I know officially it was last month too, but we decided The Mud Life’s 2023 would start in February because we needed to take a break…..well I say we, but actually Muddy Madam threatened to make me a eunuch if she had to put a magazine together over Christmas and New Year again.
The Grenadier is built for purpose, as they say. And what’s the purpose? Simple – to be sturdy and reliable.
| Publication Information |
|---|
| Cover Price: Free |
| Format: Digital (pdf), 108 pages |
| Frequency: Monthly |
| Subject: 4×4, Off-Roading, Green-Laning |
| Publisher: The Mud Life |
| News, Reviews & Adventure |
The Mud Life 4×4 Magazine Issue 45 February 2023
Turner’s Torque
It’s 2023!
I know officially it was last month too, but we decided The Mud Life’s 2023 would start in February because we needed to take a break…..well I say we, but actually Muddy Madam threatened to make me a eunuch if she had to put a magazine together over Christmas and New Year again.
To be fair there have been a couple of years that she has still been finishing the mag way into wee small hours of New Year’s Eve, so to save my marriage AND my crown jewels I gave in.
In the past 5 years, with just two of us at the helm, creating a 100+ page magazine every month can take its toll.Add other jobs, general life and the occasional hobby to the mix and the fact that we’ve produced the last 45 issues alone is quite a feat.
Anyhow, we’re back!
As you may have noticed from social media, and our front cover, during January I was invited on stage two of the global media launch of the INEOS Grenadier from Inverness down to Loch Lomond. Now, I know there’ll be a lot of you who feel let down by INEOS – the move to France and so on – but my job is to write about the vehicle, not Jim’s business decisions, and what a 4×4 him and his team have produced The Grenadier is a no-nonsense 4×4 that’s built to work hard, and last.
In other news, it was a lovely surprise on the 10th December waking up to snow, I honestly can’t remember the last time in snowed this early in Bolton, it must be decades. After walking Lilly in the park my first thought was to drive up to the hills for a play in Deux Smurf, but a quick drive to the post office to drop off a parcel completely put me off the idea, as the entire population of Bolton were out on the road and driving at 10mph. By the time I’d have reached the moors the snow would have melted.
There was one noticeable difference this year at Muddy Towers, and that was we didn’t have a press car to play with – sorry, review. The reason for this was that I really did need to drive Deux Smurf more, it doesn’t do cars any good just sat parked up for long periods of time, especially when the weather is so damp and miserable.
The OSRAM VX1000 light bar I wrote about last month remains unbelievably good, and I’m always surprised how quickly the heater on Deux Smurf warms up after a -10º night, I’m toasty warm in a matter of minutes, it’s exceptionally good for a 27 year old 4×4.
I’m currently writing a list of all the shows that I want to attend this year, there are quite a lot, and next month we have both the Caravan and Camping Show at the NEC, but more importantly, 4×4 Expo at the Stafford Show Ground on the 26th Feb. We won’t have a stand at 4×4 Expo, but I’ll hopefully see some of you there.
Damian, Editor-in-Chief
The Mud Life is all about 4x4s, and enjoying the great British outdoors.
Damian and Karen Lee Turner (A.K.A. The Muddy Madam)
TURNER’S TORQUE 4
NEWS 6-14
AUDI Q8 S LINE 16-24
WORDS FROM THE WILD 26-30
INEOS GRENADIER 32-49
GOODS & GEAR 51-52
CAMPING LIFE 54-60
MOOCH – WANDERING IN WALES 62-70
GENESIS GV60 72-80
OUR GARAGE 82-83
ŠKODA OCTAVIA 4X4 VRS ESTATE 84-92
MOOCH – AT35 VS GNARLY LANE 94-99
THE TALES OF LILLY 100-101
LILLY’S WOOF STUFF 102-103
DIRECTORY 105
BACK ISSUES 106-107
Important information
Whilst every effort is made to ensure that the contents of The Mud Life magazine are accurate, we accept no responsibility for errors or omissions, nor the consequence of actions made as a result of these. When responding to any advertisements in The Mud Life magazine, you should make appropriate enquiries before sending money or entering into a contract. The publishers and owners take reasonable care to ensure advertiser’s probity, but will not be liable for any losses incurred as a result of responding to adverts.
Copyright
All images and material on these pages are protected by copyright © Damian Turner. All rights reserved. None of the images or material within this magazine may be reproduced, duplicated, copied, sold, resold or otherwise exploited for any commercial purpose that is not expressly authorised by Damian Turner or Karen Lee Turner.
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