March 22, 2017 Adventure to the Red Centre: Part 1

A group of intrepid Four Wheel Drivers recently set out on a mission – to test the new Yokohama Geolandar G015 AT tyres across some of the toughest terrain in Australia.

Four good friends in their trusty Nissan Patrols met in Longreach and crossed The Simpson Desert to Uluru and the heart of this beautiful, sunburned land.

Group Leader Ned - who drives a Nissan Patrol Y62 - described the crew as ‘just a group of ordinary family guys with a passion for cars and for touring this magnificent country.’

Having never driven on these Yokohama tyres and with wet weather imminent around Birdsville, the question on everyone’s lips was – would the Geolandar G015 ATS tyre treads be up to the job?

Longreach to Birdsville and Big Red Camp

After a good night’s sleep, the group set off for Birdsville, driving through spectacularly varied scenery which had come alive after the recent rain. Their worries about the weather proved to be unfounded and they arrived in Birdsville without incident.

However, the Patrols went down some very wet, sloppy dirt roads on the way to the bottom of Big Red camp; the first real test for the Yokohama Geolandar G015 tyres. They proved very stable and gripped well. Ned reported that “the tyre base was nice and firm on the muddy sections and the cars didn’t slide all over the place.”

The tyres also made light work of the big sandy dune at Big Red, which was deep and soft towards the top.

The real tests still lay before the group, as they began to cross The Simpson Desert.



The next day they reached the first of the salt lakes, where they ran into an unlucky fellow traveller whose Landcruiser had become bogged. His friends were discussing how to extract him without getting more vehicles stuck…luckily one of Ned’s crew had a lot of experience doing safe recoveries, and pulled out the stranded Landcruiser using his Nissan Patrol Y56. The mud was deep and soft but the Yokohama Geolandar G015 tyres more than rose to the challenge. Ned recorded the crossing in his diary:
“It was hard to believe how good these Geolandar G015 tyres were in this mud.  The key to driving in these conditions is to ensure correct tyre pressure - to increase their footprint and keep the wheels turning, so they can clean themselves.” 

“As you drive through mud, the tyre tread obviously fills up. However, these tyres are designed in such a way that this mud is then flicked out as much as possible. This allows the treads to keep biting into the terrain and gain valuable traction. Sometimes we could only be travelling 5kms an hour, but keeping the wheels spinning kept cleaning them and they grabbed enough surface to keep up momentum”.

“The Yokohama Geolandar G015 AT’s gained significant respect within our group after this crossing (and within the group of Landcruiser drivers we rescued).”

Continuing through jaw-dropping landscape, the group arrived tired and thirsty at Mt Dare, to recharge before they continued on to Uluru.

 

The Geolandar G015 A/T tyres are Yokohama’s latest All Terrain tyre, which are designed to handle the toughest conditions in quiet and comfort. Find out more from your local Yokohama dealer today.

Yokohama Geolandar A/T G015