The Range Racer
Discussion
Part of me is glad that the RWD/AWD debate is dividing opinion as we are equally unsure which route to go down...
Our priority for the medium term is to get a manual box in the car, then decide if its worth the hassle to get the transfer box back in or just take the easy option and go RWD (with approx 100kg weight save)
Sadly our manual dreams dont seem as easy as we were hoping. There wasnt ever a manual version of the range or the XK with the 4.2 V8.
There was however a manual version of the engine in the aston martin v8 vantage but as expected, 2nd hand boxes for these are rare & crazy money.
Looks like there was a couple of chaps in forum history that have managed the manual swap on the XK, so more research required and we shall see who we can find in the depths of forum history.
For the mean time, we shall have to look into a big wing, just because it still looks too much like a normal range rover!
Our priority for the medium term is to get a manual box in the car, then decide if its worth the hassle to get the transfer box back in or just take the easy option and go RWD (with approx 100kg weight save)
Sadly our manual dreams dont seem as easy as we were hoping. There wasnt ever a manual version of the range or the XK with the 4.2 V8.
There was however a manual version of the engine in the aston martin v8 vantage but as expected, 2nd hand boxes for these are rare & crazy money.
Looks like there was a couple of chaps in forum history that have managed the manual swap on the XK, so more research required and we shall see who we can find in the depths of forum history.
For the mean time, we shall have to look into a big wing, just because it still looks too much like a normal range rover!
charlie-5mkmt said:
Part of me is glad that the RWD/AWD debate is dividing opinion as we are equally unsure which route to go down...
Our priority for the medium term is to get a manual box in the car, then decide if its worth the hassle to get the transfer box back in or just take the easy option and go RWD (with approx 100kg weight save)
Sadly our manual dreams dont seem as easy as we were hoping. There wasnt ever a manual version of the range or the XK with the 4.2 V8.
There was however a manual version of the engine in the aston martin v8 vantage but as expected, 2nd hand boxes for these are rare & crazy money.
Do you really want a manual? Sounds silly perhaps, but in a car like this, i think i'd rather have both hands on the wheel, on track, with a paddle shift auto? There are paddle conversions for most autoboxes these days, and you can also fit a modified torque converter to tighten up the driveline. If you went as far as an aftermarket ecu for the autobox, then you can also have full control of hydraulic line pressure and shift speed etc.Our priority for the medium term is to get a manual box in the car, then decide if its worth the hassle to get the transfer box back in or just take the easy option and go RWD (with approx 100kg weight save)
Sadly our manual dreams dont seem as easy as we were hoping. There wasnt ever a manual version of the range or the XK with the 4.2 V8.
There was however a manual version of the engine in the aston martin v8 vantage but as expected, 2nd hand boxes for these are rare & crazy money.
(PS. V8 vantage has gearbox at the back, down a long carbon torque tube, great for mass distribution, not so great for overall mass and shift quality)
eliot said:
On the original RR classic it was permanent 4wd in order to split the torque from the v8 between the two diffs, to avoid having a stronger rear for the 2wd mode.
I wonder if the single diff will cope with the abuse and additional loading ?
The final drive in a RR is rated to take the engine torque in low range, so there shouldn't be a big issue when there is no low range!I wonder if the single diff will cope with the abuse and additional loading ?
(and not being made up of bits left over from 1947 should help too.... ;-)
Hi all, just managed to find some time to catch up on a bit of range racer documenting! Sorry it’s been so long.
So a few months back we FINALLY got to take the range racer out for a bit of fun at Curborough Sprint Course. It was a day long affair, with about 20 cars, one in one out with someone keeping note of the times.
A great first test for us as its only a short lap so good to try things out without putting too much strain on the beast.
So the first few laps were mixed. On the good side, loads of power, sounded fantastic no overheating and no limp home mode! (our charge cooler pump upgrade was working well). On the bad side, the traction control system / DSC was getting in the way of ALL of the fun. It was coming in all the time giving constant understeer and delaying getting the power down.
Anyway, a quick trip back to the pits and some recommendations from some of the other people there (a great bunch of petrolheads) and we unplugged opposite corner wheel speed sensors = lots of warning lights + no more traction control, no more DSC and no more ABS. RESULT!
After this it was a very different story, no driving aids at all, 400hp and 2tons to wrestle around the track. Its hilariously fun in a strange scary and challenging way. Strangely fast but some clear room for improvement in some areas.
The brakes balance is now very wrong, it locks up the fronts incredibly easily coming into every corner (probably because we upsized the front brakes and not the rears) so i think we are going to need some form of brake adjustment. This also led to overheating the front tyres causing the fronts to start spinning up on the way out or corners.
It was all great fun, we will be back for sure and the constant locking up ment we got some great photos with lots of tyre smoke (thanks to mdb images)
There is also a video of the onboard footage on our youtube channel.
BM7I3658 by Charlie Foley, on Flickr
BM7I3751 by Charlie Foley, on Flickr
BM7I4021 by Charlie Foley, on Flickr
BM7I4058 by Charlie Foley, on Flickr
BM7I4345 by Charlie Foley, on Flickr
BM7I4351 by Charlie Foley, on Flickr
BM7I4356 by Charlie Foley, on Flickr
BM7I4369 by Charlie Foley, on Flickr
So a few months back we FINALLY got to take the range racer out for a bit of fun at Curborough Sprint Course. It was a day long affair, with about 20 cars, one in one out with someone keeping note of the times.
