Happy New Year all

I had my car prepared for a trip from London to Cape Town at the back end of last year and we’ve just left. I thought you might like to see the results. I spent hours scouring this forum for information on how to prepare the car and what sort of issues to prepare for. Several people on this forum have made very helpful input into the preparation process, so many thanks for that.

You can find out more about our trip and the preparation of the Rangie, plus some pictures, here:

http://web.me.com/raymondgreaves/LilongweDown/Home.html

Hope you find it interesting. Expect some emergency calls for help at periodic points along the route!

Fingers crossed…

I am very jealous and will be following your tale with great interest. Best of luck and keep us updated.
Kind regards, Ed
P.S. one of the dads at school works for BMW group and took an X5 from JoBurg to Cairo. He sadi it coped very well with two puctures, a cracked windscreen and a broken trailing arm. Hope the L322 does as well.

So cool - I wish your the very best of british  '09 Freelander 2 TD4 HSE Auto for the Mrs

Using the works Fiesta 1.6 TDCI Sport Van - CHROME FREE THOUGH

Searching for a nice E63 AMG or S8 V10 to replace my "wonky" TDV8

All the Best on your Journey,

good luck and do us proud  onto no6 Range Rover

Everyone needs a hobby

Good luck and have fun!

Only thing I would have done different is fit the smallest possible rim and largest tyre profile - even the tar roads have huge potholes in places and 19" MTRs are very rare. Would also have fitted underbody protection. However, since you plan on sticking to main roads, hopefully you'll be ok.

Sounds an awesome epic journey and I would love to do the same.


You've chosen a great car and an even better colour, green with privacy glass really looks smart. I should know!

best of luck and thanks for sharing your adventure with us all, please keep us posted and keep in touch should you need FAQ or know how information.

Adam Discovery 4 HSE
1998 110 TUM HS FFR Hard Top XD WOLF
1982 Series 3 Hard Top

*Gone:L462 D5 HSE LUX, L663 Defender 110 HSE, Discovery 3 HSE, 2014MY Range Rover Sport 5.0 Supercharged AB Dynamic; L405 Exec Vogue SE 4.4, 5.0 Supercharged Autobiography, Defender TDCi XS CSW, Defender TD5 HT, Vogue SE TDV8, Vogue TD6, RRSport SC 4.2V8, Classic 3.9 Vogue Auto, Land Rover Series 3 SWB

Wishing you the best Been far and wide however I have to ask why no winch it really really really is a must

Hi Folks,

thanks for the enthusiasm and best wishes. I've now established a gallery with more pictures at: http://gallery.me.com/raymondgreaves#100025

I will also post more pics on the website as we go on so you can see what we and the Rangie get up to.

I appreciate that these pics may not offer enough detail on some of the mods and accessories but if you have any questions I'm more than happy to help. What you cannot see in the pictures is the auxiliary battery and 'intelligent charger' which is located in the compartment in the boot (trunk) that is normally used for the tow hitch when not in use. It's a really neat fit but does need thick cables threading through the length of the car to the main battery under the bonnet (hood). The intelligent charger only starts charging the auxiliary battery when the main battery has had a good dose of charge from the alternator. I can monitor the voltage of both batteries on the device mounted on the dashboard.

On the water-in-diesel issue as a primary measure I have made myself a tester kit, similar to that used by pilots of light aircraft, to sample the diesel if I have to resort to a dodgy fuel station. There is no secondary measure! I made enquiries and the standard fuel filter is good at separating out water. I've got a good stock of filters with me and will change them at regular intervals. Thankfully this is a dead easy job. I did think about inserting additional filters / separators on the low pressure side but decided that the consequent pressure drop could cause havoc with the rest of the fuel system. Not worth the hassle - just be careful and change filters regularly. I also investigated fuel suppliers en route using Tracks 4 Africa. With a bit of planning I should be able to find my way to a BP, Shell, Total or other major retailer all the way and I'm hoping they maintain better standards than the local punters. We shall see.

Wheels and tyres got a lot of thought. Seems counter-intuitive going from 18" to 19" wheels I know. Thing is there is very little (read none) choice for the L322 and offroad tyres, other than the Goodyear MTRs and they demand 19" wheels. They have the benefit of having carbon-reinforced sidewalls and were made specifically for the G4 Challenge. I have a friend who rallies a RR Sport on these tyres and has nothing but praise for them. Sure, MTR availability in Africa is non-existant, but thankfully I have a sympathetic tyre dealer and DHL are rather good these days...

Ken, no winch as too much extra weight (I’m running at circa 3,000kg GVW as it is) and I don’t intend doing any sand or mushy mud by myself, will do a convoy with other vehicles in these situations. In reality we shouldn’t have too much of that stuff anyway.

best regards

RRG

Wow, so jealous Best of luck. Drive safely.

Sorry Guys would never go in the sand without one

Click image to enlarge

Agree with Ken - have you seen the road from Ethiopia into Northern Kenya?

The BFG A/T in 265/65/18 fits the L322 and is very tough.

If you need any assistance in Kenya, please let me know - If I'm in the country, I'll be happy to help.

two very lucky people

Although it was sounding good until i read this "I’m really looking forward to camping under the stars, seeing if I can rustle something tasty up on the Primus" what no modern comforts:shock:

Well we've reached Cairo last week: 6,000km and 8 countries in two weeks wasn't bad going! Rangie superb so far

Singh, yes I'm well aware of the road in northern Kenya (the road to hell / worst road in Africa etc...), likely to be the worst part of our trip but personally I'm more worried about the bandits... Many thanks for offers of help - really appreciate it!

Still disagree on the winch: where I'm likely to get stuck (desert) there will be nothing to attach the winch to! In my view far better to assemble a small convoy so we can assist each other if necessary - and save the weight of a winch.

Thought you guys might enjoy these pics of the RR in its first bit of desert and with its Egyptian plates:

http://gallery.me.com/raymondgreaves#100057


All the best

RRG

Great Pics, keep us posted on your progress, makes my little jaunt to the Alps and back seem really pathetic! Discovery 4 HSE
1998 110 TUM HS FFR Hard Top XD WOLF
1982 Series 3 Hard Top

*Gone:L462 D5 HSE LUX, L663 Defender 110 HSE, Discovery 3 HSE, 2014MY Range Rover Sport 5.0 Supercharged AB Dynamic; L405 Exec Vogue SE 4.4, 5.0 Supercharged Autobiography, Defender TDCi XS CSW, Defender TD5 HT, Vogue SE TDV8, Vogue TD6, RRSport SC 4.2V8, Classic 3.9 Vogue Auto, Land Rover Series 3 SWB