The first Adventure Zone SUV Off-Road Excursion went amazingly! The participants enjoyed themselves thoroughly, especially the poor chap driving the Skoda Yeti that was scraping in one too many places. He really enjoyed the experience though and has promised to return for the
Next Event (Jan 6th)! No visible damage to any of the vehicles.
Participating SUVs this time were a Mitsubishi Pajero Sport, Landrover Freelander, Skoda Yeti, Hyundai Tuscon, Mahindra Bolero, and a Ford Endeavour. We were also joined by about 10 Jeeps in which SUV participants got to ride in to experience more extreme obstacles from the passenger seat.
If there was one thing I was impressed by, it was the
Pajero Sport. Good ground clearance for a stock vehicle, good approach and departure angles, and impressive articulation in the front axle for an IFS setup. It got a small scrape on the side step though because it is hanging around 4 inches lower than the body! Have advised the owner to rid himself of the low hanging nuisance.
The
Freelander had good approach and departure angles but lacked the ground clearance. It performed admirably with the terrain response saving it in a few spots (upcoming video will show this). I have also informed him of Ironman 4x4 and ARB in case he wants to get a 2" suspension lift for better off road performance.
The
Skoda Yeti was just scraping a bit too much due to the sedan like ground clearance but I was very glad to see that the owner who had come with his family was enjoying himself thoroughly regardless. What a brave fellow I must say. The owner has loads of interest but sadly he is in a vehicle that is not quite meant for this kind of terrain.
The
Hyundai Tuscon was definitely a little surprise packet, having decent ground clearance and performing well also due in part to the owner driving it well. He already has prior off road experience (he owns a Pajero and an Imported LHD Grand Cherokee as well).
The
Bolero with solid axle front and rear with EXCELLENT approach and good departure angle just breezed through the course except for the slush pit at the end where nothing less than MTs sufficed.
My
Endeavour performed faultlessly as usual and I was most impressed by how it just strolled through the deep water and slush without even hesitating. This one I will attribute a majority to the Maxxis Bighorn MTs though. Still, I fall more and more in love with my vehicle every single day
At the end of the day after finishing up with the slush obstacle on the edge of the lake, people were getting hungry so we started to head back to camp. On the way back we were driving through a slightly boggy part on the edge of the lake and I noticed some deep ruts in front of me which I was careful to avoid. I had mentioned to the participants during the drivers briefing to always look ahead an plan your route and I hoped that they would heed this piece of advice. However, the Skoda yeti driver, probably due to overconfidence or for whatever reason, decided to drive straight through the ruts and got royally stuck in the soft undersoil. We needed to hook up THREE vehicles in order to be able to winch him out! Got all participants back to the camp after that for some lime juice, a tasty meal (veg and non-veg) and discussion about the days events.
It was blatantly obvious to anyone there that every single one of the SUV drivers had a blast and they were itching for another event. They made sure we jotted down all their numbers to ensure that they are invited for the next event.
We reassured them that the next hoorah will be on January 6th so they can look forward to a grand way to celebrate the start of the next year! I hope all you SUV owners make a resolution to put your SUVs to good use because there will be one every 1 or 2 months!
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Few photos attached below but a ton more to come, including some video as well. Stay Tuned!