British Cross Country Championship BXCC
The car was filled up again but the engine let go just after the start line of his final run and Cox had to be towed out of the course. The resultant maximum dropped him down the leaderboard and gave the win to Moran. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been a great weekend and it is a privilege to race at a venue usually used by our Armed Forces,鈥?said Moran. 鈥淭he course was phenomenal with a good mix of fast, extremely fast and rough sections. The car performed well, our new gearbox was only finished on Thursday night and it has transformed the car. Powell continued setting good times on day two to take second place in his Simmbugghini, his best ever racing result. 鈥淚鈥檓 elated with second place, it鈥檚 a great result for us especially as we鈥檙e in a beam axle car rather than an independent. I enjoyed the course, it was certainly a tough test of man and machine. Mark Jacques was another driver achieving a personal best result, overcoming shaft problems on day one to finish in third.
We stopped at one near Arden, getting out of the Land Rover just before torrential rain started falling; we took refuge under the stand鈥檚 awning while munching on homemade tarts. It was odd to be welcomed with a hearty 鈥淢orning, y鈥檃ll鈥?- the student who normally worked the stand was off with an injury and so a family friend had driven up from Tennessee to handle the berry season. The blueberry tarts were good enough that we bought some lemon ones for dessert. Near Madoc, we stopped and turned around to pose the LR2 in front of Land Rover Salvage. It was closed for the weekend, but I called owner Dominic Perodeau a few days later. Born in England, Perodeau brought his Land Rover with him when he moved to Canada, but had difficulty finding parts. Locating a few for his own use led to so many that he started selling them. 鈥淭he business started in 2003, when I bought an old GM dealership in town, and then I built a big shop at my house and ran it out of there,鈥澛?he says. I started poking around some of the older vehicles out front, until the rain started up again, and we went back on the highway. I simply preferred it because it鈥檚 a lot more scenic and a slower, more comfortable pace - perfect for a more leisurely day鈥檚 drive between the two cities.
Several visitors to my blog have enjoyed reading about how I removed the running boards from my 2015 Land Rover LR4. One such reader has asked about the vehicle's appearance with the running boards removed - prior to installing any rock sliders. Luckily, I have a few photos to help illustrate that case. I had mentioned in my earlier post that when the rocker panel trim is reinstalled (snapped back into place), the body panel is slightly visible where the trim has factory cutouts for the running board mounts. This leaves a small sliver of body panel visible, mostly when you are viewing from a low position (crouched), or from a greater distance. That sliver is more visible if the body panel paint contrasts with the black trim. This is the case with my red car. I don't think this would be noticeable to anybody except the most observant LR4 fan. The photo above shows those trim cutouts, as seen from below after removing the running boards. Those odd heat sinks are more visible than the exposed body panel sections. Here's a closeup of that last image, with a better view of that sliver of red body panel. I don't have any photos with the doors open. The heat sinks are not visible with running boards or rock sliders installed. UPDATE: Apparently the aluminum parts that I've been calling heat sinks are not heat sinks, and are meant to function as crumple devices in conjunction with the OEM running boards. This is the group wisdom from LR forum users, who also indicate that these can be removed after removing the running boards (aka side steps). They do appear designed to carry loads from the running boards to the frame. Since I failed to remove them, maybe they'll work similarly for my sliders.
Tonight, in the quintessentially British setting of the Royal Ballet School in Richmond Park, Land Rover revealed the All-New Range Rover, the fourth generation of the world's most capable and luxurious SUV. The international audience, including leaders from business, film, television and sport gathered to witness a dramatic dynamic reveal and celebrate one of the world's most iconic vehicles. Many of the guests, from Olympic medalists to royalty, were long-standing Range Rover owners and enthusiasts keen to get the first view of the All-New Range Rover in the metal. The dramatic reveal culminated in a surprise seven-song performance by long-term Range Rover driver and Dire Straits founder, Mark Knopfler. Classics including, 'Sultans of Swing' and 'Money for Nothing' rocked the grounds of Richmond Park and guests including Mike Tindall, Martin Johnson, Holly Vallance, Nick Candy, Karen Brady, Theo Paphitis, Nick Love, Kenny Logan partied the night away. The all-new Range Rover has been developed from the ground up to provide the ultimate luxury SUV. The lighter body structure has driven a dramatic 22 per cent reduction in fuel consumption and CO2 emissions, achieving figures of 37.7mpg and 196g/km respectively. Land Rover also used the event to announce plans for a hybrid Range Rover - the world's first fully capable SUV. Order books for the All-New Range Rover are now officially open with prices in the UK starting at 拢71,295 for a Vogue TDV6, rising to 拢98,395 for a the Supercharged Autobiography model. The All-New Range Rover is designed, engineered and manufactured in the UK and will be exported to over 170 global markets. Over 拢370million has been invested in the Solihull manufacturing plant to create a state-of-the art, aerospace inspired, aluminium body shop - the largest of its kind in the world.
