There was little sporty about the old Range Rover Sports

  
By Baraza JM
Hello,

As I was watching Top Gear, I came across a startling revelation of which I am sure you are unaware. It has to do with the Range Rover Sport. Apparently, Land Rover has managed to take the whole world for a ride since the chassis under the Sport actually belongs to a Land Rover Discovery.

The car weighs up to two tonnes, so there is nothing sporty about it. They had even stopped its production but, thankfully, have introduced the Range Rover Sport 2013. For the new car, the chassis is distinctly Range Rover, the technical wizardy on the machine mind-blowing, and the speed out of this world.

It is lighter than its predecessor, off-road it is a beast, and it is sleek to boot. I have run out of superlatives to describe it.

Question is, with such info, can buyers find any recourse for buying something that was not the original in terms of the previous models? How come you also did not know about this? What are your views on this?

Anonymous

Ahem... “how come I didn’t know about this”? That is one of the first things I knew about the Range Rover Sport: The use of the same double-chassis as the Land Rover Discovery, which then makes the vehicle very heavy.

The main purpose of that double-chassis was to give the Range Rover Sport its dual personality: The monocoque structure made it good on the road, better than the other Land Rover products, and meant to do battle against not-so-off-roadish, bahn-storming SUVs like the BMW X5 4.8iS (the X5M had not arrived yet), the Porsche Cayenne Turbo, and the Mercedes ML 55 AMG (and later ML63).

The semi-separate ladder frame chassis made it very capable off-road because, after all, it IS a Range Rover, and Range Rovers are supposed to be good off-road.

To qualify for the “Sport” label (and unsuccessfully try to chase Cayenne Turbos), a series of huge, mostly forced-induction engines were used. The supercharged version of the original Sport actually had to be limited to 225 km/h, otherwise the tyres would burst beyond that speed.

There is more than one way of doing things. And, someone recently sang: “We started from the bottom, now we are here...” The original Sport was a Sport because brute force was used to develop it in that direction (what else would you call the application of two chasses for versatility and supercharged V8s for performance if not “brute force”?)

Land Rover has since got more clever and is now engineering vehicles like a company that should be respected rather than using adaptation, sheer pluck, and a gung-ho attitude to arrive at solutions.
About Top Gear: That show is mostly entertainment. And puns. You should learn to separate the English from the consumer journalism.

Some of these people’s expressions are fact, some sarcasm, some satire, some tongue-in-cheek, and some of it is just plain nonsense.

When the world’s most respected motoring journalist decides to test the depth of a snow bank by diving head first into it, then you know you are dealing with something out of the ordinary, and which should be approached with caution.

Hi Baraza,
We own a family car — Toyata Vista (1800cc) VVTI. My brother has always insisted that we should always drive with the “overdrive on” and not off since it would “reduce fuel consumption” and it is much smoother.

I have always been told by friends that you only use overdrive when you need to overtake since it gives the car power to surge forward.

I am aware that when I am on OD, the ride is smooth and the car has power. When it is off, it sounds as if I am driving a manual car.

I need to know:

1. Does using overdrive economise on fuel?

2. Can you use it throughout or is it only for when you are overtaking?

3. Does this apply to all cars?

Nyambura.

Your brother is right and your friends are quack-like. And that is being unfair to quacks. Your friends are actually worse than quacks; yours is a case of some overly confident blind mice leading another hapless blind mouse.

1. Yes, using overdrive improves fuel economy.

2. It is advisable to use it throughout. And if you want to overtake really quickly, you can disengage it briefly during the manoeuvre, then re-engage it once you are done overtaking.

Like I said, your friends are automotive charlatans whose words cannot be relied on, given what they do not know about overdrive.

3. No. Some vehicles have overdrive as a stand-alone gear, typically among manual transmissions. The general arrangement is: gears 1-2-3-4-OD, where OD is overdrive and functions as 5th gear and should be treated as such.

In other cars, such as models fitted with contemporary automatic transmissions, overdrive is more of a “setting” than a gear. In mechanical terms, it IS a gear (or at least a system of gears) but it functions outside the gearbox and affects ALL the primary transmission ratios, giving lower overall engine speed for a given road speed for a given gear.

