The Stories Thread

[sniegy]

I thought i would move this from the middle of a post to here. Gives another view of these wonderful vehicles.

Well,
This last week & a bit for me has been one big blurr.
Wednesday last week i was sent to Sydney for a course & was originally told it "may" happen, didnt receive any official notes saying this is your flight details & this is where you will be staying & assumed (possibly wrong) that this was not going to happen.
So i started to think about what bits & pieces i can add to the Discovery while i was at home on the weekend coming, So i had prepared some wiring & a few little components to fit (RedArc Remote trailer brake unit, GME 3340 CB, Engel Fridge Lead-will follow up on these with photo's & install details later) to start with, BUT my wife wanted to go away, So..Barb had booked a Caravan Park in NSW (by the way Narrabeen is a wonderful spot).

I left for my course on Wednesday night, to receive a phone call from my wife to say get home Friday night as soon as possible as we are heading off Friday to Sydney, We did chat about this & again didnt think this was going to happen as nothing was booked (again possibly wrong).
Did the course for the 2 days to return home Friday night, sleep & then get up again & drive to Sydney at 06:00Hrs.

BUT..

This this time was different I was behind the wheel of a nice shiny new Discovery 4..hehe..Mine. I still go out in the mornings & touch it, just to make sure that it isnt a dream...My wife has caught me a couple of times & now passes with the comment "Another Colorbond Moment I See"

So off we go all bags packed the night before, I love my wife, Drive up the Hume to Wangarratta for breakfast at yes the M word. At least the coffee is worthwhile. Things i firstly noticed is yes the D4 rides firmer on 19"s, But for me i liked it especially at 110Km/hr, tyres at 33/36 pressures, Pre-delivery setup pressures, The vehicle tracks extremely well for 2.5T+ vehicle, I had no issues with wondering steering in truck ruts or any thing like that at all.

Across the Border & hello concrete highway heaven..
The good thing now for those that have not driven to Sydney for a while is that 98% of the highway is dual lane except for Hollbrook & Tarcutta & the speed limit is 110Km/hr all the way except for those 2 towns & 2 slow down points from existing towns(cant remember the names tho').
A real easy drive.

I happen to find a rock floating through the air from behind a truck, which "starred" the w/screen, but apart from that all was good.
Will get this fixed when i get back to work.

We heading into Sydney & up the M5 (which was probably the longer way, but good for the kids to see the Harbour, Opera hose etc) under the airport & across the Cahill Expressway & across the bridge, then towards Manly & across the Spit Bridge, then up Pittwater Rd to Narrabeen to the Holiday park.
I was very suprised as was told the raffic in Sydney can be a huge pain, but from the start of the M5 to The Park was an Hour!
I had to check my watch 2 or 3 times to make sure.

Once we had set up & did some shopping, swimming & some more swimming(love that rock pool in Narrabeen), the next day we headed off into Manly via the bus, Purchased a Family Day Tripper ticket & got into Manly & then caught the Ferry into Sydney(Circular Quay) & then from there we dropped into the city & then caught a train to Milsons point & the Kids had a ball at Luna park.
We later caught a Ferry back to Circular Quay & then the Ferry to Manly & then the bus back to the park.

I showed the kids around Sydney as much as i could & had a lot of fun in the short time we were there..

The weather was brilliant, all the days were very warm & even on the day that it rained all day, was still warm & muggy, it didnt stop us from going out. It was very pleasant.

We then packed up & headed out & this was where patience was a good thing, took 2.5 hrs to go from the Park to the end of the M5/Hume highway connection. Ah well....Life goes on..

