You may or may not know that Ignition Channel is going 24 hours from the first weekend of July. That means more shows, content, interviews, etc. Also it means a few changes to existing programs, Ignition GT will now have a new feature called Ignition Humpz, which will look at 4x4's in their intended environment. For this they chose the Land Rover Experience track out in Kyalami. I have been afforded the opportunity to drive various of these new vehicles that come into the market and do a review on each, based on performance, opinion, latest technology, etc.
The first three are the Jeep Grand Cherokee 3.0-ltr turbo direct-injection V6 Common-rail 2014, Nissan Patrol P/U 3.0Di 4x4 2014 and the Range Rover Sport 375kW 5.0-ltr V8 Supercharged 2014.
Jeep and Range Rover are beasts of pure comfort and electronics, I felt like a pilot, while the Nissan is as basic as my old 1800 Stallion, except it has electric windows, aircon, diesel motor with turbo and intercooler - I think they are looking at competing with the Cruiser stable.
What my mind could not get around was how these heavily modern state-of- the-art, electronic driven machines could handle the track, it is nothing extreme, but nonetheless a 4x4 track with side slopes, axcle twisters, water crossing, inclines/declines and loose rocky inclines and some large smooth rocks. You just press a button and the car adjusts itself either to crawl and/or suspension height
, and this they did effortlessly, in some cases without even having to press the pedal. Talk about torque! What does irritate though is all the alarms going off as if something is wrong! What was even weird was having to rate them as good and so advanced, this being from a guy who only drives Toyota. The Nissan was just plain simple, just with the smell of a new car. But nonetheless an awesome experience, I must just polish my presenting skills, more on the delivery side because I tend to talk while thinking what to say next. Practice, practice, practice.
This is all new to me and I hope to learn, improve and have fun along the way. More importantly, I hope Ignition, and the public, will be happy with my role.
There is also an interview I did with Dstv on their new presenters, which took place at the old Bosvark, made sure I had my Hilux4x4 shirt - because not only is this my home, but you have shaped me into what I know now about 4x4'ing (still more to learn), and I always value your friendship and input
I thank you
