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Stellenbosch.Co.Za goes Bundu Bashing
Vehicle used: 2000 Land Rover Defender 110 Hardtop TD5
Odometre reading: 14000km
Engine: 2,5litre in-line 5 cylinder turbocharged Common Rail
Diesel
92kW, 300Nm
The late 80s brought a change in people's attitudes towards
4-wheel-drive vehicles. A vehicle designed to take on the roughest
terrain mother Earth could throw at it was suddenly being bought for
only one reason: the IDEA that it could accomplish just this task
and that the owner was of thehardest and toughest variety.
By the mid 90s the SUV (sports utility vehicle) and trendy 4x4
market was booming, every possible vehicle manufacturer wanting a
piece of the pie. By the turn of the millenium, even Mercedes, Audi
and BMW had entered the market, making 4x4's comfortable, safe, fast
and luxurious.
Thus the initial idea of the rugged 4x4 is fading fast, as BMW's X5
comes with leather, CD, climate control, metallic paint and an
options list from here to Sandton Square's parking lot. The X5,
Audi's Allroad, Jeep's Grand Cherokee V8, Merc's ML430 and ML55 all
top 200km/h with more power and gadgets than Bill Gates. Over 80% of
all Land Rover Discovery's EVER SOLD will never leave the tar road.
Help was needed fast, and it came in the form of Land Rover's
"Experience" tracks. Stellenbosch.Co.Za was invited on a
photoshoot for the Western Cape Land Rover Experience near Paarl,
and I'm glad to report that my views and ideas of a proper 4x4 have
been brutally put back to their original state! Land Rover had
exactly this in mind, as it's a real pity to see these tough
offroaders having to carry kids, groceries and the family Labrador
up a pavement at the most. Not condemning the Sandton 4x4 squad, LR
simply wants the proud new owners to know precisely what their
vehicle is capable of, and what it was initially designed for. Thus,
should you decide to purchase your very own Landy, you will receive
Level 1 Training at the Land Rover Experience free of charge!
The track is an abandomned clay quarry, features 9 dams and
(especially in Winter) hundreds of puddles and mudholes. Nature is
carefully preserved according to Land Rover's "Fragile
Earth" policy, and the track even saw the addition of 7500
trees. The biggest dam sports an island, on which the LR Experience
facilities (in the form of a thatch-roofed conference centre and
entertainment area) are housed. The island is accessible via a
rustic wooden walkway, and it should also be noted that the road to
this dam is not made for your average family car. Best leave that in
the parking lot at the entrance, as the few hundred metres to the
main dam are riddled with trenches, mudpools, puddles and rocks, all
of which the Stellenbosch.Co.Za Landy (alias "Ossewa")
took on with much enthusiasm.
Once on the island and inside the 'clubhouse', we were greeted by
two instructors and two participants, taking a break from the
compulsory lecture that forgoes any driving attempts on the track.
Lectures cover every possible aspect and scenario of offroad driving
with the help of a white board and some squeeky pens. Each
participant can learn more about the abilities and accessories of
their vehicle, be it a Defender, Freelander, Discovery or Range
Rover.
Confused? Defenders are the classic Landy's, boxy, noisy and
reasonably ugly. (Sheer matter of opinion, though) Freelanders are
roundish, smaller and cuter. You'll find those in suburban
Yuppieland. Discovery's are larger, faster and more luxurious. Hang
around a school or shopping centre for a sighting. Range Rovers are
huge, fast, super luxurious, hideously expensive and immenently a
bit more rare. Head to Constantia or Clifton to spot one.
Back to the Experience though, and once the lecture was
completed, we got into our trusty Landies to brave the day's
offroading. Not to worry, your new beauty will not be tortured
around this hellhole, as the Experience comes complete with it's own
two Defenders and a Freelander. We got into the one Defender, a 110
Hardtop TD5 to be exact, and followed the participants and
instructor in the sister car. The latter vehicle is fitted with a
bullbar, spotlights and a winch for Level 2 courses.
 The
quarry has a criss-cross of tracks, most of which are rich with
ditches, dongas, trenches, humps, bumps, rocks, stones, mud,
mudpools or water. Our Landy carefully followed its sibling around
the chosen path, rocking from side to side through the ditches, the
low range cogs and turbocharger whining along to the TD5
"Storm" engine's cheerful clicking and clucking monotone
beat.
It was only when we were told to take a shortcut to arive at our
destination ahead of the participants when we ran into a spot of
trouble. A mudhole the size of the car lay ahead, littered with
obvious imprints of a Landy's undercarriage. Even the two half-metre
deep wheeltracks didn't deterr Stb.Co.Za's adventurous webmaster and
he charged the mudhole with rather ambitious intentions. A few
seconds later (and the odd bang or whine) the Landy was part of the
mudhole. Our fearless and excited driver, however, with the odd
chunk of mud flying, got us out again and chose an alternative
route. We got the desired footage of the other Defender, at first
wading through a miniature dam at about waist-height, but we soon
realised that this would be a rather wet and muddy eperience when
they speeded up towards us.
