4x4s are king for a week. SUV slur on hold!

JMSE

All this week during the bad weather, whenever there was mention of cars being pulled out of ditches or of how the only way to be safe on the road, the answer was the mighty '4by4' and not once did anyone use the hate-word SUV.

kermitpwee

A 4x4 and a SUV are not the same animal I'm afraid:D

101sean

They always get tarred with the same brush and many passenger SUVs are 4x4.

Same story every year, come floods and snow we are saviours helping out or farmers struggling to feed their animals and shown on the news, rest of the time we are social lepers responsible for destroyng the environment and anything else the tree hugging, fluffy bunny ecomentalists want to blame us for :mad:

Eric Cartman

a few in work have always said my sorento and now d-max were 'pointless' and id never need 'an engine that big' or '4 wheel drive' needless to say they kept quiet when i gave them lifts to and from work because their bimmers on summer tires wouldnt even leave the driveway

fletch...

I remember the big grin on my face last year when i heard a request on the english news for landrover owners to help stranded motorists or anyone els who needed help.

Since i downgraded from my disco to a bloody crv i feel like im driving a toy car. But atleast this year im not the designated bad weather driver.......Danm

LCruiser Kid

Hello all. New to this forum.
The 4x4 has had a good week no doubt. No harm for a change. Wonder would the small crappy electric thingy's that gormley wants us to drive be any good in this weather. I think not.
No doubt when this weather is over those critics of the 4x4 will be out again trying to bring them down, along with us farmers for polluting the planet.

101sean

Hi LCruiser Kid and welcome to boards.ie. You'll find plenty of 'cruiser fans here along with plenty of moral support

LCruiser Kid

101sean wrote: »

Hi LCruiser Kid and welcome to boards.ie. You'll find plenty of 'cruiser fans here along with plenty of moral support

Thanks. I'm in the right place so then:D:D

stackerman

Yea, no tree huggers banging on about our 4x4's

This week I fell in LOVE with my Hilux all over again !

Mind you half the time you see a car in the ditch, its the driver, rather then the car that put it there :rolleyes:

ingen

bought a new set of alloys, and winter tyres for the x5 back in october, in case of bad winter weather, as the standard tyres are not great in winter more of a summer tyre.

put them on last week, and cant believe the difference, i got places where i was expected to get stuck... but it suspension seemed a little firm on rough ground..

duckysauce

http://www.herald.ie/national-news/mountain-rescues-spark-warning-to-4x4-drivers-2447094.html

ingen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iabv78A17Bs

just as you dont go out in winter in flipflops, cars/ 4x4's are the same, they need the right shoes too.

greysides

I've my second-hand LandCruiser commercial for a year now. At the time I changed from my Mk I Pajero I was looking for a Hilux crew-cab- smaller engine, windows, seats for kids- but VAT regulations wouldn't allow it.

Having spent the last two weeks on snow and ice I'm glad of the LC's open centre diff. Rather than shifting between 2H and 4H as conditions required I could leave it in 4H (open diff.) most of the time.

The week before the snow when the talk was all about the EMF I was wondering about how we might economise and 'her indoors' drives a Honda CRV petrol.
(It has also done all that was required of it, just with a little less competence.)

Well, two weeks later, I have my answer. I've gone where I needed to go when I needed to go, in safety and comfort. When you live in the country away from public transport a certain amount of self-reliance is necessary.

It's a little ironic that after a decade when 4x4's were the 'to have' wealth indicator/fashion accessory, and many are now on forecourts covered with snow, we've finally had the conditions where they come into their own. At least now there is a supply of cheap second-hand vehicles available to those who will use them as they were intended/designed to be used. Life for a 4x4 begins with the second owner for a lot of them.



Snow 8-10".

fonecrusher1

I miss my old hilux surf i had up until a few months ago. Its was brilliant in last years big freeze.

