I began the day with an induction and TB cleaning, one of the last things on the 60K to do list. Luckily there was a fairly strong wind to carry the smoke away when I started it, because the smoke it belches out makes a good impression of a large home fire in progress. It took about 15 minutes of driving before the smoke was finally gone, but of course now the SES light is on. That goes away after awhile, right?

During the drive I decided to take a few local trails off road. I used low range, HDC, and manual modes for the first time and found it all worked very well, until I got stuck. Long, muddy hills and Nitto Terra Grapplers aren't a great combination, as the tires slick over fairly quickly in mud. I should have just hammered it, but I didn't have anyone with me just in case I really screwed up and threw it off the trail, so I just backed down and found another way. Better, taller tires and a lift are definitely on the wish list for the 2010. All in all a great first off road outing in the Disco!

 

no the codes won't just go away you need to clear them with an ODB2 scanner. you will get loads or misfire codes. once you clear them you should be good to go.

 

taller tires and lift wont do squat for a land rover if the driver isn't trained properly first how to drive his vehicle offroad.

I heard stories from the experience schools of instructors taking range rovers on the same trails as raised jeeps and following directly in the footsteps without getting stuck. And guess what do you know who was driving?

The jeep owner's wives with the experience school drivers as their teacher.

It was the instruction that carried thru the day. Not the lift kit and bigger tires.

If bigger tires and a lift was needed then why did we have camel trophy, G4 and LR trek and except for some protection and mud tires underneath the vehicles performed flawlessly offroad with the drivers who got instruction first.

 

Point taken, I drive off road nearly every weekend and have been doing so for over 5 years but on ATVs, not Rovers. I have to agree that training and experience definitely wins over equipment, as I can easily make a 2WD ATV go places where a novice on a 4WD will get stuck very quickly.

However, notice I stated "better, taller tires and a lift," better being the operative word. The hill I tried to climb would not have benefited from the lift or taller tires. I would have benefited from tires that weren't 50% worn and certainly from a tire better suited for muddy conditions. The Terra Grapplers are OK, but not great. You proved my point by mentioning the Camel tropy Discos being equiped with mud tires, they didn't go out on street tires with an off road look. The lift I would get simply for the ability to use taller tires without rubbing and add ground clearance for other sections of the trail, plus it just looks better.

The other factor is that the Disco not my primary off road vehicle; it normally tows my off road vehicles. So while I am quite confident that I could have climbed the hill with a bit more aggression like I would have on an ATV, I am simply not willing to take undue risk in damaging the Disco by sliding if off the side of the trail and/or getting stranded with no winch or assistance.

 

haha most condescending post ever? Poor guy takes a little rip in his rover and you insult his driving skills. Lighten up.