Earlier automatic transmissions had overdrive as a stand-alone gear. Your Vista has the overdrive as a “setting” type rather than a stand-alone type. I have driven a Vista quite a bit and, take it from me, just keep the overdrive ON.  

Hi Baraza,
I would like to purchase a family used vehicle but I am unable to decide which one. My budget is between Sh250,000 and Sh650,000, and prefer a car manufactured between 2000 and 2008.

Kindly advise me, especially on reliability, economy, safety, and availability of spares, which one to choose among Mitsubishi Galant, Honda Accord, Mitsubishi Lancer Cedia, and Honda CR-V
Ambrose.

May I just point out that yours is the widest budget I have seen in quite a while. From Sh250,000 to Sh650,000? That is quite a range.

For the vehicles you list, if the asking price tends towards Sh250,000, then reliability and safety are almost non-existent, and economy might suffer too. All the same, here goes:

1. Mitsubishi Galant: Reliability: Shaky, Economy: Fair, Safety: Good

2. Honda Accord: Reliability: Quite good, Economy: Very good, Safety: Good

3. Mitsubishi Lancer Cedia: Reliability: Unsatisfactory, Economy: Excellent, Safety: Fair.

4. Honda CRV: See “Honda Accord”.

Hallo Baraza,

Thank you for your insightful column.

1. When driving a vehicle with foreign registration plates in Kenya, what issues am I supposed to observe? I drove a friend’s car along Ngong Road towards the city centre recently and was stopped a record seven times at Prestige Plaza, Yaya, Serena Hotel area, at the GPO roundabout, near Hilton, at Jeevanjee and finally on University Way.

What could be the problem with driving such a vehicle?
2. Could you rate the Voxy and the Noah on a scale of 1-10

3. About the Mazda Demio, which you recently said is not a bad car, I love its handling, but not the sagging at the rear. It does not look too good with three adults in the back.

4. Finally, the Mazda is making a comeback to our roads, which is good, but what happened to the Opel? My boss drives the old Opel Astra and it stresses him a lot. Recently, at a car sale yard at the Ngong Racecourse, I saw an Opel Vectra. What is your take on it?

Brian.

1. Isn’t it obvious? A vehicle with foreign plates HAS to attract the attention of the plod. They have to be sure you have a permit for the vehicle. And insurance.

And your own identification (you could be an alien). The vehicle may be stolen; what better place to sell it than a country where it is unlikely to be traced? You may be a smuggler loaded to your eyeballs with contraband. In other words, you are not really one of us, and as such you cannot be trusted, until you are stopped and your credentials verified.

And in light of recent events at the Westgate Mall, there will be further cause for suspicion for people who look out of place, and that includes their motor vehicles

2. You might have to give some criteria on which to rate them because I do not want to be unfair to them. Remember, you are talking to someone who has driven a 2012 R35 Nissan GTR, a 2013 Range Rover Vogue Autobiography, more than 10 Infiniti vehicles (including the hybrid Q50 and the 5.6 litre Q70 AWD), and many others.

If those come close to 10, then the Noah and Co. are not even on the scale... or at least they fall below three. But they are good cars: For vehicles that cost Sh1 million or less, I give them a seven. For cars overall, I give them a two.

3. Methinks you may have been looking at a clapped out version. The one I drove — and sometimes still drive — belongs to a friend. It has a subtle body kit and sporty rims and looks lovely from all angles. I have also fitted three (relatively thin) adults at the back and I do not recall any unsightly sagging.

Trim the number of passengers in your Demio if it is costing you points in the looks department.

4. Give them time. I have also seen one or two around, and I am not sure if our local GM outlet will maintain them. I cannot ask them now because they are still a bit miffed that I said their pickup looks funny. If I find an Opel owner (a new model) I will ask them what plans they have for the car once things start to get menopausal.

Hi Baraza,
Is it true that if I park my car — a Toyota Hilux— slanting one side on the pavement, I might ruin my rims? Also, I have had to pull down my nice bullbars just because they are not the right brand. Is it true that I can be fined for having inexpensive bullbars? l need my bullbars when travelling up-country so as to manoeuvre through our non-existent, overgrown paths.

Why is our government so unfair?
Shiro Chege.

There is nothing wrong with parking your car “slanting one side on the pavement”. Parking does not ruin rims. How you park, on the other hand, does.

