MrCat

When you say gas powered, do you mean a compressor driven refrigerator? As in a 12v fridge for the car? Or am I completely missing the point here? If you are after a 12v fridge/cool box, a “refrigerated” unit is far superior to a “thermo electric” unit in terms of cooling IMO. I`ve used both, and a little (9 liter) thermo electric cooler I had was not very efficient in cooling. It`s ok if you keep it plugged in for a few hours, but if you refill with warm food/stuff it`ll take a few hours to properly drop the temperature again. They use more power compared to a decent refrigerated unit as well, anywhere from around 50watts upwards for a small cooler.

I would go for the “flood” beam pattern if it is for reverse lights. No point in being able to see far back (spot pattern) if you are going to go hit something close by when reversing eh? I`ve got a couple of 18W LED driving lights in my Discovery. Something similar would work well as reverse lights as well: http://forum.autolanka.com/topic/14308-land-rover-discovery-1/page-3?hl=+land%20+rover%20+discovery Another option would be a 12v LED work light, a single 27W light like this would do the job: http://www.diytrade.com/china/pd/9629680/27W_Square_LED_Work_Lamp_Off_road_atv_lights_12v_24v_auto_work_light_led.html

LOL.!! What a load of bull sh##t on that pther forum post.. Mitsubishi hasn't been a “high volume” player for a while because they can’t sell their damn products...! ”… always concentrated on performance cars…”

Anyone`s been following Ford`s EcoBoost range of engines? Drove this little 1.0 and it`s a real gem. Such great power delivery and maximum torque (170Nm) from 1500 revs makes it a cracker to drive around town. And the new F150 has got a 3.5l EcoBoost which apparently is in par (or better in terms of power and torque figures) with big 6.0l Chevy V8s

Not to damage the rim/lip during transport etc.. i suppose.

ah ok, fair enough.

At around 184ps (according to wiki) the 520d is nowhere near as powerful as the crown isn't it? Does it make up for it in terms of drive and steering feel? I always wanted to compare the 520d to the popular smaller brother in terms of driving feel but haven’t driven a 520d yet. Have you driven a F30 320d as well and if so your thoughts on it?

Disco got new shoes yesterday…! Got a set of Kelly Safari TSR (All Terrain) tires at 327,688 km`s on the clock. Land Rover put 235/70 R16`s on the car, but got the tires in 245/75 R16 so that I’ll get about 1.7 inch increase in rolling diameter. These are made in U.S.A and apparently one of the oldest tire companies in America, supposedly a subsidiary of Goodyear. These are more of an aggressive All Terrain thread pattern, something in the middle of A/T`s and Mud Terrains. Tire noise is audible at speed, but surprisingly (for this particular thread pattern) not too bad at all. Cornering at speed has suffered, I can almost feel the big chunks of rubber flexing underneath. Then again, this ain`t no sports car so that`s no big deal. The tires grip very well (much better than them crappy Chinese road tires I had before), any they were just fantastic when I drove on a wet sandy track to test..! Getting some flex both front and rear. I couldn’t get enough articulation here, so am yet to find out whether it`ll rub the fenders under full suspension travel. If it does, it`ll most probably be at the rear, where I’ll need to do a small cut at the rear wing (a.k.a Camel Cut). Side Profile:

Lancer "Fiore" is an old JDM name badge yea? Is it still used by Mitsubishi?

121 is the bomb to re-sell man..! 1-2-1..! These silly Thai assembled 160 series no good..!

No, the heater is working fine so didn't bypass it. The radiator bypass hose connects thermostat housing to engine block so that the radiator is by-passed when thermostat hasn't reached operating temperature.

Summer is just around the corner, so decided to renew the cooling system today. 327,352 km on the ODO, flushed the radiator and replaced the following: Radiator top hose and bottom hose Radiator bypass hose Expansion tank bleed hose Expansion tank Here`s the new expansion tank installed: Land Rover recommends using 50% coolant concentrate on the 300Tdi, But I decided to try 30% pre-mix coolant and then flush more often. It looks like higher water percentage dissipates heat better. Previously, engine block temperature would go up to 80+ degrees under normal running conditions. But did a test run and noticed that it would remain at 76 degrees after coolant change.

Just a thought, based on your usage pattern of the fridge and how efficient the fridge is, you might not need a deep cycle battery at all. For example, my 12v fridge will draw 2.5 AMPS max, so if I run it for 8 hours without charging the battery, it`ll consume 20 amp hours. Now this is one third the capacity of a normal cycle 60AH battery, so it shouldn’t cause any issues with it right? There are so many factors that may contribute to the running cycle of the fridge, but this is under the assumption that the compressor is running continuously. So in theory, you might be better off with a cheap battery with a relatively high AH rating. Somebody else who`s proficient in electrical engineering please correct me if I’m wrong.

