Sunday May 11, 2008 Chris Saul's Blog
Sunday May 11, 2008 Here's a 'real' Land Rover.
The photo was taken by Captain Alexander Allan of the Grenadier Guards, during deployment in Helmand, Afghanistan. My father recently bought this and one other photo at an exhibition in Chelsea Barracks in support of the army's benevolent fund.
The squad is known as an MIT - Mentoring and Instruction Team. Their role was to mentor and train the Afghan National Army.
(The scan has clipped off the chap on the left, but it's still worth posting!)
I'd love to have the chance to drive one of these as well as one of the famous 'Pink Panther' Land Rovers, the first military vehicles to be adapted for the desert.
Photo from Topgear.com
Wednesday May 07, 2008 Supercharged Range Rover - not for dune bashing
Whenever a new Range Rover is brought out, news articles usually breathlessly report that Land Rover have conducted 'extensive testing' in the deserts of the UAE.
I've really no idea what those Land Rover engineers are actually doing, as the Range Rover, despite its many, many good points, is a car that has been hobbled for sand driving - it may be great in mud, water and on rocks, but it fails in the dunes.
Last weekend I got the chance to accompany a friend of ours, Mark Daffey, on a trip to the Empty Quarter to review a 2008 superchared Range Rover. Mark edits Portfolio, Emirates' business and first class magazine. It occasionally features a world leading columnist who also happens to be one of the most interesting bloggers writing today.
We went along in our Wrangler with Sharky, a friend from ME4x4, kindly offering to lead.
I was lucky enough to drive the Range Rover a fair bit.
First impressions were excellent - little's changed on the outside, beyond a new grid design for the front grill and gills. Our 2003 model's interior is beautiful and Land Rover have again left well alone - the addition of a simple cup holder to replace the Heath Robinson style holders of the earlier models, coupled with a few more air vents for quieter AC make a big difference. Getting in and out was easier as well - you have to be careful not to lean too hard on the plastic around the seat on the older model, but Land Rover appear to have positioned things better this time around. Some poor decisions still persist though - the plastic coating around the electric window controls and on the steering wheel appears unchanged. Look at any Range Rover over two years old and you'll see that this coating quickly starts to peel - not something you expect from a car this expensive. Look at a two year old Lexus 470 and I don't think you'll find anything peeling.
The new model sees the BMW 4.4 litre V8 replaced with a Jaguar based 4.2 litre V8. Our supercharged version has 400Bhp roaring under the bonnet. The ride that this delivers, coupled with the Rangie's air suspension, is incredible. This was the first time I've driven a car where flooring the accelerator actually pins you to the back of your seat. Doing this in a 2.5 tonne 4x4 on a rough track really is something else.
On tracks and gentle dunes, the Range Rover's ride quality is truly superb. Bumps are absorbed even at high speeds. I drove the car back down a track I had driven up in in the Wrangler, jolting and bumping along, deafened by AC fans at full blast and noise coming up through the floor. Driving back in the Range Rover was a revelation.
Sadly, when it got to real dune driving, the Range Rover was a colossal let down.
Much of the blame can be pinned on its low profile tyres. Sadly the dealer didn't swap them for higher profile tyres more suited to desert driving, which was a real shame. That said, although they look good, does the Range Rover really need such low profile tyres? 90% of owners will never go offroad, but part of the fun in owning a Range Rover is that you know that you could if you wanted to. Other comparable models - the new Lexus LX570 and even the three tonne Nissan Armada behemoth, for example - ship with tyres that look good but which are much more general purpose.
Whilst riding on gatch tracks and smooth sand was a pleasure, things went south when we tried something more challenging. Deflating the low profile tyres to 13psi didn't deliver a lot of extra grip, but things seemed ok at first. Turning sharply on dunes however filtered up awful grinding noises into the cabin that may have been caused the rims rubbing on the sand. Braking seemed to fail completely as well - touching the brakes at certain key moments felt like metal crushing metal. This may have been sand getting between the discs and brakes, but my Wrangler's front disc brakes have never made sounds like it.
Worse still was the fact that the car's electronics hobble it for this kind of terrain. Dune driving is not usually about approaching things slowly and surely - you need speed, torque and a driver in strict control of how to use it.
My 03 Ranger Rover has a five speed automatic gearbox, with high and low ratio and the ability to select gears 'tiptronic' style. The new model has inherited its offroad features from the LR3. There are various settings - sand, rocks, snow, etc. There's also a six speed automatic in addition, of course, to high and low range.
