Dirt and Trail July 2018 issue 2

The New Linhai 550
T-BOSS
Linhai is one of those “Alternative” brands
that has a credible track record in South
Africa. There must be zillions of those little
Rustler Quads still operating on farms and
mines all over South Africa – and lets not
exclude the social scene where people
were looking for reliable, economical fun.
Over the years, we’ve watched this brand
progress. Sure – they do copy quite a few
of the innovations found on the mainstream
brands – but that’s how technology
improves.
We remember testing their very first Rebel
400 Side By Side all those years ago – when
we think back – the new ones are just so
much more refined.
The new 550 T-Boss.
This is Linhai’s latest and greatest
technology and it is obvious that they
have taken ideas and innovations from all
over. It’s a full sized AG unit that seats two
passengers comfortably, with a smaller seat
in the middle for a third occupant .
It features some of the expected safety
bits like a sturdy roll cage and seatbelts to
hold occupants in place. This is the first
unit, sale units will include safety nets on the
doors.
In the cab, there is a handy cubby hole
and lots of little nooks for all your goodies
and – and this is a cool innovation, you even
get a foldable armrest when the middle
seat is not being used, complete with
cup holders to support your coffee in the
mornings when you head out to check on
the sheep.
It’s all quite well designed ergonomically,
the switches, levers and so –on are all easy
to reach and use.
4wd, diff lock etc, is all activated via
switches on the dash. High, low is all simple
as per usual on the automatic gear selector.
We really like the cool digital display that
incorporates the fuel gauge and so-on.
Lighting is quite modern. All low
consumption LED tech and it all looks pretty
stylish.
One feature that we like is the inclusion
of a handy USB port for charging your stuff.
You also get a 12v socket for your portable
pump. The passenger did find that the
footwell is slightly tight for bigger occupants.
Out back they have fitted a mighty large
load bed for all sorts of stuff – camping
fishing or farmwork.
It tips manually with a tailgate so
emptying it all is quite simple.
Ground clearance is provided by large
25” Duro tyres mounted on stylish black
cast wheels and bolted to independent
96 DIRT & TRAIL MAGAZINE JULY 2018