You couldn’t stay away from the freaking Toyota badge…!! Hard coded in-to DNA no? Anyways, have fun..! Thrash the thing.! Update here if you come across anything interesting during the trip.

Holy Cow..! Fender mirrors too...!

I second this, the Zooker all the way for me as well, based on your requirements and budget. Though the Terrano is a strong contender, I would be cautious about the condition of engine and drive-train in a 2000 dollar diesel. Just forget about the rest if you really want to play off-the-road. It`s great if you can get hold of a V6 Vitara, I would look for one which is rough around the edges but with relatively low km`s on the clock. Do check whether 4WD is engaging properly (I am quite sure that the front hubs are vacuum operated and auto locked) and check for leaks/wear in the drive train (transfer case seals, drive shaft play, drive train backlash etc…) Tires do play a major role off road, so if you can find a car with a decent set of All Terrain tires, that will be a bonus..!

The pic on Sylvi`s post, something similar is what I used as driving lights. Old/cheap technology and absolutely useless for any serious operation (i.e, headlights). Newer globes mostly use one LED chip incorporated with a lens(es) and heatsink in one package. For the record, for some strange reason in my head I was thinking that OP is having a VW Golf Mk2. Hence the reference to H4 globes before.

Most older cars use H4 high/low bulbs for headlights, your MK2 must be using the same. I am yet to come across a quality (e.g. CREE LED`s) H4 dual beam LED globe for less than 100 dollars for the pair. By all means go for them if you don’t mind spending the money, but if I were you I would use a quality high output H4 globe such as: Phillips Crystal Vision, Osram Night Breaker, etc.. Give it a year or so and the price of good LED H4 globes will come down significantly. Example below: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/NIB-Bright-White-1800LM-50W-H4-9003-Cree-LED-Headlight-High-Low-Beam-Lamp-Kit-/111187273908?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item19e34728b4&_uhb=1 Manufacturer specified light output of an LED globe like the one above is 1800 lumens (don’t know whether they pulled this out of the rear end or whether there`s proper testing involved), whereas a regular 55w globe is said to be putting out around 1550lm. Some high output globes like Osram Night breaker is said to be putting out around 1700 lm (I didn’t test any of these though, just off the net since I did some research sometime back). So in theory, you should be getting roughly the same amount of light output from an LED globe, but I've never tried them. As I said, I’ll wait for the price to come down to try and I`m quite happy with the Phillip Crystal Vision globes I’ve got on my car at the moment. Pretty much the same story with fog lights as well. Don’t know what exact globes yours use, but personally, I use to run cheap H7 LED globes (with less light output compared to Halogen) on my car. Because I just used them as driving lights, not for intended purpose (fog/bad weather).

Very Nicely Done..!

Ahaaa…. Now this is my kinda thread..! C`mon dude, stop being a lazy ass and do a bit of a write up on this will ya? So what`s the story on this truck?

OT Again, the Defender replacement is not just due to emissions standards, but due to increasing pedestrian safety requirements as well. LR had to pull it off the US market in 1998. But why the heck they still can’t adopt the car to meet standards like what Mercedes did with the G-Wagon, I don’t know. I don’t think LR announced that the DC100 concept will certainly be the Defender replacement. Rumor has it that there are 5 protorypes on the go. So the exact form of the new model (if there ever will be one) is still mainly unknown.

Perhaps check the little condenser attached to the coil?

Changed the fuel filter today (I know.. I know.. no big deal worth mentioning.. ) But just wanted to note down for anyone who would want to run a Diesel Purge cleaner though the fuel system. I use “Liqui Moly” products and am quite satisfied with their range. With this particular product, “Diesel Purge Plus”, the manufacturer recommends removing the fuel inlet line (+ return line) and running the engine with the cleaner itself (by inserting the fuel lines in to the bottle). However, if the diesel injector pump is not tolerant to any air on the fuel line, I don’t know whether it`ll cause any issues. The Bosch pump on the Land Rover 300tdi motor has got a self-purge function and air on the fuel line should not cause any problems with it. Anyway, I didn’t bother removing fuel lines, took the old fuel filter off, fill the new one in with the fuel system cleaner and just fixed it in. The 500ml can is exactly the volume that’s required to fill the fuel filter. Don’t know whether the cleaner has worked brilliantly or whether the old filter was clogged badly (which shouldn't have, it was last replaced less than 12k ago and I can’t remember pumping diesel out of any dodgy station further away from the city), but there`s a noticeable difference in pulling power and engine vibration now. It`s quite wonderful how old engines respond to any sort of love and affection, especially the 300tdi`s New filter in: Liqui Moly “Diesel Purge Plus”:

Yes. Any buyer who wants to buy an E90 M3 should buy an E90 M3. Period.