So... what car do you guys drive when not flying?

JohnM said:
I haven't seen anything about that.

You're not mixing it up with the LC300 are you? Or maybe a V6 specifically as an option in the Raptor? From what I read the Raptor suffers from a power deficiency because of the way it's spec'd relative to its apparently less sexy siblings. Seems kind of a letdown to me.

I'm happy with the 2.0L bi-turbo/10 speed. Good power (I have a liking for theoretically sailing through 150kph at the cab of a road train I'm overtaking - and with something in reserve) and great fuel economy (a touch over 8L/100km on the last 4K km trip to the Pilbara).
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There. Fixed that for you. ;)
 
Quickstatus said:
What is your take on the Copper "km guarantee"?
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A couple of mates have some experience of Cooper. Both live in NT, so their driving is both high speed and off road.

In the first case, a left rear let go (very much like the picture above) whilst on the highway. Part of the debris jammed the handbrake on, and that caused the car to roll multiple times.

The second bloke had two events. In the first, an almost new Cooper was on a 4wd (a Troopy) towing a trailer carrying a bunch of quads. Tyre let go, and took the vehicle off the road. Thankfully didn’t hit anything solid, and stayed upright. I was being told this story, as we travelled in a Land Cruiser, and going past the spot had been the reminder to tell me the tale. Within a few minutes of the story ending, vibration from the front of the LC, which was rapidly getting worse. Pull over, and yet another newish Cooper was in the process of failing. He had all of his vehicles reshod as soon as it could be arranged.

In no case did they stand by their warranty.
 
jb747 said:
A couple of mates have some experience of Cooper. Both live in NT, so their driving is both high speed and off road.

In the first case, a left rear let go (very much like the picture above) whilst on the highway. Part of the debris jammed the handbrake on, and that caused the car to roll multiple times.

The second bloke had two events. In the first, an almost new Cooper was on a 4wd (a Troopy) towing a trailer carrying a bunch of quads. Tyre let go, and took the vehicle off the road. Thankfully didn’t hit anything solid, and stayed upright. I was being told this story, as we travelled in a Land Cruiser, and going past the spot had been the reminder to tell me the tale. Within a few minutes of the story ending, vibration from the front of the LC, which was rapidly getting worse. Pull over, and yet another newish Cooper was in the process of failing. He had all of his vehicles reshod as soon as it could be arranged.

In no case did they stand by their warranty.
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How long ago was that? I know that there were some horror stories, but I think that was about ten years ago.
 
I also had some historical Cooper prejudice , when the RAM arrived it had come from exploring the back country on Bridgestone AT's so that what it wore with me.
Funny things people do.. the RAM was only a couple of years old but the owner could not live with the spectre of a bush breakdown with electronic EMS.
I think the bush Tonka brigade finally got to him….
He lost a packet on the RAM and bought a Fraud 250 because he thought a back country fraud dealer would be able to fix it !!
While I had the RAM it was impeccably reliable and very well built while several F250's also being used as towmasters caught fire...
 
Whats the tread wear rating on the Cooper?

The prejudice I’ve heard alleged against them is sure they wear forever but dont expect any grip (particularly in the wet)……
 
docjames said:
Whats the tread wear rating on the Cooper?

The prejudice I’ve heard alleged against them is sure they wear forever but dont expect any grip (particularly in the wet)……
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I don't know, but for what it's worth, what I've been told is that grip in the wet was an issue in the past but not so now.
 
docjames said:
Whats the tread wear rating on the Cooper?
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That and traction grade are two of the most impossible data points to get . They sell you the marketing but I always say I don’t want the marketing spiel just the treadwear and traction ratings. They always have to go out the back to look

I only get tyres with Treadwear 500 and traction AA. Brand secondary.
 
JessicaTam said:
Haha, I was just trying to prevent you admitting to something that might be illegal. :rolleyes: :cool:
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I have no idea what you are talking about officer... 🤪:oops:🧐:p

One thing I've always said about the bi-turbo (ie. sequential, not twin) donk is how stunningly good the rolling acceleration is. There is no turbo lag, as the low-boost turbo that operates from the get-go seamlessly gives way to the high-boost blower. It is simply nothing like the other Ford Ranger/Everest donk (3.2 5 cyl single turbo, 6 speed) or the donks in Pajero Sport/Triton, Prado etc.

In many ways I like it more than the Subaru 2.5 Liberty GT and the Audi 2.0 A4 Quattro that I had previously. Both of those could push through 150 at the cab of a roadtrain pretty much equivalently; the Subi perhaps being a tad more exciting. That was a blast.

But where both fell down was an irritating turbo lag or turbo on/off at, IIRC, 2100rpm and 1600rpm, respectively. I used to find that noticeable and annoying in city driving where the speed limit changed from 60 to 70 on my regular route on a slight uphill to the beach. They would both fiddle and fumble just at that point. The Everest doesn't.
 
