The Brexit Grand Tour in an Ariel Nomad
Discussion
Long time no see PH! 
We're still around, still roadtrippin', there was just not much in terms of the Nomad action.
However, we are back on the road next week - the Grand Tour continues.
We're taking the Nomad first to Ireland, exploring the North and the West/North West of it. We've driven the whole Wild Atlantic Way before so have a pretty good idea where to go, but that was in a normal car, so if you have any recommendations for Nomad worthy roads and offroads - let us know. After that we're coming back through the Isle of Man, so that will be another point ticked on our Nomad adventure map.
At the end of June we're heading south - we didn't get to drive the Alps and Pyrenees last year, time to fix it. We're heading to the North of Spain and Portugal. There should be plenty of amazing driving to be had there.
Now, of course I couldn't last long without buying another car and a silly adventure that comes with it
Some of you might remember when I said that the only other car that I'd swap the Nomad for for me was the Ford Raptor.
Well... Why swap if you can have both?
Back in April I went to the Chicago to see some Raptors. I went mainly to check one, heavily modified one:
It was fun but a bit too modified for what I needed it for and there were lots of issues with changing the ownership etc.
I kept searching and stumbled upon a promising one in Florida. Good price, from the dealership - I had to go and check it out.
When the guy brought it out, it sounded strange. I found out it was supercharged, they just forgot to mention it in the ad
Well, Raptors are a bit like the Nomads - once you test drive one, there's no way you're gonna walk away from it. Especially when the supercharger whine blocks the reasonable voice in your head.
The plan is - we're gonna drive it all the way to Alaska this summer, offroading and generally having fun along the way.
I'm already in Houston, Texas having completed the first 1800 miles without Ruta. I'm flying back to London tomorrow and we'll pick up on the roadtrip mid July.
I've had my share of adventures already, like the auxiliary belt falling off in the middle of the forest, in 36c heat. No tools, nobody around and couldn't drive it because the water pump is powered by that belt. I managed to come up with a way to move the tensioner using a jack and hammock strap so I could put the belt back on.
I MIGHT HAVE something to do with this breakdown
I also broke the power steering pump which is being replaced today - apparently it's a very common failure and design fault. Will have to get a bigger reservoir and cooler before I go crazy again.
That happened when I was getting out of mud up to my doors so overall I'm VERY impressed with its performance offroad.
It's spacious, fun to drive, sounds great ( will get exhaust cut off next time I'm with it for quiet highway cruising and sound of angry god when in mood for it). Fuel consumption - yeah, the elephant in the room. Absolute best I git so far was 13 UK MPG and that's super unleaded because of supercharger. Not great. But in smiles per gallon - definitely worth it.
That's pretty much an update on last few months, I hope you're still following our adventures, both Ruta and I always appreciate your comments, kind words and critique.
We're still around, still roadtrippin', there was just not much in terms of the Nomad action.
However, we are back on the road next week - the Grand Tour continues.
We're taking the Nomad first to Ireland, exploring the North and the West/North West of it. We've driven the whole Wild Atlantic Way before so have a pretty good idea where to go, but that was in a normal car, so if you have any recommendations for Nomad worthy roads and offroads - let us know. After that we're coming back through the Isle of Man, so that will be another point ticked on our Nomad adventure map.
At the end of June we're heading south - we didn't get to drive the Alps and Pyrenees last year, time to fix it. We're heading to the North of Spain and Portugal. There should be plenty of amazing driving to be had there.
Now, of course I couldn't last long without buying another car and a silly adventure that comes with it
Some of you might remember when I said that the only other car that I'd swap the Nomad for for me was the Ford Raptor.
Well... Why swap if you can have both?
Back in April I went to the Chicago to see some Raptors. I went mainly to check one, heavily modified one:
It was fun but a bit too modified for what I needed it for and there were lots of issues with changing the ownership etc.
I kept searching and stumbled upon a promising one in Florida. Good price, from the dealership - I had to go and check it out.
When the guy brought it out, it sounded strange. I found out it was supercharged, they just forgot to mention it in the ad
Well, Raptors are a bit like the Nomads - once you test drive one, there's no way you're gonna walk away from it. Especially when the supercharger whine blocks the reasonable voice in your head.
