The Land Rover Adventure Association of Ontario

Touring Portugal The Land Rover Adventure Association of Ontario was started by several keen Land Rover owners in the Toronto area, with the shared enthusiasm of off-roading and adventure traveling. Various off-road outings are scheduled during the year, which range from very difficult to easy and sometimes a surprise! Typically the outings are twice a month usually a day trip or over night with the co-ordination of the club members. In addition, there are more organized events such as participating with other clubs, expeditions into Northern Ontario and the annual fall picnic.

The membership continues to grow and includes owners of just about every Land Rover model including; the Series I, II, III,101 Forward Control,Range Rover,Defender,Discovery Series I, II, LR3,the Freelander and the LR2.

LR4 First impression: FINALLY. A Land Rover that looks, feels and drives like a $70k truck.

Thursday, 08 October 2009 15:00

Highlights: It drives differently.

The extra 75HP are noticeable for about for first 5 minutes, then you get used to the extra power. When you go back to your LR3 HSE with 305, you miss it. It corners much better than the LR3 - Sales person told me it now has "active cornering" (like a Porsche Cayenne? - flattens the truck out in a high speed alt corner and it seems to work well) The suspension feels more responsive on the road, but since the truck was just PDI'd, they weren't letting me take it on any behind-a-construction-site test drives to check it out in mud and ruts. I'm no expert, but it feels like there's some new things going on in the mechanical parts of the suspension - a stiffer ride than previously, and better road feel. That could just be me though, being used to my 2006 LR3 HSE.

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The First Four Rock slider install on a NAS D-90

Thursday, 08 October 2009 17:00

In March of this year, Don continued with his work on his yellow North American Specification (NAS) Defender 90. After considerable research, Don decided to purchase his rock sliders, winch bumper and steering guard from First Four 4x4 in the UK. Bellow are his experiences, ordering, receiving and installing their products. Eds

Just received an order from First Four 4x4 of:
A Defender tubular winching bumper for AirCon grille with stainless steels swivel recovery eyes and an A Bar (Model FF50SS)
Pair of Rock sliders with nerf bars (aka tree sliders)
Galvanized heavy duty steering guard.

The order took exactly 7 days to reach me from time of shipping and arrived via UPS... strangely no extra duty or tax costs at the door - we'll see if that nice surprise will arrive later via the mail?

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Dressing for Extreme Weather Outdoor Activities

Wednesday, 30 September 2009 11:21

Outdoor activities have never been so popular. Advances in equipment design and affordability, mean that there are more opportunities than ever for more people to pursue outdoor activities. Innovative technological developments also mean that people are no longer bound by conventional weather appropriate conditions when choosing to pursue their hobbies! Outdoor adventure activities such as surfing, mountain climbing and hill walking are now enjoyed in all types of weather conditions.

The key to enjoying extreme weather outdoor activities is dressing appropriately. Whilst every seasoned outdoor type knows to always pack a rain coat, it is those die hard adrenaline junkies that know how to compile all weather wardrobes!

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Expedition Vehicle Preparation

Sunday, 27 September 2009 11:30

This subject is the greatest of source of opinion and conjecture for those involved in preparing their vehicle for expedition or trail. It is the Pandora's Box that results from the intersection of fantacy and opinion.

For this reason I hope that all readers will keep a salt shaker close at hand, and apply liberally.

One of the guiding principals in velicle preparation is that form follows function: build the vehicle for the purpose that it is to be used, rather than installing ornaments and trying to find an opportunity to use them. For example, if you are principally going to use the vehicle for long-distance highway driving, adding a 5" lift and 38" mudders is probably not the best, or most effective, use of resources.

For this reason, I'm going to stay clear of the vehicle modification modality, and focus on the equipment that will add - I hope - the most value whether on the trail or on The Dempster Highway. I hope this is the kit that will help you when everything goes pear shaped.

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JLR To Close U.K. Plant by 2014

Tuesday, 29 September 2009 10:01

From: LRO Mailing List

JAGUAR LAND ROVER TO CLOSE U.K. PLANT. Tata Motors Ltd.’s Jaguar Land Rover unit says it will shutter either a Jaguar factory in Castle Bromwich in England’s West Midlands or a nearby Land Rover plant in Solihull by 2014 to increase efficiency and reduce costs. The factories employ 2,000 and 5,000 workers, respectively.

JLR is the first European company in more than a year to announce a plant closing.

The company expects to decide which facility will close in 12-18 months. JLR says it won’t fire workers and will consolidate its remaining workforce. Capacity utilization at JLR’s three assembly plants, which include the Halewood factory near Liverpool, has fallen below 60% as demand dropped sharply.

The company also plans to begin building the production version of LRX Concept small SUV at the Halewood plant in 2011 and add 800 jobs there.

Tata said in July it had hired KPMG LLP and Roland Berger Strategy Consultants to advise it on making major cost reductions at JLR. Over the past year, the unit eliminated 2,500 jobs, froze pay and canceled bonuses.

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Expedition Communications

Sunday, 27 September 2009 11:19

The ability to communicate between members of the expedition can be critical to managing logistics as well as having a way to maintain a sense of comradaree amongst the two person teams in each vehicle.

Besides being a convenient way to communicate your obeservations ("Look at the Moose on our right!") to warning of obstructions in the road ("Look out for the Moose crossing the road!"), to expressing an urgent need to stop ("Any chance we could stop to go to the washroom?" or "I think I just broke something, can we pull over?"), the use of radio communications is important in almost any expedition or trip to the trails.

Here we will provide some high-level information on some of the methods of communications we will be employing on this trip. It is, by no means, a complete primer on the subject, only an outline of requirements. If you have any questions please feel free to contact Victor with your question.

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