Range Rover (L322) Overland - a first!

[zeroland]

This is a first for a Trans-Africa trip: A late 2003 Range Rover (L322) model!

Extract from the diary:
"Apart from a more general desire to explore the ‘dark continent’, one of the other sub-reasons for doing the trip was to answer the question “would it be possible to drive through Africa in an unmodified, current-model (L322) Range Rover?” as, to the best of our knowledge, it hasn’t been done before. (Why on earth anyone would ask such a question in the first place is another subject altogether but it involved several glasses of red wine and the Rangie being referred to as a Chelsea Tractor…)"

See more here: http://www.africa-overland.net/Bio-870-Lilongwe-Down

 

[David Harris]

I'll be following this closely. The journey will be a great test of a modern Land Rover's stamina in tough conditions day after day. I was once speaking with a man who crossed the Sahara for a living, and he said that very few vehicles make it across without some sort of breakdown.

 

[Oilworker]

There´s nothing to follow anymore, as their trip ended on July 10th.
Just a lot to read up on as I am just doing....

It´s definitly a very comfortable way to cross the continent.

 

[David Harris]

Oops, didn't look at the link yet . . . Yes, definitely the most comfortable way to cross Africa.

 

[David Harris]

The Rangie did great. Pretty much completely reliable except for a few malfunctioning sensors and accessories due to dust and jostling (i.e. parking sensors, info screen, etc.). No mechanical breakdowns at all. Interesting to note that potential bad people left them alone due to the luxury image of the Rangie. It made them seem like VIPs, and therefore to be left alone. Also, this Rangie already had over 80K miles on it before beginning, so it wasn't brand new. The TD6 handled poor fuel fine as well. A Land Cruiser couldn't have done any better on this 17,700 mile journey.

 

[LeoLR]

I am hoping Raymond and his wife will be joining our group for our drive to Cape Horn.

 

[AxeAngel]

I've done Lilongwe to Johannesburg in a 2003 RR, quite a distance but not as much as these guys did.

My only fear is that I couldn't fix much on the range if it broke down. The arrangement of drive shaft, engine and front suspension worries me. All the x5s with that geometry were recalled.

-Sam

 

[nwoods]

The arrangement of drive shaft, engine and front suspension worries me. All the x5s with that geometry were recalled.

-Sam

So were these Range Rovers. I'm not sure of the model years, but definitely the first few years of the MkIII were recalled with bad diff's in the front.