"dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers" wrote in
message ...
I wouldn't call a Freelander an off roader.

But the ad men would have the great unwashed believe it is with all those
adverts showing it as a wild animal running about the African plains ;-)

Cheers.


--This is an invalid email address to avoid spam--
to get correct one remove dependency on fame & fortune
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The Land Rover people are only too well aware that their vehicles are bought
largley as a lifestyle symbol and not to use in anger as for true off road
work and that is the way they are marketed . There are exceptions to this
naturally. On a recent gas pipeline project I know about the Land Rover has
to be returned to the dealer for offroad tyres to be fitted which shows how
these vehicles are generally used.

Alan

Alan

In message
"Dave Liquorice" wrote:

On Thu, 29 Jan 2004 16:47:02 +0000, Simon Wyndham wrote:

I forgot to mention that one of the cars that was stuck was a
Freelander! Another unique thing. People who buy offroad cars not
realising that they are offroad cars!

I wouldn't call a Freelander an off roader. ISTR that they don't have
a diff lock but emulate it using the brakes, opposite of ABS. ie a
wheel starts to spin, it gets braked. If all the wheels start to spin
they all get braked... Probably works provided only one or two wheels
loose traction but on ice you have very little traction available on
all wheels.

As for driving skills on snow/ice. Remember that anyone living down
south (below Manchester ish) and younger than about 30 has probably
never driven on snow before in their life.

And it's frightening to think that it only takes one of them to get it wrong
to block a road!

And some of them are driving articulated lorries!



--
Created on the Iyonix PC - the new RISC OS computer.

In message lgate.org
"Michael McNneil" wrote:

"James Hurrell" wrote in message


Yes.. the old "Series" Land Rovers always seem to have superior off road
ability to their newer cousins... My Series 3 never fails to let me down in
the mud when I go off roading, but ice... that's another thing - 4WD doesn't
seem to help a bit.

It was icy from the start with this spell of snow in Stoke at least.
Walking was difficult. I noticed that a lot of pedestrians were daft
enough to have their hands in their pockets too!

The reason they close the schools when it snows is because the people
who buy those stupid non-off-roadsters are the mums who take their
children to school and extend the rush hour by nearly 2 hours.

Someone obviously realises that these creatures can't drive and if they
could, their vehices are too sad to use.

Salt having no effect in the not all that cold weather, one might ask
what they use in Canadian cities.



I can't speak for Canada, but I did live in Northern Sweden for a while.
There they use winter tyres (with metal studs, legally enforced between
specified dates) and snow ploughs. Never grit and salt, they are not much
use at -25C, and it can get much colder than that.

Usually, the snow ploughs are out whenever snow is forcast or observed.
Getting stuck or sliding off the road (or even a breakdown) in the
temperatures they experience up there can be fatal, and some roads have very
little traffic. You might wait several hours before you see another vehicle.

But you soon get used to driving on ice, since you will be doing it for nine
months of the year.

Many of the roads up there are sufaced with gravel, since they will be held
together with ice for most of the year. In the summer you can see a car
approaching for miles by the dust cloud it kicks up.

Martin

--
Created on the Iyonix PC - the new RISC OS computer.

John.Alresford - Mid Hants wrote in message . ..
On Fri, 30 Jan 2004 08:19:17 +0000 (UTC), "Michael McNneil"
wrote:

"James Hurrell" wrote in message



The reason they close the schools when it snows is because the people
who buy those stupid non-off-roadsters are the mums who take their
children to school and extend the rush hour by nearly 2 hours.



They probably close the schools because they fear the chaos / danger
that is likely to occur outside the school - namely all those 4x4's,
MPV etc with idiots at the wheel who are better qualified to drive a
pram or a dinky toy. I never go anywhere near a school from ~2.30pm
to ~4.30pm - to dangerous for ME. After the early morning run, these
idiots then headoff to Tesco's or Sainsbury's and more chaos follows .
By 12.30, they have all f**ked off home leaving it fairly clear for me
to do my 20 min whiz around, getting my groceries
.


True, if these kids who are carted around in their 4X4's walked there
would be much less congestion in the morning.

However, perhaps more importantly, these kids might actually enjoy the
experience of walking to school, even in the snow and the rain, thus
giving them the feel for the outdoors and elements. That way we might
see some fit and active kids these days with rosy smiling faces,
rather than the fat, ugly, pasty ones so often seen in southeast
England today.

My kids and their mates walk the mile to school armed with one
important motto. "Don't talk to Strangers"

Jason.