The vehicle was superb, no issues whatsoever, apart from one..
Grame the Headlights also point upwards, but mainly my left one, but this will be sorted as i did find out more info while i was in Sydney prior to my holiday, There is a section in SDD to set up & adjust your headlights.
Will play when i return & advise the outcome also after carrying out Q093, when released.
Fuel Consumtion was extremely good, Gauge says 8.8L/100 k's, but in reality was 9.1L/100k's, this was mainly highway driving at 110Km/hr & then Sydney stop start traffic & then home again. This will probably stay at that figure as the vehicle will go to Barb & i will have a Co. Car to drive. The engine will return better figures as time goes by, something i have taken notice of at work on clients vehicles.
It was a pleasure to drive, the seating was excellent, everything just worked.
Something i am not used to is the key..Next time i would order the keyless entry, as everytime you wish to lock/unlock the vehcle you need to remove the key from your person, then again try to find where you placed the key prior to entering the vehicle.
If i had the "Keyless" entry this would make it a lot easier when approaching the vehicle, as long as you have the key on/with you & your hand breaks the beam in the door lock handle the vehicle opens, this way you dont need to look for the key & vise versa, when you close the door you touch the black button on the door habdle & your away.
Again just little things you notice after the fact.
The Auto lights are just fantastic, Set & forget, The Auto wipers again excellent, But this depends on how you set it up, i found on the max setting was way to sensative, so mine is now on the midway between the Min/Max settings, you also have to make sure that the sensor is clean otherwise you will have the wiper going at weird times, (make sure there are no dead bugs)as this was happening to me, after a good clean & bug gutts gone it was excellent, even driving home on Wednesda when it was raining I did not have to touch the headlights & wipers at all, Just had to concentrate on the traffic around me & where i was going.

I didnt get a chance to do any offroad, but in time it will happen, the trip was to(for me anyway) iron out any problems & in reality i have none, I am extremely happy with the vehicle & so is my wife, The kids love it & they know i love it too.

For those wondering about doing it, Go sit your bum in one & go for a drive, a descent drive, play with the buttons ask questions to your dealer, if he cant help ask the forum &/or me, we/I will gladly help.
Seriously the competition wont come close.

Cheers all.

p.s. My wife wants to go back to Narrabeen with some friends, so all that are close next time we are up, we should catch up & have a drink.

[DiscoSaffa]

Been far too long...... and this is probably more a “Why I love my Landy” story that a pukka story, hence the reason for posting here, and not the “Stories Thread”…..

Week before last Audrey, my beloved D3, was due a service. On the advice of those here, I headed for Southport and dropped her off in Bruce Lynton’s capable hands for the day and picked up my loan car for the day. A lovely little diesel FL2, but more on that in a bit.

I had just parked my vehicle, and was heading for service reception when the boys were clearing the garage of all the vehicles that had been parked up for the night. Out of the garage comes a Stornoway Grey 3.0SE D4, with almond leather…… It was love at first sight…. Hells bells I want one!! I would love a D4!

Anyway, I digress…… I dropped off my keys and hopped into the Flandy….. I imagine that the feeling is akin to a 747 pilot jumping into a 737….. although there are slight differences, you can start it up and head off, without having to familiarise yourself with all the controls, because to all intents and purposes the important stuff is all in the same place, you are definitely in a Land Rover. Now the Flandy I had been given is the TD4, and what a little motor, pulls like train and (especially for someone who is not a huge fan of diesels) drives very nicely. I would hate to know what the new 3.0 TDV6 is like!?! The fuel consumption was also pretty incredible…… didn’t get into double figures all day, and I drove it most of the day, in fact ended up at averaging 9.1l/100km over 350km. On the subject of fuel consumption, the computer on the Flandy has one extra option that my D3 doesn’t have, that being instantaneous fuel consumption, a figure that I always find amusing to watch. I got to thinking about it, and figured it is a function that they probably remove from the Petrol V6 computers to save the owners undue stress……. I do love Land Rovers

So come to the end of the day, drop of the loaner, and hop back into Audrey. Now the Free Lander is a lovely vehicle, but it is no D3, it was like coming home after staying in a hotel for a few days. One sits that little bit higher, the seat and steering wheel are adjusted just right, hit the starter and that V6 jumps to life. I have said it before, and I will say it again, if it was possible to improve on the sound of a D2 V8, they did it with the D3 V6. I just love driving my D3, I will take a drive, just for the sake of taking the vehicle for a drive, but it is always that little bit better when you have been in something else all day. In short, I love my D3, and it was good to have her back!!

[brad72]

Well, I have finally lost my 4x4 off road virginity and I must say the D4 is an amazing car. The slope was not all that bad by your standards. 25º slope at the bottom ramping to 35º at the top with 40º section 3/4 the way up. It was slippery loose dirt with tree roots and protruding rocks.

