The LR4 — Crossing America Offroad with Tom Collins at the helm!

[brickpaul65]

Can I buy one of those LR4's for a discount...because...umm...well, I just want one.

 

[Howski]

So did I miss something? Did they skip Oregon except for the beach or did they just run out of digits in their digital cameras? I don't see even one Oregon shot or write up except for the coast shot. Maybe I'm getting Al-whathisname disease! A least half of this state is dirt roads.

I believe they skipped out on portions in Oregon due to wildfires. Someone mentioned it several pages ago.

 

[bobDog]

I believe they skipped out on portions in Oregon due to wildfires. Someone mentioned it several pages ago.

Well its not like the whole states on fire! Seriously they could fine 100's of dirt routes around problem areas and they had enough time left to go to Eugene and drive back down the coast on 95% dirt roads.....geeez.

 

[Scott Brady]

Well its not like the whole states on fire! Seriously they could fine 100's of dirt routes around problem areas and they had enough time left to go to Eugene and drive back down the coast on 95% dirt roads.....geeez.

They only missed 15 miles because of the fires, maybe less. They also returned from the other side to retrace the route and ensure that they completed the entire route.

BTW, Ray Hyland is in the bottom left of the image above. We are going through a few thousand images taken during the trip.

 

[Scott Brady]

The images from Oregon are starting to flow through

 

[Mack73]

No chainsaw?

Seems like a pretty basic piece of kit for the journey they were going to be taking.

 

[umbertob]

Axes make for dramatic photo ops! Would a guy standing there holding a big smoky yellow chainsaw even be worthy of a shot? Seriously, what a great picture, very Camel Trophyish. Can't wait to see more.

 

[Scott Brady]

No chainsaw?

Seems like a pretty basic piece of kit for the journey they were going to be taking.

Ray is Canadian. Human chainsaw.

As I understand the situation, it was a good-natured competition. There was a chainsaw in the roof box, and Ray bet he could get through the tree before they could get the chainsaw out and fired up.

It is interesting that people assume this team was unprepared from a single photo (given that the leader is ex-Camel Trophy director and responsible for most of the major NA LR adventures). It is also interesting that the chainsaw is the first thing considered by many. Unless you have to hack 20 trees, an Axe can be a great break from the truck and get the heart pumping. It is valuable to work with all tools you keep in the vehicle. It is also fun just to hack away at a tree every once in a while.

 

[bobDog]

In Oregon if you haven't mastered a chainsaw by 12 years old you're a sheltered city kid. by 6 they know axes are hard work.

 

[Mack73]

Ray is Canadian. Human chainsaw.

As I understand the situation, it was a good-natured competition. There was a chainsaw in the roof box, and Ray bet he could get through the tree before they could get the chainsaw out and fired up.

It is interesting that people assume this team was unprepared from a single photo (given that the leader is ex-Camel Trophy director and responsible for most of the major NA LR adventures). It is also interesting that the chainsaw is the first thing considered by many. Unless you have to hack 20 trees, an Axe can be a great break from the truck and get the heart pumping. It is valuable to work with all tools you keep in the vehicle. It is also fun just to hack away at a tree every once in a while.

no disrespect intended. Haha this is probably a perspective thing. Up in the PNW all we do is offroad in trees. Hell I've had to cut trees just to get to hiking trail heads

 

[bobDog]

no disrespect intended. Haha this is probably a perspective thing. Up in the PNW all we do is offroad in trees. Hell I've had to cut trees just to get to hiking trail heads

Yep.....Chainsaw for trees....ax to split the firewood. :>)

 

[Eniam17]

Scott, do you know if they were using something like a IID tool to allow them to run in off road height while exceeding 30 mph?

 

[SteveMfr]

Look at the Evoque and the new RRS. Both don't have low range and are pretty much road cars.

This is not correct. Only the lowest model RRS does not have a transfer case (and even there it is an option) - and there is some speculation that it is due to fleet mileage / emissions requirements in different markets.