 The
rest of the track featured steep hills which lend the impression of
driving straight into the ground or up into the sky, and countless
ditches which tilt the car to quite a worrying angle. Puddles and
mudpools don't reveal the tyre-deep holes until the car suddenly
falls into them and dangerously leans over. Needless to say, the
driver experiences this less than the chicken passengers and it's
been said that when the fear of rolling sets in, a Defender can
handle 5 more degrees!
Once atop a plateau, fittingly nicknamed "the
playground", we met up with the participants and instructor
about to take on some man-made obstacles. The Defender was
cross-axled over a series of humps, then crossed a group of logs and
plowed through a pair of mudpools. (Cross-axling is when your front
axle is tilted perpendicular to your rear axle) After a U-turn, the
participants drove along an embankment, braving ditches, mudpools,
rocks and humps along the way. All of which are designed to throw
you off course while you're trying not to put the car onto it's
side.
Next came the hill descent, an exercise down a concrete incline
of 38 degrees. The participants took turns churning down in first
gear low range as not to produce unwanted loss of grip. It can be
safely assumed that offroading is a style of driving in it's own
rights when you plummet down a hill without using the brakes! Right,
once down there they needed to get up again, but for the first few
attempts the car was stalled on purpose halfway up the hill. The
only recovery option was to roll down again, this time using reverse
gear low range. The trusty Defender with it's 300Nm of torque from
the Storm TD5 engine made it up the hill numerous times without
major effort.
After lunch, I was once again reassured of the Defenders' offroad
prowess and it's sheer indestructability (for lack of a decent
word). We hopped over more stones, waded through even more mudpools
and ended up at what I can only describe as the entrance to hell. A
steep descent/drop/hill of about 3 to 4 metres, at times nearly
vertical and covered in mud, was to be the next obstacle.
 This
was, I must admit in utter shame, where my faith in the Land Rovers
departed, and I was sure that we were about to abondomn a car down
there.
Each participant reversed (slipped/slid) down the hill, and once
stationary at the bottom (after countless bangs, cracks and groans
from the car) attempted to drive back up again. This involved using
all of the 2 metre run-up to gain momentum and continue to plow up
the hill in 3rd gear low range, according to an Instructor. When the
first participant started to accelerate, the Instructor mumbled
something like "much to slow" and the car promptly got
stuck halfway up.
The solution, as promised, involved spinning the wheels and flooring
the car, hitting the incline at just the right angle and, if the car
was still pointing in the right direction, flooring it all the way
into the sky.
As an innocent bystander, one got the impression of the Defender
attempting it's last hillclimb, as the engine and drivetrain were
screaming bloody murder, the wheels were throwing around anything
they could get their profile on as the car banged, grinded, groaned
and bounced up the hill, seemingly uncontrollable. Stb.Co.Za's
adventurous webmaster joined in the fun and braved the hill after
the two participants, making it up the first time and showing the
pride and sense of accomplishment that goes with it, while I was
pointing my camera at the Land Rover, waiting for the moment when
the wheels would fall off.
In all fairness though, these cars are extremely solid and even
more capable. I still wouldn't think the car could make the
abovementioned hill, but it did. My faith in the rugged Land Rover
has been restored. The rest of the day featured deeper trenches,
bigger mudpools and more torture for the Landy, but it took
everything we threw at it and wanted more.
We also got the chance to see the cute little Freelander (with
the new 260Nm TD4 commom rail diesel engine) in action on "the
playground". A terribly underrated offroader, the Freelander is
often dismissed as a Yuppie plaything because it doesn't match up to
the Defender in areas like ground clearance. But as the Hill Descent
Control and Traction Control were demonstrated I got the impression
that this mini-Landy was quite capable indeed and provides the
perfect balance between the hard Defender and the comfortable
Discovery, with a lot of uniqueness thrown into the mix. Take the
front of the car, for instance, with most of the panels being
plastic which dents in easily and bounces back into shape just as
easily. Crumple zones lie beneath, as do the clever Traction control
and engine management systems which feature many useful funtions to
help you out of trouble. Stuck in a mudpool or halfway up that
concrete incline, the Freelander just started up again and carried
on marching, the Traction Control preventing unwanted wheelspin.
So there you go. We ate mud, got wet, took 188 pictures and had a
marvellous time. We might be a bit biased towards the Rovers, but as
the Instructors confirmed, most 4x4's are capable in the hands of an
expert. Want to be included in this elite group of people? Better
start by calling the Land Rover Experience. Oh, and bring Gum Boots.
For:
Macho, no-nonsense driving
You get to play in mud all day in a beautiful environment
Offroad abilities of the Landies are more than impressive
Against:
There's mud - of the sticky variety. And plenty of it.
Not for the faint-hearted.
Pricey, if you haven't bought a new Landy (...)
Stellenbosch.co.za advises: Always buckle up, be aware,
adhere to speed limits, preserve nature and bring GUM BOOTS!
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