DOOM!!!...with a hint of Gloom

Well, it was all going so swimmingly....until, Smash!

To cut a very long story short, I went out for a final play and had the misfortune of having a bit of very, very bad luck. I basically got bogged down in what was like quicksand, aka deep peat (anyone know him??)...in essence, a shackle broke loose from the towing vehicle and decided to re-arrange both my rear door and took a dislike to my window!!

The poorly Disco is now tucked up in Lancasters body shop, but they now leave me little hope of a repair before the Rally

They have promised to advise the butler tomorrow of a very important update, will it or won't it be ready...I obviously hope the prior.

Estimated cost to fix - £1700...a very, very expensive off road day!! :!:

Whine over....I had to have a cry somewhere....where better than the LR forum....at least I won't get some greenie telling me I should not be out carving up historic peat on the mountainsides, instead I should be at home inventing the ever lasting battery made from recycled fox pee!!

Open cupboard...replace soapbox, close cupboard.

Snooty.

Nightmare! Good Luck with the repairs!

Hope to see you soon!

Lu :bom:

Fingers crossed for a speedy recovery!

Ouch sorry to hear that. hope all goes well, I presume Lancasters in Reading?

I'm over that way prob early Tursday if any use.

What was recovering you?

Can you fall back to the RRS if you need to?

:arrow:

Sounds like you need to bring out the RRS then - hope so.

:@:

Lancasters in Reading? Yes.

What was recovering you? A Mispewbishi Slowgun, it was struggling (shear weight of the D3!!!) The annoying thing was, he chose to use his old setup rig as opposed to his new one which was in the back of his truck I do not blame him, obviously he was trying to help me out, so no bad feelings, just a costly mistake and have now learnt to take my own rope in future!!!

Can you fall back to the RRS if you need to? The HST is primed for backup. My only hesitation is the off roading piece, not through the terrain as such, more to do with the wheels and nasty scratches caused by rocks etc. Not a cheap fix being 20" stormers! If the worst comes to the worst, I will have to drop out, but that is not my intention and I will do all in my power to avoid.... I would be SO, SO, SO disappointed if I had to back out now.

It's a mindset thing, if the Disco gets hurt, I don't seem to mind, but if the HST was injured, I think I would have a breakdown!! I think its a cost thing, the D3 was £30k cheaper!!

Land Rover have offered me a vehicle as a replacement, but with the caveat that any damage would be payable, including wheels, so that is not the easy option I was hoping for. We shall see what the next 48 hours brings and make a definitive call. Even Jeeves cannot solve this conundrum

What takes you to Lancasters anyway?? Nothing too last minute as me I hope!!!!

Snooty.

bj wrote:

Sounds like you need to bring out the RRS then - hope so.

:@:

It may well happen yet!!!! Deep down, and I mean really really deep, this is almost an Omen to take the thirsty girl instead of the asmatic D3 with the large inhaler. :?:

Fate will decide - Solihull's finest or a week of what if's.....I think I already know the answer!

BTW - Is anyone else T5 platforming?? Any fellow D3/RRS drivers??

From some of Tom's earlier comments, sounds like there will always be non-damaging options throughout the rally. And it would be classy to have the full gamut of Landrover vehicles taking part.

I have driven brand new RR's on some pretty scary terrain - They tend to come off better than the classic LR vehicles because of all their electro-trickery. They are just a lot slower and a lot less fun.

From what I have heard from Jabawoki, you guys are up for a classy ride - Tom, can you step in and reassure these guys.

BJ

CarpeDiem wrote:

Fingers crossed for a speedy recovery!

Thanks for all your comments...... ....but it could force me into a decision, I am very fortunate to have options and ultimately a choice of 2 of the finest current LR vehicles!!

{Hope} to see you in Calais.

Lord knows I have told him before - Snooty BTW, not 'im upstairs!

Definitely no scary stuff. Bear in mind I did the recce in an Astra!!! This said there are a couple of sections with rock - bedrock NOT loose boulders - so driven slowly the RRS' 20" will gobble up such terrain. Same goes for Val d'Isere - NO TREES TO BITE BACK, gentle but fantastic slopes. Then there's a forest section, wide tracks that don't have overgrown brambles or hanging branches, and last but not least is the dust bowl in the Pyrenees - this too devoid of trees.

My rep's on the line here for folk who want to join in the fun next year will be monitoring this post and the entire event, so I too have a vested interest in seeing the RRS (and all vehicles) come back safe and sound ... not to mention the entrants! "TOLD YOU NOT TO MENTION THE ENTRANTS". I'd be more wary of the Euro drivers rather than the actual off-road element!

Seriously, it's as non-damaging as it possibly can be. Can't vouch for your right boot or the ol' red mist however!!!

I hope we do see you. Nice to have a back up. If something terrible had had happened I could have fallen back on my wife's Disco(she doesn't know this yet) or my daughter's 50th Aniversary Disco My car a 200tdi Disco is prepped up for off roading in this country, deep mud, rocks.From what I can make out any of the "off roading" done on the rally could be done with any standard LR without damage. Especially the new ones with all their electricerky gizzmos. I am sure Tom does not want us to break our cars.
Best of luck with it all.

I am planning on it not being too rough and i only have a P38.

The idea is to get all the vehicles through the whole thing in 1 piece...obviously the attraction of off roading in Val D'Isere is part of the draw of the event.

I will be taking it very easy that day as my truck is not really kitted out for offroading at all - other than the fact that it is a RR...

See you at the bottom for a glass of pimms!

I wasn't actually at Lancaster, just live (townhouse that is, as opposed to the country residence!) near to it.

Just a thought, and it would mean a trip and a few nice words in the workshop, are the tyres on the RRS and D3 the same stud patten? if so, put the D3 tyres that your not worried about on the RRS just in case? although i can't see from what we know that there will be any damage, but just make sure that the person in front of you is spotting for you as well. i know a few will be carrying waffles etc just in case there is a bit you want a hand with.



:arrow:

Good news.....the D3 is back and after a lot of hard work by the chaps in Lancasters, all is well again....HOORAH!

As Hannibal would say..."I love it when a plan comes together"....so, fin, the end, all is well again, Snooty and Jeeves will see you in Calais!

For the record - Jeeves (the co-driver) is not the butler as some may expect, it is purely a psudonym........the real Jeeves shall be in disguise and will be rarely seen. Put simply, servants should remain unseen and most definately unheard....it makes life easier and is far less messy.

See you in Euroland.

Snooty.

P.S. TOM - We will probably be the last to show up on Saturday - our train does not get in until 1125 (France time) - I will hoof it from the port to the meeting place as would hope to be there well before the deadline. I had to leave it until now for confirmation - obviously, due to the car situation. I will PM you also.

Good day for now.

you'd best ring Tom, as he left for France yesterday and won't be checking here! we'll tell him too for you though.

:arrow: