Launch Vehicles (again ... oh no!!!)

[Nauti Buoy]

Originally Posted by ashbypower

You really need one of these:

http://www.lynchhummer.com/Custom.html

Might be a tad thirsty tho and will certainly fill the slipways!!

Never mind about the thirst you could probably by a house for the same money

[Phil Davies]

Originally Posted by Jono

Ok.. that brings us full circle..time for some trivia.. who drives a Hummer... was born by the Steyr-Daimler-Puch factory... and can never, despite his marriage, become president?......

That'll be the Terminator, then

[Dave Clarkson]

Originally Posted by Kristian

the engine blew up when it got to 3 1/2 years old and 95,000 miles. Warranty was up and I took the bill on the chin.

So did mine at 85,000 after the oil pump failed. It cost my company (fortunately!) £5k to replace it. Don't get me started on Disco's

[Phil Davies]

Are you up in Anglesey during the next couple of weeks, Dave? How's the cottage refurbishment going?

[Rupert Bear]

Apart from the problems I had with mine I also know two folk that lost Disco engines through overheating causing blown head gaskets then "bang". ouch!

[Dave Clarkson]

Yep, going up on Saturday for 9/10 days so I hope the weather improves. The cottage is all but finished now. Time to enjoy it!

[jwalker]

Originally Posted by Chris Murray

.... it seems that I need to buy a large 4 x 4 .
......narrowed my search down to a Jeep Grand Cherokee (Overland).

Chris we bought one of these last December. It is a smashing car. As you say, it has mid band power that you wouldn't expect and, on the road, it will overhaul most everything. It is nice to own a quick car again. I also have a Range Rover, it is simply week in comparison.

I've driven autos for the past 25 years and the auto box on this is super. Smooth, quiet and always in the right gear for the occasion. It learns your style of driving too.

It is primarily a rear wheel drive and it progressively applies drive to the front axle dependent on the amount of slip it senses at the front wheels. The model you are looking at also has limited slip diffs in the axles.

The fit and finish is about the best I've seen and you'll laugh when you sit in a Disco. The soft leather seats you can simply luxuriate in too.

On the down side, the Merc engine is a 5 cylinder and, to me, it sounds grumpy. If you like listening to your car engine, it sounds burbly. The ride is a bit joggly but nice and soft and the wind noise at 70 is louder that I would have liked; mainly from the door mirror. It's not hugely spacious in the boot area but it is equal to my Rangey.

Buy it.

[codprawn]

Land Rover bashing time again - no wonder the British motor industry is in such a state.

Mercedes launched a car with seriously dangerous handling faults(A class) and did it hurt them? No way! If that had been a British car maker it would have been the end of them!

As to Jeep being so wonderfull their resale says it all.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/.../30/ixmot.html

The build quality on a NEW Disco 2003/2004 model is streets ahead of what it used to be - I was very impressed with the quality after the Audi A4 and VW Passat I had been driving before.

Yes the Jeep IS a very good 4x4 - slightly better on road but worse off than a Discovery BUT it will be in a totally different league when the NEW Discovery comes out - remember the Discovery is based on a design that came out in 1969 - they have taken beam axles about as far as they can go - remember the Discovery also has a steering damper to absorb serious shocks off road - no wonder it lacks some feel on road!

To buy a 4x4 now without waiting for the NEW Discovery is nuts! Unless you speciffically want beam axles - which I DO which is why I am about to buy a new Defender 110 - I want a vehicle to tow a RIB one minute - offroad the next - and then take to Morrocco on an expidition with a roof tent fitted!

I wonder how many Jeep Grand Cherokees will stil be around in 30 yrs time? I guarantee there will still be loads of Land Rovers!

[jwalker]

I'll concede there is one advantage to buying a Defender, you will have free plant life growing in the window drain channels in 6 months.

[Daniel TD5]

codprawn

we only bash landrover as we love them. why can,t they make something
that lasts over time early landrover up to 1985 were very good and would run on forever most car makers get better over time not landrover the cars look better but full to bits over time.
sort it out landrover for good
reports on the new rangerover are getting worst now

dan

[Phil Davies]

Originally Posted by codprawn

To buy a 4x4 now without waiting for the NEW Discovery is nuts!

Now you really are making me laugh. Do you honestly believe in your wildest dreams that Land Rover has the capability to build a new model without a catalogue of teething problems that will take at least 18 months to two years to sort out? Put simply, you would be nuts to buy a new Discovery when they first come out!

[Phil Davies]

Originally Posted by Daniel TD5

reports on the new rangerover are getting worst now dan

Funny you should say that Dan. As you know, mine had been faultless during the first 12 months of ownership, although HR Owen rang me up 2 weeks ago advising that Solihull had sent them a service bulletin which necessitated some remedial work on my car.

