Sibbertoft fun

FlyingPete · May 31, 2015

Just got back from a muddy Sunday at Sibbertoft. We took my 90, a Disco, Freelander, shorty Range Rover and a Suzuki SJ. Rain early on meant the track was nice and muddy but not too boggy.

The only casualty was the SJ which fell into a ditch following a misjudged turn. The cylinders were full of oil after being on its side, so we had to remove the spark plugs to clear them. This did mean everything got showered in oil though (including my 90) We also had to stop at one point and clear the mud from the 90's radiator to stop it overheating.

Apart from these minor mishaps, all of the cars managed really well. There were a few hills I didn't attempt due to not really having the right tyres, but everything else was fine. With road-biased tyres you end up having to spin the wheels a bit to fling mud out of the treads. The freelander had the same trouble, but neither of us needed a tow.

We came prepared with a camp stove and made copious amounts of tea, and cooked bacon and eggs for lunch.

All in all, a good day out getting to know our cars.

blackstrat · May 31, 2015

FlyingPete said:
Just got back from a muddy Sunday at Sibbertoft. We took my 90, a Disco, Freelander, shorty Range Rover and a Suzuki SJ. Rain early on meant the track was nice and muddy but not too boggy.

The only casualty was the SJ which fell into a ditch following a misjudged turn. The cylinders were full of oil after being on its side, so we had to remove the spark plugs to clear them. This did mean everything got showered in oil though (including my 90) We also had to stop at one point and clear the mud from the 90's radiator to stop it overheating.

Apart from these minor mishaps, all of the cars managed really well. There were a few hills I didn't attempt due to not really having the right tyres, but everything else was fine. With road-biased tyres you end up having to spin the wheels a bit to fling mud out of the treads. The freelander had the same trouble, but neither of us needed a tow.

We came prepared with a camp stove and made copious amounts of tea, and cooked bacon and eggs for lunch.

All in all, a good day out getting to know our cars.

Cool.. you got any pics..? I'm looking at SJs myself as it happens..

West Slope Rover · May 31, 2015

blackstrat said:
Cool.. you got any pics..? I'm looking at SJs myself as it happens..

I've had two of them. One of the best cars on the planet.

blackstrat · May 31, 2015

West Slope Rover said:
I've had two of them. One of the best cars on the planet.

me too a 410 and a 413.. bored of LRs now so thinking of flogging the Disbuggery and getting another SJ..

FlyingPete · May 31, 2015

Got around to uploading some pictures- didn't take too many as I was busy driving

Hanging around waiting to be let in

Had to recover the Suzuki after tipping it back on its wheels

Making running repairs- shortly before the oil shower incident

Surprisingly clean- the advantages of tyres that don't stick out past the wheel arches.

blackstrat · May 31, 2015

FlyingPete said:
Got around to uploading some pictures- didn't take too many as I was busy driving

Hanging around waiting to be let in

Had to recover the Suzuki after tipping it back on its wheels

Making running repairs- shortly before the oil shower incident

Surprisingly clean- the advantages of tyres that don't stick out past the wheel arches.

Yours looks good tbh stock looking LRs are a rarity on here!

FlyingPete · May 31, 2015

blackstrat said:
Yours looks good tbh stock looking LRs are a rarity on here!

Did see one guy in a 90 with huge wheels who kept getting bogged down in the slushy bits. Standard tyres just dig down until you hit the harder surface underneath. My reckoning is that Land Rover generally knew what they were doing when they designed the thing

Turboman · May 31, 2015

FlyingPete said:
My reckoning is that Land Rover generally knew what they were doing when they designed the thing

Wouldn't disagree with that, standard is a pretty good compromise to deal with most real world situations.

Main exception on my mind would be diffs, why they didn't provide any axle locking capability when the Japs had them as standard for years?

blackstrat · May 31, 2015

FlyingPete said:
Did see one guy in a 90 with huge wheels who kept getting bogged down in the slushy bits. Standard tyres just dig down until you hit the harder surface underneath. My reckoning is that Land Rover generally knew what they were doing when they designed the thing

If Landrover are involved it's usually cost driven lol but I know what you mean, best one I had for mud had 7.50 MT on standard steel rims.

FlyingPete · May 31, 2015

Turboman said:
Wouldn't disagree with that, standard is a pretty good compromise to deal with most real world situations.

Main exception on my mind would be diffs, why they didn't provide any axle locking capability when the Japs had them as standard for years?

I guess that comes down to part of the compromise- they wanted something that would suit the majority of people, most of the time. The additional cost/complexity of a rear axle LSD didn't add up presumably. I did have all four spinning at a few points scrambling up a hill so axle locks wouldn't have been much use there.

Turboman · Jun 1, 2015

FlyingPete said:
I guess that comes down to part of the compromise- they wanted something that would suit the majority of people, most of the time. The additional cost/complexity of a rear axle LSD didn't add up presumably. I did have all four spinning at a few points scrambling up a hill so axle locks wouldn't have been much use there.

Added up for the Japs, and Jeep!

Or why not offer it as an optional extra?

If you had axle lockers, and slightly more aggressive tyres, you probably wouldn't be scrambling at all, just drive up!

FlyingPete · Jun 1, 2015

Turboman said:
If you had axle lockers, and slightly more aggressive tyres, you probably wouldn't be scrambling at all, just drive up!

The guy with the Disco was running grizzly claws all round and most of the time had no difflock engaged at all. With mine on rangemasters (front) and XPCs (rear) spinning the tyres a bit helped to fling the mud out and get traction that way. Otherwise they tended to clog up. Things did improve somewhat by using a higher gear going up the hills as there was less torque to the wheels and so less tendency to spin.

FlyingPete · Jun 2, 2015

Got the white elephant mostly white again after the weekend's antics. Drive now needs a hose down though.

Sibbertoft fun

FlyingPete

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blackstrat

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West Slope Rover

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