Wow, lots of interesting overlandy type stuff happening all at once here. Lets start with the newest and work our way down.
The new Land Rover Discovery has been announced and its clear from the get go that Land Rover is serious about maintaining its Brand Loyalty by creating a car that’s handsome,modern and instantly recognizable as a serious adventure machine. Wait, not that, the other thing; They want it to look like every other crossover.
Though it looks to have been engineered with serious capability it does have me a little worried for the brand.
What are your thoughts?
Staying with Land Rover, the Discovery Sport - The one that is supposed to look like a crossover - got an interesting off road review from automobilemag
Sounds like the same old story - impressive except for the tires. Seriously Land Rover, can you NOT make a vehicle with enormous wheels?
If it seems like I’m ragging on Land Rover it’s only because it’s true. Look I have respect for Land Rover; their history is legend, their vehicles produce the goods on and off-road and their users are legit nuts and I love that...but this latest crop sure has me worried for the forthcoming Defender.
Jeep is back with an interesting car that, unlike the Discovery, looks WAY better than its predecessor and will probably perform better off road too.
No, it’s not wrangler but it’s an attractive, inexpensive, reasonably capable little crossover that appears to be able to hold its own on anything up to a poorly maintained forest service road. Still, as far as I can tell, it exists solely to upsell features to potential Renegade buyers who can’t (or won’t) buy a Cherokee and not much else. Still, it has the best crawl ratio of any single speed system, decent angles, and armor and it should accept a simple lift for meatier tires. Should be a good little adventure machine for those not interested in pushing the limits of travel.
Going to domestics, the #6 finisher in the best overland 2016 gathering, The Chevy Colorado Z71 Duramax was recently tested out by ExPo’s Chris Cordes and it appears to have made a fairly convincing show of itself.
There were a few complaints and I’m frankly staggered to find out that there is no sump guard on a $40,000 off road package truck, but all in all it seems to fit the bill for overlanding nicely. I stand by what I discovered in my research, that it’s not quite Tacoma level for off-road prowess but it did better than I thought.
I am a little shocked with the mileage, 16 mpg in low range? When Vicarious did the Maze he averaged not much worse than that in his 2nd gen Tacoma. Given the price premium of the diesel its a little bit of a let down. Its still better than most though so I can’t complaint too much. What do you think? Would you consider one as an overland vehicle?
Speaking of better than I thought, check this out!
Seriously, a sedan. Well played sir. And if you want to ramp up you appetite for small vehicle destruction, you really need to check out this YouTube Channel. Its impressive to say the least.
Look, for me it’s all about the right tool for the job, but I love, LOVE people who get the most out of the least. Good on ya mate, keep after it!
Well that’s it, let me know what you think or what I’ve missed. Thanks for being amazing you guys.