Mark wanted to get some shots of the car driving along a simple dune. I started off using the 'sand' setting, but had trouble with the gearbox changing up at crucial moments, losing me speed and momentum and forcing me to turn sharply back down a dune that I should easily have been able to cruise along the top of, albeit at a sharp angle.
To counter this, I decided to try low range and manually choose the gears. In the Wrangler, most of my desert driving's done in low range, using third fourth and fifth. The extra torque gives you the power you need without requiring the speed that high-range demands to keep momentum.
Sadly, the Range Rover's gearbox only lets you manually select gears up to third, effectively making it useless for most decent dune driving. This video shows the Wrangler negotiating a fantastic bowl in Sweihan. I'm in fourth and fifth in low range for most of it. Doing something like that in the Range Rover would require you to be in full automatic the whole time, something that would rob the driver of the control he'd need to do it safely.
Third gear was fine for the simple dune we were attacking. At first I was pretty pleased - control and power were put back in my hands. Unfortunately, I kept hitting the kickdown button when flooring the accelerator, which pushed me down into second gear. I don't know if all automatics still have kickdown working when you're in tiptronic mode, but it was a real pain. When you're bouncing around in the desert, you're not able to keep your foot hovering just at the right position to avoid changing down a gear by mistake.
Another piece of electronic wizardry robs the driver of control in the sand. The Range Rover's air suspension can be raised to increase clearance from just under 9 inches up to 11 inches, as well as drastically improving the car's approach and departure angle. Unfortunately, drive over 30 miles an hour and it automatically lowers itself. This is the last thing you want to happen, particularly with a front bumper whose design makes it a big sand scoop.
We drove over a small bump that really shouldn't have been an issue - it certainly wouldn't have been in a Land Cruiser - and caught the bottom of the bumper, cracking it slightly and ripping off the plastic trim that covers the wheel arch.
We decided to call it a day at this point to avoid further damage.
Every review I have read says that the Range Rover is not just a beautiful luxury car, but a very capable offroad vehicle as well, with electronics that really helps the driver. Granted, higher profile tyres would have made a real difference, but the other problems suggest that when Land Rover engineers are testing Range Rovers in Dubai, they're either sticking to the wadis, enjoying the fantastic empty motorways or just making sure the AC works properly. I might take mine to Fossil Rock, but the Wrangler will be tackling future sandy outings.
I did see a local gentleman driving down Beach Road the other day in a Range Rover with fully modified front and rear bumpers and full sand tyres. His changes, coupled with the car's luxury ride, must make it great fun on the dunes. I wonder what he did with the water bottle though? For some strange reason it's embedded into the bumper, making modifications hard.
I should add that the dune driving we did was actually back at our usual stomping ground, Area 53. This was because shortly after airing down...
...we only spent 5 minutes in the sands of Liwa before Sharky was incredibly unlucky and wedged his Discovery. The sun was high and there were no shadows to give away a small dip, which he plunged into sideways, pushing his bumper and winch up a few inches, squashing his radiator. He was easily pulled out...
...but it would have been unwise to continue. Sharky headed home and we drove to Area 53 to get some shots and camp.
To be honest, given the Range Rover's poor performance in the sand, it was probably a good thing.
You can see a video of the Range Rover on the sand track here and pulling out the Discovery here>.
All in all, a good day out, if a little accident prone. Sharky's stuck, the Range Rover's bumper - my Max Air pump also broke, as did Mark's glasses! Maybe it was just not meant to be.
I must say a big thank you to Nick for letting me 'have a go'. Nick is Mark's colleague and he'll be writing the article for Portfolio.
Nothing to break and the driver's in full control:
This is probably your most reliable form of desert transport, however:
Thursday April 24, 2008 Web 2.0ey Googley mashuppy serendipityiousness 3.0
I had a quick play with Google Earth today and typed in 'sweihan' for fun, Sweihan being an area we've done two trips to recently.
Sweihan duly appeared and I noticed that someone had associated a video with the location in Google Earth. Clicking launched a YouTube video - looking closely I recognised a stylish and particularly well driven Jeep Wrangler. Mine! It turned out that the video had been taken by Dimitry, who'd been on the first trip we'd done and had posted a short video onto YouTube. Cool!
Here's the vid -
Wednesday March 19, 2008 The Wrangler's new radiator seems to be doing its job...
