Thread: Anyone else feel smug?

Originally Posted by Shonky

I guess I am safe enough posting this in a forum that is probably ignored by the people who drive such things as Defenders, Discoveries and Range Rovers.

I was just wondering if I am the only one who feels just a modicum of smugness every time a driver of one of those other vehicles has a gripe about a fault in some gadget on their vehicle that we Series owners know is quite unnecessary in the first place?

Should I feel guilty about the fact that I have to resist the urge to post some biting comment in response every time one of them has a problem with their wind-up windows, their adjustable seats, their trip meter, their AM/FM Radio, their built in Casette Player, their power steering or their full synchromesh gearboxes?

I'll have you know that (some of) my Series Land Rovers have trip meters, adjustable seats, am/fm radios with cassette players and synchromesh gearboxes. all apart from the radio stuff were OEM.

Ummm...Ambrose had a stereo when you bought him, correct?
Also, series seats are adjustable, you can have a cushion, no cushion for the tall poppies, or lots of cushions for the short ****s.

Originally Posted by Shonky

I guess I am safe enough posting this in a forum that is probably ignored by the people who drive such things as Defenders, Discoveries and Range Rovers.

I was just wondering if I am the only one who feels just a modicum of smugness every time a driver of one of those other vehicles has a gripe about a fault in some gadget on their vehicle that we Series owners know is quite unnecessary in the first place?

Should I feel guilty about the fact that I have to resist the urge to post some biting comment in response every time one of them has a problem with their wind-up windows, their adjustable seats, their trip meter, their AM/FM Radio, their built in Casette Player, their power steering or their full synchromesh gearboxes?

I can't argue with that.

I spent 23 years driving the same Series III LWB and I used to feel even more smug then because I knew that with just a basic understanding of the way an internal combustion engine worked, it was possible for me to solve almost any problem that might occur. If it had fuel and it had spark, it should run.

I never really got much chance to test my theory though because it almost never failed to proceed.

I felt especially smug when I learned on return from my trip to Broome that my work colleagues were running a book on how far I would get before my 26 year old Land Rover broke down. The only thing that broke on the whole trip up the Oodnadatta Track, the Tanami and the Gibb River Road was the spring in the door latch on the passenger's side. A spring from Bunnings fixed that.

I also have felt smug at times. I was at my grand parents farm and we were taking a 4x4 club through the next door neighbors property. I was driving my dads (now mine) series 2 88 with the 2l engine, and the others were driving 80series cruisers and discos and there were a few patrols and pathfinders. We were climbing the hill between the 2 paddocks when the lead car got stuck half way up, no other car could make it up around the car to tow it out of the ditch it was stuck in. So when I said that I will give it a go I heard lots of chuckles and one said i bet he cant even make it half way to the cruiser. Well I drove up and around the cruiser across his slide marks and over all the slide marks from all the other cars that tried. then I pulled up on the hill and attached the snatch. I then got back in and continued to drive up the hill towing an 80 series cruiser out of his rut up a hill. When we got up the top I unhooked and drove back down the hill and promptly asked "who's next" . To be honest I wasn't sure that the landy could do but when it did, I may have rubbed it in very smugly.

I have told this story a few times and I get "yeah sure" and "I highly doubt it", but I am not pulling your leg, it actually happened and I showed a group of people that day what a real 4x4 is.

Originally Posted by Seriestwo

I also have felt smug at times. I was at my grand parents farm and we were taking a 4x4 club through the next door neighbors property. I was driving my dads (now mine) series 2 88 with the 2l engine, and the others were driving 80series cruisers and discos and there were a few patrols and pathfinders. We were climbing the hill between the 2 paddocks when the lead car got stuck half way up, no other car could make it up around the car to tow it out of the ditch it was stuck in. So when I said that I will give it a go I heard lots of chuckles and one said i bet he cant even make it half way to the cruiser. Well I drove up and around the cruiser across his slide marks and over all the slide marks from all the other cars that tried. then I pulled up on the hill and attached the snatch. I then got back in and continued to drive up the hill towing an 80 series cruiser out of his rut up a hill. When we got up the top I unhooked and drove back down the hill and promptly asked "who's next" . To be honest I wasn't sure that the landy could do but when it did, I may have rubbed it in very smugly.

I have told this story a few times and I get "yeah sure" and "I highly doubt it", but I am not pulling your leg, it actually happened and I showed a group of people that day what a real 4x4 is.

Yep, stories like this abound....and most of them are probably true. I've often been amazed (though not too surprised) seeing an old Landy get traction and putter on while other big-noise vehicles sit bogged in its humble wake. All good fun.

Not surprising, although in many of these cases it is the driver - a lot of drivers of "big-noise" four wheel drives either don't understand that spinning the wheels is rarely helpful, or are not sufficiently skillful on the throttle to avoid wheelspin (the more power, the more skill needed). And in the example given, local knowledge, even if subconscious, may have played a part. And the lighter weight is likely to have helped as well.

John

Andrew, you forgot to include heater.

Originally Posted by JDNSW

Not surprising, although in many of these cases it is the driver - a lot of drivers of "big-noise" four wheel drives either don't understand that spinning the wheels is rarely helpful, or are not sufficiently skillful on the throttle to avoid wheelspin (the more power, the more skill needed). And in the example given, local knowledge, even if subconscious, may have played a part. And the lighter weight is likely to have helped as well.

John

All very true. Certainly the driver either makes it stop or go at the end of the day.