T'was a good day out. I took a bit of video on my phone; I need to have a look through it and put together a few minutes of "highlights".

The day started at the pub with signing in, coffee and a briefing from the LR Experience team. The group surprised me - along with a 110 and D4 from LRE, the group contained one 90, a VW Amarok, an Evoque, 2 RRS1, 2 RRS2 and a couple of D4. Was surprised to see the RRS2 there, one was an Autobiography which apparently is being traded for a new one today - a last hoorah for the owner! The RRS2 were on road tyres (Scorpion Verde on at least one of them). Likewise the Evoque and one of the D4 (standard Scorpions I think). The remaining D4 and both RRS1 were on Grabber AT. No idea about the Amarok. I expected more Defenders with their drivers tutting at the Chelsea Tractors

We started by diverting around a rather serious looking head on crash. Emergency services were on scene. Looked like a Mini and a van had met coming around a corner. Hopefully everyone was OK.

After a brief road trip we turned off in to woodland. The track led up through the trees with some steep hairpins. Nothing serious but a nice loosener. We were offered a chance to take a little steep side trail. Me, Buckster and a D4 had a go with me leading. Nothing serious although I was worried about grounding as we got to the top. Needn't have worried but there was a bit of wheel spin and scrambling involved. Glad to see it wasn't just me that scrabbled.

After some tracks we came to a steep straight climb. This was taken one at a time to ensure no one ran in to another vehicle. Not sure how steep but in places it felt to be as much as 40 degrees briefly. No trouble climbing the stoney track as it was dry although in the rain it would have been more challenging. We then went up on to a bit of open ground for 5 minutes of leg stretch. Views of Minehead in the mid morning mist. We then went back in to the woods and descended the same steep section. Use of HDC made this simple although low range first gear would probably have done it alone but it would have been a bit quicker!

After working our way back through the woods we had a short road drive to our lunch stop. This was at a nice lake side car park shared with "ordinary folk" . Very pleasant sat out in the sunshine chewing the fat.

After lunch we had a brief wait while the guides got one of their waffle boards out to bridge a hole. It was my first time on a board but I didn't think the hole looked like it warranted a board. My guess is that it was used for the Evoque's benefit. Another reasonably steep climb on a dry track through the gorse and sunshine led to another bit of woodland and a chance to wash our tyres in a small stream crossing. On a hairpin on the climb out of this, the Evoque seemed to struggle a touch. I think the driver was new to the vehicle and the guides did a good job of talking him through. Suffice to say the bigger vehicles were fine here. There was a bit of mud on the tracks in this section. Nothing difficult because the base was firm below the mud. At times it was like train tracks with no option to get out of the tracks. There were some enchanting views through the trees as shafts of sunlight lit up the relative darkness in the wood. All rather lovely. The route was a loop and we made our way back down the steep track, over the waffle board and back to the road. One of the RRS2 had to leave us at this point. He had his young lad with him and his wife was at home with their 5 week old so he'd probably used up his leave pass for the day.

Another brief road section followed. It was longer than planned as the guide took a wrong turn! We made sure he didn't live it down for the rest of the day!

We then descended a quite muddy track in to some freshly felled forestry. Nothing difficult although the remaining RRS2 on road tyres was sliding a bit. Never lost momentum though. The track eventually descended quite steeply through trees. The track was quite stoney with some that looked quite sharp and I wondered about our tyres. All appears OK today although they are still, along with the wheels, quite muddy. We passed by a little waterfall which was nice. Sadly, the track had some newly fallen trees across it so we were forced to turn back. We obviously climbed back up the stoney track, back through the muddy section and on to tarmac. Instead of off roading towards our cream tea, we had a short road drive. The tea was very welcome and there was plenty to go around. Some even took a doggy bag .

We departed to go our separate ways. It was good to have put faces to a couple of forum names.

My RRS has a few new scratches along the sides - indeed everyone appeared to pick up a similar one so I guess one of the bits of gorse hid a stiff stick. The newest RRS2 driver didn't seem at all fussed which is refreshing. The rest of us were likewise unfazed.

Nothing in the day was challenging for the RRS. Indeed, I did both afternoon sessions without using Terrain Response, just used low range, selecting first if needed on a descent. TC did cut in a couple of times in mud but it got through with the centre diff open/unlocked. I think a wet day would have been different, especially in the stoney climbs/descents.

Here is a shot I took at the end. Three generations of well-exercised RRS (and an interloper).

Click image to enlarge

+1 for all of the above! Excellent account of the day. Just trying to sort photos and also acquire some from a Disco 4 forum member

Also nice to meet up and put a face to a name  2003 BMW M5 - 5 Litres of V8 Optimax Slurping Goodness in Carbon Black

2013 SDV6 HSE Black Edition- Orkney Grey with Ebony & Ivory. LR Facelift RAI, Genuine G4 Expedition Rack, 4x Warn SBD-160 Spotlights, Warn 9.5XPS Winch, Mantec Underbody Protection and Sump Guard, Full Easy Lift Suspension Module, LR Light Guards, Light Force HTX230 Hybrid spotlights, 18” Compomotive PD1881 on 265/65/18 BF Goodrich KO2, ARB fridge, TuffTrek awning 😎

Thanks for the write-up. Sounds like a great day. Interesting to see how mine performs in June with 21" wheels and Perelli Scorpion Verde tyres. Going to East Devon not Exmoor ... hope it is less damaging Good to know I can expect not to be the only one in a newish car. Current: Volvo XC90 T8 Inscription Pro PHEV with some optionals on top
Gone: MY16 RRS2 3.0 SDV6 Autobiography Dynamic, Carpathian Grey & Santorini Black Sliding Pano/Ebony & Ivory 2 Tone
Gone: MY13 RRS 3.0 SDV6 HSE Black Edition, Orkney Grey/Ivory
Gone: MY09 RRS 2.7 TDV6 HSE, Santorini Black/Almond

Ok, here's a few pics until I grab the others off a Disco 4 member. According to SWMBO it's fairly hard to take photos whilst bouncing around offroad

The other problem is the LRE staff insisted that everyone remain in the same order throughout the day, so there are only so many pics you can take with the same vehicle in front of you unless you get a stop for an obstacle.

