convince me...

Post by **Diamond Hell** » 15 Mar 2006, 16:58

Hang on Excalibur, a £500 Range Rover will be an utter utter turd - rotten chassis, V8 dying from black death probably and gearboxes, transfer boxes, diffs and half-shafts just waiting to expire.

Remind me just how much you've driven Syncros off road?

The diff locks allow you to drive very calmly through things just as axle articulation will - at previous Coney events we've run trials for Syncros and I've won trials against Range Rovers in my Syncro. On rock especially axle articulation will only get you so far. The only Range Rover I've been shown up by had had serious thousands and thousands of pounds thrown at it.

For green laning a Syncro can't be beat - inoffensive in appearance and far more practical than any Solihull product.

This might possibly be a really really bad/stupid place to be recommending a Land Rover product over a Syncro and there are SO many reasons this is the case.

Post by **excalibur** » 15 Mar 2006, 19:08

Calm down SDiamond Hell. dont go all deffensive, I was just giving an opinion from personal experience.
If you read my post again you will see I recomend the syncro in certain circumstance.

This might possibly be a really really bad/stupid place to be recommending a Land Rover

and to whoever said what would happen on a Land Rover forum. Well go over to LRO forum and you will see I am the one always complaining about the shortcomings of some Rovers, and while you might get some jokey comment about "zee germans" or something similar, I doubt you will get any hostility or bad comments. A lot of them run other vehicles as well.

I have had 4WD vans in the past, first a Bedford CF and then a LDV because I needed a van to carry tools into a quarry (the syncro wouldnt have been big enough) and these were better than any Landie for the job they were doing........like I said before, horses for courses.

Hang on Excalibur, a £500 Range Rover will be an utter utter turd - rotten chassis, V8 dying from black death probably and gearboxes, transfer boxes, diffs and half-shafts just waiting to expire.

actualy £500 will get you something pretty useable, but the reason I put a price is to compare pound for pound........so lets say £2000 instead, I bet you would get a better 90 say than a syncro for that price, also the cost and availability of parts in comparison etc.

This is not intended as a wind up post, just intended to 1. defend my previous post, and 2. get a few folks to take the rose tinted off

Thank you cj and the others for daring to mention that the syncro has it limits (just as I do about Landies on LRO)

For green laning a Syncro can't be beat - inoffensive in appearance and far more practical than any Solihull product.

so are you saying that Landies are offensive in appearence???????? and in my experience I have found Rangies to limited by their width sometimes with laning, and prefer the old narrower series for laning, so would have thought a van would have the same limits as the Rangie

Remind me just how much you've driven Syncros off road?

well you already know the answer to that, out of interest how much have you driven the new Rangie or Discovery 3 off road, because my experience of these two (which are nothing like their predecessors) is they will take some beating.

Why do vw not have a current syncro medel?

Post by **HarryMann** » 15 Mar 2006, 20:27

.... yes, probably, might even be the end of mankind as we know him/her

/it?

Post by **Russel** » 15 Mar 2006, 20:33

Hi Clive
Forms for Coney are on their way to u at present.
I dont now any of my member numbers and Ian dosnt know whot vehicle
hope that isnt a problem.

Post by **pimpdriver** » 15 Mar 2006, 20:47

are these Unimog things any good? I regularly see one around the Bristol/Bath area used by a tree surgeon.

http://www.unimog.org.uk/

Steve

Post by **HarryMann** » 15 Mar 2006, 20:47

Thanks Russel, I'm sure we can fill in a few blanks

PS. We can now cancel the entertainment we've booked, knowing Ian is coming too

Post by **Cate** » 15 Mar 2006, 20:52

I saw a Unimog over here being used to sort out new telegraph poles, brilliant it is, driving capabilities I've no idea but I want one! Heard lots of good about them from my tree surgeon.

Post by **Landy** » 15 Mar 2006, 20:54

He He He.......

