This is worth watching if you have about a half hour to kill and like to get off of the beaten path. Some good thoughts and perspective here.
Off-Road EV
- Thread starter pwrofgrayskull
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Here’s a test I’ve never seen but looks like a great challenge for SM to try and win
Absolutely, yes! I completely agree. I’ve followed their testing for many vehicles in the past and that is definitely one of the particular tests I key in on the most.
We had 2 4x4 shops in the front range who had ramps for public use. Have not seen them in years & did not know it’s still a thing
It is interesting seeing what kind of flexing the frame can do but the 32* (I think) angle drive at Raptor Assault was more pucker factor and gives you a better feel for what your vehicle is capable of
Yeah I believe the RTI ramps have usually been in the 15 to 30 degree range throughout the years depending on vehicles being tested, with Car and Driver using a 20 degree ramp to test stock vehicles. 32 degrees is a pretty aggressive ramp for sure.
You can adjust the playback speed to 1.5X and he's still understandable. The video is only 27 minutes at normal speed.
Did he call it an "International Scout" that's coming in the future?
It would be fun to see this vehicle tested on difficult trails. What he does in this video is very mild.
Did he call it an "International Scout" that's coming in the future?
It would be fun to see this vehicle tested on difficult trails. What he does in this video is very mild.
He borrowed it from someone, so he can't risk damaging it, and he's really looking at it from the overlanding perspective than hard core rock crawling.
He even says that in the video after he tries an obstacle which he said the Rivian made looks easy. "Not my Truck"...
Yeah, I get that. You don't want to break someone else's toy. It was cool to see how smooth it covered the desert.
There are many other YT vids of Rivian Trucks and SUV's on more difficult trails out there - I stuck some links below, but the comments about being able to fix stuff if/when there is a problem (as well as the possibility of needing very specific parts) is something that does need to be considered. Perhaps this is where Scout will gain an advantage in the off-road & overland space, because I'm guessing that damaged control arms, dampers or hydraulic lines (that serve a similar function to sway bars) in the Rivian might be more difficult to fix while out on the trail. Looks like Scout will have more "modularity" to some parts and perhaps different suspension options also.
Inside Rivian's Rebelle Rally Win - Rivian Stories
Rivian engineers Lilly Macaruso and Alex Anderson, team #187 Limestone Legends, made history at the Rebelle Rally when they drove an R1T across the finish line on Friday — the first fully-electric vehicle ever to win the competition.
stories.rivian.com
WOW! Pretty darn impressive! I couldn't do that in my old beast. The beauty of smooth electric power and tons of torque.There are many other YT vids of Rivian Trucks and SUV's on more difficult trails out there - I stuck some links below, but the comments about being able to fix stuff if/when there is a problem (as well as the possibility of needing very specific parts) is something that does need to be considered. Perhaps this is where Scout will gain an advantage in the off-road & overland space, because I'm guessing that damaged control arms, dampers or hydraulic lines (that serve a similar function to sway bars) in the Rivian might be more difficult to fix while out on the trail. Looks like Scout will have more "modularity" to some parts and perhaps different suspension options also.
Inside Rivian's Rebelle Rally Win - Rivian Stories
Rivian engineers Lilly Macaruso and Alex Anderson, team #187 Limestone Legends, made history at the Rebelle Rally when they drove an R1T across the finish line on Friday — the first fully-electric vehicle ever to win the competition.
Agreed - technology for the win. I didn't own an automatic until I was in my 30's, and quickly found out that engineers and computers are way smarter than I am - I see this as the next step in that transition. I still love the feel of rowing the gears behind a loud, carb-fed V8, but if I actually need to get somewhere? I'll take the technology every time. There are going to be problems, but there are problems with the cars we are driving now, we are just used to them.
Mechanical lockers win over electronic torque vectoring when rock crawling. Both the Traveler and Terra will have a much easier time with Hells Gate than that Rivian. It was interesting to see how much rubber was left on the rock in those pretty much perfect traction conditions.
Here’s me on Hells Gate.
Pucker inducing. I imagine the more expensive the vehicle, the more pucker lol.
Here’s me on Hells Gate.
Pucker inducing. I imagine the more expensive the vehicle, the more pucker lol.
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Yes, I think I felt the pucker watching the Rivian and it's not even my vehicle!! Great shot of you climbing out of Hell.