Start in low range, third gear, then up to fourth and fifth, down into fourth and third coming back down to let the engine do the braking. When you're in the bowl it's quite hard to see where you are exactly - you're just surrounded by sand! The guys with Nissan Patrols and tiptronic gears found things a little easier. Spend too much time changing from third and up on the Wrangler and you lose power when you need it, spend too much time with the clutch depressed when coming down and you have a tonne and a half of Jeep with no power and control whizzing ever downwards.
An incredible trip, this one. Really pushed me in terms of understanding what the car can do. No major stucks all day, either. The bigger the dunes, the less often people seem to get wedged.
Here's the view over the edge of the bowl. We didn't drive down from there - this time at least...
What lies beneath...
Here are some pics of my broken radiator from the other week's trip to Area 53.
It went bang after some harder than usual pounding up a rather large dune - the garage said it was caused by a faulty radiator cap. Apparently the cap is more than just a simple lid, but also acts as a valve, releasing pressure when needed.
It's now fixed and seems to be working fine.
Gingerly approaching the still steaming Wrangler...
2,000DHs worth of broken plastic.
Duncan had a great stuck earlier on in the trip. As usual, the worse they look, the easier they often are. He just drove the Pathfinder down the dune, righting it in the process.
Helping Babu move the Wrangler onto the truck by the power of only one hand.
Why worry about getting stuck when this awesome team of desert geniuses is on hand... to get even more stuck than you.
Monday January 28, 2008 We had a great trip to Area 53 again a couple of weeks ago. Why Area 53 again? Because it's great fun to drive around!
I love this picture, courtesy of Mrs Saul, of Simon being de-stucked. Note he's attached to another stuck car. This is why you go out in threes....
Pete had a sticky moment too. Whilst we were digging him out before giving him a push, some helpful guys on quad bikes drove up and asked if we needed any help, which was very friendly of them. I declined as we were fine. 'Push him down the hill' was their helpful advice. Thanks chaps, I'd never have worked that one out.
Unusually we saw some camels right at the top of a big dune 'hill'. Usually they stay around the base of the steeper hills, but they were obviously feeling as adventurous as we were.
So far we've had some great drives this season. I'm that bit more confident and am happy to lead trips where previously I would only have followed.
Up and over.
Friday December 21, 2007 We've finally got around to doing a couple of great off road trips.
First off was a trip to 'Area 53', a couple of weeks ago. Two Wranglers and a long wheel base Pajero...
Early on in the trip Rupert fell victim to technology thinking it knows better. His Pajero was in Drive, rather than locked in second or third, so it decided to change up a gear just at the wrong moment, leaving Rupert stranded rather precariously.
I raced up to secure the back of the Pajero, so that he'd be anchored when trying to turn down, should he start to roll. Unfortunately I misjudged things and got stuck myself.
Once Simon had pulled me back out, I attached my rope to the Pajero and Rupert inched back down without any problems. Still, better safe then sorry.
No major stucks for the rest of the day - just enjoying some very big, sweeping dunes.
Last week we went to Sweihan with my new colleague, Gerard. Even bigger dunes, plus the fact that we were following rather than leading, meant a super day's driving. Brilliant fun, particularly in one huge bowl that saw me driving round and round in fifth gear and low range, in order to keep momentum up and revs down. Incredible stuff. No photos though - we were having so much fun Mrs Saul forgot to take any.
Full set of the Area 53 pics here.
( Dec 21 2007, 03:19:05 PM GST ) Permalink Comments [4]I would have loved to go desert driving...
...with this man.
I wonder if he'd have enjoyed whizzing around Dubai's dunes in the Wrangler? 'Pah, we used to do this in old Fords with one cylinder and half a wheel!'. I think the Brigadier would have enjoyed himself.
( Dec 21 2007, 01:58:17 PM GST ) Permalink
Wednesday December 12, 2007 Of all the great 'tests' they do on Top Gear, this one has to be the best I've seen.
I'd love to take a Range Rover or Range Rover Sport out into the desert. I expect you'd be more likely to crack the front spoiler off than you would on driving over a Range Rover's traditional mud filled terrain, but you'd have a very comfortable and fun time in the process.
( Dec 12 2007, 01:01:14 AM GST ) Permalink
Saturday July 07, 2007 I need to visit Namibia immediately.
Any partners out there with big potential desktop deals? Or who need some training so they can start developing some big potential desktop deals?