I have been procrastinating over this for a few days now since I could barely get up the hill on foot. The bottom section looked easy but the 40º part with a deep hole either side that would put the car on 2 wheels just didn't look possible with stock street tires at road pressures.

Anyway, off I went in rock crawl....this is easy i thought, hit the steep section, could only see sky, traction control clanking away but up she went over then crest of the hill. Woohoo I thought. My heart was beating like a jack rabbit. Just to make sure i didn't fluke it i tried again. She slipped a bit more this time and lost all traction at the 40º big holes but a few seconds later, off she went.

What a fantastic 4x4. Just getting to know what she can do is so much fun. The last guys i saw going up this track has huge tires an lifted suspension. who would of thought a stock vehicle was so capable. I did discover however that hill descent in reverse can be a little fast compared to 1st gear. Did get a scratch down one side however that SWMBO frowned at. Stupid lantana.

Added a few photo's to share my excitement

[jonesfam]

I haven't been around for a while due to computer cash (major) & an extra high work load.
But, just wanted to say I still love my D3, because it can surprise me.
Like just the other night, got home from work & the Missus had left her in the drive way after the school run. Jumped in to put her away, just started up when our truck driver called me on the UHF, talked to him while I "selected" access mode while talking to him & driving forward into the car port.
Finished the conversation, turned off, opened door, stepped out, fell hard to ground!
Had selected Off Road hight instead of accsess hight.
Lay there laughing for being such an idiot, but it sure was a surprise
Jonesfam
PS Didn't hurt much.

[Celtoid]

Went camping with my wife and kids over the long weekend to Benarkin State Forest which is NW of Brisbane...nice chilly -1 Saturday morning .

I had no intention of doing anything crazy in the D4 as I was by myself (4WD wise) and am still getting a feel for it's capabilities. Most of the driving that I found was rough forest trails but I believe there are some pretty interesting drives in the area.

Anyway, was on one of the marked forest trails and found a road called Mine Road (?). I figured that this sounded inviting so turned down it to have a look. Came to a pretty steep, wash-out strewn gravel/rocky hill leading down into a cleared valley paddock. I've had the D4 over some pretty steep gravel before so felt pretty confident...didn't even bother selecting anything, just the off-road height. I get to the bottom of the valley and look up the other side....looks very inviting....pretty steep, narrow, mud, gravel, rocks and some serious wash-outs. The kids are egging me on but I chicken out as I was alone, had no idea if it was blocked beyond my sight, etc. It would have been pretty tough/scary to reverse back down.

I'm just about to start the climb back out the way I came in when three other 4WDs come trundling down. I move off the road, make my selections for the climb and have a quick chat to the others. In the lead there is a new stock Hi-lux or Triton, didn't look too close (diesel), a late model Patrol and a pretty old Patrol at the rear (both had lift kits and big wheels). They were going to have a bash at the hill but had never done it before so had no idea what they were in for. I was temped to tag along but by then hunger had overtaken my kid's priorities.

I head back to camp and a short while later the new 4WD returns also. They had got half way up and choose not to continue as it looked too hard and scary (had to reverse back down ). As they were leaving the valley they bumped into some locals who offered to guide them. The guy with the new truck chickened out but the others had a crack. The two older vehicles made it but said it was pretty scary.

As we were chatting in the campsite they made polite but mocking comments about the standard tyres and clearance of my D4 (it was sitting at normal ). "you'll never make it in that", "not enough clearance for those wash-outs" "those tyres will just spin". One of them had the smarts to comment that he'd heard the new Discoveries had some smart gear on board....I just smiled .

The gaunlet had been thrown on the ground and the laughs didn't last too long when the D4 effortlessly....and I mean, yawn time effortlessly negotiated the hill. Well the truth be told....the D4 might have been yawning but I was pretty scared LOL!!!! However, it was made easy by the fact that it was just so sure footed....hardly any wheel spin or slide, so this allowed me to just steer through and around the problems. I was seriously impressed.

BTW....I noticed the others scratching their heads on my return...as my D4 had mysteriously 'grown' taller.....