I live on flat ground, a few miles from the Atlantic Ocean. So, those use cases are completely foreign to me. In all sincerity, how many people do this sort of activity? What percentage of Scout owners will do extreme rock crawling, etc? Where I live the most extreme thing is mud I suppose. Most people either have dedicated mud vehicles or tow a UTV to do those activities. Many hunters here do the same thing for the sake of saving their vehicle that also has to take them to work, or the kids to school. They tow a UTV to hunt or leave it at the hunting camp. I am all for a capable vehicle that can do many things in a pinch. I especially appreciate a really good suspension, with good ground clearance for our flooding and terrible roads. But, I do not intend to take my new Scout somewhere to beat the fenders off of it and likely tear up the suspension just because it can. I would take a UTV to do that though if I was so inclined. My 2 cents...There are many other YT vids of Rivian Trucks and SUV's on more difficult trails out there - I stuck some links below, but the comments about being able to fix stuff if/when there is a problem (as well as the possibility of needing very specific parts) is something that does need to be considered. Perhaps this is where Scout will gain an advantage in the off-road & overland space, because I'm guessing that damaged control arms, dampers or hydraulic lines (that serve a similar function to sway bars) in the Rivian might be more difficult to fix while out on the trail. Looks like Scout will have more "modularity" to some parts and perhaps different suspension options also.
Inside Rivian's Rebelle Rally Win - Rivian Stories
Rivian engineers Lilly Macaruso and Alex Anderson, team #187 Limestone Legends, made history at the Rebelle Rally when they drove an R1T across the finish line on Friday — the first fully-electric vehicle ever to win the competition.
In the NE, and for me personally, my definition of "off-road" capability has much more to do with mud, sand/beach driving, snow, ice, rutted-out hills and Class IV mountain roads... (so ZERO rock-crawling for me too).
Same for me, would be fun to do rock crawling in a vehicle you can rent for that purpose for the day rather than risk anything happening to my own vehicle! For me it would be dealing with snow/ice in winter since I do frequent trips up to the Poconos and into Quebec as well every year along with sand for the beach and just general gravel roads and some mud/rocky car parks at the start of some trails.
I can't say what the percentage of drivers actually do real rock climbing.
I'm in the desert southwest and the activity has grown quite a bit over the past 40 years. We drastically decreased the number of trips to Moab, Utah and the surroundings for our camping trips because it's overrun with rock crawlers and we can't find a quiet place to enjoy the scenery. That said, probably 75% of the vehicles doing the rock crawling are towed in rather than driven in. Probably a third of those are side-by-sides or other OHVs that aren't legal on the highways. I think very few people really drive their crawler from home to the trails anymore. It's a miserable, slow, loud drive to take an extreme low gear ratio vehicle with big, knobby tires on the freeway. The activities are different enough that true rock crawling is not realistically compatible with highway driving in the same vehicle. Neither the Tera nor the Traveler would make good rock crawlers, just due to their width and length, IMO.
That said, there's an in-between of driving unmaintained mountain and canyon roads that is doable on a highway capable vehicle with a little airing down of the tires and etc. That kind of driving (short-term overlanding is how I refer to it) is fantastic in a quiet EV.
We take the Lightning on a 50 mile dirt/gravel/poorly-maintained road to one of our favorite camping spots. It's great on that road. There are a couple of smaller roads off it that we might consider taking an R1T or all-electric Wrangler on, but not the Lightning because of its size and weight. I don't know if we would take the Traveler or Tera on those smaller roads either. Their size precludes them from realistically being crawlers and even trail runners except in some cases. Again, IMO.
If Scout ever releases a Scout III that's similar in size to the Scout II, that would be fun!
To qualify what I'm about to say, I was a long time forum moderator for one of the largest off road groups in the US, with around 20,000 members, and am currently the administrator of an Arizona based off road group with nearly 5,000 members. For years, I spent most of my free time either rock crawling or wrenching on my rock crawler. I have both taken and instructed off road driving courses, including several years of Rock Crawling 101, 202 and 303 in Arizona, the Land Rover Off Road Driving Experience in North Carolina and I was once featured in JP Magazine.
The western and mountain states are blessed with abundant BLM and National Forest land with world class off road and rock crawling trails. There are many, many people who do real off roading and rock crawling with their daily drivers and I often see $60k-$100k+ daily drivers out there. The people afraid of body damage might not be doing the hardcore stuff, but they are wheeling, and not all rock crawling carries the risk of body damage. There are many places out west where getting where you want to go means mostly dirt with a few sections of low risk rock crawling. There is a market for it with ICE vehicles, hybrid vehicles such as Jeep's 4xe, and there's no reason there won't be a market for it with capable BEVs.
One of the first things I will do after I get oriented to my Traveler will be to see how it does up the Backway to Crown King, a 109 mile round trip with 26 miles on trail running from 1,700 ft to 7,400 ft altitude before dropping into the historic mining town of Crown King, inclusive of one long mandatory rock crawl along with several optional routes. I'll eventually take it to Moab and I'll probably take it on the Rubicon. That said, for most wheeling that's more than a few minutes from my house, I will be trailering my old Wrangler behind my Traveler.
I completely understand your point of view. We’re lucky to live in such a diverse and abundant country. I will take every opportunity to say that a street legal, Scout 80 size, UTV priced model would be a home run with the crowd that frequently trail rides, rock crawls, etc. no reason for a Scout to have to pull the Polaris or CanAm. Pull or drive the other little Scout!
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