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Handling of Range Rover - help !

M

MoreThanPolish

Active member
I've bought a RR and am finding the driving experience rather scary.

Obviously I've read the handbook which helpfully states it wont handle like a sports car, but it does remind me of my old 911...

I find a very unnerving sensation of the back end sliding on a wet road, even at very modest speeds - of it following the front round the corner but not 'as one' - it honestly feels like its going to let go and oversteer spectacularly.

Is this how big 4x4s drive, as a function of them being driven by all wheels, or due to the sheer length of the car in that the front is going straight but the rear is still in the corner? I've checked tyre pressures etc.

I have lost the back end once already (wet road, bend, opposite camber) so have found the limit, but this feeling is common in more normal circumstances.

I figured some folks on here have Rangies and also know how to compare with powerful rear wheel sports cars - any input appreciated, thank you
 
Choice of tyres makes a huge difference on my 2002.
I have Toyo on it now (3rd set).Previous Goodyears not good.
 
What speeds are you driving at to lose the back? You may be expecting too much I'm afraid to say. Regardless of what the brochure says, it's a big heavy vehicle with suspension designed to take you anywhere - EXCEPT the Nurburgring ;)
 
Thanks chaps

Its on Goodyear Wranglers, pretty new. May be the problem then..

I admit I drove it like a pussycat when I first got it, but don't think I'm expecting much on the handling front, it just seems very odd in the wet - much worse than when dry, when it is predictable and comfortable at the speeds I go.

Just seems to want to slide away. Maybe that's what they're like in the wet - tail happy ?
 
shouldn't really feel like that.... Its not as if it really has the poer to provoke that either... I moved to a 5l 58 4x4 and it drives like a car - def think you may have a tyre issue there...
 
Invoke plan B cover Rangy in fuel, retire to a safe distance, ignite, spend the insurance money on a 4WD Audi car. Wont go wrong, selection of engines to give you as much performance as you like, better residual values, and will go faster than is legal on public highway without the back end sliding around :grin:
 
What size tyres does it have on? And what pressures are you running them at?

What year is it? If it's an old one, when were the dampers last done?

End of the day it's a massive vehicle. You're meant to drive much more sedately. Our XC90 gets a bit squirly at times, mostly down to it rolling/wallowing at exactly the wrong moment when pressing on. It'll happily cruise well above the UK limit on the motorway, but a little more sense is needed on b-roads.

Ref tyres, go on a Land Rover forum and ask there for recommended brands and pressures. I had Vredestein Wintrac Extremes on the XC90 which were superb. But each car can be very different.
 
I have a 2003 RR (with 19" wheels") and have never experienced any of the problems you have posted.

Not sure what your problem could be.
 
I've had both a '57 4.4 v8 diesel, and a '53 4.4 petrol; neither of them exhibited poor handling traits. They were both brilliant regardless of weather. On both of them I ran mud and snow tyres all year round. The 53 ran vredestein wintracs, then the diesel had general grabbers installed. I didn't like the grabbers as they were noisy but they were new when I got it so I left them on. Even with those relatively knobbly tyres handling was fine.

You have to expect some body roll, but neither car was ever tail happy.
 
sssdu01 said:
Invoke plan B cover Rangy in fuel, retire to a safe distance, ignite, spend the insurance money on a 4WD Audi car. Wont go wrong, selection of engines to give you as much performance as you like, better residual values, and will go faster than is legal on public highway without the back end sliding around :grin:
Click to expand...

I wanted luxury and a comfortable ride, don't care about power (thats what the Porsche and Ferrari are for), which counts out all the pretenders...
Plus I bought it very well
 
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