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So after having one as a loan car for a day or two, I took the plunge and ordered a new 2010 RRS :) I specc’d it with rear eLocker, rearview camera, Rimini Red, Goodyear MTR 255/55/19 mud tyres, 3.0 ltr TDV6 twin-turbo, and due to a build error got an electric sunroof thrown in as well!!

I also added an Expedition roof rack (arrived a little later) side protection strips and a Redarc electric brake controller (for the caravan).

The engine is amazing! Even with the caravan on the back (2.7T), it pulls like a V8 ;)

Here’s some video of it in action, along with a few D4’s and D3’s …

GOE training day

As I mentioned in the last post, I’ve been trying to find an 18″ rim that will fit the new D4 and RRS 3 ltr diesel models. The  2010 range have new 360mm discs with a new LR/Brembo designed caliper. This (alloy) caliper has three cooling fins that protrude from the main body and will foul on most standard 18″ rims.

18″ rims will allow for a much larger selection of AT and MT tyres, in sizes such as 255/65/18, 265/65/18, 275/60/18 and 285/60/18. So you could really use a D4 or new RRS as a tourer or off-road vehicle!

The minimum internal diameter that will clear is approximately 440mm (the caliper just touches at around 435mm). There don’t seem to be any readily-available 18″ rims with this sort of clearance. I’ve contacted two suppliers, GMAX and Compomotive (a UK company).

GMAX make a rim (the Bona-Fide 18 x 8.5) that has 435 mm clearance – just short of clearing the caliper! They’ve indicated that they might do a special-order at 440, if I order 15 sets or more, at around $1400 for a set of 5. So if you’re interested, send me an email!

Compomotive make the rims for the Bowler Nemesis, an off-road racer based on the Range Rover Sport. These will also clear the calipers, but are only supplied to Bowler. Again I’m discussing what a special order would cost, and the amount required for an order.

I’ll keep you posted!

I loaned a Range Rover Sport 3 ltr diesel from the dealer for the day last week – what a car!! The new diesel motor (180kw, 600NM) is virtually instant in response, with no discernible turbo lag. Driving it pretty hard around town, I still managed 11 ltr / 100, considerably better than my 2.7 D3 gets!

In the RRS (and this was the base model), virtually everything is standard – sat nav, 4×4 information screen, 240watt sound system, electric seats etc etc. After driving around for a couple of hours with a stupid grin on my face, I took the car back to the workshop and measured it up for a few things.

Firstly, the second ‘battery ‘ box will no longer hold a battery, as they’ve moved the TCM and a couple of other modules over to that side (better water protection). However, an Optima Yellowtop will fit in front of the existing battery, once a suitable base and clamp are designed. Traxide are apparently working on one, as we will be doing for owners who want to retro-fit their existing dual-battery set-ups.

Secondly, the wheels. The 3 ltr RRS and D4 come with 19″ rims as a minimum – they can be up-spec’d to 20″ rims. Suitable tyres for off-road or touring are very limited for 19″ rims. There’s the Pirelli Scorpion ATR, the new Continental CrossContact AT, and the Goodyear Wrangler MTR(P) mud tyre, although this last one only seems to be available via the USA. That’s about it. All are in size 255/55/19. For the 20″ rim, there are slightly more available, and in various sizes (275/45/20, 285/50/20). However, these are all low profile tyres, and this will limit their utility as a touring or off-road tyre. This is the biggest drawback with the new range from LR. I’ve started looking around for an 18″ rim that would fit, but I’ll go into more detail in another post.

Finally, after 8 weeks of procrastination, obfuscation and general idiocy from the insurance and the bank, I picked up the new Disco 3 days ago. Haven’t stopped smiling since :)

This is a 2009 TDV6 SE – my previous D3 was a 2006 TDV6 SE – and there’s been quite a few minor changes in the last few years. For a start, the new SE gets the “High ICE” premium stereo, with subwoofer, 6-stacker CD, aux inputs and steering-wheel controls. The turbo lag seems to have decreased, and the car raises and lowers faster than before. The addition of the High ICE also means I can now program various settings (eg auto door locks, standby lights etc) that I had to take the car to the dealer to do previously.

As you can see, I added a few accessories – LR rear eLocker, LR snorkel, LR expedition roof-rack, 17″ rims with Maxxis Bighorn 265/70/17 tyres, electric trailer brake, LR winch-enabled A bar, my GOE rock-sliders + stand-off bars, GOE compressor plate, GOE shortened HS rods, a Hema Navigator GPS and a Spot satellite tracker. Still got the winch to fit, dual batteries, the CB and I’m undecided on the spare-wheel carrier. Should be ready to hit the tracks next weekend!!

The happy LR family ………….. :)

I was invited to an hour of trying out the LR of my choice at the AHG 4×4 training track near the Perth Airport yesterday. I opted for the Range Rover Sport, so that I could compare it’s off-road performance with the D3 and FL2, which I’m pretty familiar with.

