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There are Christmases that one does not forget and for Sébastien Christmas 2006 was the case. The proverb “If you want something done, do it yourself” was true for Sébastien, who gave himself the exact present he wanted, a Range Rover 3.9l, prepared “extreme”, by the Off Road Attitude workshops.
By the way, Dom, a talented drawer did a sketch of this Range Rover before Sébastien bought it. Click here to see the drawings.
Aware of the news, I prepared myself to hit the roads with my Discovery despite snow coming in. Brave was I to go and search the beast where it was last seen. Beast? Yes, because a Range Rover like this one is not to be seen frequently. More so, the owner, so say, looks like a bear…… well a teddy-bear.
Sébastien is a fan of Land Rovers; one could even say Mad, like Obelix, he fell into the cauldron when he was little. On my arrival, I meet his Range Rover also his Defender 130. In the garage I get a glimpsed of a Series II which is being restored and on the auto-lift a Land Rover Series III, not to forget the Defender equipped for off road.
I skip details of a Mini Series 109 and another Range Rover pick up, waiting for its equipments. At this moment, one realises that passion has no price. Not only him is he fond of them but all the family are to be seen hanging out on many events, like “Landmania” in their Landies in the last few years.
You must be now impatient to hear about the Range, so here we go for the close look up of this machine.
My Discovry 300 Tdi seems rather on the small side ; despite its +5 cm lift….
Turn the ignition! It comes to life, the V8, with its significant burble noise. Ah! If only V8’s were not so thirsty…
So, here we have a two door Range Rover from 1986, fitted with a 3.9l carburettor engine. First impression: it is high, in fact, due to the height one has to hoist oneself up with speed and good impulsion to get oneself sitting in the bucket seats. For the time being, two types of buckets are being tested (SPARCO and OMP). Sébastien is going to use them in turn to select the one most adapted to his size. Once wedge in the tight trim, one can slip on the harness with 4 spots Sparco with an aviation type buckle.
Now for the departure, a little pressure on the accelerator and one feels the power of the V8 engine. By using Simex extreme trekker 36 inches tyres, fitted to Mach 5 rims (10X15) with a 5” off side, gives a better handling. The transfer box was changed from 1.227 to 1.667 from an atmospheric defender.
I was not expecting a controlled ride because of the big tyres and the height of the Range but I had a surprised, a good one too! Of course, it moves a bit but does not rock from side to side despite the gravity height involved. As well as the +10 lift, succeeded by King Spring, the body has been raised by +5 cm by using Rangies Spare body lift. The wing spacers come from Rangie Spares, which gives good cornering to the beast!
The using of King Spring springs and EFS dampers (2 dampers on the front, 4 at the back, in +10) absorbs all of the gravity issues, and gives a good driving sensation, not as precise as a Porsche but it is not uncomfortable considering the height involved.
The rear fixations for the dampers were reduced by 5 cm, done by “équipe 4X4” as well as on the front. One can find radius arms, supplied by QT(40% lighter than original ones) with a 6 degree correction. The ones at the rear are équipe 4X4 built on ball sockets uniball. All the brake hoses have been changed for aero Goodridge.
For the axles, two differential locks are used from Maxidrive, with reinforced propeller shafts, 24 spline, short torque, reinforced ring wheel, a speed universal joint from a Def 24 spline.
One can find two batteries Optima.
For the engine, this has its highest torque at 1500 rpm….by using a camshaft H180 Kent. One finds an Edelbrock carburettor. The emerged pump has been swapped for an external facet red top low pressure pump with a pressure regulator from King. The air box, linked to the snorkel was hand crafted and joins a Twister XXL.
The exhaust is in stainless steel from Rimmerbross with two collectors 4 to 1.
A full role cage was made.
The rear wings are protected by a bumper, handmade by Sébastien.
However, a few things have to be said and made clear; I am talking about a 4X4 prepared for extreme off road driving. It does not drive quite like a “normal” car. One has to be cautious than with a standard 4X4. You do not hug the bumper of the car in front, you do not try to become like Fangio, riding fast in tight bends and other windy roads. Take care of braking distances. All this advice is really common sense. You do not drive a “prepared 4X4” foot on the floor as you may do with your wife’s car.
Ho! And just in case it did get stuck, you can find a 5 ton Tmax Winch with plasma rope at the front and a rear winch Warn 9000 HS! How about that!!
