On location, hunting for dinosaurs! While waiting for a massive Sauropod to wander across the barren...
Vehicle Tests > 4WD Comparison - Bush Icons At War
4WD Comparison - Bush Icons At War
Issue: January 2009
Words by Fraser Stronach Photos by Phil Cooper
Land Rover and Toyota define the very essence of 4WD but take a different approach to building the definitive family 4WD. So who's heading in the right direction?
Late November, less than 150km from Sydney, and it's snowing. I thought that we were experiencing 'Global Warming'. This is more like the New Ice Age.
At least it's no longer raining as it has been since we kicked off around 6am this morning. The farmers out this way in the NSW Central Tablelands may appreciate the rain but it's not what we want right now. And any minute the snow could make way for more rain.
Most of the 4WD tracks have already turned into muddy skating rinks. We may have two of the most capable showroom-standard family 4WDs on the planet but that counts for nothing as their high-speed road tyres lose the fight against the mud.
Right now I'm in the LandCruiser 200 Series and despite my best efforts with the wheel, throttle and brake I'm a mere spectator as the big Toyota slides down a muddy incline. Behind me in the Disco 3, Nikolic isn't fairing any better. At least he's a safe distance behind so our two icons of the bush won't be kissing bumpers.
read on below advertisement
The track, with a surface that looked more gravel and rocks than mud, seemed innocent enough and had been up until this point. But all that changed quickly and unexpectedly. I called him on the UHF radio but it was too late.
This episode could have ended in disaster, with vehicle damage or worse. Or we could have been stuck at the bottom of the hill until further notice with little hope of driving back out.
As it turned out the 4WD gods were on our side today. What looked like an escape route turned out to be one.
Dollar Dazzlers
The Toyota I'm driving is the least expensive diesel 200 but it still costs $81,328. Add the $2648 KDSS suspension that every 200 bar the GXL diesel has as standard, but is fitted to our tester, and you are looking at $83,976.
Is the KDSS worth the money? Well, we don't really know as we have never driven a non-KDSS 200 but we suspect it is, especially off road. That's just the way that Toyota supplies its test vehicles.
Once you cough up for all the extra on road costs, and depending on what state you live in, I guess you wouldn't have too much ice-cream money, if any, left after $90,000.
next page »
Words by Fraser Stronach Photos by Phil Cooper
Land Rover and Toyota define the very essence of 4WD but take a different approach to building the definitive family 4WD. So who's heading in the right direction?
Late November, less than 150km from Sydney, and it's snowing. I thought that we were experiencing 'Global Warming'. This is more like the New Ice Age.
At least it's no longer raining as it has been since we kicked off around 6am this morning. The farmers out this way in the NSW Central Tablelands may appreciate the rain but it's not what we want right now. And any minute the snow could make way for more rain.
Most of the 4WD tracks have already turned into muddy skating rinks. We may have two of the most capable showroom-standard family 4WDs on the planet but that counts for nothing as their high-speed road tyres lose the fight against the mud.
Right now I'm in the LandCruiser 200 Series and despite my best efforts with the wheel, throttle and brake I'm a mere spectator as the big Toyota slides down a muddy incline. Behind me in the Disco 3, Nikolic isn't fairing any better. At least he's a safe distance behind so our two icons of the bush won't be kissing bumpers.
read on below advertisement
The track, with a surface that looked more gravel and rocks than mud, seemed innocent enough and had been up until this point. But all that changed quickly and unexpectedly. I called him on the UHF radio but it was too late.
This episode could have ended in disaster, with vehicle damage or worse. Or we could have been stuck at the bottom of the hill until further notice with little hope of driving back out.
As it turned out the 4WD gods were on our side today. What looked like an escape route turned out to be one.
Dollar Dazzlers
The Toyota I'm driving is the least expensive diesel 200 but it still costs $81,328. Add the $2648 KDSS suspension that every 200 bar the GXL diesel has as standard, but is fitted to our tester, and you are looking at $83,976.
Is the KDSS worth the money? Well, we don't really know as we have never driven a non-KDSS 200 but we suspect it is, especially off road. That's just the way that Toyota supplies its test vehicles.
Once you cough up for all the extra on road costs, and depending on what state you live in, I guess you wouldn't have too much ice-cream money, if any, left after $90,000.
next page »
