ChrisW

Looking forward to coming back to where it all began for my 100th drive! I will have karak and donuts to share 🥳

Live scenes from in my Jeep

I think we’re all roughly in the same place: Before every offroad drive: Quick walk around check, tap some panels, stare at the tyres etc, look under the car (especially the garage floor - great way to spot any slow leaks), and check the major fluids (oil, coolant). Basically just looking for anything out of the ordinary. Starting off: Radio etc off and ears out, window open - this is probably your first moment of driving in 4H (the drive over would have been on highway in 2H/AWD). You develop a surprisingly effective ear for things sounded off. And by the way if something sounds off, definitely shout up on the radio and take a look. Sometimes it’s really simple stuff (flag not secure, door not closed properly), but sometimes it’s an early indication of a bigger issue (bearings, seals, etc). I’ll usually monitor things until I’ve covered a few bumps and revved the engines a few times. Occasional checks whilst driving: I glance at the gauges when there’s a calm moment. Just looking for anything higher than usual and not coming down, and a quick check in tyre pressures. After drive and regular maintenance : - Oil and other consumables at half the on-road intervals (so eg if you should do an oil change every 10k, do it at 5k). - Blow out the air filter every other weekend or after the drive if a heavy one. - Visually inspect the engine bay too. - Maybe once a quarter I’ll go around and tighten certain bolts I know can get loose…for my Jeep that can include beadlock ring, sway bar bolts, offroad light fittings etc. - I generally wash the car most weekends. Don’t let the guys go crazy, power washing seals etc in the engine bay is bad. Catching problems early will usually be feasible if you’re consistent and can spot a slow trend early. As for garage…could write a book on this. I go to different places depending on what it is (OEM warranty claim, offroad specific mods, simple stuff I might do myself for convenience). General rule is trust no one and verify everything before and after.

Lovely mid-week drive there. @Luke K P great lines as always, and just the right amount of increase in speed/complexity to step us into FB+. @Suneedh Wrangler and @Nabeel Abdul Rahman - that was well driven, well done. Important part for me was that everything was safe, and you had great instincts for accepting the situation and not trying to stretch a bad line into a worse situation. When we do ridge crossings as a short convoy it can be quite dynamic and sometimes quick decisions have to be made on when to turn off/turn down, and when to follow someone or move to a clear area safely instead. You both showed good instincts on these points.

Thanks guys - as usual a nice midweek break! Well driven and the stop for coffee is always a pleasure. Really seeing the progress in the driving skills on show as well. Well done! First-person view of working on the small problem with @Albert_Spa‘s car. All sorted! Perfect. Thanks for the lead and the coffee @Luke K P!

Have you guys checked if it’s actually the driver creaking…? 😉

In defence of the Jeep however…this run down to the star dunes led by @GauravSoni was by far one of the best drives I’ve ever done, in part because of the sheer sense of adventure in transforming my Jeep into what was basically a buggy and tearing into the desert. Trips like this help you overlook a lot of downsides!

As you guys will know I drive often with @Luke K P here in AD, both for Carnity and we’ve done a number of recce drives up here in the evenings etc, so I’ve watched both our cars tackling a lot of terrain back to back. I can appreciate the RR’s cabin, bed capacity and power. It’s a car you can easily cruise at 140 on the highway in peace, and on the sand you can push hard. You can take a lot out with you easily. I feel the Jeep can get in and out of places that many cars can struggle with - with a small lift and some suspension changes, it rides the sand incredibly well. The breakaway angles, clearance and articulation are difficult to beat. I feel the Raptor is more biased towards being a reliable road car, and the Jeep is slightly compromised by being a pure 4x4. The Raptor’s front IFS is a weak point, and it has a comparatively small fuel tank. Clearance can be an issue as well. The Jeep’s steering car be vague on the road, and you have to very carefully manage your speed/momentum/power on the sand to get the most out of the 3.6L normally aspirated engine. The Jeep can be prone to niggling maintenance issues, but the large availability of OEM and aftermarket parts, and capable local garages, means most issues are an easy fix. On the road I think the Raptor is easily the best choice. As a daily driver with occasional off-roading I would also pick the Raptor. For off-roading I am torn…I regard my Jeep as a great project car and a capable off-roader…I’d love more power and space too… In the end you won’t be making a mistake either way. Go drive both and get the one that makes you smile. …I’ve got photographic evidence…

