How To Have Fun While Getting Lost

Sydney Morning Herald

Thursday June 24, 1993

ALAN KENNEDY

THERE are two bumper stickers that live in my memory. Both were seen on free ways in Los Angeles. The first said: "If you love something set it free then hunt it down and kill it."

The other said: "He who dies with the most toys wins." Both provide an interesting commentary on life on the LA freeways. The latter is a favourite for its air of desperation and it's one of life's little pleasant diversions to see how people spend their spare money.

I have to confess I spend spare money on my pushbike, but it pales into insignificance when lined up next to other cycling club members' two-wheeled techno-juggernauts.

I have lain awake long into the night wondering when I will be able to afford the new Shimano STI gears which are incorporated in the brake levers. Probably never; and so I will have to face up to the ignominy of having cycling friends not wanting to park their bike near mine in case theirs is infected with retro disease, in which all the parts suddenly become out of date.

Toys and vehicles go together. You need look no further than the success of in-car fax, in-car telephones (now you need two plus an answering machine), huge sound systems, CD players, tinted windows and any number of add-ons which dress up a car.

The possibilities seem endless, but I do believe I have found the ultimate toy - which also is a part of a useful vehicle.

The four-wheeled transport is the LandCruiser VX Sahara with the 4.5-litre petrol motor.

But before I go into the virtues of the vehicle, first the toys.

It has a 12-stack CD player in the back, an amazing sound system, leather seats, airconditioning, ABS brakes, attractive mag wheels and - here's the biggie - satellite navigation.

Bet that has you choking on the Weeties. Suffer, all you Merc and BMW owners. Bet you haven't got satellite navigation (or SatNav as we aficionados call it) in your car.

Already the cynics will be crying: "So who needs it?" But when I tell you that you can program any city or town in Australia into the system and it will tell you how far away it is and the compass on the control panel will show in which direction it is, I can see you will be persuaded. It also has an altimeter.

And at any given time you know exactly where you are because the latitude and longitude read-out tells you.

Hey, could anyone invent a better toy? I doubt it.

Of course, around town, apart from being fun to play with, it is pretty useless. If you need SatNav to tell you where you are, then perhaps you should be sending your licence back to the appropriate authorities.

Outback, however, I think it can be a lifesaver. If you go out to some of the places I have been, a thing which gave you your exact position would be invaluable. If you had your Flying Doctor radio with you and you did get into trouble, it would take searchers only as long as it took to fly to you to find you.

Apparently there are hand-held SatNav units which would be a boon to bushwalkers, especially those school groups which seem to disappear into the Blue Mountains for days.

So your LandCruiser SatNav, at an extra $4,000, would be a good option if going off-road.

The VX, along with the Range Rover, is at the top of the four-wheel-drive tree. Like its English rival, the VX is probably used by people as a town car, although both can hack it out in the rough stuff.

It was the VX's cheaper brother, the GLX, which I had in Central Australia for about a month and it never shirked the heavy going.

The VX has slightly different suspension as well as loads of extra goodies which make it a little heavier.

The CD changer sits behind the last row of seats and would be a real pain if you were packing and unpacking the vehicle all the time because you would be sure to bash it about a bit. But if there were just two of you using the vehicle I am sure the changer can be avoided.

The four-wheel-drive market continues to grow like no other sector in the market. Just why is a mystery.

There are a few theories. One is the large number of people who have taken early retirement and picked up their super and have decided to "do" the big trip around the country. There has been a tendency for people when they retire to buy something to last; now they want something that will last and will give them the option to do a bit of travelling as well. The LandCruiser, Nissan Patrol and Discovery models are ideal for this.

THE other reason is pure car substitution. The fact that many of the four-wheel-drives have seats for seven is a big selling point. A children's birthday party can be a nightmare if more than four children are invited and you have to transport them to a movie or a restaurant.

The biggest factor, however, is that these off-road vehicles have become so civilised around town. The suspensions are supple, the engines have good power bands across the range and people soon become used to manoeuvring them through the traffic. And once you have driven one and seen the vision you get round town, you do get to like them.

The VX has the added attraction of being luxurious as well. It's sort of like having your cake and eating it, too. You can go off-road and you can swan around town in comfort.

Ride quality is excellent and the 4.5-litre engine is amazing. The Range Rover, with its V-8 and superb suspension, probably pips it for ride quality, but lacks that extra row of seats that some people seem to want.

I still can't decided which LandCruiser engine I like - the turbo diesel or the 4.5-litre petrol. The diesel gives a whole new meaning to this type of engine. The petrol is so responsive and the vehicle has extraordinary performance for something so big.

If you are going to drive around Australia, remember most of the time you are on black-top and what you really need is something that will cruise at high speeds quietly and reasonably economically. The LandCruiser pushed over 130km/h becomes very thirsty indeed. But sit on 125km/h and it's not too bad.

At that speed you can cover long distances and you can listen to the CD and play with the SatNav.

I am sure that many people will choose the VX as a town car. Of course, you can tow a boat or a horse float, but don't be fooled by its soft interior. This is one rugged mother when the going gets tough. And, hey, wouldn't you want to be the first kid on the block with SatNav? Go on, admit it. You would.

FACT FILE

TOYOTA VX LANDCRUISER SAHARA

Engine 4.5-litre twin-cam six-cylinder four valves per cylinder

Power 158 kilowatts

Torque 373 Newton metres

Fuel consumption

10.6 litres per 100km at constant 60 km/h

Price $87,000

Performance N/A

Personal loan *

$1,979 per month

Insurance * *

$1,305 a year.

Sources:

* Figures supplied by NRMA for loan agreement over 60 months

* * NRMA Insurance for person over 29 to 55 with 60 per cent no claim bonus living in category-two area. NRMA grades metropolitan areas from 1 to 4. One is cheapest rate, 4 the most expensive. On the policy an under-25 driver is allowed to drive the car once a month without voiding policy.