P38 Monkey
Well-Known Member
- Posts
- 626
- Location
- Cambridge
Having had my 1997 P38 for 4 months, I have pretty well cleared all the faults with which it arrived, so time for its first serious job: taking two bikes from Cambridge to my son in Mallorca.
Its first trip of more than a few miles - in fact around 1200 miles, with the first half towing a 750 kg trailer, and a boot rammed full of kit.
Having read all the fault reports and road trip disasters, like failing radiators, flat batteries, and that alarming end-to-end conflagration, I stopped reading the failure-strewn posts and got myself prepared: RAC breakdown cover at the best part of £300, radiator sealant, water container, emergency jump starter, battery charger, tyre sealant, tyre pump, tools.
Travelling by car ferry requires lots of starting and stopping of the engine, and the 2-nights-one-day crossing from Portsmouth to Santander means starting at a prompt from the loaders on the way off - no early checks.
In the event, it never missed a beat. 60 mph with the trailer all the way there and 70-80 mph all the way back. Motorway or jammed-up city (Barcelona!) it ran faultlessly, with the temperature gauge rock-steady in the middle of the dial.
On Mallorca it ran about town and then was equally at home up scruffy mountain roads.
My first ever Land Rover and to paraphrase Prince Philip it does a bloody good job...
Its first trip of more than a few miles - in fact around 1200 miles, with the first half towing a 750 kg trailer, and a boot rammed full of kit.
Having read all the fault reports and road trip disasters, like failing radiators, flat batteries, and that alarming end-to-end conflagration, I stopped reading the failure-strewn posts and got myself prepared: RAC breakdown cover at the best part of £300, radiator sealant, water container, emergency jump starter, battery charger, tyre sealant, tyre pump, tools.
Travelling by car ferry requires lots of starting and stopping of the engine, and the 2-nights-one-day crossing from Portsmouth to Santander means starting at a prompt from the loaders on the way off - no early checks.
In the event, it never missed a beat. 60 mph with the trailer all the way there and 70-80 mph all the way back. Motorway or jammed-up city (Barcelona!) it ran faultlessly, with the temperature gauge rock-steady in the middle of the dial.
On Mallorca it ran about town and then was equally at home up scruffy mountain roads.
My first ever Land Rover and to paraphrase Prince Philip it does a bloody good job...
.
