Thread: Big Lap Review

Originally Posted by scarry

A link would be good,a search didn’t reveal anything.

I went looking as well but his hypothesis is buried in one of his many episodes to do with his fixing of his Discoveries. Sorry!

That was very enjoyable and informative. I would like to get a report like the above of them taking a Grenadier on the same trip. I wonder will anyone be confident enough to do that trip in any similar type new vehicle once the warranty expires?

Originally Posted by spudfan

I wonder will anyone be confident enough to do that trip in any similar type new vehicle once the warranty expires?

Maybe take out an extended warranty if available,although they are often not worth the paper they are written on,and the top level of RACQ roadside assist cover.

Ineos is not immune to issues either: Five Reasons I am unhappy with Ineos. Why was my Grenadier towed away? - YouTube

electrical problem disabled winch and difflocks in a recovery situation and poor support in AU

Originally Posted by spudfan

That was very enjoyable and informative. I would like to get a report like the above of them taking a Grenadier on the same trip. I wonder will anyone be confident enough to do that trip in any similar type new vehicle once the warranty expires?

Would I be confident to do the same trip in a 30 year old Discovery or a 1928 Ford? The mechanicals are fundamentally the same. So I would take a well maintained low mileage vehicle out of its warranty period....probably yes but more probably a newer vehicle!

Originally Posted by jwb

Ineos is not immune to issues either: Five Reasons I am unhappy with Ineos. Why was my Grenadier towed away? - YouTube

electrical problem disabled winch and difflocks in a recovery situation and poor support in AU

That is an excellent video and answers my questions. I was wondering about INEOS component reliability and INEOS back up service. I think when Jim Ratcliffe came up with his idea for the car he was all for infomation being readily available to owners so that they could service and work on their vehicles. He was also for lots of service agents in agricultural machinery outlets. I think once the project got up and running someone was brave enough to tell Jim that is not how to do things so Jim's idealistic vision went out the window.
The ideal trip would be a brand new Defender, a brand new Grenadier and a brand new other couple of vehicles towing a van on the same trip. I know there are discrepencies between vehicles regarding what they can carry and what they can tow etc but if each was loaded to manufacturers spec it would even out. We could they compare things and how each manufacturer dealt with issues. Fair enough some driver's might not be ideally suited to this but the vehicle will have to perform to how this person drives it.
It still makes me wonder who would take a modern vehicle just out of warranty on one of these trips? I think manufacturers have forgotten that an essential requirement for a vehicle supposedly designed to do these trips should be the starting point for developing these vehicles not an add on later in the design.
Components are expensive and recovery expensive when paying for it yourself.
That loose nut on the Defender suspension component should have been picked up in pre development testing. It just shows how the much hyped "components tested for one million miles etc" is not what it is cracked up to be.
I was told a story about someone many years ago in outback Australia in a series Land Rover who finished his journey with the engine working on three cylinders. Try that with a modern 4x4. You would get an error message on screen and a shut down.
Academic really as I will never be lucky enough to do one of these trips but I admire anyone who does.