Off-Roader Driving, Edition 1.2 by Tom Sheppard

Edition 1.2 comprises the same 2000 edition main book (with new jacket), now shrink-wrapped with a 24pp Peripherals Update Supplement for 2005. This main book, itself based around the sell-out two editions of THE LAND ROVER EXPERIENCE, was hailed by the US magazine Four Wheeler as .. one of the most comprehensive books on off-pavement driving ever produced ... . OFF-ROADER DRIVING is not confined to particular brands and marques and includes a distillation and clarification of the multiplicity of four-wheel drive systems and trade names - ' ... the most important Section in the whole book ... ' (especially so with the new Supplement) - together with buying choice parameters. It caters also for those who never go off road but need to know important information about their four-wheel drive system and what makes their carry-all family vehicles different from a saloon car. The book includes a uniquely incisive and straightforward analysis of the dynamics of trailer towing in commonsense terms and analogies - a role for which many 4x4s are purchased. A large proportion of the book is devoted to a methodical, step-by-step and comprehensive look at all aspects of using a 4x4 off-road - safely and non-damagingly to either the vehicle or the environment. For novices, it takes the mystique out of off-roading not only with its content but with its comprehensive glossary. For professionals it offers valuable techniques and rarely seen advice. Editorial Reviews Review ... one of the most comprehensive collections of 4x4 information we have ever seen ... we recommend this as required reading --four Wheeler Magazine, Apr 05 ... packed with no-nonsense tips and very practical advice ... and cuts away the marketing-speak to reveal the truth. --Land Rover Monthly, Jan 05 Sheppard applies a seasoned cynic's view ... and some of his conclusions can have you grinning and nodding in agreement --Land Rover Enthusiast , Mar 05 From the Publisher OFF-ROADER DRIVING, Edn 1.2 - this compendium is aimed at all users, from professionals in remote areas to those with their first 4x4 bought mainly as a domestic work-horse. It has an expedition basics section that includes invaluable information on tyres, fuels, oils, loading - now updated with the 2005 Supplement - and water filtration. An incisive overview of the multiplicity of four-wheel drive systems and the make-up of a 4x4 is now, with the 2005 Peripherals Update Supplement, further complemented by an unusually straight-talking overview of the new generation of 'soft-roaders', their brand-name confusing 'new' 4x4 systems and the nadir of ergonomic design to which some of them have slipped, at the users' expense. From the Author I hope you enjoy reading and using this book as much as I did writing it - and accumulating the years of experience that went into it! With the Supplement I have addressed the Emperor's New Clothes syndrome with which many 4x4s are now marketed - the obfuscating brand naming and sometimes unnecessary bells and whistles with which they are equipped. From the Inside Flap This book is about off-roaders and driving them, not just about off-road driving - though there's quite a bit of that, plus a little something on expeditions. Off-roaders are a lot more car-driver friendly now, with all their TLAs - Three Letter Acronyms(tm), than they were even five years ago but there are still things you need to know and there are still the basic 4x4s out there that need to be loved and understood. Most of it revolves around mechanical sympathy - for the vehicle and for the ground you are travelling over. With this and the appreciation of limitations in yourself and your machine, comes confidence, tolerance and good driving. The principles and skills in that hallowed process have not changed and the same applies to off-road driving. So when this book is old and yellowed with age its basic message will still be valid - as will its detailed rundown on 4x4 systems. The chapter on towing, oscillations and the like, at last nails what is going on. But the Supplement that comes with the book is to update the peripherals, keep a perspective on cockpit ergonomics, and scrutinise the 'new' 4x4 concepts that regularly re-invent the wheel under fancy names. If you've an expedition twinkle in your eye (or even if you haven't), fuel and oil developments are on-going, fascinating and seemingly unstoppable. The 4x4 genre gets wider and ever more inclusive. Deep down, each is suited to its purpose and all are great fun. Learn the differences and techniques, treat them and the environment well; enjoy yourself! About the Author During TOM SHEPPARD'S career in the Royal Air Force as a pilot and test pilot he planned, led and trained teams for numerous expeditions and operations - among them the first coast-to-coast crossing of the Sahara through the Mauritanian Empty Quarter for which he received the Royal Geographical Society's Ness Award. He has now totalled more than 100,000 overland miles on four and two wheels and has been a 4x4 owner for over 30 years. Apart from navigating aircraft, his navigation experience has spanned sun compasses, astro navigation, Transit sat-nav and use of GPS and satellite imagery to supplement otherwise uncertain mapping. Between expeditions, he has worked for British Aerospace and been 4x4 consultant to a major international manufacturer. On this, the logistics and planning of expeditions and the hugely exciting implications of space technology on mapping, positioning and communications he admits he is unlikely to ever stop learning.