..started shearing almost as soon as we got home, been a little busy, but here is a few pics First day, at the Mt. Panorama prologue. Car all shiny and new. The road from Louth to Wanaaring, (a quick comfort stop). we sat on 150KpH on this road for a little over an hour, it was in an unusually good condition (this was a transport stage, not competitive) this is what a competitive stage around Burrendong Dam looked like, we are on a 60 degree slope, going up, and yes, there is a track there. Overnight at the Tibboburra Starlight Hilton, just waiting for the maid to turn down the covers, and put the chokkie on the pillow. Believe it or not, this is a Jeep (or before they ripped out half the side, it looked like a Jeep) One of the two identical *rodeo's* driven by Peter perfect, and John Hedrics (who won). If you ever see any advertising material, saying Rodeos won the 'Safari', bear in mind, a Rodeo, from the factory doesnt have a Gen III 5.7L motor, a 6 speed sequential gearbox, an independant rear end from a Pajero, and about $5000 worth of shocks on each corner, plus other less subtle goodies, and you would hope (if you owned one) somebody would not have to weld the thing back together each night. KTM ridden by Andy Caldecott. Drool. Guess who opens the gates (hint...not the driver) Being a sharp eyed reader, you may note the unusually large front hub on this Yamaha. Its the 2WD version of the WR450 (hydraulically driven front wheel). May have won the PARIS-DAKAR, but was no match for the Australian Outback. Peter Perfect...the look says it all. At the finish in Bathurst, proving we got the Navara back in one peice. No action photos, as being the fast Zero, we are just in front of the first competitor, and funny thing, the first competitor is the fastest one, so we dont really have time to count dasies along the way, but we never got caught, although a couple of times we finished a competitive section only a couple of minutes in front of the front runner. As promised Pete, an honest evaluation of the Navara's performance. To start, I would actually go out and buy one myself, although I think I would opt for the 3.5 petrol version (we had the 3.0L turbo diesel). Although the Turbo Diesel has engine management, and has great fuel consumption, the petrol would equall it, and petrol is cheaper. Good points.. seat was comfortable..albeit only after a couple of days, when it settled in, and you can tell Jen. the back seat is comfortable, for kids, the leg room is a little lacking for adults. ..Diesel engine management (computor) ..Electric mirrors and windows..CD player..unusual white faced instruments, but OK when I got used to them, comfortable seats, repeat this because it was important to me...sensible dash, whith all controls in easy reach...no hand throttle, but a warm up switch, which idled the motor up to about 1800rpm, and if you forgot to turn it off, when in gear, the idle dropped back. Mediocre points..Whith the technology of today, why do they insist on putting drum brakes on the back wheels?..not good 4WD driving position, more like a car, ie sitting down and looking out, not sitting up and looking down (cant see what you are going to hit)...The alloy roll bar is pure ornament, which if you look closly, you will see why. Bad points...didnt really find any. All in all a well behaved 4WD, which handled well, stopped well, and (the diesel) went quite well. Without cruise controll, it really is quite difficult to keep it on legal speeds, despite the road surface. The front torsion bar was wound up 4 full turns, which stopped the suspension bottoming out quite so often, but by day five we had no functioning shocks on the vehicle. All in all (and I get to test quite a few different 4WD's to the maximum), I would reccomend it as a good investment, in fact I am considering one myself next year. Regards GT :thumbsup:
Great read and pics..... a bit different to the usual motorsport we see on here, but fantastic nonetheless.. So besides getting it back in one piece, any nasty dints or scratches??.. Cheers
Great pics and write up..>> Thanks for the fantastic pics and the feedback on the Navara. The only thing I am worried about is the kids are getting older 11 and 14, so they are not little. Back seat room and comfort would be a big factor when we will be using this vehicle for long trips. I am going to have to test drive one when finances provide the means to actually buy one.....
Well actually...>> ...you could do what Octogon did, rent one from Europecars in Melbourne. You probably would get one of the three we had (two zeros and one sweep). the reason they rented Navaras, was because Holden were supposed to supply official vehicles, but had no spare Rodeo's available, and offered instead 3 Holden Adventras, which in our considered opinion, would have been in pieces, scattered along the road before day three finished. When you think of it, in your case, hiring one for a weekend, would be a cheap option to really try one out, especially on a medium trip over a few hours. As they have a towbar, the towing capacity could be checked at the same time. Regards GT
Well....>> ...no major dents, apart from a small log that flung up and put a small dent in the passengers door (any serious rally driver knows, you NEVER dent the drivers side, however the passengers side usually cops a caning). however, if you look carefully at the photo taken through the windscreen, you will see part of a mark on the bonnet. This resulted from a minor judgemental error, when cruising very nicely, on the second last day, west of Cobar, on the first competitive of the day, on a really nice slidey sandy track, navigator counted down a turn to the left, set the car up for it (doing about 130K's) when I was fully commited, she said no, next one (there were two, within 40m). Unfortunatly I hesitated a fraction, then realised I couldnt take either of them, without going sideways into a very large tree. Only thing I could do, was lock up, and hope if I hit the tree head on, the bullbar would absorb most of the impact, but luckily we stopped about the thickness of a piece of cigarette paper off the tree, but a low hanging branch gouged a strip up the bonnet, and left another one when we backed out a couple of seconds later. When you have been rallying as long as I have, you soon get used to the notion "a miss is as good as a mile", however I was extremly annoyed with myself for putting a dent in a then unmarked car. regards GT
Not a bad idea..>> We should do this when we go to the Zed Nationals next year, would be a good test. I still want my F250 dualy, but wykked won't have a bar of it, says its too much money and would be difficult to park. My comment to that is... I WILL make it fit...
Blondie with an F50 duallie ... So Jen, have you got the rest of the equipment required to own an F250? Cowboy hat, gingham check shirt, chewin' tobaccy, and a "y'all come back now" Southern accent?
