Rubicons going round the world.

[Stumblinman]

So I rambled across this. The German guy, Mattias Jeschke with his group Extrem Events who made the automobile altitude record by driving Rubicons up a Chilean Volcano



is currently on a worldwide expedition from Paris to New York.
http://www.pny2009.com/
So far from the website it seems they are stuck on MT/Rs in the snow somewhere in Russia. When asked why they were still spinning on MT/Rs instead of going to more worthy tire they were quoted "But I got a really good deal on them..." OK that is only partly true because I couldn't get a quote on record... It looks like they're coming through Fairbanks sometime in the summer. But that is after they strap pontoons to their Jeeps and try to float across the Bering Strait !


I think this is the same route my mail usually takes.


Yep and I thought those propellar hitch covers were a little much.
I wonder what the idea behind the double winch setup was...

[78calico]

With 2 winches you could use a snatch block at 100' out with twice the speed.

[akram]

That seems pretty cool. I'd like to do something like that but my XJ would just sink.

[TJVigilante]

That dude was a jerk. :p He documented the Chilean volcano trip on Pirate and got all butthurt when some Chilean natives unofficially broke their record unassisted in a Samurai. He said "blah blah blah you were modified, supercharged motor, etc etc etc." and got upset when they took his "Jeep parking only" sign down, rather than congratulating them on their achievement. He said it wasn't official and he still holds the record and what they did was merely to show the Jeeps up. Which was true, but give the people their due respect, I say.

Here's the next-to-last page on Pirate with Jeschke's "official" statement on the Chilean natives' trip after his pretty much ruining all respect I was giving him prior...beware the Pirate language (even the stuff I said ).

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthrea...hke&page=6

Here's the samurai thread where Matthias' buddy immediately jumped in asking for "proof" rather than offering congratulations:

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=575413

The guy's an overblown salesman scumbag who won't get any welcome from me.

[Zukman]

ZUKS rule!!!!!!

[TJVigilante]

I just read further through the Chileans' thread than I had prior and noticed that they indeed got the Guinness record for highest altitude by car. then again the Samurai had a supercharger and 36" iroks.

Impressive either way, the Chileans had all the class that the Germans lacked.

[ZMonster]

these pictures just look a little photoshopped

[Stumblinman]

yeah I know they're funny looking and I might have picked the funniest looking one but if you go on their website then you can see all the different ones from the testing.

[Stumblinman]

OH yeah and they're claiming the Rubicons were stock on the altitude run exept for winches and bumpers, stuff like that. I've never seen anything that was stock or close to it have a good review on pirate. Whatever pirate says and whatever if someone has beaten their records before I think this is something of interest. It's not that often something of this caliber comes to Fairbanks representing offroading and I see no reason to bash them because of a pirate thread. I would hope if any more bashing of an expedition for no other reason than you do not like them will be moved to a more accepting forum like pirate.

[TJVigilante]

It's not just that I don't like them, it's that they were disrespectful to the little guy who showed them up doing in 4 hours without any help what they did in 4 days with a million dollar budget and a 20 man support group. A man's attitude towards others is all he has to go by. I don't think I have any responsibility to respect the guy just because his million dollar expedition meant to put his name in the record books in response to his last attempt being stuffed just a month later is coming through town.

I am in no way trying to tell you how to treat the guy, I'm just making his past impressions on the 4x4 community readily known. He's not a 4x4 enthusiast, he's a salesman with money making press for Jeep to make more money for himself, and he doesn't give two bits about anyone else who can one-up him.

It's not the fact that someone else beat his record. It's the way he treated that someone else after the fact that shows me his true colors.

[akram]

Who really cares if he is a salesman. That doesn't mean he's not a 4x4 enthusiast. Usually salesmen are interested in what they are selling. Just like you don't respect him, he has the right to not like the guy who beat his record.

