Before I start, I wish to say that this is not a 4x4 bashing topic... honest!

I was going down the M25 last Friday, in the outside lane, following a fairly new Range Rover (or something out of that stable). Traffic was heavy, and quite a few people were swapping lanes - not dangerously, just to stay in a freely moving lane.

The Range Rover started to move from the outside lane into the middle one, then before he crossed the white line he changed his mind and turned back into the outside lane... at which point he nearly flipped the car! I have never seen a car wallow so much at 75+ mph - he was so close to losing it. The poor driver did end up moving into the middle lane mostly because it was only doing 60 mph - I think he wanted to wait until his heart rate had returned to somewhere near normal before speeding up again (or maybe he wanted to check his underpants...).

I think I'll stick to a saloon car for motorways, and leave the 4x4 for mud-plugging...

David

I borrowed an X5 for a weekend, and after taking one corner as if i was in a proper / normal car (gentle corner at legal speeds) I decided that 50 is about the limit for any sort of corner in one.

And the fact that I get dazzled by them all the time because their headlights are at the same level as my rear view mirror don't help either.

It's the zig-zag manoeuvre that gets them every time - it's a cruel test of any car, but the high and heavy cars suffer the worst, especially at high speed.

As I said, I was in the car behind it, so I had a vested interest in whatever was about to happen!

Well you know I like our off roader; but you are 100% correct in saying they are crap at high speeds as wobbly suspension helps off road which added to the high weight and high CoG means they roll a bit and a bit more and people just drive them to fast.

However you can make off roaders handle quite well, just look at the speeds they do in the dakar etc and they don't roll over. But really every one should drive one of these
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1245751998694395737&q=dakar+truck&total=95&start=0&num=10&so=4&type=search&plindex =2

[Edited on 30/10/2007 by I love speed :-P]

Just about every serious motorway incident i've seen with a 4x4 and a car the 4x4 for whatever reason has been on its roof!.... and there supposedly safer how?

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Just about every serious motorway incident i've seen with a 4x4 and a car the 4x4 for whatever reason has been on its roof!.... and there supposedly safer how?

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I love speed - that is an awesome video clip & I am a professed 4x4 hater. Perhaps if we included that experience as part of the driving test we'd have a lot fewer di**head drivers!!!

my friend has 1 of those porsche 4x4 thingy's (not a real 4x4 i know) and i would almost go as far as saying it would out handle my newest shape toyota celica. it just sticks to the road, but building confidence to put it round corners at speed is a whole different kettle of fish.

I love that video - now where can I get myself one of those Russian trucks?

It's also an excellent illustration of what 4x4s are REALLY all about!

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Originally posted by MkIndy7
Just about every serious motorway incident i've seen with a 4x4 and a car the 4x4 for whatever reason has been on its roof!.... and there supposedly safer how?

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When the Army first recieved the latest generation land rovers (the Wolf) they were capable of 100mph+ and had power steering that stayed very light regardless of speed. there were so many accidents in the first fewa months that the Army put a speed limit of 60mph on them and informed police to stop anyone seen breaking it!

must admit - i once had 100mph in one with a trailer attached - bloody scary!

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Originally posted by David Jenkins
I love that video - now where can I get myself one of those Russian trucks?

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We hired this (with driver) when I was on holiday in Iceland a few weeks ago. Handling on the road wasn't great but on the snow covered mountain roads it was awesome:-

who is the little pixie next to the car?












.... oh , hold on, it is that tyres that are massive

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Originally posted by DaveFJ
When the Army first recieved the latest generation land rovers (the Wolf) they were capable of 100mph+ and had power steering that stayed very light regardless of speed. there were so many accidents in the first fewa months that the Army put a speed limit of 60mph on them

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Originally posted by 02GF74

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Originally posted by DaveFJ
When the Army first recieved the latest generation land rovers (the Wolf) they were capable of 100mph+ and had power steering that stayed very light regardless of speed. there were so many accidents in the first fewa months that the Army put a speed limit of 60mph on them

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didn;t they learn nothing from the with the stage 1? A series land rover with rover 3.5 v8, the carbs were fitted with restritor plates to strangle performance.

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Originally posted by 02GF74
who is the little pixie next to the car?

.... oh , hold on, it is that tyres that are massive

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Originally posted by 02GF74

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Originally posted by MkIndy7
Just about every serious motorway incident i've seen with a 4x4 and a car the 4x4 for whatever reason has been on its roof!.... and there supposedly safer how?

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What a strange thing to say.

If you drive any car beyond its limits, it will end up on its roof. Try the same manoeuvre in a double decker bus or an articulated lorry, the result would be the same.

Idiotic driving does not mean the vehicle is unsafe.

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Do you remember the episode of 5th gear where they rolled one at 45 MPH? They did a lane change manouvre at 50, 60 , 70 and 80 in a jag and eventually it skidded badly but at legal speeds it was OK.

Tall, heavy vehicles with large ground clearance and soft springs just aren't as stable as cars. Whilst I'm not for maning (many) things, perhaps off road vehicles should have a lower speed limit, like small trucks perhaps. Its for their own safety and that of other road users.

Range Rovers still are known for their initial roll on turn, however as long as they are not subject to a sudden change they can usually hang on as much as a normal family car.

The new Range Rover Sport is a different vehicle altogether, it is very tractable. Changes of direction even in a hurry are handled very competently. If it is overdriven with the DSC switched on it can normally get you out of trouble.

I had one at speed and took one corner way to fast, the DSC stepped in and took away throttle control, at the same time it applied the two inner brakes on the corner thus pulling the car round the corner whilst slowing the speed dramatically.
Their braking system is impressive too, they are fitted with brake assist. I went on a LR course and the first thing they do, is get you to accelerate to a high speed offroad on straight, then hit brakes hard!
Scary stuff as brake pedal is taken away from you and you nearly hit the screen with the G force.
All the time the car stays under control as the brakes work very hard to correct.

The new DRC (Dynamic Roll Control) system is a wonder. It has sensors on each corner that determine angle and it constantly compensates with the adjustable suspension to keep the car as level in cornering as possible. Even to the extent at speed to opposite angle the car in some instances. i.e. create lean over in mid bend.