Now i have read (well skimmed) this thread and it has made me chuckle. The Syncro is a very able machine but to put it head to head with a LandRover is plain daft. Yes, in deep mud on levelish groung the lockers give you and advantage but on very uneven ground or clambering over rocks or even breaking over a reasonable hillock is not gono work for you not beacause you will lift a wheel as that is obviously irrelevant. You have far too much bodywork hanging afore and aft and it all hangs too low to be able to get a wheel against an obstacle and clamber up, you lack a sensible ground clearance/break over angle (you can't argue with that)

Here are a few pics of stuff You can't do in a syncro (i aint knocking your trucks just trying to inject a little reason into your discussion, you can pull me outta the mud any time you like)..........

90 cross axled, two opposing wheels off the ground with no room for the body to roll like it would on a Syncro, and steep rock step that would beach you going down and as for going up you would smash the front trying.

Totally standard 90 clambering up meduim sized rock, you would not be able to gat a front wheel near it to clamber over it due to not having room to get along side with your front overhang.

Do i need to explain why that is beyond You?

This is another nearly stock Landy in a Yump, this can't be done in anything as long as a Syncro, diff locks or not, in fact cut and shut your wheelbase to next to nowt, remove your overhangs and ya still couldn't do it.

I could go on but i have no inclination. This is exactly why i never bother with Landy forums or other single make forums as they are always ridiculously biased, Landys are very very good at certain things and rubbish at other, as are VW's........ I await a reasonable responce

Hello Harlequin Syncro

Post by **missusjen** » 15 Mar 2006, 21:25

Syncro's just rock. Nothing can ever look as cumbersome and ungainly, and even unlikely - yet still do the job......

It's all about aesthetics........

Post by **Cate** » 15 Mar 2006, 21:34

And about what you're used to and what you like to drive.

Post by **Louey** » 15 Mar 2006, 22:35

personally I would just love to get a little Suzuki - cheap as chips and have fun with one of those to start with

Post by **toomanytoys** » 15 Mar 2006, 22:52

Landy

I dont think anyone here was saying the syncro can do everything better that a LR, we know it has its limitations and those were covered in the thread, but you have to admit.. there are far more LR owners out there that would be totally biased and would scoff highly at anyone turning up in a VW "camper"... its why we (well, I will be soon) do it..

My local "off road boys" (lada's, landcruisers, Auverlands etc) just laughed at me when I asked if I could go out with them when I get my doka registered... so I have to, just to show em...

(of course it could have been my crappy french that made em laugh!!)

Post by **KevH** » 16 Mar 2006, 13:41

Hi landy

or is it Jim Willy

If not, i'm sure i recognise one of them there LR's

Post by **Landy** » 16 Mar 2006, 19:51

toomanytoys wrote:Landy

I dont think anyone here was saying the syncro can do everything better that a LR, we know it has its limitations and those were covered in the thread, but you have to admit.. there are far more LR owners out there that would be totally biased and would scoff highly at anyone turning up in a VW "camper"... its why we (well, I will be soon) do it..

My local "off road boys" (lada's, landcruisers, Auverlands etc) just laughed at me when I asked if I could go out with them when I get my doka registered... so I have to, just to show em... (of course it could have been my crappy french that made em laugh!!)

I hate that type of Landy driver with a passion. I have a syncro coming laning with me soon and was on here trying to find info on what they can do and felt i should reply to this thread as at least one of your bunch has a very strange view on how good the syncro is, all the piccys of them in action are less than extreme. I have had a look around and am worried about the syncro as i think at least two of the lanes will challenge it a lot (obvoiusly i dont want it getting damaged on my event) I will not change the route but will be watching it very carefully.

My post is not supposed to make anyone jump to your beloved vw's defence i was just trying to redress the balance and inject some reason. Those difflocks are there to get around the syncro's obvious limitations and wont help on many terrain types.

I will post back when i have seen it in action but i have to say that if these piccys are as good as they can manage i am a tad scared what we are gono do with it when we arrive at a rock step (waffle boards and a tug?).

Post by **Landy** » 16 Mar 2006, 19:53

KevH wrote:Hi landy

or is it Jim Willy

If not, i'm sure i recognise one of them there LR's

Hello Kev. I seem to have one of Your strange vehicles coming to the dales with me so need to see what they can do. I am undercover LMAO