[Normthe1]

I know this is the stories thread but my story is way to embarrassing. In the interest of talking up the car though, I will give you a brief summary...

• Preston Beach (WA) long open beach of about 25 kms of soft to very soft sand

• D3 with idiot driver without a tyre pressure gauge who guesstimated when lowering tyre pressure
• About 5 or 6 kms of really difficult sand driving culminating in a series of boggings
• 1 bogging too far, rear end of car downhill about 12 inches from a sand dropoff of about 18 inches
• Incoming tide propelled by reasonable swell slowly eradicating dropoff
• Any further movement almost certainly ending in a D3 tipped on its side and being swamped by waves
• Frantic calls on radio without response
• Despatching of SWMBO and tin lids with instructions to "FIND HELP"
• Finally reaching a really good bloke on the CB who called the cavalry
• Having a bloke in a 100 series take one look at the situation, get tyre gauge and lower pressures to 15
• Drive out of the ****** and blinding sand like it was my driveway...
• Saved by a dirty stinking Toyota driver who admitted he had always wanted an LR

In the true meaning of always seeing the bright side of life, I am talking myself up for lasting so long on soft sand with marginally below road pressures in the tyres and finally being able to justify the cost of the radio to SWMBO...

There you have it, just another example of the D3's ability being way beyond mine.

Here endeth the lesson (well mine anyway). We shall never speak of this again.

[DiscoSaffa]

Well...... it has been a while..... too long in fact, but with the winter sniffles wreaking havoc with my little family, and work being ridiculously hectic I have just not had time to sit down and write a post, anyway, without further ado….. a story for today…….

More about Land Rovers that D3s really, but when I started this lot it was about both so here goes……. As you all by now know, I work on a construction site, which being a typical Australian construction site is a working advert for Toyota…… consequently a Land Rover sticks out like a sore thumb and fast becomes a talking point……. Today, that is what I love about Land Rovers.

Yesterday I wandered out into the parking lot to discover a small crowd congregated around a very neat D1. The D1 in question has recently been bought by one of our paving foremen. The conversation centred around the fact that no one could believe how little he paid for so much vehicle, how clean it was and generally what a bargain he got. I always love these conversations, because this is nothing that those of here don’t already know, and the almost total surprise in others always makes me chuckle. There were, of course, the usual Land Rover jibes, but that is part of the appeal isn’t it. Gotta love a Land Rover.

This morning I parked in the parking lot and walking into the office noticed a brand new Defender 130, complete with canvas back and snorkel parked in the parking lot. Walked into the office, grabbed a coffee and stepped outside to take in what is a beautiful morning, and within 2 minutes I was part of a crowd that had congregated around the 130. We were kicking tyres, peering into the windows and on our knees looking underneath. Turns out, another of the paving foremen has just bought this Land Rover. He has kitted it beautifully, under body protection, changed the standard rubber to some very nice Michelins…… nice bit of kit!

Couple of points to this story really. First our paving crew has great taste in vehicles. Second, we must have had half a dozen new Prados on site and none have generated anywhere near as much conversation as an 11 year old Disco and a new 130….. in fact no conversation really. Last, but not least……. Gotta love a Land Rover!

Till next time

DS

[DiscoSaffa]

Let me tell you a story…… about a Saffa, DiscoSaffa, on a recent trip to Sydney, a vuvuzela, a Ford Focus, a D3 and tailgating Sydney Cabbie……..

Last week I had the pleasure of heading to Sydney for a few days on business, something I don’t mind doing as it serves as reminder of my family’s reasons for moving North……

Anyway, I arrived and I was given a Ford Focus as my hire car…… I generally don’t hire cars when travelling to Sydney, but this time I had a lot of travelling around to do so thought I would save the large corporate entity that I work for a few dollars on cabs….. herewith my first mistake, but that is another story….. the point for this part of the story is how on earth does the general public driving normal cars not kill themselves daily sitting down at that level, you can see sweet blow all! So…… Love the driving position on my D3!

