Best vehicles for Expert level?

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Redbeard
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Best vehicles for Expert level?

Post by Redbeard »

So I know drivers skill, mods and tires are more important than which vehicle you have, and ultimately vehicle preference will depend on an individuals priorities, but please help me understand the pros/cons of different vehicles.
I eventually want to swap out my Pajero, but can't decide what would be the best fit.

I like all the space that a 7-seater offers, but what am I sacrificing by getting a Toyota LC/Prado/Fortuner or Nissan Patrol rather than a Wranger or FJ Cruiser?

What would you recommend on a low budget (e.g. 40k) which would work as a daily driver yet still be great for somebody who is working their way up from intermediate to expert?

I heard a club member mention that everything other than Toyota has trouble dealing with the summer heat, where drivers would have to turn off their AC's and just generally be careful about overheating the engine. Is this even true for the Nissan Patrol? Seems kind of odd considering the popularity of it here.
Last edited by Redbeard on Wed Jan 22, 2020 9:23 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Ajesh
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Re: Best vehicles for Expert level?

Post by Ajesh »

I understand your line of thinking and have myself moved from a Jeep TJ to the FJ through my journey.

FJ, Safari Patrol and Jeeps all have their advantages and deficiencies and you would generally grow into utilising these advantages and working around their deficiencies. The Japanese cars are typically more reliable and able to weather the heat but the jeeps have a certain way around the dunes that is hard to beat. Also the world of mods are extremely partial to the jeeps, if you would want to build yourself a beast.

The pajero should be good upto advance level and I have seen Pajero driving marshals.

My suggestion at this point would be for you to try and test drive each of these cars in the sand to see how they match to your driving style. There are factors like comfort, driving view to be factored.

For pure fun factor, I would avoid the beefier LC200 or Patrol Y62 but thats my preference.

40k should get you an early 2010 FJ or Xterra(5 seater) with abt 120k kms.A little more budget should get you a 7 seater fortuner V6 4.0 ltr. All these are good daily drivers as well.

Good luck.
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Corbie
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Re: Best vehicles for Expert level?

Post by Corbie »

That is an extremely loaded question, but I’ll bite. The summer is hot as we can all attest if you have been here beyond 6months. I drive year round in the desert and have seen all of the above mentioned brands overheat (including Toyota’s)when pushed hard. Part of working your way up in the ranks is learning new skills, but just as well learning your vehicle and what it can and can not do and when. Most drivers that I know take it a little easier during the hotter months. I have only felt it necessary to stop my jeep once to let things cool, if I see the temps rising, I just slow down and take things easier, letting the system cool as much as possible with air blowing through the radiator.


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Kharadly
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Re: Best vehicles for Expert level?

Post by Kharadly »

To add my 2 cents, I've taken my 2004 TJ in for advanced and intermediate drives mid August, while I usually don't use the AC on the sand but that's more for power draining reasons and not for heat.

Never had an instance of overheating (touch wood).

As for dailying it, at the end it depends on your dependency on creature comforts. I have been dailying my TJ for a while, going to meetings in a full suit and taking my daughter to school. While it's not as comfortable as a Toyota Fortuner, I got used to it, and it's more of a conversation piece than many of the newer cars.

At the end of the day, as you rightfully said, it's the driver, ur pajero can still give you many more joyous drives till you know exactly what you are looking for in an offroader. It can take you all the way to advanced, then you can decide what your priorities are, in terms of the trade off between comfort and capability. The beauty of the Pajero is that by the time you decide it would not depreciate much more than the price you would get for it now.

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Re: Best vehicles for Expert level?

Post by bisho »

Hi
All based on what you need from the car
My advice

Jeep
Offroad
If you need an off road toy go for jeep best off road car (safety roll cage -handling and powerfull) also its open toy for modifications
On road
Not comfortable at all (but you will get use to it after some time)

Toyota (prado- fortuner)
If you are looking hassle free toy go for toyota
Very powerful, enjoy the AC anytime, comfortable car on road and off road.
cheap running cost.