My humble corolla has done ok in the cold weather but having said that ive deliberately kept travel to a minimum. Nothing like a 4x4 in this sort of weather though. I'l have another some day.:(

Builderfromhell

Good post and pic there greysides.

I drive a hilux which has got me up hills etc. Have to admit though that I have been impressed by other modern cars with traction control etc. Thye seem to be doing fine.

101sean

Some of the newer 4x4s, especially Disco4 and full fat Rangie (BMW and the rest are just copying) take most of the decisions out of the drivers hands if you let them, just steer! Took a Disco3 round the jungle track at Solihull, was almost boring :rolleyes:

Even my 110 with anti-stall will go round an off road course without touching the pedals, no fun though.

Should have an old Series 3 88 back on the road this weekend to remind me what it used to be like before electronics (no engine in the 101 at the moment so can't play in that)

greysides

101sean wrote: »

Took a Disco3 round the jungle track at Solihull, was almost boring :rolleyes:

I'd like to do that some day. Have a thing about electronics though.........

Should have an old Series 3 88 back on the road this weekend to remind me what it used to be like before electronics (no engine in the 101 at the moment so can't play in that)

Pity about the 101, can you have it fixed by next weekend? (See weather forum)

Had to laugh recently.

Heavy snow, few on the roads, just helped a stuck car get going, S III 88" SW with a lovely burble from the engine pulls into the garage, 4 up............................windows completely (and stereotypically) steamed up.

Not knocking LRs in any way, they touch a soft spot. Couldn't find a nice, suitable Defender when I last changed and the 'electronic' D3's were too much for the mileage.................any way, a 2001 Land Cruiser is a lot like a Defender (....in the eye of the beholder..) mechanically.

Anyhow back on topic, here's a copy of a post I put up on the weather board.

Let there be snow.................. for the slush is not much fun.

These are scenes from the Hollyfort to Tinahely road just beyond the Wicklow 'Gap pub. The snow/slush/ice is about 10" deep and has been churned up by vehicles with snow chains and other traffic. Once in a rut it's hard to get out but at least once in you won't be sliding sideways. Trouble is that in some spots there is only two ruts centred in the road and traffic coming both ways is using them. It's harder to drive on that the compacted snow of two days ago.










I was genuinely surprised at the number of cars I met, they were getting about. Except for the petrol Polo with bald tyres that tried a hill too much.

broro22

greysides wrote: »

any way, a 2001 Land Cruiser is a lot like a Defender (....in the eye of the beholder..) mechanically.

Good job you qualified that statement. Im all for the jap LR harmony that is promoted on this forum that could have opened a can of worms.:rolleyes:

greysides

Pity, a good rant is always entertaining..................

(Mechanically...permanent 4WD, locking centre diff, torquey engine.)

broro22

Entertaining but alas frowned upon

101sean

Yea, keep the worms firmly in the can! We can all be friends together and go and play when the snow returns

I'm in no hurry with the engine for the 101, waiting for a decent 3.9efi to turn up.

I did a gold tour of the Land Rover factory about 4 years ago, well worth the £300 or so it cost. Toured the assembly lines in the morning and drove the off road courses in the afternoon with the instructors.

greysides

Each model will have it's strengths and weaknesses. It's up to the owner to decide what best suits him +/- his purposes. I like most 4x4's and would love to drive each for a while and compare. So, 'no bickering' will suit fine.

3.9 EFi? Ever considered a 6.5 l V8 from GM/Dodge? :D

One has been put into a RR using a good automatic gearbox and the 101 is mechanically similar to the Classic RR.

101sean

GM V8 has been done, guy here also had one in a 110 but had loads of problems so has now gone for a Cummins BT6. I'll stick to the Rover V8, lovely noise and fuel consumption doesn't bother me, it's only a toy

Most diesel 101 owners go for the Tdi or the 2.8tgv derivative of the 300tdi.

greysides

The Rover V8 would be keeping it in the family anyway!