Four-wheel-drive comes of age

Press, 26 December 1985, Page 9

Four-wheel-drive comes of age

By

PETER GREENSLADE

The four-wheel-drive car has come of age and examples are now being produced by all manner of car manufacturers, some of whom might be excused for wondering how long it will take a sizeable segment of the motoring public to achieve the same degree of maturity.

In the South Island, in particular, winter sports fanatics often derive as much pleasure from successfully storming the alCine roads as they do from ombing down the ski runs.

Among them are the people who regard a Range Rover, Landcruiser or Patrol as an essential part of their ski-ing gear and tend to look down upon owners of lesser but, nevertheless, often more useful 4WD vehicles. The fact of the matter is the motoring public is largely unaware of the benefits of 4WD saloon cars and station waggons as opposed to the so-called allterrain vehicles.

4WD probably had its origins in military transport and was certainly popularised by the übiquitous Willys Jeep of World War 11. It was not so long ago that it was embraced by manufacturers such as Rover in Britain and Daimler-Benz in West Germany and marketed in the civilian field as well as the military. European manufacturers of 4WD vehicles have, until quite recently, tended to come up with robust models of the all-terrain or goanywhere type. On the other hand, the Japanese, who, through Fuji Heavy Industries’ Subaru, have done so much to popularise a 4WD, have directed their attention to manufacturing cars and station waggons with four driven wheels.

Fuji Heavy Industries pioneered the “on demand” 4WD system for road-going cars and station waggons about 15 years ago and the Subaru is now well established in New Zealand and is particularly popular in the South Island where the roads tend to be wet and slippery for longer in winter than is generally the case in the North Island.

Although Subarus are popular transport among skiers and winter sports people in general, they are becoming more generally recognised for their even traction and braking among motorists who seldom stray from tarsealed roads.

They also have a particular appeal among people who two heavy boats, horse floats and other types of trailers. A laden trailer transfers much weight to the rear of the car where the wheels do nothing tb help drive effort, for the majority of the cars sold in New Zealand are now front-wheel-drive. Consequently, the front wheels, with the rear weight bias, become light on the road thereby affording reduced traction.

In such cars “on demand” 4WD comes into its element and affords excellent traction when it is engaged. Although there was no opportunity to sample a Subaru Leone 1.8 GLF with four-speed dual range manual transmission in a towing role, I did appreciate the waggon’s sure-footed-ness on wet and sometimes greasy roads.

A 1781 cu cm overhead valve, flat four cylinder engine powers the Subaru. It develops 60kW at 5200 rpm and its maximum torque at 3200 rpm. “Boxer” engines, as hori-zontally-opposed units are known, are rather uncommon nowadays. They were used in the now defunct Jowett Javelins and Jupiters and, at the other end of the performance scale, are still to be found in the 911 Porsches. They are also used in some Ferrari competition cars as well as the exciting Ferrari Boxer, an exceptionally powerful twoseater road car.

Fuji Heavy Industries’ involvement in the aircraft industry probably accounts for the flat four power of the Subaru. Horizontally-op-posed engines have been used in light aircraft for many years. It is not the smoothest engine, particularly at low revolutions, but it is willing and, in four-wheel-drive, it will move this waggon practically anywhere within reason, often to the accom-

paniment of agricultural noises.

With a ground clearance of 21cm, fore and aft overhang limiting the angle of approach to 27deg, and the angle of departure to 24.6 deg, there are limitations to its capabilities and drivers would be ill-advised to try to cover the same ground as a hard-driven Landrover or Landcruiser.

Front-suspension is by McPherson struts with coil springs and an anti-roll bar. At the rear there are independent semi-trailing arms, a torsion bar and telescopic dampers. This set-up provides a surprisingly good ride during suburban cruising and no trace of sloppiness on rougher, unsealed trails. The Toyota Tercel exhibits similar characteristics. That these four-wheel-drivers are so competent in this regard comes as a surprise, for Japanese mass-producers do not, as a rule, measure up to their European counterparts as far as their 2WD cars are concerned.

On that score alone, I would like to sample Fiat’s new 4WD Panda to be in a position to make a comparison. However, as 4WD is becoming the “in” thing, maybe the opportunity is not as far away as one

might think to make comparisons between the 4WD state of the art of Japan and Europe. In recent years the Japanese have been converted to rack and pinion steering to a large extent and Subaru has embraced this system, popularised by the Europeans. Bearing in mind that this is not a performance vehicle in the popular interpretation of that term, I considered the steering quite good and it was certainly not excessively heavy, a penalty one generally has to pay for the precise directional control that is the hallmark of better rack and pinion systems.

Moreover, the turning circle, 9.8 metres, would appear to be adequate to cope with the more tortuous alpine roads to ski fields. A rather trendy roof, raised from immediately behind the front seats, imparts a feeling of spaciousness to this waggon. Whoever thought of the idea in the first place — I think it originally appeared on a Detroit product — was surely entitled to some recognition, because not only does the feature increase the load height, but it also tends to dampen the typical

station waggon drumming sound.

Interior appointments, while not extravagant, are of good quality. Furnishing fabrics, fashionably, are very much a matter of taste, but I thought the berber style upholstery and trim of the Subaru waggon not only practical, but also attractive.

For the driver, instrumentation is typically Japanese and, apart from the high and low ratio lever, alongside the gearlever, there is nothing extraordinary about the controls.

Certainly, I found that engagement of the high and low ratios was difficult to accomplish, but one must accept the assurance that such controls on an almost brand-new vehicle unwillingly accept breaking-in by humans in the first instance! The cargo and luggage carrying area behind the fold-down rear seats is generous. Incidentally, the Subaru manual waggon has an unladen weight of 1045 kg and an all-up capacity of 1544 kg — and that means quite a lot, as keen station waggoners will realise. A check on the weight-carry-ing capacity of some of the better known examples will show that they are not designed,, to carry, much

more than their saloon car counterparts. Subaru with its "on demand” 4WD system has established a reputation in New Zealand. It has been around for quite a time and the latest examples look far better and are roomier than the early versions. Motor Holdings, the national distributor, has courageously backed rally driver Peter Bourne in national and international events and his expertise with what is obviously an honest 4WD car has paid dividends. The Aucklander figures well up on the results sheets with monotonous regularity. In the South Island, in particular, the Subaru has won favour from the winter sports fraternity and it would not be extravagant to claim that 4WD Subaru waggons and saloons are among the most frequently encountered vehicles in the Mackenzie Country and other winter sports regions. Although the Subaru has its limitations, newcomers in the 4WD field will have their work cut out in making conquest sales with Slum baru owners. This vehicle, in any case irr'lWD? form, that shows promise of becoming a cult car, if it has not become one already.,,