OJ/EP LR4 Tonight on Top Gear USA

[danrhiggins]

I thought the same thing! I have never seen an auto stall on the trails, much less seen an auto stall on the road. I was baffled by this one....

I'm thinking it was the driver more than the truck. Then I was trying to remember if that LR4 had the 2-speed transfer case. But of course it does as he put it in Rock Crawl mode. Wait, when I hear about using Rock Crawl mode (I don't actually know how to do it as I haven't been trained yet) I thought you went slow-ish and let the car do the work. I'm not sure he had the best "touch" on the accelerator. But I may be wrong.

 

[danrhiggins]

If they really made it up the Devil's Staircase without help / winches, more power to all 3 of those vehicles, especially the little Toyota. That stretch of Broken Arrow looks intimidating enough going downhill (which is the "normal" direction I recall going when I was in Sedona), I don't know if I would attempt climbing it the other way. Nice scenery and all, but those guys belong to the Disney Channel more than the History Channel, with their never-ending "Whoa!" and "Har Har!"

I've seen a couple videos of people going down and even then, as you say, it is a bit harry. I was impressed that the FJ Cruiser got up. Not impressed with the driving skills of the LR4 driver. And (again I haven't done any of this but have watched lots of videos) don't people use spotters to help you get the line when going up gnarly stuff? Or is this just so narrow that it doesn't matter.

 

[epiclr4]

I'm thinking it was the driver more than the truck. Then I was trying to remember if that LR4 had the 2-speed transfer case. But of course it does as he put it in Rock Crawl mode. Wait, when I hear about using Rock Crawl mode (I don't actually know how to do it as I haven't been trained yet) I thought you went slow-ish and let the car do the work. I'm not sure he had the best "touch" on the accelerator. But I may be wrong.

Well, I wouldn't say they were doing everything in the best way possible but I know that Scott Brady said they were on the set and there for the entire shoot to help in situations so I would have thought they would have coached for best approach. Granted, it was a TV show so it needed to be dramatized some and that is probably why it was approached like it was.

It seemed to me that none of the vehicles were aired down as there didn't seem to be much give to the tires and the BDC would have showed some bulge. IDK....

 

[danrhiggins]

I asked over on Expo how bad the damage was from the show. Waiting to see the response. I would think there was more damage there than just the fender arches coming off.

It will be interesting to see what they say. I had been following Scott's thread over there. I was wondering all along if this was what Scott had in mind when he let them do this. Or maybe they have promised to buy him a new one. It is a couple years old after all. But who would buy it? Surely not anyone who has seen this episode!

 

[epiclr4]

It will be interesting to see what they say. I had been following Scott's thread over there. I was wondering all along if this was what Scott had in mind when he let them do this. Or maybe they have promised to buy him a new one. It is a couple years old after all. But who would buy it? Surely not anyone who has seen this episode!

I was thinking the same thing for if they took it in to be warranty serviced!!!

 

[JotaDe]

I was really impressed at how the LR4 raced up that gravel hill easily beating the others.

Curious how the '14 LR4 would compare against this V8 LR4 in the same situation as I don't know if this had to do with pure strength vs traction control.

 

[epiclr4]

I was really impressed at how the LR4 raced up that gravel hill easily beating the others.

Curious how the '14 LR4 would compare against this V8 LR4 in the same situation as I don't know if this had to do with pure strength vs traction control.

Agree, it could have also been driver skill or best line. But either way I thought for sure the BDC with the 6.4 would have been up the hill the quickest.

TC surely had to play a part and that is where the LR4 shines.

The stock FJC sure did better than I thought it would but it was clearly the weakest vehicle in the pack. Makes me reconsider the option of a 4Runner.

 

[danrhiggins]

The stock FJC sure did better than I thought it would but it was clearly the weakest vehicle in the pack. Makes me reconsider the option of a 4Runner.

Yes, but for $40K the FJC is a nice alternative. And what did they say? $130K for the Brute? And what is the Brute like to drive when you simply need to run errands or go on long freeway hauls? And if I'm going to sleep in my truck I'd rather have roof over my head. Of course he could get a decent truck bed tent for that.

But, as you say, for under $40K the FJC did very well. And let's face it, how many people go UP the stairs, up a volcanic cone and up a ski slope? The FJC did all that! My brother has one. Not the arrangement of doors I care for and not the amount of interior space. But he has it fitted out with fly rod tubes and a carrier on top and he gets to a lot of nice water that he wouldn't otherwise be able to. Though he did say that when he took 3 clients fly fishing a few weeks ago - big, burly guys - it was rather cramped. ;-)

 

[umbertob]

That's not gravel, it's cinder / volcanic ash. They were most likely filming at Cinder Hills OHV near Flagstaff, that park is a lot of fun as it feels exactly like driving in deep sand, except it's kinda... black and dusty. The hill climbs (there are several) can be real steep, the views from the top are spectacular. I know that when I was there with my RRS I wouldn't have gone anywhere without deflating tires to about 15 PSI. They must have aired down a great deal themselves to make it up those hills.

Some photos from my trip there, those were the days... No kids in tow.

 

[danrhiggins]

That's not gravel, it's cinder / volcanic ash. They were most likely filming at Cinder Hills OHV near Flagstaff, that park is a lot of fun as it feels exactly like driving in deep sand, except it's kinda... black and dusty. The hill climbs (there are several) can be real steep, the views from the top are spectacular. I know that when I was there with my RRS I wouldn't have gone anywhere without deflating tires to about 15 PSI. They must have aired down a great deal themselves to make it up those hills.

Any negative impact on the engine and other systems from driving around in that stuff?