Road 36: SUV

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FR EE !

s t r o Sp ity l i ut cle i h ve

New Jeep Cherokee › Mitsubishi Outlander › Infiniti FX Vettel


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ON ME ED D

espite rising fuel prices and painful VED road tax ROYLE MEDIA & ROAD hits from government, the Sports Utility Vehicle Road Magazine is published by (SUV) 4x4 market is still booming – so manufactur- happy publishing & PR team, Royle ers are busy trying to out-do each other to claim their slice Media. Contact us for your own brand magazine – print or diggy of the ‘soft-roader’ SUV pie, in all its glorious forms. So, with Winter approaching, we’ve gathered an eclectic – and perfect PR or SoMe. trio together of 4x4s for you – starting with something truly Phil & Bonnie Royle bonkers, Infiniti’s FX Vettel Edition: A super-rare, £100,800 www.roylemedia.co.uk beast of a genuinely sporty utility vehicle (in SUV terms), www.facebook.com/roylemedia bestowed with Vettel-designed, unbelievably expensive www.twitter.com/RoyleMedia carbonfibre kit, huge 21-inch rims and a 420bhp V8, capaROAD SNAPPER: Neil Denham ble of 155mph and 5.6s to 62mph. Maddest SUV ever? We also have two newly-re-worked SUV brands… Jeep’s www.neildenham.co.uk long serving (now 21) Grand Cherokee in its fresh-look ROAD USA: Ashley Van Dyke 2014 specification. The Jeep has just gone on sale across www.avdmotorsports.com Europe and now and comes with a brand new eight-speed trick transmission, devastating off-road capability, monROAD RACER: Neil Primrose strous 6.4-litre V8 SRT range-topper and a lavish luxury www.islaracing.com interior for its good value price tag. And we also have Mit- www.travisonline.com subishi’s new-look Outlander on test – the most sensible ROAD I.T GURU: Steve Davies choice of the three featured here, as it’s “Intelligent Mowww.skiddmark.com tion” diesel engine, lightweight and aerodynamic body enable it to knock out over 50mpg, which is a different take Follow Road on TWITTER, like us on the SUV cult: Not sporty, but certainly utilitarian. on FACEBOOK, enjoy our daily Do enjoy our SUV special and share our FREE Road BLOG & visit our own Royle Media publishing & PR website, by Magazine with your mates across your own social media platforms. And why not take a trip to see our daily-updat- clicking on the blob links below. ed blog, Facebook page and Twitter feed for more great quality automotive media? Simply click on the link blobs on the right. Thanks! Phil Royle, Editor.


WORDS: WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/ROYLEMEDIA IMAGES: WWW.NEILDENHAM.CO.UK

The cherokee on top of the SUV cake?

The all-new Jeep Cherokee has a fresh face, eight-speed trick transmission, handcrafted luxurious, high-spec interiors – complete with Harman ICE options – and is priced from £37K. But is it a rival in the loaded SUV sector?




e lieve th ee e b o t t’s hard rand Cherok G t since 21 Jeep® u o b a en ’s has be it? So, now it om’t c n s a i d 2 a 9 h 19 d – and as it earned l o s r a ye elift – h or?’ Is it c a f e t o ple o the d to take on t y e k ‘the enough als in the n a m now ight riv ctor? e w y v a its he SUV se kee g n i n i o ro burge he Che the t y a s g Jeep eliverin uthend “ n e has be f freedom, a aso values venture and p cd de ticity, a he brand for t sion of

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d audio n u o s d urroun credible. s n o d r n a man K ch is utterly i d Cherokee r a H ations. system, whi 4 Jeep Gran s in July n i b m o d 201 lor c riw o e e t c n n r our roa o, Limited, i o e i o d r h t e e T n t t f o x a andcr Lared rolling eriterior/e ll as new in smart, new, h premium mat started ailable in the levels as we the h f e av p of T trim o t R And th e good use o ather and hig t and is i S m d n a um k g le verland re exclusive S ere. ors ma Natura Plus’ reate a feelin O h o ‘ t. c ith a m el, as tested els in the als like oodwork, to price bracke w od a w ies ts tter quality far beyond i troduction of to range m two 3.0 V6 d 6bhp. The la . in ry There’s 88bhp and 24 ows 3,500Kg of luxu ings like the ing wheel add 1 r th dt me Whilst e-spoke stee haracter. range – bft torque an e the aweso the l c e re as 420 hoice has to b 8 monster in a new th ’s new cabin inment via th h V c p ta ut our 61bhp Hemi nna cost you the Jee also big info -inch touch- e B u 4 , 4 4-litre, vehicle. It’s g nd it’s £50K There’s nnect with 8. gation and th . 6 o er ec avi ar a , on new UC nd satellite n ” TFT custom SRT-sp fuel each ye ng every mile ila i 7 r in screen or the brand play. And, an e- kidney . you’ll be lov s biblically b f is th nd y.. all-new able cluster d th the top-of- rbut bo ad and it sou look... r e o a configu e feature of b nd the high-p l is or off-ro ll, well worth e a v e iant. W exclusi mmit model kee SRT mod tt l u a ro range S e Grand Che eaker, 825-w c sp forman f-the-art 19-o a state


T R S i m e h 8 V e � r r t o i f l o 4 “the 6. is the one to g r e t s n o m



WORDS: WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/ROYLEMEDIA IMAGES: www.richardseymour.co.uk & PRESS


Vettel Velocity Meet Infiniti’s FX Vettel Edition: An exclusive, blinged-up FX, with a 420bhp 5-litre V8 and 155mph V-max, splattered in pukka carbon and costing £100,800. Crikey!



