Green laning and off roading

[straightSix]

After getting a Dizco 2 off here recently I've started to get into green laning. I think there are a few other perverted souls on here with aging Land Rover products who a partial to some mud plugging so thought I'd start a thread for any tip/tricks or green lane recommendations. So far I've only done Ramsden Road with it completely stock and it handled it absolutely fine.

If anyone is around the west midlands or south Yorkshire way let me know if you'd be up for going out some time!

 

[leakingstrut]

Might be a bit far north for you but the old coach road from Matterdale to Keswick looks good, if it’s open. 

I’ve only driven as far as Mosedale Beck, and that is doable with care in a 2wd with decent clearance but I think it’s gets trickier to the west of there. Although I did have to reverse a LWB RWD Transit all the way back to the road, as I was too scared of getting stuck to put the back wheels off the track to turn around. 
 

Edit: I’ve not been since 2017 so who knows what it’s like now.

Enterprise always come through with great green laning vehicles.

It’s nice up there, but 4wd was required this day. 

Fordable in a Lacetti? Yes.

 

Edited November 1, 2022 by leakingstrut

[JJ0063]

Loved it but didn’t go enough so sold up!

[New POD]

5 hours ago, JJ0063 said:

Loved it but didn’t go enough so sold up!

That looks like the Roads around Fort Dunlop and Castle Bromwhich. 

[straightSix]

9 hours ago, JJ0063 said:

Loved it but didn’t go enough so sold up!

That looks great! Where about did you go? 

I'm probably not going to go for anything that extreme with mine. Pretty much just a set of tyres and a bumper for now

[JJ0063]

2 minutes ago, straightSix said:

That looks great! Where about did you go? 

I'm probably not going to go for anything that extreme with mine. Pretty much just a set of tyres and a bumper for now

Thetford Forest was my place to go as I live so close. Huge playground!

To be honest I did more than I needed but it was only a toy. It was stupidly loud (turbo back straight through) if it was parked next to Ambers Mini, I’d set her alarm off as I pulled away. 
 

Remapped with popcorn rev limiter, 33” tyres, 2” lift etc. was great fun but being an auto it only did about 15mpg with those wheels.

[tom13]

16 hours ago, straightSix said:

After getting a Dizco 2 off here recently I've started to get into green laning. I think there are a few other perverted souls on here with aging Land Rover products who a partial to some mud plugging so thought I'd start a thread for any tip/tricks or green lane recommendations. So far I've only done Ramsden Road with it completely stock and it handled it absolutely fine.

If anyone is around the west midlands or south Yorkshire way let me know if you'd be up for going out some time!

 

I can tell you where there are some good greenlanes in the midlands if you need info.

[tom13]

14 hours ago, JJ0063 said:

Loved it but didn’t go enough so sold up!

That is sexy as hell. Would love a 4x4 but I just don't need one right now. 

[horriblemercedes]

I'm in the West Midlands and would be up for a run out - I haven't been for years and haven't taken the current car yet

[goosey]

Probably worth joining G.L.A.S.S 

green lane association, loads of information on there 

[Rust Collector]

I joined GLASS, lots of useful info and you get access to their Trailwise or whatever it's called which is their interactive map of byways. Shame it turned out there's fuck all green lanes in East Sussex mind 😅

[straightSix]

22 hours ago, tom13 said:

I can tell you where there are some good greenlanes in the midlands if you need info.

That would be great thanks!

22 hours ago, horriblemercedes said:

I'm in the West Midlands and would be up for a run out - I haven't been for years and haven't taken the current car yet

Will give you a shout next time I head out!

[tom13]

22 hours ago, horriblemercedes said:

I'm in the West Midlands and would be up for a run out - I haven't been for years and haven't taken the current car yet

Where in the Midlands are you?

[straightSix]

Coventry way but don't mind travelling to find some good lanes. Haven't found anything close by so far 

[task]

I'm in Derbyshire but often head out to lanes over Wales way, sometimes in the RRC and sometimes in the Sprinter...

I'd second/third getting GLASS for the TW2 access, makes it easier to find routes and make sure you're legal, a lot of the interesting ones in the peaks have been lost.

There's a few of us that often nip up to the peaks for a drive about and there's a few laning groups on FB that often arrange excursions.

Give me a shout if you're ever heading out this way.

[warch]

If you can obtain a Definitive Map of a County, usually available via the Right of Way section on the relevant Council website that will bring up all the footpaths, bridleways and byways open to all traffic within that area.

It is worth checking whether a particular byway is open as the council is allowed to close them for repairs (like any other road). One issue I've seen is that some people forget that legally they are a road, so you often encounter bellends on off road (not road registered bikes).

As to damage caused by vehicles, my experience is that yes, they do get rutted by frequent use but that things like tractors leave much deeper ruts. I don't really go greenlaning these days, except at work, but I go running on BOATs every other day and quite frankly the ruts seem to aid drainage, whereas hoss, sheeps and cattle hooves tend to tear the surface up and make a muddy slippery mess.   

[straightSix]

5 hours ago, task said:

I'm in Derbyshire but often head out to lanes over Wales way, sometimes in the RRC and sometimes in the Sprinter...

I'd second/third getting GLASS for the TW2 access, makes it easier to find routes and make sure you're legal, a lot of the interesting ones in the peaks have been lost.

There's a few of us that often nip up to the peaks for a drive about and there's a few laning groups on FB that often arrange excursions.