The plan is - we're gonna drive it all the way to Alaska this summer, offroading and generally having fun along the way.
I'm already in Houston, Texas having completed the first 1800 miles without Ruta. I'm flying back to London tomorrow and we'll pick up on the roadtrip mid July.
I've had my share of adventures already, like the auxiliary belt falling off in the middle of the forest, in 36c heat. No tools, nobody around and couldn't drive it because the water pump is powered by that belt. I managed to come up with a way to move the tensioner using a jack and hammock strap so I could put the belt back on.
I MIGHT HAVE something to do with this breakdown
I also broke the power steering pump which is being replaced today - apparently it's a very common failure and design fault. Will have to get a bigger reservoir and cooler before I go crazy again.
That happened when I was getting out of mud up to my doors so overall I'm VERY impressed with its performance offroad.
It's spacious, fun to drive, sounds great ( will get exhaust cut off next time I'm with it for quiet highway cruising and sound of angry god when in mood for it). Fuel consumption - yeah, the elephant in the room. Absolute best I git so far was 13 UK MPG and that's super unleaded because of supercharger. Not great. But in smiles per gallon - definitely worth it.
That's pretty much an update on last few months, I hope you're still following our adventures, both Ruta and I always appreciate your comments, kind words and critique.
Edited by mudnomad on Monday 11th June 21:32
unpc said:
Just watched a bunch more of your grand tour and dammit, you're living my dream.
A US road trip in the Raptor will be epic but I'd try and do South America too if I could.
Hehe, thanks A US road trip in the Raptor will be epic but I'd try and do South America too if I could.
Ruta said yesterday that if she found out she only has a month or two to live, she would just carry on doing what we do. I guess that is a sign of doing things right.We will definitely travel across South America, however supercharged Raptor might not be the best tool for it. We actually really miss vanning in the Hiace so I'm guessing something like that will be the biggest possibility.
Now, an update:
We've been to few new countries on our Grand Tour!
First one was Ireland, we really love Wild Atlantic Way and managed to convince few friends to go with us.
It was my birthday weekend and Ruta organised a great surprise for me on the way - I got to drive some of airport machinery. I just love some wacky, unusual machines like the thing that tows/pushes the aeroplanes out of the bay and normally one is never able to experience driving one
Nomad is made for narrow, bumpy Irish country roads. It was so much fun! This was also the first time we took Izzy for a longer trip in it and she was absolutely not bothered by the speed, the noise etc. Ruta and her, both sleep astonishingly well, even when I'm doing 60miles per hour almost touching the shrubs on both sides of the road.
Day two was a trip from Sligo to Galway - we love Galway and if you're ever looking for great Irish pub culture - do not go to Dublin! Galway is your place.
On the way there we popped in to place which we discovered on our last trip. It's called Omey and it's an island few hundred meters off the coast. However, when the tide is low, that uncovers a massive empty beach on which you can drive and generally have fun.
We made the most of it.
Nomad wasn't too keen, apparently salt water and electrics are not the best match - who would have thought
It just didn't want to start, we managed to bump start it once using the winch rope, but when we got to the nearest petrol station to wash the salt off, that was it.
AA came and after trying cleaning all the ECU connections it has been decided that Nomad will be taken to a garage and dried off overnight. Henry from Ariel - the Nomad's "creator", was troubleshooting it with me via Instagram all the way, it's great to have this kind of support, it's like VW chief designer helping you out with your Golf
Luckily we had friends with us, who took us to Galway and then back the next day, 90min each way.
Nomad didn't want to disappoint me on my birthday and in the morning I received a phone call from the AA guy saying that it starts all fine! We were really happy - it would have been a logistical nightmare to get it recovered to Ariel, ferry crossing, international recovery, we couldn't fly home because of the dog etc etc.
Luckily, the journey to Dublin went fine and we boarded ferry back in the evening.
The original plan was to visit the Isle of Man on the way back but the ferries became ridiculously expensive and we decided to go some other time - we've explored it twice before.
The video from Ireland is HERE
Next day it was Snowdonia and trying to get to Ariel in Somerset for a booked service before our European trip.
We love roads and forests around Snowdon, this is where took the Nomad for its first roadtrip and it was just as fun this time. Nomad it's just made for the gravel roads there and because the weather is s
te most of the time, there's never anyone there
We didn't make it all the way to Ariel in the end and had to stay the night in Cotswolds, heading out early in the morning.
