Photologue: Conquering Zanskar in a Jeep Compass 4x4

Covered a total of 2343 km with the Compass returning an average fuel efficiency figure of around 11.5 km/l.

BHPian Pancham recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

The trip I had been waiting for - finally happened in July 2022. The Compass managed to complete the Zanskar trip. I had briefly mentioned this in the official thread but I haven't been able to pen down a travelogue or update this thread. The drive was overall smooth except for a few hiccups:

• I got a 'high oil temperature' warning while climbing up to Shinkula. This was at 5000m and understandably quite a high altitude for any modern car. I stopped and waited for a bit and the warning disappeared. It did not reappear for the rest of the trip
• One of the many scary moments of the trip: I got stuck in one of the waters (not river) crossings. That was a misjudgment on my part as it was late afternoon and I could not gauge the water level which was quite high. On top of that, there were deep ruts and the Compass got beached (almost). It was the scariest moment of the trip and it haunted me at every water crossing for the rest of the trip. I managed to put it on 4WD and reverse my way out. Otherwise, the car did really well at all other river/water crossings.
• Rattles here and there: For once I will not blame the car for this. The kind of road the Compass saw on this trip - no car deserves them. There were no roads for miles and miles and the Compass managed to take it all in its stride. It was just too torturous for it. End result: noise from the rear RHS door and a few other places which seem to have disappeared now. I was also worried about the low-profile tires so I went really slow.
• One notable point here is the tires. I have seen many people diss them (including me). I agree they are low-profile tires and it was genuinely a pain to be careful all the time. But the grip it provided was outstanding. I don't think I could have asked for better tires in terms of the grip - be it rain, river, sand, or rocks - it did pretty well. There was one time I had to reverse up a > 30-degree incline on a narrow stretch because a truck had come from the opposite side. The terrain was all sandy and super tricky but the tires managed really well.

Route taken: Manali - Atal tunnel - Darcha - Shinkula - Gonbo Rongjon - Kurghiak - Purne - Padum - Rangdum - Kargil - Leh - Manali

We had planned for Hanle as well but fellow Bhpian Slipstream's Thar had DEF issues because of this we had to cut short the trip. So now we have to plan another trip for Hanle and Umlingla Pass.

Total Trip distance: 2343 km

Avg. Fuel Efficiency: 11.5km/l (Lowest was 2.5kmpl on the way to Padum from Purne)

Conclusion: No matter what we say about this car and how much our janta compares this with the Creta and the likes - this car is one heck of an off-roader. Except for that one hiccup at the water crossing which was my mistake, it did not bat an eyelid and managed all other obstacles quite well. I am glad I went for the 4x4 variant.

Few pictures:

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