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nfiniti are only making 150 of these limitededition FX Vettel Edition V8 beasts (a homage to the two-time F1 champ) – and only 50 of them will end up in Europe – and that guarantees its exclusivity. As does the £100,800 asking price, I guess. So, what the heck is it and why is it £40,000 more than a stock FX SUV? Well, the big, 420bhp, five-litre V8 now pumps out another 30bhp, thanks to some ECU re-mapping after the fitment of one of the most costly, amazing, handmade exhaust systems ever conceived for a road car. Then there’s a set of very fancy, very large, 21-inch black lightweight alloys wrapped in 265/45 rubber. And the interior gets Vettel-embossed seats, badging and more. But it’s the pukka, handcrafted carbonfibre aerodynamic bodywork (also carried into the cabin) that makes this 5.6s to 60mph beast special. It’s the real deal – the best carbon kevlar you can get, inspired by the Red Bull Racing F1 car


(using a Renault engine, and Renault is owned by Nissan, who own Infiniti... see?). This is high-end craftsmanship. Take the rear wing for example... which costs £4,800 on its own! And Mr Vettel himself had design input to the aero kit –hence the racer-style curvy front

end and the F1-style rear diffuser, complete with central fog light with 15 flashing LED’s, just like his own F1 car. Cool eh? And the aero kit does actually work – reducing lift by 30% and increasing downforce by 5%: That’s Monaco fizz bar (not pub talk) gold that is.

Impressed? You should be. It’s as exclusive, effective and impressive as it is flash, in-your-face and brash. A bit like Mr Vettel really. Would we buy one if we had a Monaco lifestyle? Why the hell not? If only to annoy all the predictable Cayenne owners.



WORDS: WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/ROYLEMEDIA


outlandish Mitsubishi ‘s all-new Outlander is trying to re-write the SUV handbook: Lighter, more aerodynamic, funky design and capable of 50+mpg. Is it working?



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ike the geeky, chubby, bespectacled fat kid, the old Outlander never got asked to dance at the SUV disco. Awww. But all the ‘it’ crowd are cueing up for a gorp at and a spin with the new Outlander – such is Mitsubishi’s innovative, bold and radical overhaul of their Outlander brand. The Japanese car maker really has gone for it with their only SUV – aiming to bite off a sizeable chunk of the growing ‘lifestyle vehicle’ market, with a more mature, technologicallyadvanced and stylish (inside and out) model. Attention to detail is where it’s all at. First impressions reveal a brand new, brave styling new front end – which really stands out in the crowd and we like – but a closer look shows details like the windscreen washer nozzles hidden under the bonnet’s hanging edge, the super smooth bonnet

and the chrome and black is actually a piece of trick aerodynamics, as well as styling. The end result is not only striking, but effective as reducing drag. Combine the low drag coefficient with 100Kg stripped out compared with the old Outlander and add in the fuel efficient “Intelligent Motion’ 2.2 Di-D diesel (2268cc) 4-cylinder compression-ignition engine (offering 150PS at 3500rpm and 380Nm torque at 17502500rpm) and you have a recipe for an SUV capable of 53.3mpg – for the £23,699 GX2 base model. That puts it in VED band E – which is about as low as a 4x4 SUV can go. Impressed? We are. Build quality – despite the weight loss – has not declined either. In fact, the materials inside the new Outlander are far superior to those found in the old model. And the specification – as usual with Mitsubishi – is



pretty darn good too, with even the (manual) GX2 base model having ABS, cruise control, electric windows, brake assist, city crash provision, hill start assist, automatic headlights, steel wheels, iPod compatibility, climate control, steering wheel audio controls and five seats. The £26,399-£27,899 (with leather) GX3 adds another row of seats (so you can seat seven), dual climate control, uprated interior trim, alloys and electric door mirrors. The £29,999 (manual) and

£31,399 (auto) GX4 gets keyless start, a rear view camera, sat nav, headlamp washers and parking sensors. And the range-topping, £33,999 GX5 Auto has the addition of adaptive cruise control with lane departure warning, power tailgate and a trick “forward collision mitigation system” for added safety. Like I said... generous specs. But is it any good at being an SUV? Sporty? Sadly, no. 0-62mph takes over 10seconds in the manual and 11

in the auto and to reach the 125mph V-max would take about as long as it’s taken you to get this far in this article. Utility? Yes. It’s remarkably more spacious than the old Outlander and has lots of practical touches. Vehicle? Durrr. So, would we buy one? Well, it’s 100% better than the old Outlander – which we hated. It looks fresh. It rides OK. It’s spacious enough. It’s OK off-road. And it’s darn economical - which is it’s party piece, which sort of sums it up.


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