Bisho

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Redbeard
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Re: Best vehicles for Expert level?

Post by Redbeard »

Thanks to all who weighed in so far. It's nice to have lots of different input.

In case someone new to offroading stumbles on this thread, let me just say I do think the Pajero is very decent in the sand when in low-range. After the first couple trips I noticed a huge improvement in my own abilities, and now I am quite impressed by how capable it is - even completely stock with road tires.

Gas mileage is not good, but no worse than many other options (6-7 km/l the way I drive it).
It's very budget friendly to purchase and it's cheap to maintain with plenty of garages that can work on it.
While the leg room in the third row is not as great as a land cruiser/ patrol - the Pajero overall has lots of space.
Removing the third row can be done in 1 minute with no tools, which gives you extra storage space in the rear for recovery gear.
Best thing about the Pajero is probably visibility - for both driver and passengers, the windows are huge all way around and it hardly has any blind spots.

So the Pajero is hard to beat when looking at value for money for a 7-seat offroader, e.g. for camping trips. Supposedly the SWB 2-door is even more capable, at the cost of space of course.
For the more advanced levels I wouldn't want to risk driving an unmodified Pajero, and rather than modify my current car I would rather put that money toward swapping to something with a bit better power/weight ratio.

Maybe some friendly members will let me be a passenger in their vehicles, so I can experience the differences myself before I decide.

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mihir6066
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Re: Best vehicles for Expert level?

Post by mihir6066 »

Well, I have Nissan Patrol & Xterra which I bought recently. However, Nissan patrol is very powerful and I enjoyed to drive it on sands but at the same time I afrid that if any damage in vehicle it would cost me very much and that's the reason to buy Xterra, I just had a trip last week with Xterra and I observed the lack of ground clearance so I am going to do just 2 modifications in it i.e. 2" Lift kit + front side skid plate.

Once we are there you are welcome to try either vehicle which I may have at that time.

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Redbeard
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Re: Best vehicles for Expert level?

Post by Redbeard »

mihir6066 wrote:Well, I have Nissan Patrol & Xterra which I bought recently. However, Nissan patrol is very powerful and I enjoyed to drive it on sands but at the same time I afrid that if any damage in vehicle it would cost me very much and that's the reason to buy Xterra, I just had a trip last week with Xterra and I observed the lack of ground clearance so I am going to do just 2 modifications in it i.e. 2" Lift kit + front side skid plate.

Once we are there you are welcome to try either vehicle which I may have at that time.
Very kind of you to offer. I would love that!
Will keep an eye out for you on future trips.

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scotchyl
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Re: Best vehicles for Expert level?

Post by scotchyl »

As a marshal and having been in here for 7 years i have driven, JK (08), TJ (05) modified, FJ, LC76, JK Rubicon (14) and Wildtrak and been passenger in most other cars in between.

Simply put it is whatever you feel meets your needs overall. i know marshals who got there driving galloper and H3, so please do not think by getting something like a jeep will be the answer. (believe me)

i went from the JK rubicon which i loved to the wildtrak for family reasons and because i enjoy overlanding and desert driving, not dune bashing. yes its not going to the top of liwa, but who cares, its not a contest. i can however take that thing on a Baja event, it will keep going and going, and have supported many accredited off road events and that is because the skills have been learnt and i adapt my driving style to the terrain and the car.

If you want my opinion of the best options here goes (based on new car not older models like 100 series LC or TJ)
Patrol Y61 2DR
Jeep 2DR - FJ Cruiser - Patrol Y61 4DR
Xterra - Jeep 4DR - Raptor
Patrol Y62 - New landcruiser

the reason for the latter 2 is that when it goes wrong, it will be very expensive
Focus on the future, that's where your life is going. Focus on the past and you will go nowhere.

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Mytommi
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Re: Best vehicles for Expert level?

Post by Mytommi »

Mikkel, if you like have a look at the Patrol Safari (Y61) next time we meet...

Thomas

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Re: Best vehicles for Expert level?

Post by Mytommi »

Though I can‘t comment on suitability at expert level (yet) 😉

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