Nissan Patrol 4x4 (Africa)

Dankie Herbie - die post help al klaar baie. Ek is ook maar nog 'n handrat ou - ek het die Luderitz na Walvisbaai Namib trip saam met Uri gedoen (handrat) en geen probleme ondervind nie - inteendeel was dit net 'n plesier en sal ek senuweeagtig wees as ek dit nou in 'n automaties moet doen. Die petrol het baie krag en maak duinery net 'n plesier en soos reeds genoem is al my ondervinding met 'n handrat. Dit bygese sien ek dat handrat voertuie al minder bemark word en is dit seker nie vergesog as ek dalk in die toekoms self 'n automaties sal aanskaf nie - maar vereers ........ help uitkyk asb!!

jan
weet jy ek het al baie km met altwee gery en dit is waar wat Gerrit se jy moet maar self jou mind opmaak maar vir my is die GRX n droom en onthou jy het die tip tronic om mee te speel so jy het die beste van altwee !!!
nog nooit het my grx se ratkas warm word probleme gegee nie en ek sleep swaar in dik moz sand
wat ek wel kan byvoeg is dat wanneer jy skerp rotse klim moet jy net so bietjie meer vet gee sodat jou voertuig nie wag vir die converter om te skop nie ma deur alles is die auto baas ek myself sal nie terug na handrat gaan nie

Hi JanDup,

Sorry for late response - I have used manual and tiptronic auto gearboxes on a variety of off road vehicles and found no handicap. My Patrol GRX (and previous Disco 3) has a tiptronic gearbox that allows convenient driver control of gear selection when offroad and once familiar with it, it works just fine.

I for one am a convert and wont go back to manual - so I guess it boils down to what you are most comfortable with and a matter of preference.

Regards,

Peter

I have a GL and in retrospect I would suggest you consider the GRX, the extra seats etc will come in handy at some point as well. The clutch in mine is very hard and the wife will not enjoy driving it in traffic.

Andries on the older cars the clutch is vacuum-assisted. Does the 4.8 not have this, or is yours perhaps not working properly? You should be able to feel a significant difference between when the engine is running and when it has been off for a while?

when driving ofroad the auto works like a charm!! you never roll back and never pulls dead !!!mind you to pull a 4.8 dead is not that easy
the grx comes with the climate control for font and back and also has the seats at the back as standard
getting use to the auto box is very easy once you have played with a manual . the trick is to select the correct gear when doing trails so that you can get a constant movement without rocking forward and back again
also doing it this way gives you more time to look at rocks and sticks that might be a problem because only need to use one foot you know what swambo says about multi tasking?

The manual does have a vacuum assist and you can definitely feel the difference when the engine is off, it is extremely stiff. I've driven one other manual which had a soft clutch but it juddered , even with no load -i.e. trailer etc.

An automatic is very nice in heavy traffic - but I still prefer the manual!

jan.dup what i will suggest i am in rooihuiskraal and andries too!!! why don't you come around and drive both so that you can compare ??? there is a place here were you can put it in LR and climb a hill or 2 were are you ?

Tinus, that is a great idea.