Photo at right: The author on a typical Nevada
desert trip, exlporing the Old Spanish Trail. Photo by Jocelyn Brabyn.
Goals and Philosophy
Rangerovers.net is a volunteer effort dedicated to providing Range
Rover owners and prospective purchasers throughout the world with
practical buying, ownership, maintenance and repair information on
Range Rovers in a condensed and organized format. As such,
Rangerovers.net has become a fraternity of friends who live and
understand the Range Rover lifestyle -- so often misunderstood by
owners of lesser 4x4s whether manufactured by Land Rover or other
companies. The Range Rover owner wants the best possible off road
performance combined with the best possible on road performance -- a
breadth of capability that only a Range Rover can provide. We try to
cater to these tastes and provide information requested by both "hands
on" owners who repair their own Rovers, and owners who would rather
have
a qualified repair facility take care of their vehicle.
History
The site was started in 1997 as an experiment to provide the author
with more knowledge of this thing called the Internet, to better
understand the problems blind people have with accessing it (see "About the Author" below). At the time, there were
a couple of prototype Land Rover sites but nothing that dealt with
these newfangled Range Rovers. One major Land Rover Owner email list
("lro") existed,
but Range Rover owners (including the author) were soon evicted from it
due to their interest in such sacriligeous modernities as ride comfort,
air
conditioning, on-road performance and electronic fuel
injection. Their opinions on Range Rover suspension design and off road
superiority also created severe friction with owners of the earlier
cart-sprung Land Rover models who could not believe that anything newer
could be better, especially off road. Owners of the traditional models
seldom
realized that the Range Rover
could run circles round them off road as well as getting them to the
trailhead faster and in more comfort. Range Rover owners were banished
to a new "rro" email list.
Range Rovers that
have been owned by the author of Rangerovers.net. In all cases, they
have "never been on road"!
About this same time, the Web began to emerge into daylight. A
number
of Land Rover sites sprang up,
but no Range Rover sites. Rangerovers.net was born! By focusing
exclusively on Range
Rovers, Rangerovers.net seemed to fill a void. We dealt unashamedly
with the unmentionable topics of ride comfort, air
conditioning, on-road performance and electronic fuel
injection, with pages of information about
the on and off road abilities of the "new" Range Rover models, as well
as their foibles -- and how to fix them -- all based on the author's
personal experience. This was soon augmented by contributions from
numerous other enthusiasts. Rangerovers.net rapidly became
popular beyond all expectations, and was inundated with questions from
owners all over the world. To handle this flood of inquiries, the
Rangerovers.net forums were added, rapidly becoming the most
popular meeting place on the web for Range Rover enthusiasts of all
stripes. Today, the site gets about 250,000 hits a day.
About the Author
My name is John
Brabyn PhD, and I am a Range Rover enthusiast, rancher and engineer
from New
Zealand living in the United States. I therefore try to reflect a
worldwide perspective on the Range Rover scene. I have owned each
successive model of Range Rover as it has come out, and been one of the
first to subject each model to real-world off road adventuring (as
opposed to the carefully controlled conditions of the manufacturer test
courses). As a result, each of my Range Rovers has had the
distinction of having (at the time of its sale) "never been on road"!!.
Picture at
left: John Brabyn PhD, Rangerovers.net webmaster.
Photo by Jocelyn Brabyn.
As an engineer, I appreciate the mechanical innovation that has been
the hallmark of each successive new Range Rover model, placing it
streets ahead of the competition both on and off road. I have observed
with some amusement the gradual conversion of the Series Land Rover
contingent to Range Rover ownership after years of making fun of the
superior model. I have also enjoyed witnessing the slavish copying of
each successive Range Rover suspension and drivetrain innovation by
Jeep, Toyota and others -- albeit years later and after much poo-pooing
by the other brands' enthusiasts of the technology employed.
I am also often amused by Land Rover's latest imaginative excuses
for
its record low rankings in build quality and reliability. Ironically,
Land Rovers are often last in reliability but among the first in
buyer satisfaction. As an engineer I also understand the difficulty of
building things that work reliably, and am willing to forgive a
lot if the vehicle is otherwise worthwhile. And to
me, the Range Rover is unquestionably the most worthwhile of all
vehicles!
Support
Rangerovers.net is an all - volunteer effort, and receives no support
at all from the Land Rover company. We attempt to provide an
independent
viewpoint on behalf of owners seeking solutions to their problems.
We do accept sponsorship support in return for helping publicize
companies who are willing to help defray the costs of keeping the site
going. Companies and enterprises interested in advertising on
Rangerovers.net should email
me for more details.
If you have derived some benefit
from the site or its associated forums
which are the most active Range Rover boards on the net, please
consider giving something back by helping support this independent
owner and enthusiast-driven effort -- click on the button to
!!
Location
Rangerovers.net is located at Salmon
Creek Ranch, a 400 acre working farm north of
San Francisco, famous for its exclusive organic,
pasture-raised Muscovy Duckling, organic duck eggs,
organic Bay Laurel honey,
and natural, pasture-raised goat meat.
The ranch's access and logging roads and breathtaking scenery have been
the
venue for private, environmentally sensitive Land Rover customer
training seminars and the 1999
Land Rover Trek, in which 48 dealer teams from across the US
participated. The location includes secluded camping areas and redwood
groves. Fellow Range Rover and Land Rover enthusiasts can take
advantage of strictly limited opportunities for private expedition
training
and wilderness camping.
In 2009 we started a tradition of Rangerovers.net
Gatherings, when members, readers and supporters of Rangerovers.net
get together for a couple of days of camaraderie, scenic camping and
tours of the challenging 4WD ranch access roads. To sign up for the
next one, please email
me.
For pet owners, the ranch offers
luxurious dog boarding while you are in the area. For details please email
me.
Rangerovers.net Gatherings
Starting in 2009, we inaugurated annual Rangerovers.net
Gatherings to bring together readers and supporters of
Rangerovers.net. The two day gatherings provide a chance for Range
Rover enthusiasts to meet others of like mind. We share afternoon tea,
take our Range Rovers on tours of the ranch's miles of primitive
access roads, view its scenery, animals and produce, swap stories over
the campfire, and generally hang out in an atmosphere of mutual
support. After the barbeque dinner, those who like to camp can bed down
amid the breathtaking scenery of our redwoods and creekside meadows,
while those who are not into the privations of camping can patronize
the luxurious accommodations of local hotels.
More details of these events appear at this link.
To sign up for the next Rangerovers.net Gathering, please email
me.
Contact Information
You can contact me, John Brabyn (author of the Rangerovers.net
website), by emailing me at jabrabyn@rangerovers.net.
My name is John
Brabyn PhD, and I am a Range Rover enthusiast, rancher and engineer
from New
Zealand living in the United States. I therefore try to reflect a
worldwide perspective on the Range Rover scene. I have owned each
successive model of Range Rover as it has come out, and been one of the
first to subject each model to real-world off road adventuring (as
opposed to the carefully controlled conditions of the manufacturer test
courses). As a result, each of my Range Rovers has had the
distinction of having (at the time of its sale) "never been on road"!!.
Rangerovers.net Gatherings