by Peter Phillpotts
(Off Road Design)
Bessi's Toyota Climbing
Hi Thrandur,
Thanks for the latest mag. I always enjoy your stories from Iceland and think your format; a picture followed by a short piece of text to fill in the details, is exactly spot on. Perfect for this medium.
The latest icecap tour was great: I was extremely impressed with the angle of the slope you were attempting in the picture of your friend Bessi's Toyota, stopped. Hard to believe such heavy machinery can climb SNOW slopes like this. I've driven off road in both snow and dry sand; very similar - almost nothing to grip on. Which engine does he have in this ?
As you know I prefer lighter machinery than most of you guys are using there, but could you tell me why you think Icelanders tend to use such big stuff ?
I ask because I have a couple of things I've built which might suit your conditions well, being around 1200kg with V8s. Neither is quite finished yet ( one is now in Sth Africa) and I'm reluctant to send pics before they're ready, but I will definitely send some as soon as they are.
My question really is: do people use big Nissans and Toyotas mainly because that's all there is which is any good, or do they really want all the carrying capacity ? I appreciate your conditions demand lots of gear.
But would they use something around 2400 mm wheelbase and weighing near half as much as a big Cruiser, if it was available ?
You could get the same flotation with 33-36" tyres for this weight I reckon, a huge saving in cost, without all the mods needed to the bigger car too.
The fact that you don't see many Jeep Wranglers there bothers me because this would be pretty close to what I've just described, though without V8. Is it a matter of having a good big diesel engine ? A car half the weight should be just as cheap for fuel on petrol as a 2500kg 4,2 litre diesel.
I'd really appreciate your opinion on this and hope you can spare a few minutes to let me know what you think.
Regards,
Peter Phillpotts
Off Road Design
Chesterfield
Derbyshire
UK
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Thanks Peter!
These are good points and things to consider!
Bessi's Toyota is a 2.4 Turbo Diesel with a little over 100 hp. The truck may be big but it is not too heavy - less than two tons.
The reason why there are fewer shorter wheelbase vehicles is probably because with longer wheelbase you get better suspension getting rid of the constant back and forth movement - so you can go a little faster.
Lighter vehicles are also more dangerous in river crossing. On smaller tires they have more risk on having the river get a hold of them.
A big 4x4 with lots of carrying capacity is also more usable in everyday situation. People use them to go touring the country with the family, skiing with equipment, hunting etc. etc.
In the end it should be up to each individual to choose the 4x4 that suits best.
Hope this sheds some light on our thinking...
All the best,
Thrandur
4x4OffRoads.com
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