Member Since: 16 Nov 2010
Location: London, UK
Posts: 10
Driving to Finland - advice on vehicle prep?
Morning all!
This is my first post - I've been lurking for a while and a Disco driver since 2008, and these forums have been a great source of advice, tips and tricks. I'm a polar explorer (for want of a better job description - I'm one of three in history to ski solo to the North Pole, and I hold the record for the longest solo Arctic journey by a Briton) and I'm lucky enough to be a Land Rover brand ambassador, which means they provide vehicles for me and for my team (I currently have a MY10 Discovery 4 TDV6 HSE in Alaska white).
Clearly this makes me a jammy git, but Land Rover were on my dream sponsor list when I started out a decade ago, and it's taken several years of hard work to get to this point.
I'm driving to Finland next month for a wee training expedition (about ten days of skiing with sledges, 300km north of the Arctic Circle) and we're taking two TDV6 Discovery 4s by ferry from Harwich to Denmark, then driving up the east coast of Sweden to Finland, where our final port of call is a village near Enontekiö.
The average temperature there in Dec is -20 degrees c. and while I have stacks of experience camping(!) in those conditions, I've not driven there much, and any sage advice -particularly as far as preparing the vehicles goes- would be gratefully received.
Goodyear have offered winter tyres though I've yet to see if they have any for my 20" wheels (the second Disco is on 19" wheels) and I'm waiting for some local knowledge on road conditions. The cars will also be parked up for 9-10 days before we drive home again - is it worth looking at preheaters/external chargers or should they be ok? Both cars <6 months old so batteries should be in good condition.
Other things I've thought of are driving lights (it's the polar night in northern Finland so the sun doesn't come above the horizon), roof rails as we'll have skis, sledges, etc. and possibly a tow strap in case one of us stuffs it into a snowdrift.
Kit-wise we'll have clothing that's good down to -50, GPS, satphones, headtorches, tents, stoves, sleeping bags, first aid kits, food, etc. so getting caught out shouldn't be a problem.
just a question / observation before a lot of advice comes your way...
Wouldn't LR be able to fully prep your vehicle up to the standard of a G4 version...? Plus provide LRE support for training and advice...? seeing as you are a brand sponsor.
Other than that, it depends on whether you will be on-road or off-road driving and what areas (in terms of nearest habitation) you will end up at.
Initial thoughts - I would say heaters (modification to remotely controll the fuel burner heater - FBH) would be worthwhile. maybe an auxilliary battery with split-charge system so you have a back-up for jump-starting in extreme cold conditions and allow you to run accessories without straining the cranking battery.The next American ex-pat that calls it a "truck" is going to find out what 2.7 tons feels like on their foot...
Club "yes, I too have had the EGR's replaced..."
Club "yes, I too have had the compressor replaced..."
Club "yes, I too once had the car at the dealer for a couple of weeksnearly 4 weeksover 4 weeks...5 weeks"
Club "yes, I too have had EPB failure..."
Club "yes, I too get mysterious bings and bongs..."
16th Nov 2010 11:54 am
bensaunders
Member Since: 16 Nov 2010
Location: London, UK
Posts: 10
JF Lux wrote:
Wouldn't LR be able to fully prep your vehicle up to the standard of a G4 version...? Plus provide LRE support for training and advice...? seeing as you are a brand sponsor.
In theory, yes, though I'm taking the initiative as all the powers-that-be seem to be in Los Angeles for the Auto Show (and the US Evoque launch) at the moment!
16th Nov 2010 12:02 pm
dgarside
Member Since: 17 Jan 2010
Location: Holmfirth
Posts: 734
Not that I can offer any knowledgeable advice (sorry), but all the best with the preparations and the actual expedition....
can i carry your bags on this one or pull you pulk for you as i am in training all i can say is have a good tripe and put plenty of photos up on here i my self next year hope to go up there may be with other people of the site be interesting to here about the driving have you got snow chains or are they supping studded tyres sorry about the questionsHome of RLD Hidden winch mounts Spare wheel Locks Trailer Body Fabrication ray@rld-tech.co.uk D3/4 sump plates MY 14 sump plates and the Discovery Sport wheel protectors Discovery 5 wheel locks
more Helsport tents and other things for camping Law of Mechanical Repair:
"After your hands are coated with grease, your nose will begin to itch and you'll have to pee!"
