The Brexit Grand Tour in an Ariel Nomad
Discussion
Keep them coming please Mudnomad team 
foxsasha said:
I was hoping for more car related content as Ive a Nomad on order. Wanted as much insight into traveling with one as possible, Ive vague plans about driving down from Yorkshire to Portsmouth, Bilbao/Santander, down through Spain the twisty way, over to Moroccoa and onto the Sahara. The details about heat problems, weight distribution, weather protection etc is hugely useful.
Personally Im not interested in watching another generic traveling/holiday blog.
Well I hope it looks nothing like a "generic holiday blog" so far... Personally Im not interested in watching another generic traveling/holiday blog.
but of course as you can see I will be sharing all the insights into the ownership and travels with the Nomad.Feel free to also ask specific questions.
rottie102 said:
Well I hope it looks nothing like a "generic holiday blog" so far... but of course as you can see I will be sharing all the insights into the ownership and travels with the Nomad.
Feel free to also ask specific questions.
The first and second one weren't but as they've progressed there has been lots of holiday content and diminishing Nomad content. I'm not criticising, just giving feedback, there's a difference. The trip looks a lot of fun, I said to my missus last night that it would be great at times not to have young kids but of course as you can see I will be sharing all the insights into the ownership and travels with the Nomad.Feel free to also ask specific questions.
foxsasha said:
The first and second one weren't but as they've progressed there has been lots of holiday content and diminishing Nomad content. I'm not criticising, just giving feedback, there's a difference.
Feedback from a potential Nomad purchaser is likely to be weighted in favour of the Nomad and a bit niche.My feedback is keep doing exactly what you're doing, I'm loving it. Apart from it making me regret how my life turned out n that.
Thanks guys!
Video from Alands, Finland, Estonia and Latvia is online I hope you will find it as funny as we do.
Over last three days we have just been chillin' at Ruta's grandmother's. Being constantly fed as always in this kind of scenario so the power to weight ratio will suffer.
For those of you without much experience of Eastern European countryside - there's always a lake nearby. Big ones, small ones, they are all free to access and locals' way of spending time on a sunny day is to pack the family up, go to the lake, have a BBQ and generally have a good time outdoors. Wild swimming as a concept doesn't exist here, it's just "swimming". It's free, fun and most of the families do it.
We found the lake for us, Ruta's family went with us, the plan was for me to take some of them for a ride in the Nomad. I didn't know what a gem of a location we will stumble upon. It was absolutely amazing for the Nomad! By the field, with the lake on the other side, dried muddy tracks, with one puddle if I wanted to turn the experience up to 11, safe enough for me, scary enough for them. It was so great to show them the "Nomadness" in this kind of environment, not on the road. People usually don't understand how much fun it can be to go at speed through countryside, sliding around, with mud spraying all over you. Of course I always make it safe and would never push it with a passenger but even SAFE is enough for an unforgettable experience, if it's the first time in your life you're experiencing something like that.
Ruta's 70+ granny was awesome, she loved the experience and was giggling like a schoolgirl when watching the videos after.
(video screenshots, hence poor image quality)
The car... Washing it will be fun
We hope that the ceramic coating will make a big difference to the experience. There will be a video about it coming soon, for those who are more interested in the car aspect.
We're off to Vilnius this afternoon, stopping in Kaunas on the way for something very very exciting!
Video from Alands, Finland, Estonia and Latvia is online I hope you will find it as funny as we do.
Over last three days we have just been chillin' at Ruta's grandmother's. Being constantly fed as always in this kind of scenario so the power to weight ratio will suffer
. For those of you without much experience of Eastern European countryside - there's always a lake nearby. Big ones, small ones, they are all free to access and locals' way of spending time on a sunny day is to pack the family up, go to the lake, have a BBQ and generally have a good time outdoors. Wild swimming as a concept doesn't exist here, it's just "swimming". It's free, fun and most of the families do it.
We found the lake for us, Ruta's family went with us, the plan was for me to take some of them for a ride in the Nomad. I didn't know what a gem of a location we will stumble upon. It was absolutely amazing for the Nomad! By the field, with the lake on the other side, dried muddy tracks, with one puddle if I wanted to turn the experience up to 11
, safe enough for me, scary enough for them. It was so great to show them the "Nomadness" in this kind of environment, not on the road. People usually don't understand how much fun it can be to go at speed through countryside, sliding around, with mud spraying all over you. Of course I always make it safe and would never push it with a passenger but even SAFE is enough for an unforgettable experience, if it's the first time in your life you're experiencing something like that. Ruta's 70+ granny was awesome, she loved the experience and was giggling like a schoolgirl when watching the videos after.
(video screenshots, hence poor image quality)
The car... Washing it will be fun
We hope that the ceramic coating will make a big difference to the experience. There will be a video about it coming soon, for those who are more interested in the car aspect. We're off to Vilnius this afternoon, stopping in Kaunas on the way for something very very exciting!