[Stumblinman]

Found a layout of their plans and it says they're trying to use bio fuels or something to that nature and they have a price plan as well.

http://www.jeepclubinternational.com/dow...nental.pdf

[Stumblinman]

They are currently in Egvekinot which is on the edge of the Bering Sea. From the sound of their website it seems on one they have lost a rear driveshaft and a rear tire and are going along in front drive with a wooden plank mounted on the rear as a ski.

Here's a link to some videos. (in German)
http://www.pny2009.com/cms/front_content...659&lang=4

[Stumblinman]

And since this is the most absurd part I thought I'd put some more pics up.

[Stumblinman]

Here are the specs as per their website:


The following expedition equipment was installed:

• [SIZE=2]4.5" Rubicon Express Extreme Duty longarm suspension system
  
• 3" body lift
  
• Bilstein 5100 shocks
  
• Goodyear Wrangler MT/R tires 40x13.5R17
  
• Procomp Extreme Alloy 17x9 wheels
  
• Bushwacker fender flares
  
• Warn front- and rear bumper with spare tire carrier
  
• 3 Warn 9,5 XT winches front, driving power of 4 tons, specially waterproof
  
• Extendable Warn XDC winch rear
  
• Atlas 6.0:1 transfer case with separate control of front and rear axle
  
• Dynatrack Pro Rock 60 axles with Detroit Locker 100%-automatic differential locks front and rear,
  5.38 ratio, manual wheel hubs, chromoly axles
  
• roof carrier
  
• double isolation windshield and double-glazed windows
  
• Aux. fuel tank: total capacity of fuel per vehicle 850 liters
  
• Warn Air-Power VTC on board air system
  
• CB emergency radio system
  
• Short wave radio system with up to 10.000 miles of coverage
  
• 4 Lightforce floodlights and additional search lights
  
• 3 IBS solarpanel with charging system and DC-converter
  
• IBS dual battery system for the simultaneous use of 3 batteries; optimal gel-batteries per vehicle
  
• Complete sealing of the vehicles for the use in water up to the middle of the windshield, including double air-snorkel system for the engine and passenger compartment
  
• Special tube system for the tires: Staun Internal Beadlocks
  
• 2 Special expedition trailers for the transport of the emergency swimming system with the same tires and track width like the vehicles; can be used as a sledge after easy changes
  
• Stainless steel exhaust system with exhaust discharge either underneath the car or near the roof
  
• Variobloc trailer coupling
  
• Bio-ethanol control unit
  
• Emergency swimming system with two floats (Pontons with 12 seperate chambers made from HDPE 100 material; break and destroy-proof up to -80°C) with a buoyancy force of 7.9 tons including the hydraulic system
  
• Special ice and swimming tires
  
• Special altered outboard engine
  
• Hydraulic system to lift or lower the pontons; maximum height that the pontons can be lifted is 2.50 meters which means a ground clearance of 1.40 meters
  
• 6 special eyes to transport or save the vehicle by helicopter
  
• Roll cage
  
• Special alternator with 180 ampere
  
• Electric wiring of the vehicles placed completely right underneath the roof
  

[/SIZE]

[Stumblinman]

OK one of my first questions about the list was what are swimming tires ???
well this is the picture of them. Developed to displace water with less immersion and grip ice while not breaking up in the cold.

[AKBronco]

Weird tires. I bet they only cost about $10,000 a set.

I hope they will stop in town for long enough to check out the rigs in person

[Stumblinman]

well it looks like they might be trying to run those tires in the snow. Here's a link to some videos in German that shows some stuff. It's funny hearing the american telling them not to do it cause a Jeep can't run in that deep of snow. Of course that's right after the clip of them winching. At one point they ratchet strap some spare tires to the Rubi for some kindof makeshift dually/twice as wide tire. I guess they were hoping for floatation.

For some reason it seems like they left the Jeeps and are coming back to them. I dunno maybe it was vacation time ? I'm still trying to figure out exactly what they're doing.

[Stumblinman]

OH yeah the link.........

http://www.pny2009.com/cms/front_content...659&lang=4