Give me a shout if you're ever heading out this way.

Will deffo give you a shout if I'm that way! And love the RRC. They're a dream car of mine but suspect the Disco 2 is as close as I'll get to owning one with prices the way they are now sadly

 

[bub2006]

I live in Derbyshire. Some great lanes I've took bikes over in this area. I may or may not have took a xsara picasso down a muddy green lane with water past the sills and at one point up to the headlights. I can't  say for sure if I did or not due to self incrimination.

[Fabergé Greggs]

I’ve done a few around Essex on my Vespa and a few around Kent on my old BMW. Definitely the most fun on a scooter! 

 

[bub2006]

39 minutes ago, Fabergé Greggs said:

I’ve done a few around Essex on my Vespa and a few around Kent on my old BMW. Definitely the most fun on a scooter! 

 

It's a lot of fun using what folk see as the "incorrect" vehicle. I've used scooters too. Just take time and things will be fine. I'm a big fan of unconventional offroaders!

[warch]

4 minutes ago, bub2006 said:

It's a lot of fun using what folk see as the "incorrect" vehicle. I've used scooters too. Just take time and things will be fine. I'm a big fan of unconventional offroaders!

My 2wd Qashqai gets a few strange looks. I take a leaf from old fashioned off road driving advice so highest gear lowest revs, maximum speed gets me where I want to go. 

[Noel Tidybeard]

7 hours ago, straightSix said:

Coventry way but don't mind travelling to find some good lanes. Haven't found anything close by so far 

i can recommend Dane Road to test your suspension🤣

[leakingstrut]

7 hours ago, warch said:

My 2wd Qashqai gets a few strange looks. I take a leaf from old fashioned off road driving advice so highest gear lowest revs, maximum speed gets me where I want to go. 

I must have had about 10 different mk2 Quashqai’s as hire cars, it and completely changed my option of them. They are excellent vehicles and as you say the 2wd one is great off road. I can see why people buy them over conventional hatchbacks.  I really liked the diesel one, the petrol one is good around town but gets awful mpg when driving quickly.

The traction control on them is a well calibrated - round the corner this hill got steeper and looser. Bad enough that I’d be cautious even in a 4wd. I really should have chanced it in a 2wd but it was coping so well on the more consolidated bit. 

Wasn’t able to carry momentum for second gear, so I had to be in first, got part of the way up before I started losing traction. Just kept the throttle pinned and TC allowed just enough power through to drag myself up without terminal wheelspin. Absolutely zero driver skill involved - floor it and pray! A lot of people have the option that TC will just hamper you off road, and it can sometimes but it can also really help.  

[warch]

5 hours ago, leakingstrut said:

I must have had about 10 different mk2 Quashqai’s as hire cars, it and completely changed my option of them. They are excellent vehicles and as you say the 2wd one is great off road. I can see why people buy them over conventional hatchbacks.  I really liked the diesel one, the petrol one is good around town but gets awful mpg when driving quickly.

Mine is the older model which has really short gearing, so you can go fairly slowly in first with stalling. Both of ours are petrol and both do about 43-48mpg which is reasonable, especially on hilly country roads. The diesel does sip fuel though.

The common perception is that you need a big 'proper' 4x4, and that these sort of vehicles aren't fit for purpose. I've often found my Qashqai will do most of the stuff my Landrover will do,  four wheel drive comes in handy when traction is an issue, like on wet clay or steep slippery inclines. 

[andy18s]

https://youtu.be/_RafVwMjOKY

[warch]

2 hours ago, andy18s said:

https://youtu.be/_RafVwMjOKY

About 15 years ago I got a panicky phone call from my boss saying he'd got stuck on an off road track, in his RR Sport. I managed to drive my Calibra Turbo 4x4 to within about fifteen feet of him, whilst bringing shovels and stuff to free it. The main issue was weight, that model of Range Rover weighed nearly 2 and half tonnes, whereas my car was almost exactly a ton lighter. The Calibra did have amazing off road traction, the lack of ground clearance was never an issue, it just skimmed across the surface.  

[bear-in-the-air]

On 11/4/2022 at 7:27 AM, leakingstrut said:

 Absolutely zero driver skill involved - floor it and pray! A lot of people have the option that TC will just hamper you off road, and it can sometimes but it can also really help.  

I agree, For more extreme stuff I think it does hamper as you sometimes want to keep wheels spinning for momentum or finding where the grip is, but for gravel tracks or wet grass it lets someone with little experience just put their foot down and it help its self to go. I've seen some fairly impressive performances from some TC systems moving power around the wheels, eventually finding the grip and getting moving, 

[twosmoke300]

Having spent years riding enduro bikes and doing loads of green laning I think I would find Armchair Laning terminally boring. I get the appeal of seeing wild areas etc but the bomb hole on the Strata Florida is a good example - landies seem to spend hours on this one feature that bikes just Bwarrrp through in about 5 secs .

I was laning up in wales last weekend tho and did admit to looking at them slightly jealously with their heaters 😂

 

[twosmoke300]

Oh and I’ve owned Various land rovers and done a bit of off roading . 

[mat_the_cat]

6 minutes ago, twosmoke300 said:

I was laning up in wales last weekend tho and did admit to looking at them slightly jealously with their heaters 😂

 

Fancy this one close to me?

https://www.ktmforum.co.uk/threads/bwlch-y-groes-greenlane.1225105/

https://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php/318636-Bwlch-y-Groes-takes-no-prisoners/page2