Cars!

The Nismo would knock your teeth out Sheal - somewhat hard in the old suspension department.

 

The Yeti is a highly capable machine @Sheal - the looks aren't to everyone's tastes, but in terms of 4x4 capability and comfort, they give much more expensive Land Rovers a good run for their money.

My mum had three Skodas in succession, and always got great service from the dealer too. Great cars

 

@kindredspirit - if either of your old cars feel like a holiday, I would be more than willing to offer free board (and washing, waxing and general pampering..... )

Your Healey is simply beautiful

 

Grip control is essentially an enhanced traction control system. From what I understand, you still need to give it some idea of what it is being asked to control (snow, mud, sand etc), but from there on in the computer takes over.

To put it in its simplest terms. there are sensors at each wheel - if one wheel spins faster than the others (a fair indication that it has lost grip), power is transferred to the wheels that aren't spinning as fast, and it also has the option of braking (so gently you wouldn't even know it had happened) the errant wheel to bring it back into line. In the extremes where grip is extremely poor, it will revert to limiting the power to all wheels to try and stop you wheelspinning all over the place. It is somewhat reliant on the rubber being decent too, however, so if you do go down that path I would avoid el-cheapo tyres at all costs.

There are two schools of thought with things like this - those who welcome the advances of technology that works away without you really knowing it to sort all the challenging stuff out, and those who think that a computer is nowhere near as good as the eyeball of the driver and the seat of their pants.

Much as I am a technology fan, I tend to err toward the latter - - BUT, it has to be borne in mind that I come from the days of crash boxes and no electronics, and that I am a professionally qualified driver; for me, it is my responsibility to use the best tool in my armoury (my bum) to feel what the vehicle is telling me, and to sort it out accordingly; indeed, the Passat I had a few years ago had excellent traction control for the most part - - when the snow fell, the thing turned into Bambi and was all over the place, yet with the computer switched off it was fine. Having said that, I have relatives and friends that I would not let loose in a car without some sort of traction or grip control, be it in good or bad weather.

As with anything like this, the only way to know for sure is to drive it and see how it feels to you. If possible, try and get it into a sticky situation and see how it copes. It isn't always easy on a test drive, but where you can try and make some deliberate mistakes (really quite a hard thing to do, as you are fighting against your hard earned learning), and try to provoke it into losing grip. Do this with the windows down, and listen to the tyres - - if they are squealing, you are on the fringes of losing it; if the car still feels pretty safe and stable (ie, you are not scared witless) then it is a fair assumption that the computer is getting things right.

 

Slightly off topic - briefly. A friend of mine has a 1960's Healey and drove it from Patagonia to the Arctic Circle on the Pan American Highway. I'm not sure I can find their Blog but, if I can, do you want a link? It was a few years ago and they went in an organised group.

The PAH doesn't actually travel non-stop all the way as there are breaks in it (I've travelled some of it) but it goes most of the way and some parts are pretty hairy.



Sometimes just a few stones mark the route