The rest of the trip was uneventful….. until it came time to drive myself to the airport on Friday afternoon…… I left early with plenty of time and traffic was being kind, until I hit the Eastern Distributor. At this point I need to digress and let you know about a bug bear of mine….. Cabbies the world over, but Sydney cabbies in particular, seem to love tailgating……. I don’t know what it is, but the physics of following distances seem to not apply to a Ford Falcon with a few lights and a sign on the top of it…….. so back to the story, suddenly I encounter stationary traffic on the Eastern Distributor, unusual given the clear run so far and the time of day. Turns out there has been a minor incident involving, you guessed it, a taxi. It would seem that on this rare occasion the planets had aligned, or some stellar subscription went unpaid and the laws of physics applied to this cabbie and he rear ended someone. So why, you ask, am I telling you this? This unlucky soul, on this unlucky day had rear ended a D3……. But not just any D3, a D3 with a Mitch Hitch fitted…… Ouch doesn’t begin to describe the damage done to the luckless Flacon, his bonnet had popped, and the poor car had ****ed itself all over the tarmac……. As best I could tell driving past, very little if any, damage had been done to the D3. gotta love a D3, especially one with a Mitch Hitch!

The last point to be made in this story is when I finally landed in Ballina after what was a long week, waiting for me was not Safari Barbie, nor my two beautiful little girls (the time of day simply did not permit), but Audrey, my trusty D3. She gleamed in the twilight having been washed and polished for me while I was away, and she was waiting eagerly to take me home. Now I have mentioned this before, there is no feeling like getting into your own vehicle (any vehicle will do, but I reckon the feeling is unmeasurably better in a D3) and feeling like you have just come home…… everything falls to hand without thinking about it, the indicators are on the right, well left, but correct side…. Stress just falls away and all is suddenly right with the world……. Here ends this story as DS heads home in his beloved D3…….. Love my D3! *Permagrin*

DS

[Celtoid]

Hi All, after reading AGRO's brief post I thought that I'd add my tale of woe to the Stories Thread....though my tale is nowhere near as tragic as AGRO's sounds. Feel real sorry for you mate, I'd hate to loose my D4.

However, I may have the dubious honour of being among the first to break a D4.

I originally posted this in D4 Beach Work but now I can add to it with the latest developments.

After the incident below in green, I took my car into a tyre place for a balance as I had the slight vibration that I mentioned below. Oops.....both front wheels buckled was the report. They stuck my spare on and moved the less buckled one to the back, allowing me continue using the car. Pooh....ring insurance company and fortunately they were fine with the fact that I'd been on a beach.

My car is now booked into a BMW dealership (can you believe that?)....as LR wouldn't help at all...to get the couple of plastic bits underneath the bumper bar fixed and to get the wheels replaced. They are also going to stick the D4 on their rack and conduct a full mechanical inspection....which is a good thing as I now have delveloped more noise through the steering wheel and there are definately things not quite right in the steering and suspension. It's still tight and now that the wheels have been moved around it's OK to drive but it's making some groans and there are some clunks.

Anyway, I'll keep you posted on the damage and result.

How did it happen? Driving along the beach on Fraser Island in an 80kph zone on the hard sand, manoevering around and slowing down for obstacles as normal. Was on a patch that looked completely clear and them without any warning, came over the top of what looked like a slight rise and there it was. Thank god I was sub 80 as only ten minutes earlier had had to back off due to the D4's incredible ability to creep up the speedo without being noticed (was doing 90+ without even realising it....just loving the experience and the view).

I hit the picks real hard but I knew there was no way I could stop the D4 in time, so I straightened up on the edge of the drop off to prevent a roll-over and we all braced for the ride. I don't think I assisted my children's vocabulary any and whilst I was confident in the occupants being OK was seriously concened that the D4 was going to get broken. It was a hard landing but the car just didn't flinch....remained perfectly straight, no wobbles, no threat of a roll-over....just a bug thump as we hit the water and then other bank.

Once checking everybody was OK, I got out to inspect the damage. My family with the exception of my son (who thought it was a hoot) were a little shaken but none the worst for the incident. The truck looked fine on the first inspection apart from the broken rego plate cover and bent deflectors. Then I noticed all this fluid pouring down the front of the radiator....pooh, pooh, pooh. Stuck on Fraser, tide coming in, dubious insurance cover...pooh, pooh, pooh. Jumped back in, to at least get the car out of the water.....it seemed to drive ok. Got out, took another look...by this time the shock was wearing off. "Hang on a minute"...the fluid was clear, put my finger in it tentatively....it was freezing cold...."woohoo"....it was just the fact that I'd injested half of the river on impact and it was still flooding back out!

