Humble Pie - Land Rover Style

Right I realize this, but usually you can get a well rounded guess before hand lol. Hmmmmm those do look familiar but......I'm still not sure on it being those. The side tread doesnt have enough length to its "swoop". I was a distinct enough pattern that when we parted ways I found his tracks again later on in the day in other locations of the park.

 

See I was thinking the same thing about it when it came out. I was like "Why would they make THIS over the Discovery!?" I still think it should be rocking out on 17" wheels AT MOST, not the 19s

 

rovers also have a pretty kick ass off road "traction control" system. similar in nature to atrac.

 

I was impressed watching it work as he tried to get through the hole. Took him about 5min to claw it through. (40 feet long) and I got a chance to watch that stuff work. I have a feeling its better than our atrac. Doesn't ours only work up to like 3-5mph?

 

4Lo for a mud hole?

 

Land Rovers have a rep as a rich lady's yoga transport vehicle. Nothing could be further from the truth. I think the only place they haven't been is to the top of Everest.

Land Rovers kick ass. The Tacoma is a great vehicle (it is my vehicle of choice, after all) but requires serious modding to do truly difficult off-roading, and not all Tacomas make it back in one piece from such ventures. Land Rovers may look like a fancy-ass fake 4x4, but they've been building them for well over sixty years with the sole aim of being able to take on terrain nobody here would dare drive over.

No shame and no humbling in getting winched out by a Land Rover.

 

It depends on whether or not you have your rear locker engaged. Locker engaged and the ATRAC to the front diff stops working above 4mph. Locker off and the ATRAC works as long as the button is pressed in 4Lo (providing you don't overheat it...)

David

 

Yeah or else I cant use my locker.

 

Well that's good to know. But, yes I went in with locker engaged, ATRAC on and foot on the throttle. Wasnt going to help either way tho, that transmission cross member was pushing soil underneath.

 

before I left tennessee I was wheeling a 94 F250 diesel. I could out wheel my buddies jeep, but the guy with an LR disco just walked all over both of us. The LR was like the jeep for the brits. Think of it as the willys jeep turned grand cherokee. The old defenders are now the HSE sports. Only real difference is that the brit military still uses LR where the US got the HMMWV instead of the jeep.

 

maybe he destroyed the hole by going first?

 

I had a first gen discovery with a manual trans. couldn't get that truck stuck, and I tried. I haven't got my 13 5spd reg cab 4x4 stuck yet, but I wouldn't take it a lot of places I took my disco.
never should have sold that truck

 

I thought of this, but didnt want to seem like I was making excuses. That adjustable suspension did put him up higher than me. May have been the difference because I got hung up right after entering the hole and he didnt.

 

Great thread. Thanks for sharing your story. Stick around guys like that and you'll learn a lot about off-roading. The Rovers tend to make it easier because their systems are so impressive, but you can't be a terrible driver and do some of the stuff I've seen them do over the years.

My first real experience with off-roading an LR's was when the Defender 90 was hyped up and sold in the USA for a few years prior to the new safety standards going into effect (96 maybe?) and they stopped importing them because it would have required too much of a redesign.

I wasn't that aware of the pedigree of these vehicles, but my friend had just moved here from Argentina and was very familiar with Defenders and FJ40 Landcruisers. I said the Defender 90 looked like a Landcruiser "ripoff" and he gave me a really lengthy and very informative lecture. We went offroading in his FJ40 and it was quite amazing, especially for an old vehicle from the mid-70's that was rusting apart. But we saw a Defender 90 do some things that seemed downright impossible.

Check out the Youtube videos of the guys in Land Rovers driving up the snow covered "roads" in the Alps. The ones with diesel turbo engines are phenomenal. The amount of torque they get off the line is amazing, and they just keep going and going!

The only people I've known who have owned Range Rovers and Discos have typically had bad experiences except for one neighbor who owned a Discovery and was an avid outdoorsman and dentist. He got all scheduled maintenance done, and spent his weekends tinkering on it, and the thing was unbreakable. Those who hated them were having weird little wiring issues (typical on a vehicle out of the UK) and then complaining about parts cost (typical out of all of Europe).

