Benson Advertising

17/10/2023

Tester

28/07/2021

Inspiring stuff indeed - thank you Maree Whitely (AISWA)🙏

17/07/2018

Camping at Ningaloo, in Perth Western Australia.
Nice pic Mr. Underwood!

17/07/2018

Thanks Guys!😎

Graphic Designer

17/07/2018

MASERATI’S Levante SUV isn’t important from an off-roading perspective but it is indicative of the enormity of the SUV trend and its seemingly unstoppable march into every corner of the car market. The Levante was supposed to share its underpinnings with the Jeep Grand Cherokee - Jeep and Maserati and Fiat and (some of) Ferrari and Chrysler and Dodge - all belong to the same FCA family - but sensibility got in the way. So instead of a full-blown 4WD Maserati, the Levante uses Maserati components including the all-wheel drive system. It then picks up some pieces from its siblings, notably the turbo-diesel engine from Italy’s VM Motori (also owned by parent FCA), infotainment systems from Chrysler-Jeep and the latest turbo-petrol V6 from Ferrari.
That’s what friends are for.
The Levante is only for the well heeled with an entry price of $139,990 (diesel) and now the petrol V6 that
starts at $169,990.
What do you get? A Harmon Kardon 900-watt, 14-speaker audio, full leather upholstery with Zegna silk trim, 20-inch wheels, electric tailgate, a comprehensive safety kit, big boot and the best exhaust note in town.
The Levante is a big wagon, sitting at 5m long and with a 3m wheelbase and 2.1-tonne dry weight.
However, despite its size and weight, its 316kW/580Nm 3.0-litre bi-turbo petrol will run from rest to 100km/h in only 5.2 seconds (same as the Nissan Nismo 370Z) and yet claim 10.9 L/100km (9.2km/litre).
It is loaded with monitors that will sense the wheel and suspension action and work out if the vehicle is on or off the bitumen and then change the modes to suit the conditions. For example, it will raise the electronically-adjustable air suspension if it detects an off-road situation, though the driver can manually control it from the standard 207mm ground clearance to add 45mm or, for city driving or when parked, down by 40mm.
About 85 per cent of Levante buyers are new to the Maserati brand and it’s the model that has already captured the majority of the brand’s sales.

17/07/2018

Eyes shut, drifting off in the shade, touch and sound take over. The heat and the white sand day burn through. Canvas and pole flap, flex and squeak, a bushfly does two laps of my head and through the rush of the sou’ easter, the soft background roar of the surf at the reef pins us down in...
APRIL AT NINGALOO
The end of March was probably a bit early in the season to head to Ningaloo with April still within the cyclone season and daytime temperatures maxing out in the high thirties but combining Easter with a pre-school holiday period seemed like the best time to get in before the rush. With a bit of luxury (for us) in the form of a Cub hard floor camper in tow and topped up with our kayaks we pointed the Cruiser north late on a Thursday aiming to beat the Good Friday rush.
Even then Sandy Cape north of Jurien was heaving with campers and we had no choice but to head bush for the night.
Narrowly escaping a head-on on the tight tracks next morning we took a restorative truckie’s breakfast at Dongara and beelined for Wooramel Riverside Camp and an even more restorative hot spa with a side of champers to clear the dust from our throats.

17/07/2018

I remember casting a keen eye over what must have been one of the first iterations of the Patriot X1 camper trailer. I was drawn to the unique, rather military styling and the impressive amount of ‘everything’ they had managed to squeeze into such a small package. The X1 is the camper that started the Patriot Campers journey; and while it has gone through five years of revisions; the latest models I have along for this test maintain much the same design and layout.
The models under review are X1 Grand Tourer models. This is important to note, as a good deal of the features here are optional or not available at all on the lower spec Tourer unit.
The Patriot green example belongs to my good friend Steve McCarthy, who purchased his in 2017 and drove all the way over to Queensland to fetch it! The Pacific Blue X1 is fresh off the showroom floor, and is towed by Jake Doyle from Caravan & Camper Megastore – the official Patriot dealer of Western Australia as of late March 2018.
With the 2018 model hooked up to Jake’s monster GU Patrol, and Steve hauling his 2017 model behind a brand new 200 series Landcruiser, we departed our meeting point at Hillarys en route to Wilbinga. At 3.3 metres from tow hitch to tailgate; and weighing a measly 940kg dry (ATM is 1600kg), it’s no surprise that it tows like it’s not even there. Electric brakes are fitted, a pretty standard inclusion on most camper trailers and caravans. I dare say that even if it was unbraked – you’d still not know it was there behind a big cruiser.
Soon we hit the alarmingly chopped up Wilbinga Road. It’s a horrific limestone track; rather like the one into Steep Point for those familiar. Like most camper trailers these days, the X1 rides on independent suspension with twin shock absorbers each side. The difference here is while most trailers use coil springs to carry the load, the X1 rides on airbags. These are tuned to suit the weight of your camper via a digital control panel, with a small onboard pump to increase the pressure. Just like those with similar suspension setups; the X1 soared beautifully across the corrugations (see the video if you’re reading the E-mag
right now).
As the tracks thinned out into a network of paint shredding horror, the convenience of the short drawbar became apparent. The trailer follows the cruiser closely around tight corners. Over the rough wombat holes and sharp peaks, the pretty galvanised chassis didn’t scrape a bit. Decent articulation between the vehicle and trailer can be attributed to the use of a Hitchmaster DO35 – one of the best offroad hitches out there.