2015 Range Rover SDV8 Vogue SE, my very own Brave Pill

[LunarOne]

Stick Legs said:

Tom4398cc said:

Err, Stick Legs, that’s not going to help this owner of a 103,000 mile SDV6 sleep soundly at night!

Lovely looking Sport there.

There is a lot known about these now
My mate has rebuilt loads and they almost always give some hints of letting go early

I highly recommend watching LR Time on YouTube.
Lots of good engineering & common sense.

They are always repairable.

I'm a big fan of LR Time and watch religiously even though I don't own an LR or any JLR products. But one thing that channel has taught me is to steer clear of their TDV6 engines, and one thing various PH threads have taught me is to steer clear of any Ingenium engines. Basically get the V8 or go home seems to be the lesson here!

[Stick Legs]

killysprint said:

Great car. Love it.

Any update on the costs for the past year and how they compare with your first year with the car?

2021
£537.98 oils.
£892.00 tyres.
£100.09 polish & paint.
£25.00 new grill (from Overfinch).
£75.00 new mats (from Overfinch).
£159.00 boot liner.
£987.00 Oil cooler repair (warranty).
£280.00 ARB bushes.
£1387.00 DPF clean, O2 sensors, battery, fuel filter.

2022
£48.00 Wiper blades.
£750.00 Paint.
£96.00 Oil & filter change.

2023
£150 Ceramic coat & polish.
£126.00 Oil & filter change.
£900.00 Tyres & tracking.

From notes on my phone.

[whytheory]

That looks very reasonable to me, how many miles have you put on it now?

[Stick Legs]

It’s on 86000.

So 26000 in my tenure.

[Will-iezhp]

This thread is the last little bit edging me towards a new FFRR. Looking at the 2019/2020 4.4 Autobiography.

Fear mongering is rife, from the vast amount I've read online from owners actually documenting costs, it seems to be no worse in running that my current X5.

[Niffleman]

Stick Legs said:

It went to my valeter (Xceed Valeting near Taunton) and Gareth did his magic.

As I had my film camera out for Goodwood Revival I took some pictures:







I’d forgotten the joys of manual focus cameras.

Minolta SRT-101, skylight filter, Kodak Gold expired 2003 film for those who are interested.

I am. Minolta were, I think, a "better" camera company than Nikon or Canon. They changed the world with the 7000 and pioneered multi segment honeycomb metering. Unfortunately, their marketing never cracked the Pro market as Nikon did with single digit F series and in the end they couldn't seem to make the leap to digital. Other opinions are available and equally valid.

[Stick Legs]

Sooooooo;

My wife is looking at changing her lease car for an Audi Q8 e-tron. Which kind of makes my Range Rover a bit superfluous.

So she suggested why don’t I sell the Range Rover & buy an Aston Martin.



This one is for sale in Meteorite Silver



With burgandy leather.

My perfect colour combination.

I ummed & ahhhed all day Saturday & Sunday about it.

The thing is, to make the numbers work I’d need to sell my Range Rover.

Firstly all luxury cars have dropped a lot in value in the last few months, but more importantly I don’t think I can.
I do want an Aston very much, but if I wait a bit I can probably keep the Range Rover & buy a DB9.

Still was going back around the loop in my head every few hours though.

It’s a very pretty DB9.

I do love my Range Rover.

Hmmmmmmmm.

Well today I used it to go & sort a problem out at a friend’s house, down a very steep rough track, and it had snowed.



So that banished any silly thoughts of selling it.

Wait a bit & play my cards right I can have both.

Which is the right answer!

[Tom4398cc]

Faultless logic Stick Legs

[Stick Legs]

I finally got around to fitting a tow hitch.

I followed this excellent tutorial to remove the rear bumper:



And the instructions that came with the Westfalia tow bar from PF Jones:

https://www.pfjones.co.uk/land-rover-range-rover-l...

As I’ll only tow car & agricultural trailers as well as a horse box I went for 7 pin LED compatible electrics.

I followed the tutorial to remove the bumper & then the Westfalia instructions until it suggested that I remove a rear light to hide the LED module somewhere dry.

Hmmm.

Not a fan of needlessly dismantling half my boot, so I tucked the box up by the battery box and have ordered a heatshrink junction box bag.



Next diversion from the instructions was to not discard my under tray & order a new one from Land Rover, I was hoping to get away with being able to put the old tow eye cover over the whole shebang,



but one of the plastic mounting points fouls the tow bar arrangement.



Cut it off & offered up the undertray:



But it still didn’t sit right as the electric socket was too proud.

So I have cut around the area as little as I can to allow access while still being relatively stealthy.



If I could relocate the electrical socket about 5mm higher then an uncut standard tow eye cover would fit.
So that may happen if I can be bothered to.

