SA Road Tests

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This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. I drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under real-world South African conditions. Most, but not all, the vehicles driven are world cars as well, so what you read here possibly applies to the models you get where you live.

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Off-Road: Suzuki

We learn 4x4 trail craft from a master

More than one way

Pics by author
Posted: 25 November 2015

Conventional wisdom states that fewer than 20 percent of 4x4 vehicle owners ever venture off-road. By inference, the remaining 80 percent would rather talk about it than do it.

But, if we continue with that logic, it’s evident that only 8/10ths of the 80 percent are fakers. It follows, then, that a solid 16 percent of 4x4 owners would really like to join the active 20 percent, or at least know how.

You will be guided every step of the way

Many, but not all, off-road vehicle manufacturers offer 4x4 training. Most courses are make-specific although some will offer generalised instruction on request. Then there are clients who bought second-hand or from dealers that don’t offer courses.

So now you have a go-anywhere Boondocker V6 with all-wheel drive and enough outdoor kit to equip a small militia, but don’t know how to exploit its potential. What’s an untutored weekend adventurer to do?  Follow the link and click on the bar labelled 4x4 Adventures: www.basslake.co.za

Director of the resort, and course presenter, is Alan Pepper. He is not some opinionated loudmouth who would have you believe that you’re lucky to have drawn him as your instructor for the day. A 25-year veteran of the off-roading game, Pepper is a teacher rather than an instructor. There is a difference.

To begin, his knowledge is not make-specific. He will not simply lead you through easy obstacles chosen to make a particular vehicle look good. He has driven many makes and styles of off-road kit through countless kinds of terrain, so his knowledge encompasses pretty much everything from fully mechanical 4x4s to all-electronic “soft roaders” with torque sensing differentials.

                                        Baby steps...

Apart from presenting to individuals and company groups, Pepper is sponsored by Suzuki. He uses three Jimnys and a Grand Vitara for training those who do not have their own vehicles. The Suzukis may be a little more difficult to drive skilfully as they don't have diff-locks, but the extra training will help you later. He also teaches for a number of dealers in different brands including Toyota, Volkswagen, Isuzu, Subaru and Mitsubishi. 

During his day-long course he explodes old-wives’ tales, builds confidence, passes on information worth gold and teaches four things: Do not panic. Breathe. Regroup. Think. Off-road craft is solidly based in logic. For example, if you have attempted a steep climb but don't make it, do not touch the clutch. 

If you do you will go careering backwards down the hill out of control.  What you need to do is plant your foot on the brake. Stalling is the least of your worries right now. Pull up the hand brake. Breathe. Think logically. Very few people get hurt going into an obstacle. It's while getting out that accidents happen.

Put the car into Neutral and restart. You need the engine running to keep power assistance on the brakes. Never put an automatic in Park on a steep incline unless it has a shift release button. The chances are excellent that you will not get it to release when you want to change gear. 

When reversing down a steep hill, even in the most modern vehicles, the front brakes, those highest up the slope, will lockup and cause the vehicle to slide sideways. That's because they are more powerful than the rear, or lower, brakes. To prevent this from happening all you have to do is pull up the handbrake to a point where it allows the vehicle to move very slowly backwards when the foot brake is released.

This preloads the back brakes so that if the brakes are applied hard, the back (lower) brakes will lock first, guaranteeing that the vehicle will stop in a straight line. For inexperienced drivers it is much easier to stay in Neutral. Using the brakes is instinctive and will keep you safe. Remember when manoeuvring downhill, whether in forward or reverse, that momentum is not your friend. Bring the vehicle to a dead stop every two metres or so, so that momentum cannot build up.  

A late thought: Never attempt to go up that which you cannot reverse down.

Second, a good teacher leads and guides, explains what, shows why and demonstrates how. Pepper has been teaching for 36 years; not just off-roading skills, but other disciplines too.

As we said, the knowledge he passes on is not brand-specific. Bring your own vehicle if at all possible because that’s the one you’re going to use in future. Pepper will adapt his teaching to cover its specifics. An interesting aside is that, in a mixed-vehicle group, he will often guide “mechanical” vehicles one way through an obstacle while showing “electronic” 4x4s a different path more suited to their specific features.

If you don’t own an off-roader, the school’s small fleet of Suzuki Jimnys and a Grand Vitara can be hired by the day for training. Jimny was chosen because of its all-mechanical 4x4 underpinnings, manual gearbox, amazing competence and because it’s one of the least expensive 4x4s around. Grand Vitara serves a different niche with automatic transmission and torque sensing technology. As a so-called soft roader it gets the job done very well too, competing with “hardcore” 4x4s that cost significantly more. Choose one that best matches what you have or plan to buy.

    Who says you need all four wheels?

Because the trail is open (on payment of a small fee) to day trippers who simply want to go bundu bashing in their own vehicles, and without interference, he will sometimes study spoor of previous passages rather like a game tracker. “Hmm, you can see he used difflock here,” he will say, or “Oops. He chose the wrong route and got hung up there.” He will then explain what the day tripper should have done, and why.

Rates for full- and half-day courses, day trips and other activities are all on the resort’s comprehensive website. Team building exercises and corporate activities can be discussed and negotiated separately.

Among the “other activities” mentioned above is scuba diving in the resort’s own Bass Lake. It’s a movie star in its own right and has an enthralling history. Ask about it.

Side note: Pepper trains divers too. It is, in fact, what he started with all those 36 years ago.

Contact details:
Phone:016-3661127                                                                                                      Cell: 0832504385

Email: info@basslake.co.za
Web: www.basslake.co.za

Begin with the easy ones

Different courses for different horses



By day's end you will be doing this happily ...

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What We Do

This is a one-man show, which means that every car reviewed is given my personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.
Every test car goes through real world driving; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.

I do my best to include relevant information like real life fuel economy or a close mathematical calculation, boot size or luggage space, whether the space is both usable and accessible, whether life-sized people can use the back seat (where that applies), basic specs of the vehicle and performance figures if they are published. In the case of clearly identified launch reports, fuel figures are of necessity the laboratory numbers provided with the release material. If I ever place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with that vehicle at least once already, so you will be able to find what you want in another report under the same manufacturer's heading in the menu on the left.

Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. As quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so they can see I do actually exist.

Comments?
Want to ask a question, comment or just tell me you completely disagree with what I say? If you want advice or have a genuine concern, I will be happy to hear from you. All I ask is that you write something in the subject line so I know which vehicle you're talking about.