The steering is still tight and it wasn't till I got on the sealed road on the way home and was around 100kph that I felt the slight vibration. And it was only when I got home and was washing the D4 that I realised the front arch was loose....bit of a bum-bump and it was all fixed.

This was an incident I certainly wouldn't recommend to anybody and could quite easily have been very ugly. Thank god I'd slowed down earlier and hadn't been distracted right at that moment. And funnily enough, I was really glad I don't have a Bull-Bar on as I'm certain that would have speared us in. I'm also glad I was driving the Discovery as it seemed non-fussed about the whole thing.

As the truck still drove fine afterwards, the trip wasn't spoiled...so that was great.

The gravity of the situation was lighted up, when shortly afterwards, whilst fishing, two Dingos made off with all the bait....

Anyway, I'll post some shots, once I download them from my camera and after I figure out how to actually post them...hahaha.

Regards,

Kev.

PS My mate that went to Fraser with me has a 2008 GXL Prado. I have no idea what that comes with standard option wise. It had a leather interior but appeared really basic. Only had some sort of manual diff locker too. Nice enough car but just wasn't in the same league as the D4, looks and finish wise. It drove well but once again, nowhere near as well as the LR. I don't know what he payed for it but I guess it wasn't cheap. It also looked like it had less clearance than the D4 and I noticed him 'levelling' a few tracks with the belly of his car and plowing his towbar.

It did have pretty good fuel economy and a 120L fuel tank and seemed pretty capable as it appeared to have no issues with anything we did....it just wasn't as easy or smooth.

[FifiLámour]

LOL RMP, I won't do that to you. Images of Alex being conditioned (A Clockwork Orange) are coming to mind:



Well boys, as of Sunday, I have a new favourite shop! Goodbye Mecca Cosmetica. Goodbye to the cosmetics counters of David Jones. On Sunday, I discovered...Super Cheap Auto! Yes, my friends, and Dave the sales assistant is my new friend.

There were shelves and shelves of cleaning equipment (not to mention everything else)! I went in, I shopped and I conquered. Spent almost $100 and walked out with kit to be proud of.

Then I gave my girl a makeover.

She got vacuumed in every nook and cranny and might I say I "lingered"? Would that be rude? We do have the 7 seats up occasionally, but when we do it, we are generally in a rush - boys to soccer, grandparents on an outing, you know the drill. This time I put up every seat and I, well, "lingered". What a marvel of engineering the D3 is!

Seriously, when I think of England, I usually think of the Royals and I cringe. (I can say that, I'm born there .) But now, I think of Land Rover. And I don't care that they didn't do well in the JD Power reliability tests. I just LOVE the way those seats fold into each other so seamlessly and easily. It defies the fact that the car is so heavy and strong. All seem right with the world when everything is so...neat!

Anyway, I digress. I vacuumed, had her washed, then brought her home and polished, blackened, cleaned the rims, shined the tyres. It took virtually the whole day and my arm was so tired last night I couldn't sleep. And the tips of my fingers so sore and waxy I couldn't even type (well, I waxed our other car too, not wanting her to feel left out).

But...what a difference! I used Meguiar's Deep Crystal Wet Look Cleaner Wax on her body and Mothers Naturally Black on the trims. Oh. My. God. Mother's Milk, more like it! Her black plastic trims were fading - particularly around the wheels, under the doors and on top of the mirrors. Massaging in some of this stuff has brought them back to a nice, strong black. I thought it might have faded overnight, but no, still there this morning!

Sorry, I know I'm raving, but she is just so GLORIOUS! I keep walking out into the garage and stroking her. Is this car porn? What has gotten into me?? Maybe I need a dose of what Alex had, LOL.

Anyway, thank you for all your helpful suggestions. I would have been completely overwhelmed in that shop had I not gone in with them. And on a final note, I think Freddie said it better than I can:

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdDNFJpil50&feature=related"]YouTube- Queen - I'm In Love With My Car[/nomedia]