V8 Rangie as a winter hack?

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I put a LSD in my old Escort. Think it was about £140 for the LSD and a day on the drive to fit it. I was sceptical but fitting an LSD was advice I was given by friends from Canada who did it with their winter cars.

If you're sticking to the roads there are few reasons in the UK that'd justify a great heaving 4x4.
 
Datatek said:
Plenty on niggles, but my diesel has never let me down in 4 years:)
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Same with mine over 2 years, had numerous little things to mend/replace (air springs, oil cooler pipes, radiator, battery, RF receiver, CD player, HEVAC, gas struts, instrument panel lights... but realistically not too much, and she never broke down on me! (well.. did have to stand up and not move for times... but never stranded me :p )
It was a very nice well maintained example though, it's easy to get ones that have been abused.. If you do you can spent a lot of time mending it...
There were times when I was driving it just listening for ANYTHING that sounded out of the ordinary.. which doesn't make for the least stressful journeys! But equally there were many glorious cruises in happiness and comfort :)
 
Parisien said:
So Martyn, what actually have you had to sort out mechanically, how many can be classed as wear and tear, or poor quality design and materials versus, as Datatek states, endless niggles.......?


P
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Sorry for the late response, new baby is keeping me very busy:D
in the past 20 months iv'e had:
2 x headgaskets fail
rear diff (was an incorrect 2 pin fitted - 4.6 should have 4 pin)
rear wheel hub
new front uj
new rad
new water pump
new brake pipes, disks & pads
window regulator
new pulleys & tensioner

never had any electrical niggles though.

cant complain really for an 11 year old 2 tonne + 4x4.
 
Parisien said:
Again Datatek....these were failures after 10 years usage...mere wear and tear really........bar the habitual EAS issues....;)


P
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10 years should be no age for a premium car, my MR2 is 27 years old and even still has the original plug leads, wifes R11 ditto. LR products are just poor quality.
 
StuckAgainSteve said:
P38 onwards Range Rovers do not like standing around unused, probably the worst choice of a winter hack you could make.

JEEP Grand Cherokees are fairly reliable and don't seem to command the same winter premium as many 4x4s. Or down-size your ambitions a Mk1 Daihatsu Terios is cheap as chips, metronomically reliable but watch out for rust.

Of course all you need as a front wheel drive car on winter tyres - which will go just about anywhere a 4x4 can go on ice and snow.[/quote]
Front wheel drive cars only got up the hill from my place with chains last winter, 4wd and it was no problem.
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martynv8 said:
Sorry for the late response, new baby is keeping me very busy:D
in the past 20 months iv'e had:
2 x headgaskets fail
rear diff (was an incorrect 2 pin fitted - 4.6 should have 4 pin)
rear wheel hub
new front uj
new rad
new water pump
new brake pipes, disks & pads
window regulator
new pulleys & tensioner

never had any electrical niggles though.

cant complain really for an 11 year old 2 tonne + 4x4.
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Thats a fair list of failures, any leave you stranded? How many miles on you RR, was it well looked after before you bought it?

Having said that, the P38s are now 12 plus years old ( what we aren't paying in depreciation, we pay partly to keep them on the road!), as Datatek said, never made with quality materials nor designs for most parts.

A neighbour I know has a 4 year old L322, 50K miles, FRRSH, immaculate, guess the cost to change ? I might just put this query up on a separate thread!!!!


P
 
Datatek said:
Front wheel drive cars only got up the hill from my place with chains last winter, 4wd and it was no problem.
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Very few surfaces aside (black ice for example) winter tyres will give you more grip than chains as I fond to my surprise last time I was driving up and down mountains in Switzerland during the winter (in a hire car).
 
StuckAgainSteve said:
Very few surfaces aside (black ice for example) winter tyres will give you more grip than chains as I fond to my surprise last time I was driving up and down mountains in Switzerland during the winter (in a hire car).
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I guess most of us poor rural folk cannot afford a spare set of wheels with winter tyres for the couple of weeks that we usually have snow:(
 
Datatek said:
I guess most of us poor rural folk cannot afford a spare set of wheels with winter tyres for the couple of weeks that we usually have snow:(
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I know this winter tyre stuff can get expensive - that's why in my misses car I fitted all-season tyres, not quite as good as winter tyres in the snow but still, very, very good compared to summer tyres. She only does a couple of thousand miles per year.
 
I have a set of winter tyres on hurricanes tyre life is a lot better than made out I usually swap mine and of course when they are not on they dont wear so no real costother than the alloys which I took of the donor
 
Parisien said:
Thats a fair list of failures, any leave you stranded? How many miles on you RR, was it well looked after before you bought it?

Having said that, the P38s are now 12 plus years old ( what we aren't paying in depreciation, we pay partly to keep them on the road!), as Datatek said, never made with quality materials nor designs for most parts.

A neighbour I know has a 4 year old L322, 50K miles, FRRSH, immaculate, guess the cost to change ? I might just put this query up on a separate thread!!!!


P
Click to expand...

A failed pulley left me stranded last winter, lucky for me it was when in the middle of the night when temperatures had plummeted and it started snowing. I was surprised the breakdown truck was able to get out to me, but he appreciated the weight of my RR on the back as it gave his truck more grip when going up hill. Nothing else has left me stranded yet, though a few items have required some assistance starting.
 
I'm all on the board with the "don't really need a 4x4" sentiment, but as I said before, part of this is about having a winter toy. If I could do that with a free pass back to LR ownership, then that would've been great. Doesn't seem like the P38 is the way to do it though.

cheers

Adam
 
Parisien said:
Thats a fair list of failures, any leave you stranded? How many miles on you RR, was it well looked after before you bought it?

Having said that, the P38s are now 12 plus years old ( what we aren't paying in depreciation, we pay partly to keep them on the road!), as Datatek said, never made with quality materials nor designs for most parts.

A neighbour I know has a 4 year old L322, 50K miles, FRRSH, immaculate, guess the cost to change ? I might just put this query up on a separate thread!!!!


P
Click to expand...

Never been stranded by the RR. All my issues have raised their head slowly (in time for me to take action). Mine has done approx 135k now.
Mine was in pristine condition when i got it early 2012 & was fault free for the first 4 months. Everything still works as it should & i do like to keep it that way.
What it costs me in maintainance is still less than the monthly payments on the new Touareg I had before & a much better 4x4.
 
I'm wondering if the V8 disco 2 might be a simpler beast? obviously they're uber cheap too because of the fuel economy. I assume they're simpler mechanically than the P38.
 
Simpler than the P38 (i nearly took this route after seeing so many P38 dogs). The chassis rot is unreal though. I found the TD5 engine exceptionally poor.
 
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