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4X4

More on the 4×4 fiddle blocks – forces and minimum rope lengths

3 September 2020 Robert Pepper

The fiddle block I published a video about, and wrote about on Motofomo has generated a fair bit of interest. Here’s a couple of extra answers to questions: What’s the minimum rope for a given distance? Multiply the distance you intend to pull by 6, so for a 10m pull, allow 60m of rope. Now […]

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Manual cars of all types are dying out, and that’s tragic…isn’t it?

1 September 2020 Robert Pepper

Can car lovers learn to live without manuals? How much fun would golf be if you just loaded a ball into a gun, pressed the trigger, and the ball was shot out of the gun towards the green at exactly the right velocity? And why do people sail boats, when they could far more easily just […]

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How to choose your hobby

30 August 2020 Robert Pepper

Bored? Want to get into something, but not sure what? Lots of people have interests, hobbies, recreations…call it what you will, activities that take up a lot of their time. Many people don’t, and they’re quite happy that way. But there’s lots of others who wish they could find something to do with their time. […]

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Why are diesels turbocharged?

28 August 2020 Robert Pepper

The short answer is “because they need it”. Here’s the long answer, and why. Your internal combustion engine, be it diesel or petrol, draws air in through valves as the piston moves down inside its cylinder. Then the valves are closed, and the piston moves back up. A petrol engine creates a compressed mixture of […]

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What’s more fun – a fast 4WD or a fast car?

26 August 2020 Robert Pepper

I don’t know how many car magazines there are in the world, but it’s a lot. Nor do I know how many car clubs there but, but “a lot” certainly would be an understatement. This is proof cars and driving are fun, but certain types of cars are perhaps more fun than others. For example, […]

4X4

How modern 4X4s should be designed

24 August 2020 Robert Pepper

I’d like to introduce a new concept to the designers of offroad vehicles. It’s the same one used to design complex IT systems when the consequences of failure cost a lot of money, loss of reputation or even lives. It’s called graceful degradation, and it’s not that hard. Let’s say you’re designing a high-volume retail […]

4X4

So what is track damage, and how do we prevent it?

23 August 2020 Robert Pepper

Nobody wants to see more track closures. We all want tracks that offer us a choice of anything from a scenic drive to a winch challenge, and we want emergency vehicles to be able to use the access tracks they need. Yet tracks aren’t static paths, but are in a state of perpetual change. As […]

4X4

Coil suspension or air suspension?

22 August 2020 Robert Pepper

Air or coil suspension? Deciding which new vehicle to buy can be hard enough, and then you have to make a call on the fundamentals such as the engine and transmission before the detailed decisions like trim levels and options. Now there’s another decision to be made and that’s coil or height-adjustable air suspension, this […]

4X4

Should you lock your centre diff for offroading?

20 August 2020 Robert Pepper

It’s always interesting to learn new driving techniques and understand different thinking. Any group of people will naturally become a little insular and some techniques may just be accepted unquestioningly as “the way things are done”, with nobody wanting to rock the boat or consider alternatives, and one of the best ways to explore new […]

4X4

Quick look at the new Defender

19 August 2020 Robert Pepper

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Several readers have been talking about the new Defender, and some have sent photos and video, so I thought I’d share some with the readers. I haven’t yet driven or even seen a Defender so this isn’t a review, but nevertheless should be helpful for prospective owners. Here’s the Defender showings its variable height air-suspension […]

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