16th Nov 2010 12:32 pm
Gareth Site Moderator
Member Since: 07 Dec 2004
Location: Bramhall
Posts: 26776
Do you need a support driver? I am sure we can muster a willing crew
Seriously though, your recovery gear should be comprehensive. Ropes/straps of course, but maybe include some shovels, snow chains (might need wheel spacers too), an air jack, and I would definitly be wanting one of the vehicles to have a winch.
Everything else has been done, ie auxilliary lights, roof rack systems, fridges (although I think you will have a natural one to hand)
Aux battery would be a good idea, especialy if you are running equipment when not driving, such as inverters etc.
I'm sure there will be loads of stuff you could do, and we are all very jealous 8)
16th Nov 2010 12:35 pm
ZacSmith
Member Since: 26 Aug 2010
Location: Dover
Posts: 709
Make sure your windscreen wash is super-winterised. Most UK stuff is only good to -4c.
16th Nov 2010 12:38 pm
bensaunders
Member Since: 16 Nov 2010
Location: London, UK
Posts: 10
ZacSmith wrote:
Make sure your windscreen wash is super-winterised. Most UK stuff is only good to -4c.
Bingo - I hadn't thought of that yet! (In fact, scraping the ice off at a mere -3 this morning made me realise it was time to get my in gear as we're off in three weeks )
I'm assuming diesel will become suitably 'winterised' as we drive up the coast of Sweden, but has anyone used additives (e.g. Waxbreaker Gold) for properly cold conditions?
i am sure fuel over there will be ok Ben very impressive Home of RLD Hidden winch mounts Spare wheel Locks Trailer Body Fabrication ray@rld-tech.co.uk D3/4 sump plates MY 14 sump plates and the Discovery Sport wheel protectors Discovery 5 wheel locks
more Helsport tents and other things for camping Law of Mechanical Repair:
"After your hands are coated with grease, your nose will begin to itch and you'll have to pee!"
16th Nov 2010 12:51 pm
mik
Member Since: 08 Feb 2010
Location: Skoatland
Posts: 912
Ben - did you post (quite some time ago) on the evo (magazine) forum?
16th Nov 2010 12:58 pm
bensaunders
Member Since: 16 Nov 2010
Location: London, UK
Posts: 10
mik wrote:
Ben - did you post (quite some time ago) on the evo (magazine) forum?
I did, many moons ago! And on Pistonheads for a while, though I haven't posted anything there for years. In fact, even my own blog's been gathering dust since last Sept
16th Nov 2010 1:10 pm
mik
Member Since: 08 Feb 2010
Location: Skoatland
Posts: 912
Cool - the fact you've stuck in my memory means either :
a. I found your input interesting
b. I thought you were an utter c**k.
Best of luck with your latest trip!
16th Nov 2010 1:23 pm
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73091
One thing regarding auxilliary lights - you might want to consider Lightforce as you can add coloured filters. Blue for driving in snow; yellow for fog. Very easy to unclip the clear covers and put coloured ones on. The LR OEM auxilliary lights are useless and not worth bothering with.
Also for recovery, some recovery tracks / sand ladders would be worthwhile. Look at the X-Trax from Bushranger as they are rubberised, roll up and therefore flexible and designed to work in snow (as well as sand).
Other ideas:
Maybe a good aircompressor (viair) if you think you will need to air-down the tyres for improved weight distribution on softer snow (don't forget the D3/4 is a very heavy vehicle).
Additional working lights (as it will be dark...) to fit externally when stopped - either with cigarette lighter plug or hard wired. You can get brackets to fit to a roof rack or magnetic base.
Add some LED light strips to the interior boot area as the internal lights are not bright enough.
The next American ex-pat that calls it a "truck" is going to find out what 2.7 tons feels like on their foot...
Club "yes, I too have had the EGR's replaced..."
Club "yes, I too have had the compressor replaced..."
Club "yes, I too once had the car at the dealer for a couple of weeksnearly 4 weeksover 4 weeks...5 weeks"
Club "yes, I too have had EPB failure..."
Club "yes, I too get mysterious bings and bongs..."
16th Nov 2010 1:31 pm
bensaunders
Member Since: 16 Nov 2010
Location: London, UK
Posts: 10
I fear not ticking the heated steering wheel box will come back to haunt me! (And Mik, as I'm now poncing around in a white HSE with a fridge, LED lights and 20" wheels, it could well have been the latter )
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can i carry your bags on this one or pull you pulk for you as i am in training 
all i can say is have a good tripe and put plenty of photos up on here i my self next year hope to go up there may be with other people of the site 
Law of Mechanical Repair:
in gear as we're off in three weeks 
