Off-Road travel without a lift kit - hmmmm?!?!!!

[Chris Ratay]

This would make a very interesting Overlander...

In all our travels, I'm not sure how often we encountered roads much worse than these.

Thoughts?

 

[Velma's Dad]

All nice for the cameras, but we're not seeing how much fettling needed at the end of every day of testing/filming. And those wheels/tyres look more Mayfair than Mali... pic below of our friends' 1974 911S on the Sahara Challenge a few months' back, shod with some proper rubber.

 

[sidepod]

Bugger! Shouldn’t have watched that! I miss my flat 6!

I was at Prodrive last week and there was a rally 911 in the lobby…….next to a 6R4!

Let’s have a look on eBay………

 

[Velma's Dad]

Coincidentally I was just watching Tuthill's film of their supported entries (thirteen 911s!) in this year's East African Safari Classic...

 

[Azteccamper]

Coincidentally I was just watching Tuthill's film of their supported entries (thirteen 911s!) in this year's East African Safari Classic...

Great film that.

 

[Tourdeyorkshire]

This would make a very interesting Overlander...

In all our travels, I'm not sure how often we encountered roads much worse than these.

Thoughts?

I’m having similar thoughts about raising our Cali in the next couple of years. We have a brand new 4Mo Ocean and plan to take it down through Africa at some point. We’ve driven extensively through south and eastern Africa over the last few decades. I’d say high clearance is probably the top of the list of needs - but also I do wonder how the fancy cupboards etc will fare over corrugated sand roads. We killed two 4x4s on a filming trip in Botswana a few months ago - they were knackered old snotters, so not a huge shock to us at the time - but it was a reminder of how brutal sand roads can be. I can imagine driving into the Kalahari and the cupboards being reduced to a pile of expensive wood panels. Maybe an air suspension option is worth considering?

 

[WelshGas]

I’m having similar thoughts about raising our Cali in the next couple of years. We have a brand new 4Mo Ocean and plan to take it down through Africa at some point. We’ve driven extensively through south and eastern Africa over the last few decades. I’d say high clearance is probably the top of the list of needs - but also I do wonder how the fancy cupboards etc will fare over corrugated sand roads. We killed two 4x4s on a filming trip in Botswana a few months ago - they were knackered old snotters, so not a huge shock to us at the time - but it was a reminder of how brutal sand roads can be. I can imagine driving into the Kalahari and the cupboards being reduced to a pile of expensive wood panels. Maybe an air suspension option is worth considering?

The cupboards are made of an Aluminium sandwich composite. No wood involved.

 

[Chris Ratay]

I’m having similar thoughts about raising our Cali in the next couple of years. We have a brand new 4Mo Ocean and plan to take it down through Africa at some point. We’ve driven extensively through south and eastern Africa over the last few decades. I’d say high clearance is probably the top of the list of needs - but also I do wonder how the fancy cupboards etc will fare over corrugated sand roads. We killed two 4x4s on a filming trip in Botswana a few months ago - they were knackered old snotters, so not a huge shock to us at the time - but it was a reminder of how brutal sand roads can be. I can imagine driving into the Kalahari and the cupboards being reduced to a pile of expensive wood panels. Maybe an air suspension option is worth considering?

I thought the opening of this video looked like the Sani Pass road.

Have you done any filming in the Atlantis Dunes? Fun place to go play with "Dune 4x4s".

I drove a Defender 130 up from Cape Town to Egypt, then thru Europe and down the west to Conakry. We definitely prefer East to West - been South and East a few times (moto and 4x4) and look forward to returning, but now with the dog that will be awhile. If going thru Ngorongoro - Serengeti, I wouldn't take my own transport again - the corrugation was painful, even at 1.0 bar.

In Lesotho we were on what we thought was a gnarly remote pass (broke several welds). As we were congratulating ourselves, a POS 2wd sedan rattled up and past with 5 guys inside. They looked at us like we were crazy - it took the air right out of our sails. As you know, they make it work with what they have...

We're shipping our new T6.1 Ocean 4M+diff to South America in September - been several times on adventure bikes, and this will be first time with 4-wheels. I'm hoping I don't need to lift the van as part of the appeal is to keep it at 2m high. As for mods, plan is 17" steels, AT tires, front bash plate, rock sliders, hand-held compressor, and some recovery points/straps. Need to learn more about the diff breathers and which VCDS (maybe Hex-Net).