Click image to enlarge

Click image to enlarge

Click image to enlarge

Click image to enlarge

Hope we get lucky in June and catch abit of sun, looks like you had a good day.. 2008 G4 RRSport TDV8 current
2009 TDCi 90 current
2018 Discovery 5 HSE lux current
1994 Dakar current

Aftermath that needed cleaning today



 2003 BMW M5 - 5 Litres of V8 Optimax Slurping Goodness in Carbon Black

2013 SDV6 HSE Black Edition- Orkney Grey with Ebony & Ivory. LR Facelift RAI, Genuine G4 Expedition Rack, 4x Warn SBD-160 Spotlights, Warn 9.5XPS Winch, Mantec Underbody Protection and Sump Guard, Full Easy Lift Suspension Module, LR Light Guards, Light Force HTX230 Hybrid spotlights, 18” Compomotive PD1881 on 265/65/18 BF Goodrich KO2, ARB fridge, TuffTrek awning 😎

Camelrock wrote:

Well thats it booked for June, anybody know of some nice dog friendly pubs in the area that do accommodation ??

We use http://www.doggiepubs.org.uk/ and found some nice places

The trec looks

Not sure I'm ready for some scratches yet though

I've got my LRE invite through and need to arrange it soon so looking forward to seeing what the DS can do as I've tried everything else now  Wanted a Series 2 LR since childhood but previously owned MY16 Disco Sport HSE TD4 Auto, MY13 RR Sport Black Edition TDV6 Auto, MY10 RR Sport HSE TDV6 Auto, 2007 Freelander 1 Freestyle TD4 Soft Top, 2009 Freelander 2 GS TD4 Auto, 2007 Freelander 2 GS TD4, 2004 Disco 2 Metropolis Auto, 2002 Disco 2 GS, 2000 Freelander 1 SE TD4 SW

Still hoping for a S2 one day!

Thanks muddy we use doggie pubs all the time but as its a good run down we booked a cottage for the week.. 2008 G4 RRSport TDV8 current
2009 TDCi 90 current
2018 Discovery 5 HSE lux current
1994 Dakar current

Have a great day in Devon on Sunday, hope you get some sunshine as the views are stunning and the cream teas arnt bad either

Be sure to grab lots of pics if you get chance and post them up, especially of the G4  2003 BMW M5 - 5 Litres of V8 Optimax Slurping Goodness in Carbon Black

2013 SDV6 HSE Black Edition- Orkney Grey with Ebony & Ivory. LR Facelift RAI, Genuine G4 Expedition Rack, 4x Warn SBD-160 Spotlights, Warn 9.5XPS Winch, Mantec Underbody Protection and Sump Guard, Full Easy Lift Suspension Module, LR Light Guards, Light Force HTX230 Hybrid spotlights, 18” Compomotive PD1881 on 265/65/18 BF Goodrich KO2, ARB fridge, TuffTrek awning 😎

Spotted 2 FFRR G4 today in car park at Sainsbury Monk Cross York

One was V12 *** - unusual to see 2 together  Wanted a Series 2 LR since childhood but previously owned MY16 Disco Sport HSE TD4 Auto, MY13 RR Sport Black Edition TDV6 Auto, MY10 RR Sport HSE TDV6 Auto, 2007 Freelander 1 Freestyle TD4 Soft Top, 2009 Freelander 2 GS TD4 Auto, 2007 Freelander 2 GS TD4, 2004 Disco 2 Metropolis Auto, 2002 Disco 2 GS, 2000 Freelander 1 SE TD4 SW

Still hoping for a S2 one day!

great to see how they are meant to be used..

Dread to think what those arb and wishbone bushes look like now though  '06 RRS Supercharged Cairns Blue

Bushes are consumable items. You can use them in the mud or you can wait for them to deteriorate whilst you polish the paintwork. Your choice...  2012 SDV6 - it's missing a couple of cylinders
2008 TDV8 - it was a labour of love and is much missed

Cheers Buckster, looking forward to it. Just got the trec down to do today  2008 G4 RRSport TDV8 current
2009 TDCi 90 current
2018 Discovery 5 HSE lux current
1994 Dakar current

RRSTDV8 wrote:

Bushes are consumable items. You can use them in the mud or you can wait for them to deteriorate whilst you polish the paintwork. Your choice...

 2003 BMW M5 - 5 Litres of V8 Optimax Slurping Goodness in Carbon Black

2013 SDV6 HSE Black Edition- Orkney Grey with Ebony & Ivory. LR Facelift RAI, Genuine G4 Expedition Rack, 4x Warn SBD-160 Spotlights, Warn 9.5XPS Winch, Mantec Underbody Protection and Sump Guard, Full Easy Lift Suspension Module, LR Light Guards, Light Force HTX230 Hybrid spotlights, 18” Compomotive PD1881 on 265/65/18 BF Goodrich KO2, ARB fridge, TuffTrek awning 😎

The day is done and the weather smiled on us even went swimming wife took video but carn't figue how to put onto here and the pictures think there in Australia
 2008 G4 RRSport TDV8 current
2009 TDCi 90 current
2018 Discovery 5 HSE lux current
1994 Dakar current