Well Just been home for a few days after returning from Scotland last Sunday.
Trip up was fairly uneventful, except for that yellow card moment when the disco refused to stop in the wet approaching a roundabout. Nevermind, the would be "victim" got out the way quickly enough and just some tyre tracks in the opposite verge were all that was left to tell the tale, so if you live near Market Drayton and see some nice tyre tracks on a verge on a mini roundabout....
After settling in to the cottage that was lent to us in Meagle, near Perth, we looked at certain pursuits.
One such pursuit was some quality 4x4 training at the Land Rover Experience Centre at Dunkeld. £150 paid for 3 hours training from a Land Rover trained and qualified instructer in a Defender TD5. My 9 yr old daughter accompanied us in the back seat. Apparently she enjoyed it very much!
After a 20 minuit talk and half an hour with the instructer taking the vehicle through its paces, it was finally my turn.
Well, words can hardly describe the fun I had! Not to mention how much I learned. Unfortunately, due to the rather heavy rainfall, the 'pond' was out of bounds that day. The Defender would have probably got lost under the water. However, there were several other smaller ponds to try out.
The first exercise was a Hill climb. Low ratio, diff lock and second gear to get the momentum. We were told "Go as slow as possible but as fast as necessary". That was not a problem, although the deliberate "failed climb" later did present a challenge. Una, the instructor, told me to stall the vehicle, but do NOT use the clutch! Then put it into reverse and start it IN reverse, again not using the clutch! So turning the key actually made the vehicle start to roll back. All these things you learn when you drive - half of them don't count when you drive off road. The first time I did the failed climb, yes - i stuck my foot on the clutch, much to the amusement of Una, and my daughter, who was watching in the back. I had to do it again, properly!
The descents were great fun. First gear Low ratio diff lock, go to the edge of the hill and take the vehicle over the edge, but the secret here is to let the vehicle do the work. With the engine on tickover I just kept my foot off the accelerator and brake (and clutch!) and simply steered. WOW!!!!
After getting used to the vehicle on these slopes we then went to the small dips etc. This little area consists of some small creaters, tracks, ponds and a 45° road. Driving the vehicle with the axles at 45° did take a bit of getting used to but I enjoyed it. I also had a go at straddling rut, which meant that the vehicle had to be kept level.
In addition to this We drove in the woods over several lanes flanked by trees, stumps and rocks in various dodgy places. I did take one or two corners a bit fast but Una did not seem unpeterbed. She seemed happy that I could handle the vehicle at the speed I was driving, besides sometimes you need to get the speed up so you don't get stuck.
Some smaller ponds were tackled. It was first down the hill and into the pond and as the front axles levelled out, into second and accelerate out and up the ascent the other side. The larger dips in the woods were tackled in exactly the same way.
The best moment for me was driving through a flooded creator. The TD5 Defender has the air intake on the RHS so this had to be kept out of the water. Within reason, the whole of the LHS wing was game for total submersion.
Second to that was probably driving down a really stoney descent. Although the vehicle did the work for you, just requiring you to steer it, it was partly sliding on the stones! As I got towards the bottom it was more or less just sliding rather than engine braking. With the bank on the other side I knew it couldn't go far, besides I had a gear change to worry about.
After Una and we said our goodbyes, I went to pick up my wife and other daughter, who is not a natural off roader, from Dunkeld town centre, only to find everyone wading through the town centre!
That was what it was like on the way back. On the way there we had seen a very amusing spectacle when a Merc C class came around the corner at 40 and was stopped in his tracks by 10" of water! When we left that flood, after having driven through carefully the water was above his door sills!
On the way back we encountered several floods and the off road driving instruction came in very handy. Try to create a bow wave to keep the water away from the front of the vehicle, The top of the wheels (not tyres) is the maximum for the water depth etc. That is why we were not held up, though occasionally we did have to negotiate around cars waiting at the floods.
Driving past the Merc C class flood, we saw aforementioned Merc C class parked in a layby, possibly with an engine full of water.
When we got back to the cottage safely, I promised that I would NEVER be without a Land Rover!
Now to find the Devon and Cornwall Land Rover club...
Hugo
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& just remember that if you do go off road elsewhere that it won't have been carefully designed to be safe. So that 45 degree slope becomes 52 degrees at one point & over you go.
That puddle has a pothole in it that puts the engine under water. Ouch. [/miserable git mode]
Sounds like you had fun though!
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Now to find the Devon and Cornwall Land Rover club...
I believe they used to run it from the car park in Boscastle......
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That puddle has a pothole in it that puts the engine under water. Ouch.
Not really. Both my air intake and coil are higher than the engine. It's a Landrover not a Bavarian Murder weapon.
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