Nissan Patrol 4x4 (Africa)

Good Evening All

Last year July we did a 6,500km round trip from Cape Town to Epupa Falls and back.

I was driving my Nissam Patrol 4.8 GRX towing a Conqueror Comfort, my brother-in-law driving his Land Cruiser towing a Bushlapa, and my father-in-law driving his Suzuki Jimny.

There was not one time that the little Jimny couldn't do what the big 4x4's were doing and many times it did better!

More often than not, discussions are held about which full size 4x4 is better, which invariably comes down to a debate about the Cruisers vs. Patrol........,but no one ever think about comparing the mighty Jimny against it's full size brothers!

We have posted the latest episode to our channel showing some of the magnificent Namibian country side as we explored the road less travelled from Ongongo to Etosha via the back routes and in this very episode you have evidence of the mighty Jimmy snatching a big LC towing a Bushlapa that got bogged in the soft sand! What a day to remember!

Please follow the below link to view the latest episode and if you like what you see give it a thumbs up and subscribe.



Here is a link to our channel to view other episodes from our trip.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCr8...cTUT8CcEKFDK_w

Please keep in mind that this is our very 1st attempt at editing video content and we are getting better and better with each episode thanks to the great feedback we are getting.

Enjoy
Hugh

Really enjoyed the video. Your product is improving rapidly!

As for Jimny vs Patrol (or Cruiser): no, come on. Take the trailers out of the equation, and none of these recoveries would have been necessary. Towing a trailer is soft sand is really hard work!

The Jimny is a real little 4x4, and I'm not knocking it's abilities, but even the lightest camping trailer on the market would have left it floundering as much or more than the big rigs.

Thanks Peter.

My father-in-law used to have a small custom built trailer that he had converted to camp trailer. He used to tow it with a 2.4 D4D RAV4 and had no problems until he went over to the Jimny, which didnt have enough power to tow the trailer so he then converted to the RTT setup.

I had such a good laugh at my boet when he got stuck and had to use the Jimny to recover him. At 1st he didnt want us to post the recovery, until we realised that it was such good content. I'm sure you've seen the video footage that has gone around where a 70 series pulls a big fuel tanker out of soft sand somewhere up North. The Toyota guys love this stuff because they think it shows how strong the vehicles are, which is total rubbish because the recovery of the truck has more to do with adding some forward momentum to the stuck vehicle to allow its rotating wheels to gain traction. Same logic applies when a human pushes a 2.5T vehicle that is stuck in sand. Just a bit of forward momentum is needed and it doesn't make the human who pushed it Superman. Now I have evidence to silence the LC diehards

Where I give the Jimny credit is its drivetrain construction. The solid axles are similar to that of the bigger vehicles like the solid axle vehicles like the Patrol and Cruisers. However, it doesn't have any diff lock or traction control so some serious cross axles and it gets stuck.

Glad you enjoyed the content and thanks for the constructive feedback you gave that helped us iron out some of the production niggles.

Cheers
H

Ek vermoed die cruiser sou self uitgekom het as sy bandruk laer was?
Persoonblik sou ek nie die kans gevat het (lyk soos Hoarusib rivier?) wat baie ver van beskawing af is nie. Klein karretjies het klein clutches. So taai soos wat die Jimny is, is alles nog in proporsie met sy grootte.

Olifantsrus het die beste watergat vir dierekyk. Het 'n besonderse tyd daar gehad in 2016. Die pad deur die reservaat vanaf Olifantsrus Okaukuejo was daardie tyd besonder sleg. Jou kar is goed aanmekaar gesit as daar ie iets loswikkel nie.

Hey Alex

My boet got stuck because he was in 4x4 high range when he hit that dust hole and his vehicle just sank in. It's a strange thing in that area where you get these holes in the road filled with this super soft powdery sand. You also get them in the Sandveld here in Cape Town. Normally you can see them and drive around them, but my boet had taken an older track with more shade and branches leaves lying on the track so the dust hole wasnt easy to spot and before he knew it he was in it.

The track from Ongongo to Etosha, which is the route we were taking at the time, is not too bad and you dont need to drop the pressure on the tires as if you were beach or river bed driving. What this does mean though is that your true pressure will be too high if you hit one of the dust holes especially if you are towing. Then again that stuff is so soft you will sink down to halfway up your calves just standing in it barefoot. I've never experienced such soft dust/silt as I did up there. Something incredible! You can see the dust just hanging in the air at night if you have a headlight on head and if you lick your teeth you can feel the grit with your tongue.

Cheers
H