Serious offroading - Range Rover, Shogun or Land Cruiser?
Discussion
More info needed - particularly budget.
However my friend goes serious green laning in a now very battered 80 series Land Cruiser - he is constantly waiting whilst the Land Rover boys fix / prep / grease something and half the time they break down before getting to the event.
The Land Cruiser hasn't broken in 2 very hard years (although was well prepared and has had preventative maintenance in the meantime)
It is the default choice in Africa / Australia for a reason.
However my friend goes serious green laning in a now very battered 80 series Land Cruiser - he is constantly waiting whilst the Land Rover boys fix / prep / grease something and half the time they break down before getting to the event.
The Land Cruiser hasn't broken in 2 very hard years (although was well prepared and has had preventative maintenance in the meantime)
It is the default choice in Africa / Australia for a reason.
Shouldn't it be a Defender in that list instead of the Range Rover.
If isolated and so on, then an (old model) Land Cruiser, seeing as the 3rd world in isolated areas does exactly that and is able to make constant repairs on the road, so guessing easy to fix and most issues are known so spares carried.
If isolated and so on, then an (old model) Land Cruiser, seeing as the 3rd world in isolated areas does exactly that and is able to make constant repairs on the road, so guessing easy to fix and most issues are known so spares carried.
I don't doubt the off-road ability of the Land Cruiser, but didn't Toyota do some very shrewd marketing by selling cheaply/giving them to the UN in order to bolster the "go anywhere" image?
Bicycle manufacturers sell a lot of very expensive road bikes in the UK that are unsuitable for use on UK roads but get usef thusly... If you looked on with the eyes of someone who had never visited the UK and took the "one sees a lot of them" view then people might think a carbon-framed slick-tyred velodrome special is a good choice for pedaling through drizzle and potholes...
Bicycle manufacturers sell a lot of very expensive road bikes in the UK that are unsuitable for use on UK roads but get usef thusly... If you looked on with the eyes of someone who had never visited the UK and took the "one sees a lot of them" view then people might think a carbon-framed slick-tyred velodrome special is a good choice for pedaling through drizzle and potholes...
donkmeister said:
I don't doubt the off-road ability of the Land Cruiser, but didn't Toyota do some very shrewd marketing by selling cheaply/giving them to the UN in order to bolster the "go anywhere" image?
Bicycle manufacturers sell a lot of very expensive road bikes in the UK that are unsuitable for use on UK roads but get usef thusly... If you looked on with the eyes of someone who had never visited the UK and took the "one sees a lot of them" view then people might think a carbon-framed slick-tyred velodrome special is a good choice for pedaling through drizzle and potholes...
My only experience of the issue was when I was in Bolivia, I took the Salt Plains tour. It lasts a week or so and the tour companies use locals as drivers, nearly all old land cruisers. These were peasant types making pennies who were running them on a shoestring.Bicycle manufacturers sell a lot of very expensive road bikes in the UK that are unsuitable for use on UK roads but get usef thusly... If you looked on with the eyes of someone who had never visited the UK and took the "one sees a lot of them" view then people might think a carbon-framed slick-tyred velodrome special is a good choice for pedaling through drizzle and potholes...
Yes they have issues and are not 100% reliable, but seem very fixable on the road.
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=bolivia+salt+pla...
Edited by hyphen on Friday 5th January 00:06
hyphen said:
My only experience of the issue was when I was in Bolivia, I took the Salt Plains tour. It lasts a week or so and the tour companies use locals as drivers, nearly all old land cruisers, very popular thing to do there. These were peasant types making pennies who were running them on a shoestring.
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=bolivia+salt+pla...
Probably last about 15 minutes before the salt rusts them to oblivion.https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=bolivia+salt+pla...
Can you think of a harsher environment for a car than running around at altitude with either blazing heat or freezing cold, while driving though a permanent sludge made of corrosive salt?
I mean, other than Liverpool, obviously.
hutchst said:
The general rule in Africa is if you want to go out into the bush, take a Land Rover. If you want to get home again as well, take a Land Cruuser.
The general rule?Not really. More like the marketing phrase dreamt up by Toyota for the Australian market.
It's often attributed to the locals, entirely incorrectly.
Nice try though.
Crossflow Kid said:
hutchst said:
The general rule in Africa is if you want to go out into the bush, take a Land Rover. If you want to get home again as well, take a Land Cruuser.
The general rule?Not really. More like the marketing phrase dreamt up by Toyota for the Australian market.
It's often attributed to the locals, entirely incorrectly.
Nice try though.
For serious offroading any older 4x4 with separate chassis, high and low gears and diff locks will be fine.
Better if diesel, with as less as possible electronics. Jacking up the body on the chassis for a 2-4 inches to fit bigger wheels will make the vehicle pass easier on obstacles, but also be worse on the road...
Better if diesel, with as less as possible electronics. Jacking up the body on the chassis for a 2-4 inches to fit bigger wheels will make the vehicle pass easier on obstacles, but also be worse on the road...
Cold said:
Need more info from the OP. Which vintage of each particular vehicle is being considered? What sort of environment is "seriously offroad"?
Fair question and must admit I'd not thought that deeply about it. I was watching a YouTube clip where they were using Shoguns in the desert and with Range Rover often reckoned to be about the best offroad capable vehicle and Land Cruisers the toughest, I was pondering what I'd use. Hence the question. Having spent a few years working in one of the most remote parts of sub-Saharan central Africa almost everyone there would say Land Cruiser for several reasons:
(1) availability of parts, spares and everyone knows who to fix them
(2) different levels of trim suitable for humanitarian worker, family right up to politician within same body
(3) welded rather than bolted together (Land Rover) so holds together better when shaken over the bumps.
I saw almost no Land Rovers, Nissan Pathfinders or Shoguns. I did ride occasionally in a very ancient G wagon and came across a few Izuzu troopers but reality is Land Cruiser gets you there and gets you home again and working in a war zone that's all that matters really.
(1) availability of parts, spares and everyone knows who to fix them
(2) different levels of trim suitable for humanitarian worker, family right up to politician within same body
(3) welded rather than bolted together (Land Rover) so holds together better when shaken over the bumps.
I saw almost no Land Rovers, Nissan Pathfinders or Shoguns. I did ride occasionally in a very ancient G wagon and came across a few Izuzu troopers but reality is Land Cruiser gets you there and gets you home again and working in a war zone that's all that matters really.
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