A great first test for us as its only a short lap so good to try things out without putting too much strain on the beast.
So the first few laps were mixed. On the good side, loads of power, sounded fantastic no overheating and no limp home mode! (our charge cooler pump upgrade was working well). On the bad side, the traction control system / DSC was getting in the way of ALL of the fun. It was coming in all the time giving constant understeer and delaying getting the power down.
Anyway, a quick trip back to the pits and some recommendations from some of the other people there (a great bunch of petrolheads) and we unplugged opposite corner wheel speed sensors = lots of warning lights + no more traction control, no more DSC and no more ABS. RESULT!
After this it was a very different story, no driving aids at all, 400hp and 2tons to wrestle around the track. Its hilariously fun in a strange scary and challenging way. Strangely fast but some clear room for improvement in some areas.
The brakes balance is now very wrong, it locks up the fronts incredibly easily coming into every corner (probably because we upsized the front brakes and not the rears) so i think we are going to need some form of brake adjustment. This also led to overheating the front tyres causing the fronts to start spinning up on the way out or corners.
It was all great fun, we will be back for sure and the constant locking up ment we got some great photos with lots of tyre smoke (thanks to mdb images)
There is also a video of the onboard footage on our youtube channel.
BM7I3658 by Charlie Foley, on FlickrBM7I3751 by Charlie Foley, on FlickrBM7I4021 by Charlie Foley, on FlickrBM7I4058 by Charlie Foley, on FlickrBM7I4345 by Charlie Foley, on FlickrBM7I4351 by Charlie Foley, on FlickrBM7I4356 by Charlie Foley, on FlickrBM7I4369 by Charlie Foley, on FlickrEdited by charlie-5mkmt on Sunday 19th January 11:10
king mint. Video looks good , pics are dead though.
I watched this the other day, same gearbox ?
https://youtu.be/_112x2jR2DI
It's too aggressive but shows it can be a bit like a dual clutch!
I watched this the other day, same gearbox ?
https://youtu.be/_112x2jR2DI
It's too aggressive but shows it can be a bit like a dual clutch!
Some other things we learnt
Our seat mounts are pants. Rather wobbly and are way too high as you can see from the photos. So another job to add to the list is to get something better. So if anyone has an BMW e46 or e36 bucket seat mounts sitting the in garage then let us know (bolt spacing is the same as the range rover)
We need to wire up our wheel speed sensors to switches on the dash as its way too much of a pain to unplug them under the car all the time.
despite our best efforts (painting the wheels and nothing else) the car still looks too normal. We have found a HUGE wing for sale so it looks like we are getting that hoping to get that sorted and on the car in the coming weeks.
Now for the most exciting bit..... We have found a chap who happens to have an Aston Martin MANUAL gearbox that in a previous life was in a jag XKR (the same engine as ours). Looks like this could be the one if we can raise the funds. This would mean we can ditch the sloppy auto box and front diff etc and over 100kgs with it. The negative is the amount of electrical problems it will give.
It looks like the best way out is just to removal all the factory ECU and go standalone.This really isnt our area of knowledge (all chassis engineers) So does anyone have any advice/recommendations for standalone ECU options and companies? Especially that are compatible with 8 cylinder engines and are relatively cost efficient.....
BM7I3860 by Charlie Foley, on Flickr
Our seat mounts are pants. Rather wobbly and are way too high as you can see from the photos. So another job to add to the list is to get something better. So if anyone has an BMW e46 or e36 bucket seat mounts sitting the in garage then let us know (bolt spacing is the same as the range rover)
We need to wire up our wheel speed sensors to switches on the dash as its way too much of a pain to unplug them under the car all the time.
despite our best efforts (painting the wheels and nothing else) the car still looks too normal. We have found a HUGE wing for sale so it looks like we are getting that hoping to get that sorted and on the car in the coming weeks.
Now for the most exciting bit..... We have found a chap who happens to have an Aston Martin MANUAL gearbox that in a previous life was in a jag XKR (the same engine as ours). Looks like this could be the one if we can raise the funds. This would mean we can ditch the sloppy auto box and front diff etc and over 100kgs with it. The negative is the amount of electrical problems it will give.
It looks like the best way out is just to removal all the factory ECU and go standalone.This really isnt our area of knowledge (all chassis engineers) So does anyone have any advice/recommendations for standalone ECU options and companies? Especially that are compatible with 8 cylinder engines and are relatively cost efficient.....
BM7I3860 by Charlie Foley, on Flickrjoropug said:
Video looks good , pics are dead though.
I watched this the other day, same gearbox ?
https://youtu.be/_112x2jR2DI
It's too aggressive but shows it can be a bit like a dual clutch!
haha! this thing is mental!I watched this the other day, same gearbox ?
https://youtu.be/_112x2jR2DI
It's too aggressive but shows it can be a bit like a dual clutch!
I actually drive an X5 as a daily these days, sadly the 3L diesel doesn't quite perform like this....
andrewrob said:
Can't you just pull the fuses relating to the ABS system, that should knock that and traction control out? Looks amazing by the way!
We did try that and unplugging the ABS modulator, it caused the car to have a bit of a fit, gave us very limited power and locked itself in 3rd gear (some form of limp home mode) 
This reminds me of an early Gran Turismo on the Playstation when you have loads of money but get bored and buy the silliest thing you can get (Nissan CUBE anyone?), race it once and lose then take it into the garage, update it with every mod at once and finally put in through the garage for the final 'GT' fix then take it back out and whup everything on the track.
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