2019 Baja XL... who's in?

[smlobx]

We are! Current plan is four of us in a 2004 Cayenne in the GPS Racing class, but there's a possibility that we may add a second vehicle and bring it down to three per. We bought the car a few weeks ago and this weekend it's getting some prep. Still a lot of decisions to make, but it's all fun.

Our primary goal is to learn enough about the event that we can run one or two motorcycles in 2021.

Anton I don't know if you know but Porsche raced the Cayanne in the 2008 Transsyberian Rally and did very well. In fact they built 6(?) cars and I think all of them finished.
You could actually order a new Cayanne with the TR package straight from the factory so if you need something specific you still might be able to order it from the factory...

Here's one of many videos about the race..


Good luck!

 

[AntonLargiader]

Yes, that was a lot of the inspiration for us. The special offroad package is very rare in the used market; I don’t know if you could retrofit the disengageable sway bar, for example. FWIW the Transiberia cars were 957s; I think a few privateers entered 955s in 2006 or so and they were the inspiration for Porsche to create the Transiberia cars with the very first 957s.

We are underway! Mexico in about an hour.

 

[zelseman]

If you are in this rally or know someone that is, please respect private land owners. I know it is Baja and the wild-west so to speak, but cutting locks on gates in unacceptable. Had a group come through this AM, cut a gate and leave 200 PESOS. Respect the land please.

 

[AntonLargiader]

Well, we're back and it was a great time. Describing it will take a long time, which I don't have right now, but there were all kinds of crazy teams entered from the Vesparados to the Crown Vic guys. Modified vehicles seemed to have a harder time than stock ones. There were never enough hours in the day to do what we wanted and get to camp at a reasonable hour. We saw all kinds of cool things and pushed ourselves, mentally more than physically (the Cayenne was pretty comfortable). All we really broke was an air spring which we replaced on the spot with a spare that we carried. It took a lot of teamwork to keep the navigation, nutrition and general life organization moving in a positive direction but the other three guys were all really great and we never really even got mad at one another. Snippy for a moment or two, maybe.

Seeing the other teams make their way through the event was awesome, too. Battery-welding suspensions, fabricating motor mounts from old tire shreds, it was great to see people just deal with the problems without even losing the smiles from their faces. Plenty of inter-team help flowing all around.

I'll post more once I have more pics from the other team members.

 

[AntonLargiader]

MuleShoer, did you make it to the event? I see Monark Racing in the standings but I assume you were Brute Force in the team listing, and there's no number or results for that team.

 

[MuleShoer]

No i did not, 3 weeks before start my codriver bailed, it left no time to recover. A year of work torched. Very very disappointing. Looking for other opportunities though.
In the mean time as a consolation prize my wife signed me up for the El coyote expedition in April
2020 is CTD overland trip more to come after April
Thanks for asking

 

[AntonLargiader]

That's a real shame. I saw your posts looking for a co-driver last summer, but I didn't know that issue had resurfaced. Sounds like you are already on track for your next adventure.

Man, you go through some stuff! Sell the rack to get the wedge, sell the wedge to get something else. Onward!

 

[monark192]

Well, we're back and it was a great time. Describing it will take a long time, which I don't have right now, but there were all kinds of crazy teams entered from the Vesparados to the Crown Vic guys. Modified vehicles seemed to have a harder time than stock ones. There were never enough hours in the day to do what we wanted and get to camp at a reasonable hour. We saw all kinds of cool things and pushed ourselves, mentally more than physically (the Cayenne was pretty comfortable). All we really broke was an air spring which we replaced on the spot with a spare that we carried. It took a lot of teamwork to keep the navigation, nutrition and general life organization moving in a positive direction but the other three guys were all really great and we never really even got mad at one another. Snippy for a moment or two, maybe.

Seeing the other teams make their way through the event was awesome, too. Battery-welding suspensions, fabricating motor mounts from old tire shreds, it was great to see people just deal with the problems without even losing the smiles from their faces. Plenty of inter-team help flowing all around.

I'll post more once I have more pics from the other team members.

We made it all the way and had a blast. It was great to see the rally spirit with everyone helping each other - we were on the receiving end the day we got 2 flats in less than 5km. 12th overall in the GPS race category is not bad for rookies!

 

[MuleShoer]

Actually the wedge is becoming part of an overland trailer that im building now....then ill probably sell it lol. It proved to be a bit to much for the brute, figured it was better to tow it vs carry it..it did draw a lot of attention at SEMA though

 

[wantahertzdonut]

This is an event I've been considering for a little over a now. I like the idea and I'm local to the start/end. I've never done anything like this, can any of you tell me what's involved? Aside from a vehicle, what did you do to prepare?

 

[monark192]

This is an event I've been considering for a little over a now. I like the idea and I'm local to the start/end. I've never done anything like this, can any of you tell me what's involved? Aside from a vehicle, what did you do to prepare?

I ran in the GPS "race" class as a complete rookie, never having done anything like this before. Really didn't do too much to prepare other than making sure my Xterra was ready to go (good look over, fresh fluids, new all terrain tires). Basically, I had a 4x4 so added camping stuff (we camped all but 2 nights), packed a little food and hit the start line. We purchased the electronic map package from the organizers, figuring we needed all the help we could get, and had a blast. What a fun experience. We are going back in 2021!

Let me know if you have more questions.

 

[wantahertzdonut]

What did the whole thing cost you excluding the work done to your truck? Did you have any issues with the police?

 

[monark192]

What did the whole thing cost you excluding the work done to your truck? Did you have any issues with the police?

I would say it cost us about $2k over and above the entry fee. This includes hotels / camping at the end of each stage (hotels were optional, plenty of teams free camped close by and camping fees were less than $10 if required) gas (we did 2900 miles in 10 days), food, tolls, etc.

No issues with Police at all. Also went through lots of military check points with zero problems. Sometimes they just said hi, sometimes they wanted to look in the back, open the fridge or some of the other boxes. Always friendly and polite.

We are entered again for 2021.

 

[wantahertzdonut]

That's not bad at all. Pretty standard for a vacation that long.

I just heard from a coworker that there can be issues with Mexican gasoline. (dirty, low octane, etc) It seems surprising, but is there any truth to that? It's not like I can carry enough spare gas to make the whole trip. And obviously cars are driving around in Baja. Just wondering.

 

[monark192]

Never had any problems with the gas or heard of anyone else having problems on the rally.