Nomad needed handbrake adjustment, new handbrake pads, new rear tyres and I also asked for an extra switch for the top lights.
The way they are wired as standard, they come on with main beam. Which makes it useless, the glare from them on the dashboard makes you not using them at all. Now they are on a separate switch and relay so I can turn them on when I want them, but I can also see something when driving at night with main beam on.
Unfortunately we still have no working dash - they had to send our one for repair and we were leaving two days later for Europe so it's another European trip in "more basic than basic" motoring for us - no speed, revs, fuel level, literally we have NOTHING for almost a year now It's entirely my fault, I was just never long enough in the UK to organise the replacement.
It was really good to visit Ariel after all this time, with all the guys watching our videos etc, seeing that we are really using the Nomad the way it was designed to be used.
Next - The Alps
We've been to few new countries on our Grand Tour!
First one was Ireland, we really love Wild Atlantic Way and managed to convince few friends to go with us.
It was my birthday weekend and Ruta organised a great surprise for me on the way - I got to drive some of airport machinery. I just love some wacky, unusual machines like the thing that tows/pushes the aeroplanes out of the bay and normally one is never able to experience driving one
Nomad is made for narrow, bumpy Irish country roads. It was so much fun! This was also the first time we took Izzy for a longer trip in it and she was absolutely not bothered by the speed, the noise etc. Ruta and her, both sleep astonishingly well, even when I'm doing 60miles per hour almost touching the shrubs on both sides of the road.
Day two was a trip from Sligo to Galway - we love Galway and if you're ever looking for great Irish pub culture - do not go to Dublin! Galway is your place.
On the way there we popped in to place which we discovered on our last trip. It's called Omey and it's an island few hundred meters off the coast. However, when the tide is low, that uncovers a massive empty beach on which you can drive and generally have fun.
We made the most of it.
Nomad wasn't too keen, apparently salt water and electrics are not the best match - who would have thought
It just didn't want to start, we managed to bump start it once using the winch rope, but when we got to the nearest petrol station to wash the salt off, that was it.
AA came and after trying cleaning all the ECU connections it has been decided that Nomad will be taken to a garage and dried off overnight. Henry from Ariel - the Nomad's "creator", was troubleshooting it with me via Instagram all the way, it's great to have this kind of support, it's like VW chief designer helping you out with your Golf
Luckily we had friends with us, who took us to Galway and then back the next day, 90min each way.
Nomad didn't want to disappoint me on my birthday and in the morning I received a phone call from the AA guy saying that it starts all fine! We were really happy - it would have been a logistical nightmare to get it recovered to Ariel, ferry crossing, international recovery, we couldn't fly home because of the dog etc etc.
Luckily, the journey to Dublin went fine and we boarded ferry back in the evening.
The original plan was to visit the Isle of Man on the way back but the ferries became ridiculously expensive and we decided to go some other time - we've explored it twice before.
The video from Ireland is HERE
Next day it was Snowdonia and trying to get to Ariel in Somerset for a booked service before our European trip.
We love roads and forests around Snowdon, this is where took the Nomad for its first roadtrip and it was just as fun this time. Nomad it's just made for the gravel roads there and because the weather is s
te most of the time, there's never anyone there We didn't make it all the way to Ariel in the end and had to stay the night in Cotswolds, heading out early in the morning.
Nomad needed handbrake adjustment, new handbrake pads, new rear tyres and I also asked for an extra switch for the top lights.
The way they are wired as standard, they come on with main beam. Which makes it useless, the glare from them on the dashboard makes you not using them at all. Now they are on a separate switch and relay so I can turn them on when I want them, but I can also see something when driving at night with main beam on.
Unfortunately we still have no working dash - they had to send our one for repair and we were leaving two days later for Europe so it's another European trip in "more basic than basic" motoring for us - no speed, revs, fuel level, literally we have NOTHING for almost a year now
It's entirely my fault, I was just never long enough in the UK to organise the replacement.It was really good to visit Ariel after all this time, with all the guys watching our videos etc, seeing that we are really using the Nomad the way it was designed to be used.
Next - The Alps
Edited by mudnomad on Tuesday 3rd July 22:20
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