Before I got into Toyotas (2 FJ TT editions and a Sport 4Runner V8) I drove a 2001 Trooper and a 2003 Pathfinder. The 2001 Trooper put practically every other vehicle to shame off-road. Nobody laughed by the end of the day, that's for sure. I had a Suzuki XL-7 that was way better than it ever should have been too, but I'd like to think my driving helped some.

If I had unlimited funds, I'd have a Range Rover in my stable for sure. I'd enjoy the heck out of it and love sitting in the plush seats that are designed for human sized people. I'd also own a newer Landcruiser and I'd import a Prado. I love them all.

 

These kinda speak to the Landrover's pedigree...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yGqCJ-ipuk

That being said a good friend of mine had a Disco in high school... not a single thing but the headlights worked electrically and the ignition had something wrong and he was the only one with the magic touch to start it

 

Anyone that's never driven a Land Rover off road would probably be surprised at just how capable they are stock.

We used to have an LR4 for my wife, and I took it to a few off road events held by my dealership. Even on the stock 19" street tires, the thing was impressive. I can't imagine how good it would have been with some real tires.

The thing that surprised me even more about the truck was that in the 2 years we had it, nothing actually broke. I fully expected it to be in the shop on a regular basis, but she really wanted it. I told her I'd get it as long as she took it to the dealer when it broke....she got the last laugh.

 

The Mercedes G 500 Wagens fit into that same category. The only people I ever see driving them are real estate magnates and the heads of billion dollar tech companies in this area. I used to teach a kid whose Dad was a multi-millionaire and he drove one. I had my FJ Trail Teams parked next to it and he was saying how amazing my FJ looked and how it must be fun to have such a capable off-roader. I was like, "Yeah, you tell me about it... your GWagen is probably the best off-roader that was ever built." He goes, "This thing is a luxury truck. People don't seriously take these off-road do they?" I then told him how the G Wagen was a military spec vehicle and I talked about the competition the US Military ran when they ultimately chose the Humvee. He was stunned. But interestingly... the wheel height, spacing, and a lot of other little features were nearly identical between his G and my FJ. We were kind of surprised at the stance and height and everything just seeming to line right up. It looks like even if Toyota was copying, they picked good vehicles to copy. I don't think it's any coincidence that the old Landcruisers right on up to the new Landcruisers are always mocked as "Fake Land Rovers" by my Brit friends. They are both used in some extreme climates and they both will run forever if you take care of them right. I think I'd rather take my chances in a Landcruiser in the middle of the desert, but the Land Rovers are extremely impressive vehicles.

The magic touch in starting the vehicle reminded me of this old 1970's Audi 5000 I used to drive in high school. It was a great car if you could get the thing started. It had a fuel-injected inline 5 cylinder engine that was way smoother and faster than it had any right to be. But I was the only person within 50 miles who could even start the thing. It took precise timing of cranking it, and then killing the engine and then popping it back to "on" in order to get the whole ignition system to fire properly. It was like an early engine disabling system, but on accident. Ha. I don't miss the electrical problems of my old European vehicles. That's for sure. But I do miss the luxury and the seats that are built for a guy my size. I feel like Shaq in my Tacoma and I'm only 6'1".

 

land rover seems to be outgrowing their unreliable days. still an issue here or there, but much better overall.

<3 g wagon <3

wheeled with a couple. can't beat factory locking front, rear, and center diffs rock solid truck, with more than enough power to handlie 2x whatever you throw at it.

 

A stock Land Rover will beat a stock Tacoma anytime. You just can't beat the triple locked drivetrain.
I am ashamed that no one mentioned the FZJ80 Landcruiser/LX450. In my opinion, so much better than the Land Rover. Many came with triple lockers (I had a 96 LX450) and their abilities are astounding. Plus, their Toyotas and were high quality, outback capable vehicles.
Wish I had not sold mine but I like the fuel economy of the Tacoma.


P.S. Please don't ban me!

 

Exhaust manifold leaks.

Nuff said