Involves cutting & welding though.

Still it’s not visible unless I am on my hands & knees.

It is tidy & works.

No warning lights, just plug & play.

I do need to get the parking sensor system coded to ‘trailer’ mode so it doesn’t activate rear parking sensors with a trailer attached but no rush on that.



Happy with that. Plus I learned more about my car & got to spray Lanoguard into some never seen spaces.

[Stick Legs]

Great new video on LR Time about doing a full oil change.

Pretty much exactly what I did.

[Stick Legs]

Richard Porter agrees:

https://www.evo.co.uk/land-rover/range-rover/20591...

[Stick Legs]

So this week’s shenanigans:

Drive from Somerset up to Fleetwood Lancashire.
First time I’ve been back up there since I finished my Cadetship 24 years ago!

The Range Rover managed all the way up & back and running about in the week on one tank.



So 621 miles on one tank! Still showing 40 miles range to go when I filled up.

Astonishing vehicle.

[Tom4398cc]

Really impressive mpg Stick Legs!

[soupdragon1]

Stick Legs said:

So this week’s shenanigans:

Drive from Somerset up to Fleetwood Lancashire.
First time I’ve been back up there since I finished my Cadetship 24 years ago!

The Range Rover managed all the way up & back and running about in the week on one tank.



So 621 miles on one tank! Still showing 40 miles range to go when I filled up.

Astonishing vehicle.

There are a lot of reasons that big SUVs have poor MPG, namely aero and weight. However the person behind the wheel also plays a big part, and it is possible to get reasonable mpg as you've shown here.

If you're on a race track, if there is a delay between lifting off the throttle and hitting the brakes, you're probably doing it wrong.

If you're on an A road doing some regular driving, if there is NO delay between lifting off the throttle and hitting the brakes, you're probably doing it wrong.

Its a simple concept and if I find myself lifting off and hitting the brakes immediately, you can then ask yourself what you did wrong to not anticipate that. My missus drives like that unfortunately, and in our RRS, we've a 10mpg difference simply through driving style.

On the school run, I've a stretch of 60mph for a few miles but I know at the end of the road, there is a queue of traffic, like, every single time. So I drive at 50mph. Not only does it save fuel, it also means I spend a bit less time in the queue. Overall journey time won't change, so may as well take the MPG benefit. Just simple things like leaving a gap to the vehicle in front can improve mpg. Probably save a bit on brake disc, brake pads and tyre wear too.

[Stick Legs]

A busy fortnight.








Utterly fantastic vehicle. Never missed a beat, superbly comfortable & feels amazing to drive after so many Somerset to & from Teesside return journeys.

Diesels do like to work.

[Stick Legs]

Not the car’s fault but I was on the M6 on last Friday night southbound & had a flat near Stoke.

‘Smart’ motorway so drove on the flat to a refuge area.
Picked up the SOS phone to be met with a ‘Temporary Fault’ message ‘please hang up’.

So despite it being OSR I parked as tight on the Armco as I could & fixed it.

The jack & wheel brace worked perfectly and were sturdy. Full size spare too.

Back on the road in under 30 mins but annoyed to have had to drive on the flat as if I had been able to pull onto the hard shoulder I could have got away with a puncture repair. Less than 2 month old Pirelli Scorpion Verde. :frown:

As I was travelling back from a shipyard I had a high viz vest & a bump cap with a high viz band (I needed to wear this to get off the ship & through the yard).

I felt 100% happier knowing I was visible.

Also wagon drivers are saints as every single one pulled into Lane 2, some cars didn’t.

So now a high viz vest is being stuffed in the spare wheel well of each of our cars.

Sorry there are no pics but it didn’t feel appropriate.

[Stick Legs]

At Goodwood for the Member’s Meeting yesterday.

Fabulous day out & took this picture of Mrs.



Which reminded me of this picture.



Of my old P38.

The child asleep in the pram in the P38 picture was there yesterday & loved it.

Edited by Stick Legs on Sunday 14th April 12:42

[Stick Legs]

Big day today.


Front & rear lower control arms, discs & pads & D bushes for the ACE anti-roll bars.



90k miles, definitely worn.



Real mud, kind of proud to be honest.





Floods + red Somerset mud. Mmmmm

[Stick Legs]

Much better.


The caliper pins put up a fight, so abandoned the job for tonight.

Borrowed a lovely 2012 XJ of my mate & will return tomorrow to finish it off.



That’s what £700 of bushes look like!

Edited by Stick Legs on Monday 15th April 21:04

[Stick Legs]

The XJ in question.

£9995 if anyone is interested.

They really are wonderful cars & criminally underrated compared to the German stuff.