The instructor (John) was from an Eastern States training and adventure company, but he’d also led several LR-sponsored trips across Australia (most notably the 60th Anniversary trek across Australia in an RRS, D3, FL2 and Puma Defender). Coincidentally, he’d also led the Audi Q7 trans-Australia trip in 2006, where I met up with them at Ayer’s Rock (and one of my navigators crewed the 2007 trip). I was traversing in the opposite direction in the D3.

Anyway, we ended up having a good chat and got to go over the ground a few extra times – it was an interesting day, although there is only so much you can do in one hour, and the course was pretty tame by most standards.I came away impressed with the RRS, but with some reservations. We both agreed that its lack of an extra 10mm or so of clearance and the inability to fit larger tyres (as opposed to the D3) were it’s main disadvantages. The low profile tyres were another – although this was a base TDV6, so it could have been fitted with 17″ rims. The driving position and controls-to-hand are better than the D3 or FL2 though, and it certainly feels more isolated from the external environment, although whether this is a good or bad thing is debatable. It feels smaller and nimbler than the D3, and even the FL2, although in reality it’s externally almost as big as the D3.

Still, a sunny Friday afternoon, a 4×4 track and a brand new RRS to play in for an hour or so – have to be happy with that!

Cheers,

Gordon

Coming up Monday 8th June is our next information seminar. This will be the first one to also incorporate info on the Freelander 2 – I’ve been going over the wife’s FL2 with a set of measuring callipers and a note book, trolling the LR workshop info and taking her out on the local tracks at every opportunity we get.

The next training trip is Sunday 14th June, for a combined beach and hill-climb day. 9:30 am start, meeting at the 10th Light Horse trail in Wanneroo.

Cheers,

Gordon

Mike and Pete have begun the rebuild on the GOE competition Rangie, pictured above at one of the 2008 comps. Mike drives this in the highly modified classes, and was getting caught up on some of the obstacles due to the car’s departure angle. Enter Pete, the angle grinder and a short course on electrical wiring ……

A quick short-back and sides was the agreed path, so off with the roof and a bob-tail later …..

A couple of weekends later, she’s starting to take shape. The Maxidrive axles and diffs will stay, the front CVs are to be replaced with Ashcrofts, and some new rubber needs to be sourced. But next is hunting down a new powertrain, to replace the water-phobic 3.9 V8.

We’ll keep you posted ………

A few weeks ago, we started looking at making up some protective plates etc for the FL2. The first thing was a plate to protect the fuel tank. One of the proposed designs is on the web-site, but I also had a two-plate design, which I thought might be easier to fit, and easier to freight. It would just cost a little more. Roughly, the one-piece design would cost around $450, whilst the two-plate version would be about $500. I don’t know if people think this would be feasible?

The next item will be rock-slider/sill protectors. There’s nowhere near the room under the doors that the D3 has, so if these were to be fitted with side-steps, the steps are going to impact slightly on ground clearance, no matter how they’re designed. So I’m thinking of making two types – one with steps and one without.

There also seems to be a need for a plate to protect the lower front bib. I’m not sure yet how wide a span is needed, perhaps people who have damaged this area could provide some extra info?

Cheers,

Gordon

Took my wife out to the sand dunes today to show her what her TD4 could do. Now I’ve never driven the new diesel FL2 off-road before, so it was quite a surprise! The torque-to-weight ratio is amazing – going up dunes that I’d normally have to plant it to get up, this thing was virtually air-borne at half throttle! On the slower, more rutted up-hill tracks, the restricted suspension travel and ground clearance shows, but the traction control still determinedly hauls you up.

Now to try it out in the hills …… :)

For those of you that haven’t heard the full story, here’s some background …..

3am 25th April 2009 our house was broken into whilst myself, my wife and daughter were sleeping. The thieving mongrels stole our computers, ipods, cameras and the keys to both cars. They then opened the garage door (the remote was on one of the keyrings) and drove off with my D3 and my wife’s Subaru Impreza as my wife woke me up. I ran outside just as they drove my car out of the driveway and down the road. The Subaru was in a high-speed chase with the Police, but was recovered two days later. My D3 wasn’t recovered for another week, and by then was a write-off. To add insult to injury, the day before the break-in, we had been off on a 4WD trip, so my car was loaded with fridges, sat phones, CBs, recovery gear etc, as well as all my design notes, prototypes and some clients’ orders.

Back to the present: the missus traded in her Subaru on a new Freelander 2 TD4 SE and had her first 4WD experience (driving) last weekend – she’s hooked!! I’m still waiting for a replacement D3, but hopefully it shouldn’t be too much longer.

On the business front, I’ve recreated all our previous designs and started re-manufacturing those plates and side-steps that were either stolen or damaged.

So we’re back on track and looking forward to the next few months, as we introduce new products and training schedules for the FL2, D3, D4 and RRS.

Cheers,

Gordon