On 31 Jan 2004 16:51:11 -0800, (Jason) wrote:

John.Alresford - Mid Hants wrote in message . ..
On Fri, 30 Jan 2004 08:19:17 +0000 (UTC), "Michael McNneil"
wrote:

"James Hurrell" wrote in message



The reason they close the schools when it snows is because the people
who buy those stupid non-off-roadsters are the mums who take their
children to school and extend the rush hour by nearly 2 hours.



They probably close the schools because they fear the chaos / danger
that is likely to occur outside the school - namely all those 4x4's,
MPV etc with idiots at the wheel who are better qualified to drive a
pram or a dinky toy. I never go anywhere near a school from ~2.30pm
to ~4.30pm - to dangerous for ME. After the early morning run, these
idiots then headoff to Tesco's or Sainsbury's and more chaos follows .
By 12.30, they have all f**ked off home leaving it fairly clear for me
to do my 20 min whiz around, getting my groceries
.


True, if these kids who are carted around in their 4X4's walked there
would be much less congestion in the morning.

However, perhaps more importantly, these kids might actually enjoy the
experience of walking to school, even in the snow and the rain, thus
giving them the feel for the outdoors and elements. That way we might
see some fit and active kids these days with rosy smiling faces,
rather than the fat, ugly, pasty ones so often seen in southeast
England today.

My kids and their mates walk the mile to school armed with one
important motto. "Don't talk to Strangers"

Jason.

Well said Jason, but the problem is not confined to the Southeast

john

"Jason" wrote in message
om...

True, if these kids who are carted around in their 4X4's walked there
would be much less congestion in the morning.

However, perhaps more importantly, these kids might actually enjoy the
experience of walking to school, even in the snow and the rain, thus
giving them the feel for the outdoors and elements. That way we might
see some fit and active kids these days with rosy smiling faces,
rather than the fat, ugly, pasty ones so often seen in southeast
England today.

My kids and their mates walk the mile to school armed with one
important motto. "Don't talk to Strangers"


Agreed.
I used to walk 15-20mins to school, uphill as well
It was a social thing too, you'd call for your mates along the way.
It never even ocurred to me to get my parents to drive me there.

The only time I was ever driven there was when I was too young
to be able to cross roads safely.
As soon as I graduated from the Tufty Club, I was on my own

Col
--
Bolton, Lancashire.
160m asl.
http://www.reddwarfer.btinternet.co.uk

"Jason" wrote in message
om...
True, if these kids who are carted around in their 4X4's walked there
would be much less congestion in the morning.

However, perhaps more importantly, these kids might actually enjoy the
experience of walking to school, even in the snow and the rain, thus
giving them the feel for the outdoors and elements. That way we might
see some fit and active kids these days with rosy smiling faces,
rather than the fat, ugly, pasty ones so often seen in southeast
England today.

My kids and their mates walk the mile to school armed with one
important motto. "Don't talk to Strangers"


Couldn't agree more

Jim Webster

"Rodney Blackall" wrote in message
...
In article lgate.org,
Michael McNneil wrote:

It was icy from the start with this spell of snow in Stoke at least.
Walking was difficult. I noticed that a lot of pedestrians were daft
enough to have their hands in their pockets too!

Very sensible! That way you fall and get bruised; hands free and you put
them out and break a wrist.

Well technically you should break-fall and do it properly for which you need
your hands free, otherwise you could fall flat on your face with broken nose
and damaged teeth.
Mind you, given half a chance I slouch along with hands in pockets, but the
biggest problem round here is that the rain water runs down your sleeves and
into the pocket with your hands :-))

Jim Webster

In message , Martin Dixon
writes
shaking his head. Said car was at a nice, sharp angle on the verge and
judging from the Unfocussed driver's face I don't think he wanted his car
to be where it was.


Last night we came across a lady driver who had managed to slide her focus
into the verge (a colleage in the car had remarked earlier that her car
seemed totally out of control, wheels spinning and all.

Anyway, said aldy then emergerd from the car and proceeded to try to brush
the snow off her REAR wheels, then got back into the car and tried to pull
away without success.

In the end we took pity and her and gave her a push and managed to get her
back on the road.

I took pity on the painter/decorator working four doors up. He had
arrived through the snow and ice and driven forwards onto the drive at
about eight in the morning. The drive slopes, perhaps 1 in 6 or 8, down
to the garage. Front-drive, presumably, Nissan Serena at least wiggled
sideways left onto the lawn rather than right and potentially down a
couple of feet [1] or so to the adjacent driveway.

At this point I lent him a shovel and pointed to the grit-bins. By the
time I'd come back with the newspapers he'd more-or-less extracted the
vehicle. What did he think he'd been driving on?


[1] Score so far over the years - one Mini and one Peugeot 205.
--
Peter Thomas