Google [bot] said:
Feedback from a potential Nomad purchaser is likely to be weighted in favour of the Nomad and a bit niche.
Indeed. From the title I was hoping for a more Metcalfe road trip type car orientated video blog with more focus on how the car integrates into the trip rather than a happy hols people orientated story. It is what it is. Enjoy foxsasha said:
Indeed. From the title I was hoping for a more Metcalfe road trip type car orientated video blog with more focus on how the car integrates into the trip rather than a happy hols people orientated story. It is what it is. Enjoy
The big difference is - those roadtrips don't last three months. There is only so much one can say about one car without repeating it and this is one thing we would like to avoid. Whenever there's anything new coming up re the Nomad - it will be a part of it. However nobody would want to hear that it's loud and windy and we get wet when it rains, for 11th time. We do have ideas for topic specific videos, but we're leaving that for moments when there won't be much happening during the trip. So far, we're normally a day or two behind with material and edits so we're happy with that.
I really really appreciate the feedback. It makes it so much more challenging and interesting for us.
Would you like to tell me what else in terms of car feedback you'd like to see?
Fuel range/consumption? Safety/security of leaving the car like this in public? Storage access?
What else?
rottie102 said:
The big difference is - those roadtrips don't last three months. There is only so much one can say about one car without repeating it and this is one thing we would like to avoid. Whenever there's anything new coming up re the Nomad - it will be a part of it. However nobody would want to hear that it's loud and windy and we get wet when it rains, for 11th time.
We do have ideas for topic specific videos, but we're leaving that for moments when there won't be much happening during the trip. So far, we're normally a day or two behind with material and edits so we're happy with that.
I really really appreciate the feedback. It makes it so much more challenging and interesting for us.
Would you like to tell me what else in terms of car feedback you'd like to see?
Fuel range/consumption? Safety/security of leaving the car like this in public? Storage access?
What else?
That is very true. So not Metcalfe, how about Long Way Round. I'm not a film maker so am struggling to give specific ideas, Id have to sit and rewatch a number of other peoples car related videos to pull in some ideas then collate them and work out what bits make for entertaining viewing. As you say, motorway trips don't give much room for inspiration. We do have ideas for topic specific videos, but we're leaving that for moments when there won't be much happening during the trip. So far, we're normally a day or two behind with material and edits so we're happy with that.
I really really appreciate the feedback. It makes it so much more challenging and interesting for us.
Would you like to tell me what else in terms of car feedback you'd like to see?
Fuel range/consumption? Safety/security of leaving the car like this in public? Storage access?
What else?
ash73 said:
Awesome! Don't wash it, just clean the lights & windscreen. That's how it's meant to look.
The car - yes. But we also look like this after driving in it I did wash it yesterday, there is a whole video coming soon about the ceramic coating application and whether it worked or not. I might write a bit more about it too if anyone's interested. In the meantime:
I've found a car that is even less suitable to touring than the Nomad!
Ruta's uncle got a BA64 Russian Armoured Car from the 2nd World War as a gift from his wife and he let me take it for a little spin. Now that is a crazy vehicle! It's completely restored but what a nightmare to drive
.
Today we bumped into one of the mongol Rally teams in Vilnius. It was so good to catch up, they chose the longer way through Scandinavia and they're making their way south.
Awesome videos! Thanks for doing this & sharing.
We have a wee Nissan Figaro - kids loved it when they were tiddlers, but not really that exciting to drive (at all!)
On a recent 'track day gift' thing I had a go in an Aerial Atom.....I now think the Figgy should be sold for a Nomad, looks an absolute hoot!
Monster top-box needed for travel though - nice job on that ;-)
Keep 'em coming, & have fun!
We have a wee Nissan Figaro - kids loved it when they were tiddlers, but not really that exciting to drive (at all!)
On a recent 'track day gift' thing I had a go in an Aerial Atom.....I now think the Figgy should be sold for a Nomad, looks an absolute hoot!
Monster top-box needed for travel though - nice job on that ;-)
Keep 'em coming, & have fun!
Hello everyone!
An overdue update :
We're in Poland now, video from Lithuania will be out soon but in the meantime you can watch Ruta's family's reactions when I took them out for a drive. You can see how much fun it was, they are all nuts
I had a first car trouble - the dash stopped working. It went all crazy and of course it happened in the worst possible moment, this what my night driving experience was like:
It's actually the second one! First was already replaced FOC by Ariel. So I'm kind of stuck with no fuel gauge for the rest of the trip which sucks. I don't care too much about speedo, I drive with satnav on most of the time.
