Hi All
New to the website - so I am not sure if this is the place for this post.
Just bought and read the Overlander 4wd Mag Dec 2011 to have a look at their 4wd of the year article. After reading it and watching the video I can't help but think this mag is no better than 4wd Monthly in that, IMHO, it is a marketing arm of Toyota.
4 out of the 8 judges drive Toyota's.
During the testing on the video I noticed the following:
1) On the sand hill climb the Pajero did it without fuss first time, after the track had been churned up a bit. The Prado got bogged. Apparently due to driver error?
2) On the suspension test the Prado cocked a wheel up. The Pajero surprised all keeping all four on the ground - as admitted on the vid.
3) They compared "value" of the Paj VRX against a GLX Prado. Why not compare the GLX Paj against the GLX Prado - keeping the comparison the same? Maybe they didn't want to highlight the $8-10K price difference (well thats what it was when I bought my NT in 2010)
Despite the above they ranked the Paj way less than the Prado??? Maybe I am biased as I own a Paj, but they give the Prado 4 stars for 4wd ability, the Paj only got 3? If the Prado is so much better why did it need two attemps to cross a simple sand dune? If it is so much better, why did its suspension not hold all four wheels on the ground as the Paj did? To blame driver error is a cop out as all modern vehicles are near idiot proof with their electronic gizmos.
They completely bagged the Jeep - yet interestingly in the video it was the Jeep owner who praised the ability of the Pajero off road. I also wondered why they did not have any Jeep Rubicon's in the test. They retail around the same price as the FJ Cruiser, same target market. I see more of the Jeep's on the road up here than I do the FJ's. So why not include this vehicle in the test also? Or would the Jeep Rubicon show up the FJ, which would not be good as Jeep Rubicon is the FJ's main competitor?
The other thing that surprised me is that they only gave the Defender 2.5 stars out of five for offroad ability?? I've seen these things (in stock form) eat up the worst of Nagala rocks on Fraser Island when other makes struggled.
What do other people think? Am I biased or has the magazine been influenced too much by it's "sponsors"?
New to the website - so I am not sure if this is the place for this post.
Just bought and read the Overlander 4wd Mag Dec 2011 to have a look at their 4wd of the year article. After reading it and watching the video I can't help but think this mag is no better than 4wd Monthly in that, IMHO, it is a marketing arm of Toyota.
4 out of the 8 judges drive Toyota's.
During the testing on the video I noticed the following:
1) On the sand hill climb the Pajero did it without fuss first time, after the track had been churned up a bit. The Prado got bogged. Apparently due to driver error?
2) On the suspension test the Prado cocked a wheel up. The Pajero surprised all keeping all four on the ground - as admitted on the vid.
3) They compared "value" of the Paj VRX against a GLX Prado. Why not compare the GLX Paj against the GLX Prado - keeping the comparison the same? Maybe they didn't want to highlight the $8-10K price difference (well thats what it was when I bought my NT in 2010)
Despite the above they ranked the Paj way less than the Prado??? Maybe I am biased as I own a Paj, but they give the Prado 4 stars for 4wd ability, the Paj only got 3? If the Prado is so much better why did it need two attemps to cross a simple sand dune? If it is so much better, why did its suspension not hold all four wheels on the ground as the Paj did? To blame driver error is a cop out as all modern vehicles are near idiot proof with their electronic gizmos.
They completely bagged the Jeep - yet interestingly in the video it was the Jeep owner who praised the ability of the Pajero off road. I also wondered why they did not have any Jeep Rubicon's in the test. They retail around the same price as the FJ Cruiser, same target market. I see more of the Jeep's on the road up here than I do the FJ's. So why not include this vehicle in the test also? Or would the Jeep Rubicon show up the FJ, which would not be good as Jeep Rubicon is the FJ's main competitor?
The other thing that surprised me is that they only gave the Defender 2.5 stars out of five for offroad ability?? I've seen these things (in stock form) eat up the worst of Nagala rocks on Fraser Island when other makes struggled.
What do other people think? Am I biased or has the magazine been influenced too much by it's "sponsors"?
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