About 4x4s

This past Saturday we and 7 other 4×4 vehicles, did a 4×4 Off-Road Training course at Hennops Off Road Trail, presented by Tim Skelton from SA Adventure. Tim is a great instructor and guide, and he has a wealth of experience of travelling into and through Africa.

Here is a slideshow of the photos taken on the day.

If you participated in Saturday’s training, and would like to download copies of your photos, you can find them here

I strongly recommend this training to anyone who owns a 4×4. Not only is it exciting, as you learn what your vehicle can actually do off-road, it’s also a day of fun in the sun!

And there’s the added bonus, of course: You get a discount on your 4×4 insurance when you have completed an approved 4×4 off-road driving course, such as this.

It’s been a while since I posted something for our off-road readers, so here’s another of our “How to” 4×4 tips!

Have fun out there, and remember: look after our environment!

Courtesy of www.4xforum.com

A 4×4 vehicle usually has quite a few accessories which you can install to make them more effective and do better on off-road tracks. One of the popular accessories to be included are snorkels.  There are quite a few reasons why some people have their vehicles fitted with a snorkel. Below are some of the most important reasons why snorkels are fondly fitted to 4×4 vehicles.

The first reason is that snorkels actually help to cool down your engine. Engines usually perform best when they are surrounded with cool air. Most of the vehicles these days have engines that suck hot air from underneath the bonnet, which in turn provides a warm environment to your engine. With the installation of a snorkel, the hot air is kept away from the engine bay and as a result your engine gets only cool and ambient air. There have been numerous tests done to prove that a cool engine will perform better and it has also been known to help to reduce fuel consumption.

Another reason is that snorkels help to circulate cleaner air to your engine. It has been mentioned above that most of the vehicle designs these days have engines that suck air right from underneath the bonnet or sometimes can also suck air from under the front fenders. The location where air is sucked is also prone to dust build up, especially when travelling on to gravel roads. Snorkels can help by sucking the air from above so that no air can be sucked from the engine bay or underneath the fenders. This however is only effective when there is not much dust in the air. When you do find yourself driving under very dusty conditions, make sure to turn the snorkel intake pointing backwards.

Probably the most misunderstood concept about snorkels is that they can turn your vehicle into submarines. In the real world, this is not how snorkels work. There is a lot of damage that can be done to your vehicle when submerged underwater; that’s why it is advisable to avoid water as much as possible. Snorkels provide valuable protection to your vehicles by not allowing water to be sucked into your engine. When you do decide to take your vehicles underwater, you have to make sure that all of the joints that are running along the pipes are tightly sealed and that the drainage holes in the airbox have been completely blanked off.

One of the most common questions about snorkels is: What would happen when rain water gets into the snorkel?
Snorkels have been designed to break up any rain water or water droplets before they get returned to the snorkel. Once this happens, water can easily run off to the drainage slots. If you are expecting to go up against heavy rains or submerging in deep puddles of water, then it might be a good idea to turn the head around.

Among all of the brand manufacturers that produce great snorkels, Safari Snorkel and TJM Airtec Snorkels are usually favourite choices. Whichever brand you choose however, you just have to make sure that the pipes are routed to the airbox and check if there are any restrictions to the airflow in any way.

There have been a lot of discussions about why these snorkels are so expensive when they should only cost you a few hundred rand. To answer this query, you have to consider the immense effort and materials used in setting this up.

Source: 4x4 Vehicles

Thanks to our government and the proposed new carbon emissions tax, that new 4×4 double cab is going to cost you even more.  Up to R20,000 more!

Here’s the latest on governments’ plan to increase their revenue by taxing us again and again.

“Treasury said on Tuesday that it has always intended to include double cab vehicles in the first phase of the implementation of the CO2 vehicle emissions tax. This is in line with the intent of the VAT Act and the fact that double cabs are mainly used as passenger vehicles.

“Including double cabs in the CO2 vehicle emissions tax net is also in line with the original intent of this proposed tax: the taxation high engine capacity vehicles to discourage the use of vehicles are not fuel efficient and encourage the shift to the more fuel efficient ones,” the Treasury said.”

As if the motor industry wasn’t under enough pressure!  It has barely recovered from the recession, which saw hundreds of dealers closing their doors, leaving thousands of people unemployed.

The motor industry argues that double cabs are classified as light commercial vehicles, and should therefore be excluded from the Carbon (CO2) Emissions Tax.

But Treasury insists that the since single cabs and double cabs have similar engine sizes, they should be treated the same when it comes to the Carbon Emissions Tax.

Let’s face it our environment is precious and it’s vitally important that we look after it.  If the funds generated by this carbon emissions tax were to be used to fund sustainable energy such as wind power generation, I would have no problem with that. I may be cynical, but it is my opinion that this is merely an attempt by government to make up for the taxes that they have lost in other areas due to the recession and the worldwide economic downturn.

There’s not much that one can do, I guess. If you want the double cab it is going to cost you more from September. Maybe it’s a good time to buy now?

Related articles by Zemanta

• New car emissions dropped 5% (bemoreeco.com)
• Diesel car sales overtake petrol for first time in UK (guardian.co.uk)

Prado TX

In recent months Toyota have launched a downscaled version of the Prado – the TX version.  The differences between the VX and TX models are mainly in the specs.

Mechanically, both models are powered either by a 24-valve 4.0-litre V6 petrol or a 3.0-litre 4 cylinder turbo diesel and  have a 5 speed automatic transmission.

It comes with Brake Assist, Electronic Brake force Distribution (EBD), Vehicle Stability Control (VSC), Hill-start Control and Downhill Assist. Obviously it comes with driver and passenger front airbags, as well as driver knee airbag and side airbags. There are also full length curtain side airbags for all three rows of seats.

The difference in price is about R90’000.  In my opinion, when you’re spending close on R600’000 on a vehicle anyway, you might as well go all the way.  What do you think? Is the cheaper version worth the saving?

Our clients seem to feel that it’s best to go all the way, if you can afford it, of course.  In the past week alone we have insured 2 new Prado VX’s, and both owners reckon they considered the TX but eventually decided on the VX. When it comes to 4×4 insurance, it makes sense to get the best cover available, whether you have a VX or a TX, get proper 4×4 insurance from us.