On the way through Mazury, which is "The land of 1000 lakes" I got in a bit of trouble with Ruta - a friend recommended little detour to see some sights and explore some cool gravel roads. Normally that would be fine but this was the longest driving day so far - 12h, most of it in the rain. We were already wet from the morning and somehow I've found a particularly deep puddle on the way, you can see the video on Instagram. It was hilarious when we got completely soaked but some time later I was in the dog house when the cold kicked in...
This part of Poland doesn't have any motorways, so the progress is very slow, lots of overtaking, villages etc. But it is so pretty! Roads are very nice, with sensible speed limit. And there's a lake every 2 mins All accessible, free to swim in etc. Definitely worth visiting.
We're in Torun now, the most beautiful medieval city. Lots of car related stuff to do here so the video should be good.
I went to explore and search for good "Nomad places" on the first day. I've been told about a motocross track so I went to check it out. IT WAS SO COOL!
Of course me being an idiot instead of just checking it out and coming back later with Ruta etc I decided to "just got for a little drive".
It's in the middle of nowhere, I was by myself. Nomad didn't disappoint, this thing is RIDICULOUSLY good offroading. I'm constantly surprised by its ability being a 2wd. It just goes everywhere I want it to. Low weight, enough power, LSD, completely flat floor and no overhangs really make a difference.
It almost completed the whole motocross track, I messed it up because I didn't commit enough before one of the hills. I reversed a bit but then I beached it.
Nobody around, it started raining and I'm surrounded by the rest of the very deep and sandy track.
Thank god for the winch! It was the first time I got to use it but it really saved my ass. I found a tree that the rope JUST reached, the remote control is very cool and convenient to use. I got out of the sand but then still I had to find my way within the track, avoiding the very sandy bits. It was definitely an adventure!
I've also found a massive quarry that is open and unattended in the evenings so expect some great footage!
This place is just amazing for a petrolhead, there's a fully prepared rallycross track which I got to myself for two hours the sum of £40. You can drift as much as you want, no noise limits, no marshalls, just some old dude in a trailer looking after it. It's right next to an airfield but apparently I'm allowed to fly a drone there to film so it's even better. Unfortunately it started raining heavily so we'll have to go there again next week.
An overdue update
:We're in Poland now, video from Lithuania will be out soon but in the meantime you can watch Ruta's family's reactions when I took them out for a drive. You can see how much fun it was, they are all nuts
I had a first car trouble - the dash stopped working. It went all crazy and of course it happened in the worst possible moment, this what my night driving experience was like:
It's actually the second one! First was already replaced FOC by Ariel. So I'm kind of stuck with no fuel gauge for the rest of the trip which sucks. I don't care too much about speedo, I drive with satnav on most of the time.
On the way through Mazury, which is "The land of 1000 lakes" I got in a bit of trouble with Ruta - a friend recommended little detour to see some sights and explore some cool gravel roads. Normally that would be fine but this was the longest driving day so far - 12h, most of it in the rain. We were already wet from the morning and somehow I've found a particularly deep puddle on the way, you can see the video on Instagram. It was hilarious when we got completely soaked but some time later I was in the dog house when the cold kicked in...
This part of Poland doesn't have any motorways, so the progress is very slow, lots of overtaking, villages etc. But it is so pretty! Roads are very nice, with sensible speed limit. And there's a lake every 2 mins
All accessible, free to swim in etc. Definitely worth visiting. We're in Torun now, the most beautiful medieval city. Lots of car related stuff to do here so the video should be good.
I went to explore and search for good "Nomad places" on the first day. I've been told about a motocross track so I went to check it out. IT WAS SO COOL!
Of course me being an idiot instead of just checking it out and coming back later with Ruta etc I decided to "just got for a little drive".
It's in the middle of nowhere, I was by myself. Nomad didn't disappoint, this thing is RIDICULOUSLY good offroading. I'm constantly surprised by its ability being a 2wd. It just goes everywhere I want it to. Low weight, enough power, LSD, completely flat floor and no overhangs really make a difference.
It almost completed the whole motocross track, I messed it up because I didn't commit enough before one of the hills. I reversed a bit but then I beached it.
Nobody around, it started raining and I'm surrounded by the rest of the very deep and sandy track.
Thank god for the winch! It was the first time I got to use it but it really saved my ass. I found a tree that the rope JUST reached, the remote control is very cool and convenient to use. I got out of the sand but then still I had to find my way within the track, avoiding the very sandy bits. It was definitely an adventure!
I've also found a massive quarry that is open and unattended in the evenings so expect some great footage!
This place is just amazing for a petrolhead, there's a fully prepared rallycross track which I got to myself for two hours the sum of £40
. You can drift as much as you want, no noise limits, no marshalls, just some old dude in a trailer looking after it. It's right next to an airfield but apparently I'm allowed to fly a drone there to film so it's even better. Unfortunately it started raining heavily so we'll have to go there again next week. 
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