Hils Everitt - Editor at Large

So we finally bid a fond farewell to our L200 Warrior pick-up truck. It has clocked up 5672 miles and served as a comfortable road hauler that has deposited me all over the country on various magazine jobs, plus as a handy off-roader on a great day out with the Mitsubishi L200 Club.

It has also served as a house moving truck for our designer Paul and editor Nigel took a spin in it for a while but he didn’t really bond with the mighty warrior. His dislike was mainly due to its consumption, although we have since proved that it wasn’t that bad compared to his Toyota Hilux; the fuel gauge just appeared rather deceptive and the computer readings for consumption were pure nonsense! It registered 36.7mpg at one point on one of my motorway journeys that included crawling on the dreaded M25. I worked out, using the more reliable, old-fashioned method of fuel receipt and calculator, that it was actually an average of 29.57mpg. Not the most economical of the trucks and with the Amarok on the scene and new Ranger, that figure looks decidedly unattractive for the bulk fleet buyer perhaps.

Nigel Fryatt - editor

The Toyota’s 2.5-litre turbodiesel engine has never been the quietest around, but the other Monday as I drove up the road, it sounded like a tank. It also sounded that it would be inadvisable to carry on. On stopping to check, it appeared impossible to open the bonnet. It was obviously ‘one of those’ Mondays…

A cautious return down the hill, much of it freewheeling or on a trailing throttle (where the turbo overrun whistle sounded a lot louder than usual), I began to wonder. Hopefully there was a simple solution, something having worked loose, a hose gone astray, something.... well, cheap.

Nigel Fryatt - editor

Well, it’s been my first full month owning this Toyota Hilux, and there’s no hesitation in saying that I’m lovin’ it! Over the years I have driven numerous pick-up trucks on test launches and off-road events, but it’s all very different when you live with one. In some of the narrow country lanes around Surrey, it pays to remember that it’s a big truck and certainly reverse parallel parking is something of a hoot. Reversing into spaces, small hatchbacks seem to disappear underneath the load bed at times, which has led to the driver having to jump out to check how much room is left and ensure that the little Peugeot that was there a minute ago, hasn’t been impaled on the tow hook! Despite its size, the Toyota is light and easy to handle and manoeuvre, it’s just necessary to use some caution.

Hils Everitt - Editor at Large

As you will have read in last month’s issue, we recently tagged along with the Mitsubishi L200 Owners’ Club for a day of off-roading in the picturesque surroundings of Hawkestone Park Follies in Shropshire.

The L200 OC holds its AGM over a weekend at a site that can offer good camping and plenty of 4x4 fun for its members who own a wide range of L200s. I thought that our squeaky clean and shiny new Warrior model would stick out like a sore thumb among the heavily modded, knarly old trucks, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. There were a couple of other youngsters there, one with a novice off-roader behind the wheel who thought his truck was ‘awesome’ off the road and had a ball, blasting his way around the site, tackling some extremely difficult hillclimbs.