MOTOR CHAT

[legrandefromage]

I'll see your 14mpg and drop you to 11mpg from my 'G-WAC' 1989 Discovery twin carb V8.

I loved it to bits! Driven mostly with foot nailed to the floor for that V8 soundtrack.

Interiors shrivel, crossmembers rust, bulkheads disappear, inner wings go on holiday. The rest is pretty reliable.

A heady mix of Ford/ BMW and PSA in the 'new' lot - missing LCD displays, electrical gremlins but not seen much to have to fix myself. Rear bushes on the Discovery 4 are ovalising.

PSA sourced V6 diesels seem to be the biggest bugbear across the entire JLR range.

Neighbours brrraaaand new Ignium Discovery Sport has been slurping coolant for no apparent reason. Their previous PSA diesel powered Discovery Sport and Evoke never saw above 30mpg - sure, the emissions maybe cleaner but thats still a hell of a lot of refining going on!

I loved my smelly Isuzu double cab - it had been used for dog walking and stank despite binning the carpet/ rear seats. That was the 2.8 TDi and saw 40+mpg

Wot I had wiv a bangin' v8 innit!

 

[legrandefromage]

 

[legrandefromage]

My neighbour and my view from the driveway...

 

[epicyclo]

Re: Re:

...Depends what you want it for really - 4wd on tarmac or serious offroading..

Serious offroading - Landrover, or slightly better in some instances, a Suzuki Jimny because it's light enough to lift/push out of some problems.

But if there's any sort of track, I'd do what most people who live in the Australian bush do - limited slip diff on a 2wd, and a lift kit with sump guard.

 

[mattr]

I'll see your 14mpg and drop you to 11mpg from my 'G-WAC' 1989 Discovery twin carb V8.

High speed testing on the Range Rover Sport Supercharger (before the emissions/fuel consumption/tyre safety people got involved)


Between 4 and 6mpg.


At 150+mph round the test track.

 

[highlandsflyer]

Re:

Panda,

I suffered the prejudice against Discos for a long time, despite having been in plenty of them wearing all sorts of dodgy clothes and whistles.

I would hesitate to get a Defender after driving a nice Disco around, the later 2002 facelift models are even nicer so I hear!

Been towing all weekend with a maximum we shouldn't talk to VOSA about at one point..

Despite our 2002 Disco being a manual TD5, it didn't miss a beat! I messed up some of my roundabouts and take offs, but that is my lazy feet and hands after driving auto mainly for a while..

Lots less than two grand, and the tub I am towing here half that.. Just had the Range Rover engine gone over by a trusted man, and it should be good for another 80k without issue.

Next job the paint, there is really nothing else to do bar a few slack interior fitments.

Not bad for a twenty five year old wagon.

Saying that, towing it around with a fifteen year old and pulling up hill easily and accelerating in 2nd gear is pretty cool when you are used to needing tractors for that kind of work.

Land Rover.

 

[mattr]

Re: Re:

Been towing all weekend with a maximum we shouldn't talk to VOSA about at one point..

meh. Wouldn't sweat it.

Depending on model/box/chassis/engine/weather conditions/considerate driver they will physically tow from about 7000 kilos. Give or take.

Some models can tow more than twice that on a flat road. That might not do them so much good though!

 

[highlandsflyer]

My heaviest plant trailer is a very solid converted back end of a flat bed truck.

I have towed a six ton load on it, with a Defender 110. No bother at all, all over some seriously windy and steep hills out West.

We used to use our Land Rovers as stand in tractors. They are very underrated in these days of Japanese efficiency and reliability.

At 48, and having been using 4x4s in anger for most of my life, I don't consider reliability the main concern. Simple repair is much more important, and for the price of your mega super Land Cruiser you can have a triple dose of Discos. No brainer!

Nissan Patrol was my favourite rugged vehicle, G-Wagen was the ultimate.

Day to day living I now understand the Disco crowd.

Perhaps I am now one of them. Boot full of tools, Biggest one in the driver's seat, of course.

 

[Stick Legs]

Pre SDV8 the motto was "Nothing says I can't afford a Range Rover like a Diesel Range Rover or a V8 Discovery" which was funny if a little unkind.

SDV8 changed that to "Nothing says I can't afford a Bentley like a Petrol Range Rover".

 

[highlandsflyer]

Re:

There is another one of those things about Land Rovers.

Back when I was a kid, my dad had one of the first in the county.

It cost a packet.

My first series was £200.

I rode in V8 Range Rovers back in the 90s, and they were out of my reach.

Now I have a nice one, and it is a cheap old car. It is slow, heavy and only economic vaguely thanks to the LPG.

I certainly couldn't justify a Bentley. But I have been looking..

The Range Rover will never leave the herd. It is asleep in a heated garage now, and will be looked after like that until I can't afford to do so.

More modern ones will come and go, and the German cars likewise.

Just something about the old bitch.