I spent a day in a RRS TDV6 this past week - and it def had low range.

Sorry for the very late reply - I felt this had to be corrected, tho.

 

[madmax718]

Now since I know that comparisons will be drawn; no, his vehicle is not showroom stock ... but he did attempt it as a solo vehicle trip, with one passenger. He completed a total of 9500 miles, round trip, in roughly 4 weeks. Yes there were a few small portions of his trip that were on pavement, but I believe he held to a common goal with the LR trip: to minimize tarmac usage.

My main reason for posting, though, was to point out that the TAT *has* been attempted by a 4x4 SUV prior to this LR trip; and to provide folks with a link to that trip report. Plus, since it's clearly a bigger deal than shimi's giving himself credit for, I had hoped to maybe get him a bit more visibility in the "overlanding community".

I know he is your personal friend and all, but lets look at the information we have available:
His vehicle is far from showroom stock, nor "dealer equipped options". the LR4's are using dealer options I believe, so anyone, can get the options, and still have a factory warranty.

Lets compare the mods:
LR4: winch and roof rack. Otherwise a stock vehicle, stock all season high performance tires.

Xterra: Lift kit, oversized mud terrain tires (35's? Cant tell) on 16 or 17" wheels, high clearance winch bumper, front skid plate, rock sliders on the side, and that is just the parts I can see.

Your saying he covered approximately 316 miles a day, including all those stops he made, all "mostly" off road.Ok, lets shave 1000 of those, since the trial head doesnt begin til Tennessee, so we'll give him two days + 1000 miles for the round trip from TN to NY. so 283 mostly offroad a day?

He attempted, but did not complete. Its still a good effort, but we didn't give the Russians a second place prize for almost reaching the moon.

I have my own doubts as to how much of the trail he actually completed on dirt vs on road. No rocks, no boulders, no trail clearing, no rain.. There are some narrow sections, yet not one picture anywhere of his show that. Im not saying he didn't, Im just saying, I have my doubts. Especially when one has only vague pictures and details, where as the other one has journalists documenting it.

 

[David Harris]

I know he is your personal friend and all, but lets look at the information we have available:
His vehicle is far from showroom stock, nor "dealer equipped options". the LR4's are using dealer options I believe, so anyone, can get the options, and still have a factory warranty.

Lets compare the mods:
LR4: winch and roof rack. Otherwise a stock vehicle, stock all season high performance tires.

Xterra: Lift kit, oversized mud terrain tires (35's? Cant tell) on 16 or 17" wheels, high clearance winch bumper, front skid plate, rock sliders on the side, and that is just the parts I can see.

Your saying he covered approximately 316 miles a day, including all those stops he made, all "mostly" off road.Ok, lets shave 1000 of those, since the trial head doesnt begin til Tennessee, so we'll give him two days + 1000 miles for the round trip from TN to NY. so 283 mostly offroad a day?

He attempted, but did not complete. Its still a good effort, but we didn't give the Russians a second place prize for almost reaching the moon.

I have my own doubts as to how much of the trail he actually completed on dirt vs on road. No rocks, no boulders, no trail clearing, no rain.. There are some narrow sections, yet not one picture anywhere of his show that. Im not saying he didn't, Im just saying, I have my doubts. Especially when one has only vague pictures and details, where as the other one has journalists documenting it.

It doesn't matter if the Nissan was modded or not, since you don't even need mods to complete the trip. A high clearance 2WD would do as well. Also, the Land Rovers didn't officially complete the trip either since they had to bypass in Oregon due to the wildfires. So, technically the TAT is still uncompleted by an SUV, unless someone else has already done it, but not been documented. Or it has been documented but we just don't now about it. Actually, it's hard to believe that it hasn't been done before this. Maybe the Land Rover trip just had the advantage of better press? Who knows? Finally, the TAT's the TAT, and nothing else. There are undoubtedly other legitimate ways to do the same thing.