If you keep hitting the pavement, especially from the side, and the rim impacts the pavement, then we say you are “kerbing” the rims, and they sometimes either get chipped or bent out of shape. Damaged, in short.

I remember once upon a time bullbars were banned. Then someone said they were banned only for PSVs (some matatus had bullbars, which only served to instil extra ego in already overconfident drivers).

I see some tourist vans still have them, so maybe, just maybe, they are legal for non-PSVs. The law is unclear in my head and my copy of the Traffic Act is somewhere I cannot access now.

Hi Baraza,
I do not own car yet but plan to soon. Please compare the Honda Airwave, Mitsubishi Lancer Wagon, Nissan AD van, and Toyota Fielder in relation to road handling, fuel consumption ,and maintenance, especially for someone who does about three trips to western Kenya in a year. Oh, and please comment on the Toyota Axio and Belta.Douglas.

Well, here goes:

Road handling: From experience, the Corolla NZE 120 (of which the Fielder is an estate version) can get unpredictable when taken to the limit.

I reviewed one when my column was still new and I remember saying our test vehicle made two attempts on my life. There is little that is as sobering as having a car spin out on you when a curve (not a corner) is taken “at speed”. A later incident also revealed that braking power cannot be described as “excellent”. It is somewhere below that.

The Nissan AD van is another suspect. With beam axles, panhard rods, and drum brakes at the rear on lower spec models, this is hardly the formula for some “tight” handling. At least the 4WD version does have multilink rear suspension. At least they all have McPherson struts at the front. At least.... forget it, the Nissan AD is not a car for driving enthusiasts.

Neither is the Airwave, but at least it does have the proper running gear. And it is a Honda

But the van-like dimensions, especially the long wheel base, means understeer will become a concept you can explain in great detail to your friends because you will experience it in large quantities.

That leaves the Lancer. It is soft and wallowy in sedan version, but the estate versions seem to be have been lowered even before they left the factory. This reduces a fair amount of body roll (but it is still there), and the suspension bushes are like a week-old salad.

The car is, thus, less responsive than the Fielder (but better than the Airwave), it is “safe” (mild understeer), and it rides well.

Of the lot, if you want a maestro in ride and handling, instal a coil-over-suspension setup on the Lancer and maybe a front strut tower bar. Nothing could then touch it in the bends.
As it is, the Lancer feels like the best handling car, followed by the Corolla. The problem is that the Corolla could easily throw you off the road if you get too enthusiastic.

The Airwave is an MPV, so forget about handling. The Nissan AD.... just leave it. There is a reason why it is cheap.

Fuel Consumption: Honda Airwave: 5.6l/100 km (approximately 18kpl) on the combined cycle.

This is unlikely to happen because Kenyans drive badly, in bad conditions and fail to maintain their vehicles well. Expect almost double that (10l/100km) or slightly more than half of that in a worst-case scenario.

Toyota Corolla Fielder: 15kpl on the combined cycle (approximately 7l/100km). This is also unlikely, see above. A more realistic figure would be 12kpl.

Mitsubishi Lancer: 16kpl claimed on the combined cycle. The same story applies: Not really, especially when the engine is poorly maintained, the Mitsubishi can get unnecessarily (and unbelievably) thirsty.

Nissan AD Van: Could be anything — 10kpl to 20kpl. I did not bother to check.

Maintenance: This is where the Nissan hits back. It is so delightfully simple it is unlikely to break down, and if it does, repairs and cost of parts are almost a joke. For some.

Others may be expensive. The Fielder is also reliable as is the Airwave when used well, and parts are relatively cheap and common. The Lancer is the most trouble-prone vehicle in this list, if the reader input from my Car Clinic is anything to go by, with automatic transmissions being the worst culprits.

PS: The Axio and the Belta have not been driven by me yet, because — I confess — of a lack of keenness on my part.

I do not want to subject myself to yet another Japanese white good, something as interesting as a bowl of boiled white rice, cars with absolutely no difference except in the looks (they both look like cheap Japanese cars), and the people who designed them (maybe they were art students who eventually dropped out of art school).

If and when I do drive them, it is also unlikely that they will get a full review on these pages.

They may get one or two fleeting mentions in one of the questions I answer, such as this one.

Having car trouble? Send your questions to dn2@ke.nationmedia.com for absolutely free expert advice.