NEWS

We have all seen the television commercial, showing the Toyota Prado being driven on a steel ramp at a 43 ° angle, hovering on a cliff and we have all wondered how much of it was computer generated and how much was real… Experienced 4x4 journalist, Francois Rossouw, got to experience 'the ramp' up close and personal.

It looks very impressive (and easy) when Von Krause from the Toyota Advanced Driving Academy (TAD) drives the Prado up to beyond the balance point, with hydraulic pumps controlling the tip over of the ramp. Should we dare to go on it, we all wonder… If Von is mad enough to do it, let him do it! Does he know that 43° is only two degrees before the vehicle will reach it's balance point and tip over backwards? But, would we ever get a chance to experience such an exiting thing again. So, let's go!

As the front wheels get to the ramp, it feels as if we are driving straight into the upright ramp, but then the front starts lifting as the wheels climb the ramp. The front lifts, and lifts, and lifts… and lifts even more until it feels as if the Prado is going to tip over backwards. I lay back in my seat with the backrest parallel to the ground…

This is certainly not normal and I have to admit that I was quite petrified - my feet were above my head and my heart was in my feet! This is crazy! I looked at Von and could not believe that he sat there as calm as if he was driving down the main street on a Sunday afternoon - clearly he trusts the Prado with his life. He kept the engine at constant at 1500 revs. I could hear the engine's light constant growl while the Prado starts to climb the ramp, more than any production vehicle has ever done.

You could hear the tyres wanting to spin on the ramp, but the traction control just forced them to bite into the steel mesh covering the ramp. We kept climbing. You could see nothing, but blue sky ahead. It is a really dangerous feeling and we kept climbing… Oh, where is the end of this??

Fortunately I heard the observer from the outside saying on the two-way radio: "Far enough." We stopped… Slowly the ramp started tipping forward. It was a feeling of relief as we reached level, but now we were very high off the ground and I just prayed that Von stay alert because if he let go the brakes, the Prado will just fall to the ground and we will be as flat as we previously thought the Free State was!

The ramp tipped forward. More and more until only the seat belt kept me from falling through the windscreen. And then it tipped even more… and again fear found its place in the pit of my stomach… The ramp stopped and I was so relieved by the thought that we should be down and on level ground soon. But then Von shifted the Prado into reverse and we started moving backwards! I heard how one rear-wheel lost traction, but before it could spin the traction control did it's job and we moved back up the 43°.

We stopped and drove forward slowly down the steep ramp. It was such a relief as the front wheels started picking up the front and we could sit normal in the car again.

This was surely the weirdest experience I ever had in a vehicle. I wonder if there would be any other vehicle that could do this trick as easily as the Prado did. As all models get improved and replaced from time to time, I want to warn Toyota that if the day came to replace the current Prado, they better come up with something really special, because it will have to be very, very good to be better!

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