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Venturing off road again.......


bishbosh

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So after about 8 years without off roading, I am now starting to think it is time to get back out there.

Only looking at  laning or Salisbury plain. My current RR is way to shiny (and fat) for that so I need to find something else.

Criteria I have identified are:

1. Cheap - £3k max for the vehicle

2. Not a freelander - I know Fridge will curse me for this but they are just not for me. ;)

3. Petrol engined (i.e. V8) - I wont be doing many miles.

4. Comfy - must be able to cope with motorway miles without deafening all occupants.

5. I'll say must be a LR product, just because I know them.

So my short list is

RRC,P38, disco 2.

I think the RRC's will be too expensive and I've had a few of them in the past so probably down to the Disco 2 or P38.

So what are your thoughts? Anything I have missed? Pros and cons?

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Disco 2 has the right amount of luxury and practicality and is  the go to car of choice for the setup you describe. P38 is a bit more luxury at the risk of maybe bigger servicing repair bills. I’d probably go disco 2 myself.

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2 hours ago, mad_pete said:

Disco 2 has the right amount of luxury and practicality and is  the go to car of choice for the setup you describe. P38 is a bit more luxury at the risk of maybe bigger servicing repair bills. I’d probably go disco 2 myself.

What service bits on a p38 are more expensive?

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2 hours ago, bishbosh said:

So after about 8 years without off roading, I am now starting to think it is time to get back out there.

Only looking at  laning or Salisbury plain. My current RR is way to shiny (and fat) for that so I need to find something else.

Criteria I have identified are:

1. Cheap - £3k max for the vehicle

2. Not a freelander - I know Fridge will curse me for this but they are just not for me. ;)

3. Petrol engined (i.e. V8) - I wont be doing many miles.

4. Comfy - must be able to cope with motorway miles without deafening all occupants.

5. I'll say must be a LR product, just because I know them.

So my short list is

RRC,P38, disco 2.

I think the RRC's will be too expensive and I've had a few of them in the past so probably down to the Disco 2 or P38.

So what are your thoughts? Anything I have missed? Pros and cons?

Not sure what sort of RRC you’ll get these days for this money. Guess a D1 should be on the list too considering they are 90% RRC. 

D2 is cool and ACE is well ace! :D But apart from that do they really offer anything over a p38?

This is my p38. I don’t really Lane it as I have other vehciles for that. And somehow it would still seem a shame to scratch it up on a lane. Despite costing less than most 90’s. 

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F16CEEB1-B36D-4856-8851-17CBA563D0FB.jpg

 

However I think my recommendation would actually be a Jeep Cherokee XJ. The 4.0 litre six is actually even sweeter to drive than an RV8. The XJ is also comfy and well equipped and highly capable off road (needs a 2” lift which is cheap and easy). 

They are also not as wide as a Range Rover so better for laning and off roading in general and despite having two rows of seats and a big boot. They are only marginally longer than a Defender 90. 

This was my one. I really shouldn’t have sold it. 

IMG_3465Large.jpg

IMG_2826Large.jpg

CherokeeBrickhillDec2011.jpg

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Bish, I can't ever see you in anything so dowdy or lower class as a Disco, it is RR or nothing, the P38 being the obvious choice ;) 

D2s suffer so much with rust, anything you may want to use/abuse off road will rapidly disintegrate before your eyes, the P38, by comparison, just do not rust.

 

 

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I would go D2 if you can find a good one in budget as the body is very practical in terms of you have the option of 7 seats and if the back seats are folded down it's as big as a transit connect type van with a lot of height. The extra height and side opening door makes getting things in and out with forklifts / engine hoists easier and not having to drag stuff over the drop down tailgate makes it easier to get heavy stuff in and out by hand.

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Interesting about the Disco's rust - something to look out for. Not interested in interior size - I have access to all sorts of trailers and actually a bigger bodyshell means more trouble n tight lanes!

Bowie is of course correct in that I secretly want to stay with a RR but I am trying to be objective!

To wit: does the P38 have HDC? My googling skills have failed me on that one!

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No HDC on a p38a. 

And sadly no ACE either. But no ACE on a D3 which seems another backwards step. 

