That camping trip really f'cked me up.
 

It reminded me of how much I love being in the outdoors - WAY out in the outdoors and how much I love off-roading. I spent the better part of the morning researching mods for the 'Disco' over at discoweb.org and realized that my wife would never in a million years let me do the mods that I want to do to her truck. Least of which include cutting away body panels to retrofit bumpers that facilitate much better approach/departure angles and larger tires.

So....

I've been out driving Jeep Rubicons today. I may trade the M3 for one.:eeps:

You could always buy a cheap used Jeep, mod it, and keep the M3.

Cutting fenders to fit bigger tires? What a bad idea that woudl be. :eeps:



It's cool you had fun though. Run with it man, run with it. :P

There's a happy medium. You can do things like lift kits and bigger tires and quick-disconnect swaybars on Jeeps to make them more offoradworthy without cutting the body; I can't imagine Land Rovers would be any different. They are traditionally on the true offroad side of SUVdom.

Why have an offroad vehicle and not offroad it? :) ;)

Boy that's the definition of waffling, if I ever saw it. S2000 >>> Jeep Rubicon. I'm trying to think of what what might be next on your list of desires. A Rolls Royce?

:P

I don't blame you. Off-roading is a TON of fun. Even the simple stuff can be an adrenaline rush.

I was thinking a "hybrid porsche SUV".

Actually, I can buy new for a song with the "employee discount." I have two dealers on the line, peddling their wares - one in light khaki and one in black - both manual of course. The one I drove today was a slushie but everything else felt good. I drove a 4.0 Wrangler Sport in manny guise and the gearbox felt pretty decent.

I would love to keep the M3 but my interests have changed as of late. If I had access to a track, things would be different. But the kids are getting old enough to start taking serious family outings and I am closer to mountains than to tracks - kind of tough to take kids with me there anyway. I'd get open-air motoring with the kids in tow.

As for the disco - what I'd want to do with it is rather extreme, not to mention expensive, and my wife is not exactly cool with that. Cutting body panels and all... (http://www.safarigard.com/) The silver '03 Discovery II under SG projects. I guess if I wanted to be really pretentious, I'd trailer the Rubicon to the mountains via the disco.

Compared to the M3, it is obviously a slug on pavement .

It seems the most important question is the following: is this off-roading desire a temporary itch that will disappear in a few weeks, or is it something that will become a hobbie for the next several years, and will create fun for both you and the whole family?

If it's the latter, then you have no choice. Go for it. But if you're anything like me, you can't be completely sure it's not the former. :speechle:

:eeps:
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I still don't see what's wrong with doing minor mods that the wife is cool with, and exploring the limits there. I think you'd be surprised. Saying "I got the offroad bug, and now I want to cut my body panels and install insane lift kits, but I don't think the wife would be cool with it" sounds to me like "I just did my first track day, and after spending a morning reading up on power mods, now I need a turbo with 35psi boost, but my M3 won't handle it, so I need a Supra." I think you should take the Disco out as is, or with a few minor mods, and play with what it can do.