I thought I'd discovered it today. Does anybody have the answer.

I'm in France and early this morning I was in a vineyard. Stupidly, I reversed into a shadow and discovered it was an 8ft drop with a very steep incline.

Soon as the rear wheels were over, I bottomed on the running boards and then couldn't drive forward. Climbed out carefully. I felt like the coach driver in the Michael Caine film, The Italian Job. I decided to continue the reverse.

So steep that the first to touch the ground were my exhaust mufflers which filled with soil and grass.

The descent ripped off my front bumper, but it was undamaged and easily re-fitted. I was glad to get on the level and then out the other side.
Gouges at the top were from the running boards.

So, how steep an angle will that have been ? It felt very unsafe and I was afraid of it flipping, but regular off-roaders think this was girl's play ! Do I get a badge ?

Picture uploaded. Might be in gallery.

Gary

Last edited by Rolo on Sat Sep 24 2016 7:01pm. Edited 1 time in total

Cant see the pic anywhere Gary? 2003 BMW M5 - 5 Litres of V8 Optimax Slurping Goodness in Carbon Black

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Side inclines are more of an issue than front to rear. The Sport would have taken your scenario all in its stride
Getting out was probably not a good idea in hindsight as the vehicle may not have held  Visitor from fullfatrr.com
* GONE. 2012 RR Sport HSE SDV6 Orkney Grey. Now being piloted by RRSTDV8
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Buckster wrote:

Cant see the pic anywhere Gary?

Thanks, Mike.

Sends shivers down my spine each time I look at this. I'm no Eddie The Eagle.

At the lower level, the gouges are from the exhausts. What's the tipping angle ? When Top Gear climbed the dam, wasn't there a cable tied to it ? Wimp.

In the photo the bank looks almost vertical so even hardened winch challenge people would have second thoughts about going over backwards, even with their winch wire secured to something strong. You are lucky that you didn't damage more than your pride and the front bumper, I'm surprised you didn't smash the rear as well. Would be interested to know if you were in a) low ratio gears, b) off-road height and c) if before your rearward descent you tried to force the extended off-road height to come into action. You cannot set extended height, the car has to do it automatically, although there is a way to force it.
Also if your car has the Dynamic Response system fitted it has a nice extra for off-roaders in that it will electronically dislocate the rear anti-roll bars to allow even more wheel articulation off-road if wheels are flying - it was optional on 2.7HSE's and standard on TDv8's, S/C's and the 4.4 V8 Petrol but I don't know if it was fitted as standard to the later 3.0ltr V6 L320's like it is on the RRS2 HSE and Autobiography Dynamic cars.
I assume that you ended up on a lower level track and not in a pit too! Were you a lone car off-road too? I think you earned you badge and doubtless some clean underwear as well! 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
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Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW

My problem was I was already over the edge and sat on the middle of the chassis, running boards. Couldn't get any forward traction, wheels just spun as there was no weight on them. Looking back, maybe I could have reversed a few inches and then selected forward and powered out.

However, I'm not an off-reader, don't want to be an off-reader and wouldn't have mentioned it here only I would like to know how near to an accident of some magnitude I was/not. To put it into perspective, I'm concerned about high kerbs and these ........ 40 tyres. I'd welcome any advice on more practical, more durable, more comfortable tyre sizes. Suitable for winter travel, but not looking for snow & ice.

I turned the drive switch into hill climb and pressed the raise suspension button until my finger caught fire. Not sure if any of this had an effect, or not.

I'm impressed with the car for pulling through and the only bit I take pride in is putting the bumper back on. It was quite a scary moment for me. I only took the decision to go down into this pit, because the other side was banked, but not as steep as the ski slope I was on. The track to it was narrow causing me to do a 17-point turn to face it head on.

Here's another pic of the down slope. Maybe in the gallery, Mikey.

Obviously I made a big mistake in this event. The reason for it, other than lack of care, is that I was on farm tracks and had travelled from a crossroads and was reversing back towards it so I could then drive out left. What I'd forgotten is that the cross roads has a dog leg which goes around the sunken garden. A shadow from a tree coincided with the black hole and through my rear view camera, I had no reason for concern.

I'd welcome any advice on more practical, more durable, more comfortable tyre sizes. Suitable for winter travel, but not looking for snow & ice. November in Glen Etive, or Ullapool, etc.

Yours, from Bordeaux.

Doesn't look as bad from that angle.

I believe the entry and exit angles are stated in the manual.

It survived. Crack onto the next hill
Drop down to Hampshire one day and Buckster and I will take you out on some hills to practice  Visitor from fullfatrr.com
* GONE. 2012 RR Sport HSE SDV6 Orkney Grey. Now being piloted by RRSTDV8
* GONE: 2011 4.4 TDV8 Full Fat. Amazing piece of kit.
* Current. 1974 Lightweight 2.25L petrol. Old skool
* GONE. Freelander GS TD4 Manual MY2013. Orkney Grey with privacy, cold and clearview packs, armrests (a must!) and a spoiler.
* GONE. Range Rover Classic '93 200Tdi Factory fit
* 1949 80" in family since 1975

Even if you think you will never go off road, I can thoroughly recommend The Land Rover Experiemce, run at different locations around the Country, to encompass steep inclines, rocky inclines sand driving along in water up to the max capabilities of car, observance procedure before doing anything, cameras are there to assist.
You tell them the model car you have and you can use that, or on a several day course try other models in the RR range.
Most scary bit for me was stopping half way down a steep incline where you aren't in your seat but held by seat belts. Not touching any foot psalms and using correct program to get you out of some instances is great fun and weird.

The main thing is, you are safe and car still in one hit, checking/planning could have prevented said incident, these courses point out things you may never have thought of. John

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Thanks all.