there isnt too much grip on ice

I have a set of ice and snow tyres (Pirelli Scorpion) so there's no excuse to get stuck in snow, and start skidding all over the place, mind you its fun though!!

snow and ice isnt an issue. use your gears to slow you down and allow plenty stopping distance. ive not had any brown trouser moments stopping, just tow down on a corner, go sideways ever so well for a big motor, lol

snow and ice isnt an issue. use your gears to slow you down

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And if your in an automatic?? good tyres for grip and a light foot on your brake, distance is everything if you ant got it, then you cant slow slow fast enough

On an Auto just lifting off the throttle will unstick all 4 wheels as I found to my cost. Having negotiated a series of bends on an snowy lane at about 20mph with no indication of any loss of grip, I made the mistake of lifting off to slow the car a little as I was approaching a sharper bend, that was it, no time to pick it up, we were in the ditch. Seems to me there is very little feel from the steering or throttle as to the level of grip on ice. I'm new to the P38 but in 50 years of high mileage motoring I have never before lost control of a car on the road, I also race so my car control is not too bad. Still first time for everything. Not a Happy Christmas without the car!

the only two times I have lost a car in ice, was driving autos. Its not natural to kick it into neutral, like it is in a manual, depressing the clutch.

Both rwd vehicles too, before yu say "drive out of it"

Datatek said:

On an Auto just lifting off the throttle will unstick all 4 wheels as I found to my cost.

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Err on my auto, lifting off the throttle does bugger all - virtually no engine braking......almost as though it had a torque converter or something


I use the gears to slow down - those things labeled 1 2 3 on th stick in the middle


No one's mentioned the Diff Lock yet - do you use it in snow??

We haven't had much here, but the other night when I found some slippy stuff and a clear road I stamped on the brakes (gently!) to see how much grip there was....jyst a little slide.
Put the Diff Lock on, couldn't get it to skid at all - though I didn't go crazy.


I just stick it in 1 or 2 and just drive round the idiots on full throttle with front wheels spinning

Difflock was mentioned on another thread on the same subject. Same advice as I gave there is difflock on highest gear possible and a feather light touch on the accelerator

Tim.C said:

Err on my auto, lifting off the throttle does bugger all - virtually no engine braking......almost as though it had a torque converter or something


I use the gears to slow down - those things labeled 1 2 3 on th stick in the middle


No one's mentioned the Diff Lock yet - do you use it in snow??

We haven't had much here, but the other night when I found some slippy stuff and a clear road I stamped on the brakes (gently!) to see how much grip there was....jyst a little slide.
Put the Diff Lock on, couldn't get it to skid at all - though I didn't go crazy.


I just stick it in 1 or 2 and just drive round the idiots on full throttle with front wheels spinning

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There is no diff lock on an P38, no centre diff either, just a crappie viscous coupling, traction control which uses the brakes is used as a cheap option for the rear diff and the front on later ones

Datatek said:

There is no diff lock on an P38, no centre diff either, just a crappie viscous coupling, traction control which uses the brakes is used as a cheap option for the rear diff and the front on later ones

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That's uncharacteristically incorrect for you Datatek! There is a center diff, there has to be in any 4x4 system otherwise there'd be wind-up problems on solid surfaces.

The viscous coupling might not be to everyone's taste, particularly die hard Series/Defender/Disco drivers used to a fully locking one, but it is almost as effective in my experience.

kernowdragon said:

That's uncharacteristically incorrect for you Datatek! There is a center diff, there has to be in any 4x4 system otherwise there'd be wind-up problems on solid surfaces.

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shirley a VCU allows for difference in front and rear drive, thereby stopping the wind-up? coz if yu think about it Gaylanders work fine until the VCU locks up - that when yu get loadsa problems - int it?

The Mad Hat Man said:

shirley a VCU allows for difference in front and rear drive, thereby stopping the wind-up? coz if yu think about it Gaylanders work fine until the VCU locks up - that when yu get loadsa problems - int it?

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True, but the P38 has a standard diff in the transferbox, as well as the VCU, which is there to replace just the locking element of the diff.

kernowdragon said:

That's uncharacteristically incorrect for you Datatek! There is a center diff, there has to be in any 4x4 system otherwise there'd be wind-up problems on solid surfaces.

The viscous coupling might not be to everyone's taste, particularly die hard Series/Defender/Disco drivers used to a fully locking one, but it is almost as effective in my experience.

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The viscous coupling provides the slip needed to prevent wind up. When the viscous coupling seizes, many threads on this, you get wind up and it's possible to remove the front prop and run in 2WD, if there was a normal centre diff this would not be possible. Many 4WD vehicles use a viscous coupling instead of a centre diff, it's cheaper to make and it also provides an uneven torque split, more torque to the rear and less to the front for road use. I cant see any sign of a diff in the drawings, just a set of gears. the viscous coupling resides on the forward output shaft in front of the gears so it could not, it appears, lock a mythical diff.

Datatek said:

The viscous coupling provides the slip needed to prevent wind up. When the viscous coupling seizes, many threads on this, you get wind up and it's possible to remove the front prop and run in 2WD, if there was a normal centre diff this would not be possible. Many 4WD vehicles use a viscous coupling instead of a centre diff, it's cheaper to make and it also provides an uneven torque split, more torque to the rear and less to the front for road use. I cant see any sign of a diff in the drawings, just a set of gears. the viscous coupling resides on the forward output shaft in front of the gears so it could not, it appears, lock a mythical diff.

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Correct. The differential unit listed on the transfer box breakdown drawings ( which may confuse some people) is in fact the eliptical low axle reduction gear set.

wammers said:

Correct. The differential unit listed on the transfer box breakdown drawings ( which may confuse some people) is in fact the eliptical low axle reduction gear set.

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Thanks Wammers, thats what I thought, but never having had one apart I wasn't sure I could trust the drawings as the text does mention a centre diff which is obviously just a euphamism for the VCU