@_Herman_ I’m fairly sure they all share the same automatic gearbox, a ZF 8-speed. The final drive ratio can change between models. My 2024 Rubicon is 4.56 (default is usually 4.10). I’d expect the 2L to be 4.10 or 4.56 too.

Ahhh interesting, thanks for explaining @Noufal. I understand more generally that Stellantis can be a bit selective on which dealers get which cars, and they've got some unusual mixes now that the 4xe has been withdrawn. I think we have a couple of people in the club with the 2L turbo, let's see if they post. From discussions that we had, it didn't seem to make much difference with their off-road driving. Here's a comparison of the 2L vs 3.6L engines on the dyno: The graph is a bit of a pain to interpret - but basically the black lines are the 3.6L engine (HP is the line that slopes upwards peaking at 6700 RPM, torque is the one that rises up to 2600 RPM and then sits fairly horizontal) and the green lines are the 2L engine (power slopes upwards from 2500 RPM, peaking at 5600 RPM, torque is the line that sharp goes up peaking around 3500RPM and then sitting level). Couple of observations: 1.) The power band in the 3.6L is wide and progressive, but you need to get all the way to near redline to get all the power. 2.) The power band for the 2L is tighter (3500 RPM to 5600 RPM), but you get most of the power above 4000RPM. 3.) The 2L has marginally less power (6 HP is not much), but has more torque. Initial thoughts: The two cars like-for-like are pretty much the same weight. The 2L is very likely to be able to go everywhere the 3.6L can go. The 2L might require more careful handling during a dune climb (staying in the RPM power band). The increased torque might be nice on the road, and probably won't make much difference in the desert. So at this point I think it now comes to price and maintenance...!

Just to double check @Noufal - Jeep today manufactures and sells three engine version for the Wrangler - 2L turbo, 3.6L V6 and the 6.4L 392. The 3.6 is still very much in production.

Looking forward to driving with you in the future - do stick at it and enjoy it a drive at a time! 😁

@DG707 If I could offer one piece of advice…the time spent preparing now on the newbie/fewbie level drives will never be time wasted later on. The drives we do at those levels might feel basic, but what you’re doing is solidly building and refining the foundations for a set of skills that you will later rely upon and need to use reflexively. …it’s also a horrible feeling if you find yourself suddenly needing skills you didn’t practice earlier on…a position many of us have been in and learned from! 😂

I’ve just gone back to look at some recent videos - this is a drive I did recently with a roughly similar dune face. I should add that whilst this wasn’t a Carnity drive (we were testing some recent car maintenance ahead of a club drive), this is at the mid end of an Intermediate skill level. You’ll see that we took a line that was more curved and progressive. This allows you to build and carry speed, minimise slip angle (the difference between where your car chassis is pointing and the angle you’re going over the sand), and take a controlled line onto the ridge. You might need to watch this directly on YouTube - link here: https://youtube.com/shorts/PWMFGZsIJzs?si=G3vV4fW-T-sK_ZTy

You can’t beat the physics in the end. Technique beats power every time. If you watch even some of the Dakar race footage, you’ll occasionally see guys with 1000hp cars attempt a line on a soft face and get nowhere. You really don’t need much in the way of angle, sand softness (ie softly packed and loose), and tyre contact area before you’ll simply never be able to gain the traction to start and sustain a climb. At that point you’re just a fast moving bunch of different vectors between speed, momentum, gravity and slip angle. You only need to make a small error and it’s over. Does look great though, as most stunts do…but to me that’s not the essence of desert driving, and not what our drives are about.

I think the MVP award goes to your passenger @Beide Worku…that was a tough drive to sit through!