Pre 1999 p38s have 2 wheel traction control (rear). However it’s unclesr if this was on all models when I’ve Googled. I’m sure someone knows but it’s certaibly suggested it was optional on lower end models or not available. 

99+ which should also have the Thor V8’s should have 4 wheel TCS. I suspect similar to the system fitted to the D2 and Td5 Defenders. And IMO works very well and is worth holding out for if you plan to off road. 

 

All p38’s should have air suspension. They ride a little hard in off road mode unless you have Gen 3 Arnott air bags. But these are horrendously expensive. The air suspension has an extended off road mode of the Vehcile becomes beached. 

The automatic gearbox can also lock in gear for off road use. Ie get it to start and stay in low 2nd rather than use 1st and 2nd. Which can be handy in some situations and should aid engine breaking. 

 

The 4.6 is auto only. And usually well specced. The 4.0 goes quite well but big variation in options and standard equipment. They also aren’t any better on fuel than a 4.6 but do still go quite well. Best reason for going for a 4.0 litre is you could get them with a manual gearbox. Which should make them more fun, probably faster or as fast as an auto 4.6 and in this instance potential for better cruising mpg too. 

Diesels are a lot slower in stock trim. Although you can chip them. I suspect a modded manual diesel is actually rather nice and enjoyable. While offering significantly improved mpg over a V8. The auto diesel will always be the slowest of the model line up and imo the least desirable. 

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2 hours ago, bishbosh said:

Interesting about the Disco's rust - something to look out for. Not interested in interior size - I have access to all sorts of trailers and actually a bigger bodyshell means more trouble n tight lanes!

Bowie is of course correct in that I secretly want to stay with a RR but I am trying to be objective!

To wit: does the P38 have HDC? My googling skills have failed me on that one!

It sounds like range rover then and a picnic sat on the tailgate. :lol:

My only experience of a P38 was a 2.5 diesel with the 6cyl bmw engine, I would say it wasn't any slower than my mk3 ford ranger with the 2.5 4cyl mazda engine that I had at the time which was probably a decade newer, it had immobiliser problems where it would lock you out for a certain amount of time, air suspension problems due to leaks and a height sensor and a lead injector problem, but barring the immobiliser all of those I would consider acceptable wear and tear for the age of the vehicle. The air suspension was really nice as it would lower at motorway speed but lift for offroad which made it a great all rounder. You don't see as many bolt on offroad bits as you do for discoveries but if it's just a green laner I doubt there are any your likely to need?

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Hmmm, now being swayed towards a Disco 2 having experienced HDC in my L322 I am a definite convert!

Accessories wise really only a front winch mount / bumper as laning solo is not a good plan without one. From a quick bit of googling it looks like I can get a reasonably close fitting one for not much money for a Disco 2 but nothing sensible for a P38.

I expect it will end up being decided by what is available. Not many V8 discos.

Also, is it only the 4.6's that suffer from slipped liners?

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Yus, any of the 94mm(?) bore, so 3.9 and above *can* slip, but to be honest, if it hasn't done already, I would be very surprised if it ever did.

Fixing it isn't as expensive as it used to be, so you do not need to worry about it IMHO, as long as what you buy has coolant in it rather than water, and doesn't give off steam like a loco :) 

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Both are great and cheap. D2 with a set of mud terrains and 2 inch lift will go further than a 90 a lot of the time. Traction control works very well. I had a manual td5 for off road, and now have a V8 auto on road, would love to take it off road though! 

However due to chassis rust issues unless you find a good one or one already on a galv chassis I would go for the P38. I looked at 6 or more discos before buying my current one.

a bit more complicated but most common issues are easily sorted now, and people have started to build things for them. Only thing is they are a bit more lardy than a disco. 

Ashamed to say it but have to agree a bit with above about the xj, they do seem smooth off road 

You could have my D2 if you wanted, chassis is ‘solid enough’ as told by the MOT tester 😉

Good luck with the search.

 

 

 

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4 minutes ago, elbekko said:

There isn't much aftermarket for the P38 that isn't horrendously expensive. But building a winch mount isn't too hard, there's plenty of room between the chassis legs.

And they do alright off road...

image.thumb.png.5501981fbd74546c34e4a2712b896549.png

I'll vouch for that it's only when it's under water do we have to recover him. :ph34r:

Mike

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