Hi All,

Well after a couple of years of badgering and generaly being obnoxious, something apparently I am very good at by the way, I have finally managed to agree my long planned for and long awaited trip from Atlantic to Mediterranean sea.

Not being the richest man alive but the instegator of the whole expedition I am supplying the 2 vehicles we plan to use. Soooo, I will be using my Range Rover P38 and I am looking for a Disco for the second vehicle.

I can already hear the screams of protest and all 90 or 110 owners will be saying they are the best expedition choices but I have to disagree.

First off my P38 is in the garage as I write having the air suspension changed to coil springs and a complete gearbox rebuild is also under way. It has a new clutch and brand new shocks so should present few problems off road. Also we are planning to go in June 2009 with several offroad days in quarry's, dirt tracks and green lanes to train the crew and test out winches, etc.

I am fitting diff guards and sump guards to both vehicles and the Disco will have a bumper winch fitted the P38 will have a portable winch (ie to tow bar or tow point on detatchable leads)

I am not the slightest bit worried about the P38, I have taken her to Wales, Scotland and pretty much every muddy hole in Surrey and she has yet to let me down in a pinch. (gearbox asside as that fault came with the car)

The Disco on the other hand I expect a few probs.

Anyone out there taken a Disco on a serious expedition like this? 2 days journey to the start point, 10 days bouncing over the mountains and camping where we fall? Rocks, pits, snow and lots of bumps, anyone done that? Any advice?

I would idealy like to spend the full 10 days on the mountains without dropping down for supplies so all rations and all fuel will be in or on the vehicles. (food inside as there be bears up there!) ok they are small, almost cute but the big cats are not so small and also not so friendly, they are cute though, from a distance.

I'd appreciate some pointers from more experienced crews.

Disco's will be fine They share the same chassis as a RR any way. Just make sure you've cured all the rust before you go.

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Radio CallSign M3XLZ

www.mig-welding.co.uk

i doubt you will be able to carry all your fuel for 10days with out resupply unless you are rock crawling all the way. expect your MPG to drop considerably when fully loaded/equiped and drop further when in low gears and using higher revs. what kind of capacity were you thinking of taking? where would you store it? and how far is your planned route?

G

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Having been snowshoeing and trekking in the pyrenees. You will be hard pushed to avoid civilisation for 10 days. it is a fairly highly populated area, with villages, towns, ski resorts and mountain refuges (basic YHA type affairs) dotted all over the place.

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Radio CallSign M3XLZ

www.mig-welding.co.uk

Spent some time there on my way to Morocco and back, nice drives and fuel stations everywhere, all of them Repsol lol.
Some great campsites, some of them huge areas with club houses and cafes, paid about 2-4 euros per night, some said if you eat in their cafe you can camp for free.

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There is a forgotten, nay, almost forbidden word, which means more to me than any other. That word is ENGLAND.

Spent a fair bit of time crossing back and forth meself. It ain't that remote! There is a fair population up there, fair bit of regulation too so you might be hard pressed to get anywhere seriously remote in a motor.

Depends on the season too. Feels a lot more remote in Winter!

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Thanks for your input,

I have heard mixed reports on the likelyhood of meeting the locals and general consensus seems to be to take as many isolated and overgrown old mountain tracks as possible and camp in campsites if you want to.

I will be fitting both vehicles with expedition roof racks and winches just in case so I should be able to store plenty of fuel. That said aparently we can obtain fuel at several key points anyway so will probably only store 2 days worth on the cars in case we can manage to avoid civilisation after all.

We are planning to go early June 2009, not too early so still a bit cold up there but late enough that the worst of the snow will be gone in most parts and the ski resorts will be closed (we hope) As I am the only one currently with serious off road experience I can't push the guys too hard.

I'm looking for some off road tracks and quarry's to take the crew in Surrey, Kent. Anyone know anywhere worth taking a look at. I'd like to ease the guys into it so a few realy good green lanes would be an advantage.

Fuel is no problem, and camping is no problem, its only the Pyrenees not the Atlas Range.

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There is a forgotten, nay, almost forbidden word, which means more to me than any other. That word is ENGLAND.

which is also not much of a problem

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Ooops, i meant the Andes lol

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There is a forgotten, nay, almost forbidden word, which means more to me than any other. That word is ENGLAND.