By richw2000 - 3 Nov 2010
Hi all, I'm looking to overland from London to Cape Town starting November 2011. Looking to leave the beaten track on a few occassions but will follow the main eastern route for the majority of the trip. I'm wondering what the feeling is on using a G4 RRS for this adventure. Sorry if this overlanding question has been asked before. (I did search) Looking for feedback on reliability and suitablity. cheers for any input.
|
By aedwar57 - 3 Nov 2010
you need a defender 130.............only kidding....
|
By richw2000 - 3 Nov 2010
defender or toyota is the standard answer.. but just wondering what the thoughts are around using a more comfortable, modern vehicle.I realise that a 3-4 month overland trip is fairly different to the G4 challenge, but a G4 prepared RRS is actually pretty close to an expedition vehicle spec. It's just a question of reliability, mainly around the electrics I guess. I'm getting the feeling that this is probably a bad idea. No-one seems willing to stick their neck out with the modern vehicles. ;) I guess a japanese spec vehicle is probably the best choice :sick:
|
By marco g4 - 3 Nov 2010
its a long way to go in a jap vehicle with a bag on the head with the eye holes cut out so no one recognizes you lol. But on a more serious note i think it comes down to having the car well checked other before departure, so it does not matter what make of vehicle you go in it must be well maintained and all the new cars have the electronics to contend with, so its a play off between comfort and being able to repair it your self at the road side.
|
By aedwar57 - 3 Nov 2010
have you checked your route to identify Land Rover dealers and are they equiped to deal with the RRS?Send me a list of countries you will pass through and I will see what I can find out.
|
By richw2000 - 3 Nov 2010
pm sent .. thanks for the offer of info and assitance.:D
|
By camel_landy - 3 Nov 2010
Go for it... :D
I have a little bit of experience with overlanding, so feel free to drop me an e-mail if you have any specific questions. However, these are the main things I'll say:
1 - Keep your kit simple.
2 - Keep it as light as possible. Make up a kit list and then bin half of it. Seriously, the lighter your kit, the better it is for the car.
3 - The more you plan, the easier it will become.
Get yourself a copy of the "Vehicle Dependant Expedition Guide" by Tom Shepherd. It is the definitive guide to overland travel.
Finally, don't be scared off by people saying things like... Oooohhh electronics, you don't want that, etc... They're just luddites who don't want to learn the skills necessary to deal with sensors & electronics. Just make sure that you carry the tools necessary to deal with the electrical bits, i.e. a laptop with the relevant diagnostics software.
Enjoy...
M
|
By camel_landy - 3 Nov 2010
...Oh yeah, you might also want to lurk around the Australian & SA Land Rover forums as they are more used to taking the cars into 'The Bush'.
I can well recommend www.aulro.com
HTH
M
|
By marco g4 - 3 Nov 2010
i do have a copy of Tom Sheppard vehicle dependent expedition guide 2nd edition will be going on ebay in a few weeks unless anyone's interested, after £90 for it. But i can say its a definite must on a trip like this the advice contained in the book is great.
|
By Kisangani - 5 Nov 2010
Hi RichI'm with Camel Landy on this one, go for it, don't listen to the doubters, good prepartation and planning and the Eastern route is actually fairly straightforward. I've completed 4 cape to cairos in my years, and we are leaving again on the 13 feb 2013 southbound for another one in our D3. let us know if we can help offer more support. Good luck, Rich
|
By CraigS-L - 5 Nov 2010
Also D3.co.uk and RRsport.co.uk have South African sections, and those guys have loads of experience of taking theirs up to Botswana and Zambia, and fixing them if they go wrong in the field without too much trouble, put a post on there.
|
By MikeS - 8 Nov 2010
If I was thinking of doing a trip like this, I'd have no hesitation in using my RRS. My only concern would be petrol (and having enough thereof). Fully equipped I'd reckon on getting no more than 12-13mpg, so that's a safe useful range of something like 200 miles to a tank. With teh roofrack on my car I get iro 14mpg on a run, so bank on it being less than that.Other than that, perfect vehicle for the job :cool:
|
By richw2000 - 12 Nov 2010
OK, guys... thanks for the info... I've done a bit more research and I'm feeling confident. I'll post up the blog site with preparation, etc later in the year. cheers :)
|