JohnM said:
How long ago was that? I know that there were some horror stories, but I think that was about ten years ago.
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The most recent was about 5 years ago. Oldest about 8. But, they’re not someone that I would consider likely to have suddenly discovered quality. Or backup.
Quickstatus said:
I think their warranty is purely a km travelled wear warranty. And I suspect it requires periodic inspection by tyre installer with regular tyre rotations/balance and alignment.
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I think it entailed going to one of their specific accredited dealers, and having the tyres serviced at a max of every 5,000 kms. It was a service requirement that was so unlikely to be fulfilled, that virtually all of their warranties would be invalidated.
 
JohnM said:
…..
In many ways I like it more than the Subaru 2.5 Liberty GT and the Audi 2.0 A4 Quattro that I had previously. Both of those could push through 150 at the cab of a roadtrain pretty much equivalently; the Subi perhaps being a tad more exciting.
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I too am a firm believer in minimising time spent on the wrong side of the road.
JohnM said:
But where both fell down was an irritating turbo lag or turbo on/off at, IIRC, 2100rpm and 1600rpm, respectively. I used to find that noticeable and annoying in city driving where the speed limit changed from 60 to 70 on my regular route on a slight uphill to the beach. They would both fiddle and fumble just at that point. The Everest doesn't.
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Helps to be in the correct gear though. And I think you’re minimising the effect that the Everest’s gearbox has. 10 speeds is just about excessive, but there is certainly no excuse for ever being caught off boost.

I owned an Audi S3, fitted with the 6 speed DSG gearbox. A couple of years after my car, there was an update that moved it to the 7 speed DSG, with virtually no other changes. The difference was almost enough to tempt me into changing. They were surprisingly different to drive.
 
jb747 said:
6 speed DSG
7 speed DSG,
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I have 2 Passat Alltrack with 6 and 7 DSG.
Some interesting facts about these transmissions: (IIRC)

There is no gear with 1:1 ratio
It’s actually 2 gearboxes with 2 input shafts and 2 output shafts

In a 7DSG
6th gear has less overdrive (higher ratio) than 5th

In a 6DSG
5th gear is less overdrive (higher ratio) than 4th

Strange?

Except the 2 output shafts each have a different gear ratio.
It is not possible to select the output shaft gear. That is set in stone according to the mechatronics programming.


The 5 in the 6DSG has less total gear ratio than suggested by the 4 because it is mated to the output shaft with the lower gear ratio than the 4th
And similarly for the 6 in the 7DSG than suggested by the 5.

So the final “combined” gear ratios progressively reduce as the gear number increases.
 
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Quickstatus said:
To get rig of turbo lag you need more rpm - easiest to put gearbox in S instead of D
…
Q: those were petrol engines?
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Yes.

jb747 said:
I too am a firm believer in minimising time spent on the wrong side of the road.

Helps to be in the correct gear though. And I think you’re minimising the effect that the Everest’s gearbox has. 10 speeds is just about excessive, but there is certainly no excuse for ever being caught off boost.

I owned an Audi S3, fitted with the 6 speed DSG gearbox. A couple of years after my car, there was an update that moved it to the 7 speed DSG, with virtually no other changes. The difference was almost enough to tempt me into changing. They were surprisingly different to drive.
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The only thing about putting on more revs at the situation of 60 changing to 70 speed limit on the slight uphill was not getting the speed right and it was notorious for speed cameras. A push on the right pedal too easily brought on the boost and with it a sharpish uptick in speed if it was held on boost. It was just a particular situation that I travelled very frequently where it was just a bit tricky to get a smooth transition into turbo mode, and maintain it in that mode, while complying with the speed limit. The Subi was probably more noticeable for it than the Audi; it tended to be a bit 'sharp' when boost came on (probably why it was touch more exciting on hard acceleration on a country road).

Both the Subi and Audi had paddles, but I could seldom be bothered using them. I reckon paddles are a bit of a gimmick.

I take your point about the 10-speed. On the face of it, it does seem excessive, but it all works well in combination with the sequential turbos. And presumably the overdrives contribute substantially to the excellent fuel economy on country cruise. I occasionally flick the button to display the gear it's in while cruising and the shifts up/down 8/9/10 are imperceptible.

One thing that bugged me about the DSG in the Audi was the momentary, but noticeable, time lag for it to drop into 1st at a stop sign. OK, it certainly makes you come to a dead stop, but there is that moment to wait before putting the right foot down to take off again. Just a little niggle that I used to think how come the engineers couldn't overcome it? It seemed a little like a non-synchro 1st in an old manual 'box.
 
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