Lesotho Snow

[Stu]

Hi all, just thought id share some pics of my trip to Lesotho.
From PE we picked up snow on the Nico Malan pass just before Queenstown. then the entire way from just outside Queenstown until Underberg we drove in heavy snow. First trip with the turbo and homemade adjustments to the 5.5mm pump. Well what a difference, G pulled so well, cruised effortlessly and returned almost 10km/l. on the return from Underberg to Queenstown 520km/56lt.
Sani pass was quite icy, lots of traffic had compacted the snow to ice. G managed passes with ease as other white vehicles turned back! We had loaded two bags of coal and a few bags of wood on top of all the gear and this proved a bit too much for the rear coils. I will have to upgrade to a stiffer spring.
Temps dropped to -6 and the G was covered in ice, but started as normal. This is when you realize how long glow plugs need to run for, I have a manual overide for 'glow on demand' and wow, was needed for almost 10 minutes one morning.
I ran into a bit of trouble activating the diff locks... see pic!
Also interesting to see was how late boost was developing at 3000m, Full boost normally at around 1800rpm only kicked in at about 2500rpm, and lots of black smoke!

 

[Alan]

Great pictures and I must compliment you again on a beautiful looking G. One can see the attention to detail in the photos. It's a new G. Well done.

 

[Stu]

Thanks Alan! big wash coming up this weekend. lots of mud underneath now.

 

[Andrew]

That is indeed a fine machine Stu. Looks like a fun trip also.

 

[Stu]

Thanks Andrew - was lots of fun!!

 

[Riaan Harman]

Look like new underneath

 

[Antony]

Very nice Stu, your G looks amazing. Did your tyres handle the snow well?

 

[Stu]

Thanks Antony, The BF ATs worked perfectly in the snow/ slush. Ice will always be a issue, but I never got stuck once. The pass to Mokhotlong has a 1in6 incline which had iced up, and I got up first time.