( Jul 07 2007, 10:26:04 PM GST ) Permalink Comments [1]
Monday April 16, 2007 I spotted the new Wrangler Sahara and Wrangler Unlimited near our apartment yesterday.
First impressions:
The Wrangler looks cool, but I'm concerned about overhang on the front bumper - it looks like a big sand scoop. Apparently though, approach and departure angles are better than my model. The insides look more comfy and the rescue hooks look fairly decent. Anything, in that department, would be better than the paper clips masquerading as recovery points that Jeep have mysteriously used for so long.
The Wrangler Unlimited also looks cool - I've seen it on the web and simply not 'got it' until now. Seeing it in real life I now understand why people might want to buy it. I think it's a niche vehicle - certainly not a family alternative to the standard Wrangler - but it looks capable all the same. I'll be very interested to see how well it sells and who buys it.
Friday April 13, 2007 We spent a fun day driving around 'Area 53' today, a spot with some challenging dunes near Big Red.
As we were with some beginners I only had one try at getting up this particular slipface.
Next time we'll take three cars with experienced drivers and push things a little harder, but today was still great fun. My highlight was whizzing along a very steep, high ridge, wind-blown sand streaming over the lip and the Jeep cutting through at high speed. Exhilarating stuff.
After lunch we met up with our TV producer friend Rupert, who needed to film 6 cars in the dunes for a project he's working on. This meant driving around for two hours being filmed from various angles.
Driving practically bumper to bumper looks good on film, but isn't the safest way to cross the desert, but we managed it without any incidents. For the last section the crew mounted their camera on the back of their Chevy Tahoe and asked me to lead the convoy so they could get some shots of the 6 cars following us. I enjoyed driving the Tahoe - powerful and very heavy, so it kept going in a straight line on sections where the Wrangler usually needs more careful handling. I wouldn't want to have to tow it out when it gets stuck though.
Apparently the crew got some good footage. Mrs Saul was the next car behind us, so hopefully I'll have something to post here soon.
The highlight of the day was seeing these three mother camels with their babies beside them, their mothers protecting them from the wind.
Mrs Saul got a nice shot of the new Dubai skyline on the way back. We'll be living here by early September, God willing.
Friday March 16, 2007 We were meant to do a drive today but abandoned it due to the heavy winds blowing across Dubai. We managed to get about 15 minutes into the dunes, but visibility was terrible and it was hard to see the outline of the terrain we were driving over. Even where you could see the lips of the dunes clearly the wind had often created a precipice on the other side, making for some rather steep descents. The sand was flowing over the ground, looking more like ghostly yellow fog, making the going very soft indeed.
At one point I stopped the Wrangler sideways to the wind and half the desert seemed to blow into the Jeep, even though all the doors and windows were closed. Maybe we'll manage a trip next week...
( Mar 16 2007, 04:22:28 PM GST ) Permalink
Saturday March 10, 2007 Carol Cooney from the Sun Dubai office has been an offroad fanatic for ages - when I first met her she was driving a lovely short wheel base Land Rover Defender 90. She's now moved onto a short wheel base Nissan Patrol via a 110 Defender Tomb Raider. The Patrol's just for 'normal trips' though... The real fun's going to be had in her heavily customised Jeep Wrangler, which she hopes to drive in local rallies.
Carol had asked people in the office if anyone could help her out with some promo pics of her and co-driver Be. I volunteered Mrs Saul for the job, so we went with Carol and Be for a short drive today, along with another amateur photographer from Sun Dubai, Kevin.
Mrs Saul got some great shots.
Unfortunately my double chin and I weren't able to fit in to the rally seats - they're fixed in place and positioned to be just right for Carol, who's a wee bit shorter than I am.
The area we were in is actually where I'd planned to go for a drive last week, but we didn't quite make it. I'm planning to be there this coming weekend though - some great big dunes to climb, big bowls and good slipfaces galore.
All the best to Carol and Be in their rallying endeavours! (More pics here.)
The amount of rubbish lying around popular offroading sites is really beginning to annoy me.
It's far worse than it was four years ago and it's always a certain kind of offroader that seems to be the culprit. You see people literally sitting in their rubbish, throwing things out of the window and generally not behaving very well.
My worry is that the various municipalities who are responsible for these areas will end up being forced to clamp down on people using the desert and we'll end up with a great hobby being ruined thanks to a few morons who think it's acceptable to throw litter everywhere.
( Mar 10 2007, 05:40:10 PM GST ) Permalink