Feature In June 2019 GETAWAY Magazine
He simply nods, without saying anything. Hennie begins photographing the impressive scene in front of us. One other vehicle saunters by slowly and the driver gives a thumbs up to me through the window. For perhaps half an hour we absorb this beautiful African scene; 15 hippos lazing the daylight hours away, the elephants, playing and splashing, the sparkle of water flowing off their wrinkled, glistening black bodies. And then, for no apparent reason, we watch this tranquil scene turn to mayhem. In a moment, the elephants collectively and inexplicably charge out of the water trumpeting. A hell of a din. All of them seem to have panicked at the same time. They turn the waters into seething white spray, and over the roar of heavy legs galloping through shallow water we hear shrieks and bellows. Despite the elephants having gone, we can still hear a commotion of branches cracking and distant shrieks of utter panic as those still wet bodies continue lumbering en masse through the woodlands. Hennie and I spend the rest of the day conjecturing as to what set the elephants off on such a dramatic stampede.
The brake pedal is firm and results inquick stopping. Land Rovers are known for off-road prowess. The LR2 has no low-range gearing usually needed for tough off-road use, but it has asophisticated all-wheel drive setup and a Terrain Response systemcontrolled by a console switch. The system confidently alterspowertrain and suspension calibrations to accommodate normaldriving, grass, gravel, snow, mud, ruts and sand. The all-wheel drive actually works mainly in front-drive modewith just a small amount of power sent to the rear wheels duringnormal driving conditions -- until more rear-wheel power is needed. Anti-lock brakes, traction/anti-skid control with rolloversensors and hill-descent control are standard. So are a large numberof comfort, convenience and safety items, which include front sideair bags and curtain side air bags with rollover deployment. 700 package with such items asheated front seats and a heated windshield. 3,500 technologypackage has a navigation system, upscale sound system, satelliteradio, rear radio controls and a wireless cell-phone link.
Axles are longer than in "series" Land-Rovers, with 2脳 Salisbury differentials, and welded, non-removable steering swivel housings. Standard tyres are 9.00"脳16" on 6.5"脳16" wheels. The wheels have six wheel studs, not five as in other Land-Rovers. The Land-Rover 101 and Rubery Owen powered trailer make a six wheel drive combination. The trailer has a Land-Rover axle complete with differential. The 101 uses the LT95 transmission with full time four wheel drive and centre differential as found in the original Range Rover. Although it shares the same axis as the main gearbox output shaft, the trailer PTO is instead driven by the (constant mesh) low-speed cog on the transfer case intermediate shaft. In this way it revolves at same speed as the 4x4's propeller shafts in both low-ratio and high-ratio. A second PTO unit can be fitted below the LT95 to drive the optional Nokken winch (see later). The tow point is mounted in the centre of the 101's rear chassis cross member.
But if you plan on keeping your Audi another 100,000 miles, or you plan to pass it on to a kid or friend or anyone you care about, a different approach is probably called for. At Robison Service, we do a lot of work for enthusiasts - people who ask a lot of their cars and really care about and for them. Over time we鈥檝e learned that the best repairs are the ones that last. Often that means doing more work, not less, when tackling a big job. Anytime we do a big job, we ask ourselves, 鈥淲hat else is going to give trouble soon,鈥?and we address those items while the car is apart and it鈥檚 easy. After all, it鈥檚 always smarter to spend two hundred dollars today, if it saves six hundred dollars next year. If you simply slap a timing belt onto a 100,000-mile Audi you can be assured that the job will not last another 100,000 miles.
Land Rover has equipped the Defender鈥檚 X variant with a four-spoke multi-function steering wheel and a 12.3-inch instrument cluster, head-up display, a new 10-inch Pivi Pro touchscreen with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, and a 700W Meridian sound system. This infotainment unit can receive OTA (over the air) updates with 14 individual modules, doing away with the need to visit a service center for software updates. All that power is backed by an AWD system with air suspension, terrain response system and active differentials with torque vectoring to take on the stickiest of terrains. Just like a Defender is meant to. The 2020 Land Rover Defender is expected to be showcased at the 2020 Delhi Auto Expo followed by launch later that year. It has been spied testing in India earlier this year and is listed on Land Rover鈥檚 Indian website as well. When launched, it will be an alternative to the new, petrol-only Jeep Wrangler.