You can imagine my surprise on returning after a week's trip to Germany to find that they had completed the following:

Remove front differential and replace with complete new unit due to excessive premature wear. This recall has been applied to ALL new Range Rovers.

Replace complete rear suspension bushes. Has also affected 100s of new RR's.

Replace complete steering column linkage and fit new steering wheel motor. Also a common fault.

Replace steering hydraulic pump.

Fit new cupholder due to old one sticking!

Fit new front headlamp units and rear light units due to water ingress. A problem to every model of Land Rover I've ever seen.

And this is a vehicle designed with the aid of BMW. God help the customers of the new Discovery who, unbeknown to them, are in fact unpaid development engineers for Land Rover!

[Jono]

Originally Posted by codprawn

Land Rover bashing time again - no wonder the British motor industry is in such a state.

...or it could be because people like me (and I'm on my 12th Land Rover product) have to wait two weeks (Yes that's right TWO weeks) for a warranty repair. TWO weeks to fit two new half-shafts and drive flanges. It's not that I'm complaining about them failing, although you must admit that that in itself is fairly poor, but the fact that they could not get the parts for two weeks. The dealer, by the way, is only 4 miles from the factory and nearly as close to GKN!
And do you know what they (LandRover assistance) provided as a courteousy car? A Jaguar........

[Daniel TD5]

phil its not just you

the boss at work his mate is now on his second new shape rangerover due to rejecting
the first for to many bits going wrong in two months
the second one as had same bits wrong with it as the frist one
and more

dan

[Jono]

Oh and by-the-way, anyone with a late 110 might want to remove the rear drive flange "dust caps" and check for corrosion if they use their vehicle for anything other than pure road use. LR had never heard of this one before......Yeah, right!

[Janet and Bill]

Hate to admit to buying a foreign car, but we're on our third Shogun in a row now and the latest one is just terrific for towing & launching the Rib. Its the 3.2 litre diesel "Warrior" and all the power band is just where it needs to be for towing and its pretty quick off the mark at the traffic lights as well as having all the creature comforts.
All three Shogs have been pretty much trouble free and the diesel fuel consumption is quite competitive.

Check out the website (& no I don't work for Mitsubishi)
http://www.mitsubishi-cars.co.uk/spe...rior/index.asp

[Simon B]

It's all academic really look at Gibbs latest offering and roll it all into one

http://www.gibbsaquada.com/gibbstech...s_humdinga.htm

like the name no doubt specifically chosen to get the yanks hopping mad, begin legal procedings, threaten Gibbs then monster payout! Good luck boys.

[Phil Davies]

Originally Posted by codprawn

Land Rover bashing time again - no wonder the British motor industry is in such a state.

...and there I was thinking it had something to do with the industry's inability to compete competitively with foreign manufacturers, management's failure to instigate effective restructuring measures in response to declining markets and increasing global competition, failure to adequately develop export distribution networks, failure to incorporate the requisite technological advances into production processes, oh and of course its repeated inability to make reliable cars. Shows how wrong you can be, doesn't it?

[Windchill]

I've used old style 3.5 RRs to tow boats (including a 32 footer on a turntable trailer!), horses etc, use Landrover diesels to tow a heavy display trailers for business (gutless things they are too, but take a hefty drawbar load), and had a 4.0 "small" jeep which I thought was fantastic until I bought my wife a 2.7 Overaland. Yes, it is the same engine as the M class Merc, but a quick look at the spec will tell you that in the Jeep, it is tuned differently. I can honestly say that apart from totally useless (for off roading anyway) tyres, it is the best pulling vehicle going.

The Overland is best as the spec is high, and it has "quadradrive" (clever mechanical diff locking system) as standard. It will happily pull two big horses in an Ifor Williams trailer (about 2.5 tonnes) ANYWHERE!! On motorways, it rarely drops out of 5th when on cruise with a load behind doing a steady 60, and returns over 27mpg towing!!

Without a load, it will accelerate briskly to 60 (in under 10 I think) but corners like a bilge keeled yacht trying to roll tack!!

As for being a poor man's RR - BOLLOCKS!! I bough my wife's out of choice as I believe the engine particularly to be considerably better than anything RR have to offer. Didn't anybody see Top Gear when JC tested some big 4WDs in the mud? The Jeep outpaced the RR! Build isn't as good, but is is certainly good enough. If a car ever can be, I think it was good VFM - and there are deals to be had!

Having said all this, I do fancy trying the new VW Touareg V10 diesel next!!

OR, try the Audi Allroad TDi - they will tow about 2.5 tonnes, very quickly, handle, and can be pumped up to go over rough ground.

[Jono]

Originally Posted by Windchill

....As for being a poor man's RR - BOLLOCKS!!

Remind me who said that?.....