4wd's, most of which will never be available in Australia, totally irrelevant.
Their Tech articles are not only wrong and misleading, they border on being dangerous and don't ever point that out to them or you will be blocked on their emails. e.g. according to just one article you should use a 3 arm puller to remove the vibtation damper/front pulley from the front of the crankshaft, pity the poor buggers that pulled the outer ring off or loosened it enough to fall off while driving.
Dangerous and incorrect winching techniques, and a Readers Letters of 1 page. Road tests of vehicles not available here and lousy road tests of vehicles that are available, yes definitely a Crap Magazine, Regards Frank.

I tend to think that the big 3 4WD mags all have similar problems, but I still enjoy the read of them all and still learn a bit from them.

**rmp** · 3rd February 2008, 12:00 AM

I have to laugh when reading this thread! Diehard brand loyalists are the same; whenever an 'opposition' brand wins it there's whining like a jet engine and claims of advertising bias etc etc. Didn't hear any complaints here when the D3 and RRS took out the awards in recent times. Fact is whatever vehicle wins it will generate jealousy from those that are into other brands. That's fine, but the accusations of bias, bribing etc? There's no substance or fact behind those remarks.

Also, if you're going to comment on an article, read it entirely. We adjusted the Defender's tyre pressures and that improved the ride. Still, the car can take a payload of 1009kg and for that you need stiff springs.

Fact is the LC200 is a bloody good vehicle. Watch one offroad and you'll see what I mean. All the finalists are good otherwise they wouldn't be finalists.

And every magazine has different criteria for the test, which is why the results are different. Overlander, for example, excludes anything without a full-size spare. 4X4 Australia does not. We would have had a RRS TDV8 in our 4WDOTY if it had a proper spare, and I suspect it would have done rather better than the Vogue.

Each year OL has a 'best of' awards, in the September issue. The 4WDOTY award isn't that, it's specifically for new releases.

If any of you have constructive criticism (or even praise) for Overlander then please post it all over on the mag's website under Current Issue.

Yes, I own a Defender, other judges owned other Land Rovers or Toyotas or whatever, but you've got to put all that behind you and focus on the criteria.

**hiline** · 3rd February 2008, 12:08 AM

well said RMP

i was thinking the same thing after reading through the whole thread

so Toyota won big deal

but one thing i will add christ they are ugly

**rmp** · 3rd February 2008, 12:35 AM

Originally Posted by hiline

well said RMP

i was thinking the same thing after reading through the whole thread

so Toyota won big deal

but one thing i will add christ they are ugly

No denying that. Fortunately for Toyota, there is no criteria for "Beauty" in 4WDOTY.

**Slunnie** · 3rd February 2008, 12:47 AM

I think the LC200 looks a lot worse in photos than what it does in the flesh. Mind you, I think that about most vehicles, including my beloved D2 when it was released.

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