What's your plan?

 

[soulstyledevon]

I’m having similar thoughts about raising our Cali in the next couple of years. We have a brand new 4Mo Ocean and plan to take it down through Africa at some point. We’ve driven extensively through south and eastern Africa over the last few decades. I’d say high clearance is probably the top of the list of needs - but also I do wonder how the fancy cupboards etc will fare over corrugated sand roads. We killed two 4x4s on a filming trip in Botswana a few months ago - they were knackered old snotters, so not a huge shock to us at the time - but it was a reminder of how brutal sand roads can be. I can imagine driving into the Kalahari and the cupboards being reduced to a pile of expensive wood panels. Maybe an air suspension option is worth considering?

The California is in no way African rugged.
Way out of its design element, I couldn’t think of anything worse to take…
There’s a chap on YouTube done a piece years ago, worth a search

 

[Chris Ratay]

The California is in no way African rugged.
Way out of its design element, I couldn’t think of anything worse to take…
There’s a chap on YouTube done a piece years ago, worth a search

I've used motorcycles and 4x4s to travel the globe and just purchased a new Cali to travel through South America and hopefully, Asia. While there is no such thing as "the perfect vehicle" and they all have their compromises, I believe the Cali is a great Overland option - but that's just my opinion.

If you're interested, check out Dot Bekker and her drive through Africa:
Many didn't believe that at 60 she would be able to achieve this feat in a 20 year old Ford Transit that wasn't even a 4x4, just an ordinary 2WD, as she likes to say "ordinary African people drive through Africa every day in ordinary vehicles so I knew it had to be possible".

She achieved her dream by driving 20,000kms through 18 West African countries over 8.5 months on her own for most of the journey. .

GoingHometoAfrica.com

 

[soulstyledevon]

I've used motorcycles and 4x4s to travel the globe and just purchased a new Cali to travel through South America and Asia. While there is no such thing as "the perfect vehicle" and they all have their compromises, I believe the Cali is a great Overland option.

If you're interested, check out Dot Bekker and her drive through Africa:
Many didn't believe that at 60 she would be able to achieve this feat in a 20 year old Ford Transit that wasn't even a 4x4, just an ordinary 2WD, as she likes to say "ordinary African people drive through Africa every day in ordinary vehicles so I knew it had to be possible".

She achieved her dream by driving 20,000kms through 18 West African countries over 8.5 months on her own for most of the journey. .

GoingHometoAfrica.com

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The chassis can handle it no worries. It’s the interior that’s the issue. The guy who did a bit years ago, mentioned how all the cabinets etc, shook and rattled itself to pieces.
Might be a better battle in a Beach than an Ocean or Coast.
I remember being in a Landcruise in Tanzania about 10 years ago. That thing shook like mad, but was built like a tank. The locals loved them.

 

[Velma's Dad]

I thought the opening of this video looked like the Sani Pass road.

I drove some of the roads in Lesotho nearly 20 years ago and the rocky ones off the main routes up to the villages were brutal even at walking pace. Shook the nuts off a couple of Nissan Navaras (or whatever model name they put on the D-series trucks in those days). I shudder to think how long anything less robust would have fared, but it really just depends how handy you are with a welder I guess and if there's a decent local supply of cheap shock absorbers (as there always seems to be in Africa).

However re that film, I think the Porsche testing was largely done in Morocco - we spotted a couple of what were probably their test mules in south west Morocco a few months ago. Erg Chebbi is used a lot for testing Dakar-type vehicles on dunes. They were very unkeen in having us take any photos.

 

[Defender90]

The chassis can handle it no worries. It’s the interior that’s the issue. The guy who did a bit years ago, mentioned how all the cabinets etc, shook and rattled itself to pieces.
Might be a better battle in a Beach than an Ocean or Coast.
I remember being in a Landcruise in Tanzania about 10 years ago. That thing shook like mad, but was built like a tank. The locals loved them.

Yes I watched that video a German 4x4 reviewer not the best review he highlights the glass worktop which he put a tea towel under it the table in the side door rattling the airline locker dropping and needing to add another lock,that’s it i think he was promoting the other two t6 campers ,the ocean would be as good as any with a few small mods the camper interior is alloy.The defender is screwed together with plastic and rattles like hell gaps everywhere that lets in water and dust i guess you could say not fit for purpose lol