Pictures of LR3 training

[Alyssa]

I always end up with Lee every time I go to these things. He is very good at spotting. Very good. He's not very talkative, but he is very respectful to me, which I appreciate. He knows I am very slow and cautious off road, and that I'm not a complete moron off road, and he always tries to push my personal limits and my personal comfort level. Always picking a more difficult line, etc... He doesn't do that with everyone, I can tell you. Having him as my spotter really took a lot of weight off my shoulders, because I could just trust with certainty that he knew where to guide me, and as long as I followed exactly what he wanted, I would pass an obstacle perfectly. ...and he can run up and down the trail like a mountain goat. Incredible. I ate dinner with him, and he did loosen up a little, but not too much! I did learn that he has 18 or 19 rovers-- so he has me and Ron beat by far.

I don't know Don Baker, or at least I don't think I do. Who is he? I'm a lot better with faces than names, so maybe I was talking to him and didn't know it!

I did get to speak with Tom Collins for the first time this trip. That was pretty neat. And as always, I hung out with Fred Monsees--he's a lot of fun. There were quite a lot of new faces this trip, so I met many more driving instructors than I ever had before. Plus, they were MUCH more accessible than before. They came to dinners with us, etc., so you could actually go up and talk to anyone. It's always amazing to me to be in a room with SO MANY Land Rover and Off Road experts at one time.

 

[utahdog2003]

Alyssa, those are some great pics. I might not be a fan of the color of your new Rangie, but I'll give credit where it's due. Nice leaves too! I tried to take my wife to see leaves this past weekend, in NYC for her birthday, but we were early (I was afraid we would be). Oh well, she at least got to raid Tiffany's!

Chris man, you have got to stop drinking Mountain Dew. That was some hyper venom you were spewing. I KNOW people don't agree with me all of the time, but maturity says I don't erupt into obsenities when people call me to the mat for being an ass. It's just a message board...ease up.

 

[Alan]

Nice pics Alyssa!

Thanks for sharing.

How did you like that LR Experience center in Quebec? It's the closest LR Experience to me. Is it worth the drive half way across Canada?

 

[nickangus]

nice pics thanx

nick


--Gumarcel-- if u hate junk mail so much make a yahoo account and use the email address for things like this that?s what I did and then all u have to do is visit it once every few months to empty it

 

[ducati]

Thanks for the photos Alyssa!

 

[Alyssa]

Nice pics Alyssa!

Thanks for sharing.

How did you like that LR Experience center in Quebec? It's the closest LR Experience to me. Is it worth the drive half way across Canada?

It was certainly a great trip. I personally love the type of off-roading they had. They've got a great set up there, too. A demo course and a ridiculous amount of trails for the exclusive use of the LR experience-- no hunters, no RTVs, nothing but LRs. The lodge had so much to do, and it was really beautiful. Right on a big river. I don't know how many hours you're talking, but if it was within 8 hours or so, I would absolutely say it was worth it.

 

[Alan]

Hmmm, it's about 2500 miles from where I am to that LR Experience center. That's more than 8 hours by LR standards. But sounds like a nice place. May have to visit it some day. It'd be nice if they put one in the Rockies here on the west side of Canada.

 

[RBBailey]

That's great, it looks like someone finally got smart and just covered up the rear end with a tent. Too bad you can't choose your rear end, "will you have the clam-shell or the swing open with a spare on the door?"

So how was the actual driving experience - we want a review from a true DiscoWeb-er.

 

[Alyssa]

So how was the actual driving experience - we want a review from a true DiscoWeb-er.

Nervewracking! I was driving a very expensive car I'd never driven before on unfamilar terrain on a trail I'd never been on before, using technology I'd never used before. Even still, with Lee as a spotter, and the LR3's gizmos at my disposal, it was fun and not nearly as difficult as it should have been. There was enough mud to qualify as a non-hurricane MAR year, huge boulders & rock shelves, a rock garden, a couple log bridges (which always freak me out after having Lucas knock the logs loose on the bridge at MAR a few years back, WHILE I WAS ON IT), some small water crossings, some gravelly steep descents, and one very muddy super-long hill climb. It was really a difficult trail. I was actually surprised at how hard of a trail they picked, since the RR launch at Santa Barbara didn't impress me as much on the difficulty level. The LR3 was absolutely incredible off road. With terrain response, you have incredible control over everything in the car. The 4x4 info center was SO cool. You could watch center and rear lockers locking & unlocking whenever they needed to, SO much faster than you could ever do it. You could also see which way your wheels were pointing, which is a big deal in muddy ruts. I'd love to run that trail again in ...wait, I don't have Lucas any more ... and see how it went. I'd be SURE to bring plenty of recovery gear, a winch, and a friend with a winch, too. It was also incredible that we were able to do the trail on goodyear wranglers. The car just took over.

 

[Axel]

Alyssa (and others with pictures)

Server spae is not an issue for us, but instead of uploading pictures in a thread, email them to:

hocung@discoweb.org

Ho will then create a gallery that everyone can view here, and gumarcel won't even have to sign up for anything.

 

[NVRover]

Alyssa, ditto on the thanks for the photos. Those were great.

FWIW, last night I happen to be at the LV dealership and got to crawl through the LR3. That vehicle is sweet. Apparently one of the salesman also went to Canada to train (same place I assume) on the LR3s and said it was super capable. Allegedly they went through water as high as the oval and mud to the tops of the rims on stock tires. We were told the LR3 performed flawlessly, more powerful engine, terrain response system, adjustable air suspension, center diff lock and rear locker, etc. etc. I was critical of it at first, but I look forward to buying an '05 LR3 5-6 years from now when it depreciates into my price range....HA!

 

[Kyle]

Are those MAR pics or Uwharrie ???? I get them confused...

 

[marc olivares]

that tent addition is amazing! that's more square footage than my house

thanks alyssa

 

[Alan]

"Apparently one of the salesman also went to Canada to train (same place I assume) on the LR3s and said it was super capable."

Yea Chris, there's only one LR Experience center in Canada and it's the one Alyssa went to. It'd be great if they put one in western Canada in the Alberta Rockies. Lots of great terrain for them but most of it is provincial parkland.

 

[Alyssa]

According to several LR Driving Instructors, they are working very hard to open up a LR Experience Center out West. That is a major priority. They do host LR Adventures in Moab, so you can always do those.

 

[Christopher]

Thanks, Alyssa. The trucks must have been fun, and what a beautiful place.

 

[Alan]

Alyssa,

Do you mean western Canada or western US?

 

[Alyssa]

They just said "out West," and I've got to assume that's the US.

 

[Randy]

Thought I would share-- some pictures of the kit, some of the off-roading, and some of the Fairmont Le Chateau Montebello.

http://www.snapfish.com/share/p=768121097638780807/l=34957134/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

Alyssa,
Thanks for the pics and the descriptions....sounds like it was a great experience.

Ryan,
Thanks for the logon ID.

Gumarcel,
Thanks for stirring up some excitement on a quiet afternoon by acting like a flaming asshole. Maybe you don't see the rudeness in your posts, or the immaturity of your responses when you were called on it, but as you can see from the responses here, plenty of us here do clearly see it. Let us know when you are mature enough to own your behavior.

 

[Alan]

"Let us know when you are mature enough to own your behavior."

Hehe...that's a new one I've never heard before.