Madigan Line

Crossing the Simpson offroad in a Suzuki returned 27lt/100km. Crossing the Simpson in a Nissan 4.2lt diesel(tracks only) returned 14.5lt/100km. I would estimate getting around 22 to 20lt/100km in my truck going offroad..

I would say you should get between 25 and 20lt/100km of you are careful. It could depend a lot on the weight your vehicle is carrying and your driving style

Do an archive search on this site as there should be a few pointers from travellers who have done this trip before.

4x4 Australia have just done this trip maybe next issue or talk to Brad at outback 4wd he was on the trip.

This section of the site might help:-
link text

I got 15L/100K doing the Simpson in June/July from Dalhousie to Birdsville in a Landcruiser TD100.

hi all
I USED 88 ltr to cross the simpson from the Pink Road house and we used some of the madigen line we had a full truck with a roof top tent and 60 liters of water
plus food

Hi,
Just returned from crossing the North Simpson Desert... Hay River ...cross country...in my heavily loaded 120 Prado Petrol V6....achieved 23.5lt per 100 on this section.
Cheers joe

Figures for the conventional Simpson Crossing bear no relationship to what you'll use on the Madigan Line. The French Line is a walk in the park by comparison.

The going is much slower as you spend the best part of a week in low range crawling over Spinfex. Its a hard trip on passengers and vehicles, and unlike other trips, once you cross the Colson Track, theres no turning back.

I did it with a group last year. Fuel figures for Alice Springs to Birdsville were:
90series Prado TD: 180 litres
80series 1Hz: 215 litres
75series troopie 1Hz: 220 litres
100series TD and aftermarket TDs were about 240 litres.

David Owen (www.outbackadventures.com.au) knows more about the Madigan Line than anyone else I know. He runs the odd trip and has doe the Madigan Line at least 8 times. He suggests carrying 300 litres for a 6 cyl diesel. As far as I know, they are the only company regularly doing the Madigan Line.

Cheers
Phil

Thomas and Gabriela,

Just a couple of other things.

Don't take the trip lightly - you need a strong, well serviced vehicle, good tyres, suspension spares, and don't overload it (sounds impossible eh).
Take your time - if you hurry, you will break stuff.
Travel with others - I would never contemplate this trip solo.
No one will come to your assistance out there - you must be totally self sufficient.
Travel from the West - almost no one has come from the east, as the dunes are steeper and in the spinifex, theres often no chance of a run up.

Theres only been about 400 people who ahve done this trip - and usually only half a dozen groups per year.

Its great country - enjoy it.

Cheers
phil

we did a little of the madigan but we just tured the corner

thomas and gabriela, we are also looking at the madigan line next year by motorcycle and while we are right for fuel, we think water could be a problem, is there any chance of teaming up?

The fuel required depends on the route.

If you do the full Madigan following all the tracks (which means permits or taking a chance) then it is about 800km-850km wheel distance (depending on conditions).

I recorded 824km and used 193.4 lts from Mt Dare to Birdsville. Add 100km if you do the commercial route = Up Colson, Camp 6 , Down to French at end.

Fuel usage will surprise you. I have a 1989 Nissan Turbo Diesel. There was a new 3lt turbo diesel Hilux and a 2002 turbo diesel Cruiser. I had the best fuel consumption of all (and my engine is stuffed) and it was still bad in very good conditions.

I would not recommend:

(1) an IFS vehicle. The Hilux spent so much time with a wheel in the air we joked it was to save tyre war. The IFS Cruiser was better ... a bit.
(2) Mud tyres. I brought up the rear. Every time (and it was often) the other vehicles got hung up there was a rooster tail of sand as their big mud tyres dug in.
We were lucky in that the sand was so firm due to prior rain or we would have been in real trouble.
(3) Over weighting the vehicles. A group went through a day before us with terrific equipment. Double rear tyre holders, etc. Trouble is all the weight was in the rear and we saw what they did to the tops of the dunes. Again, if it had been drier they would have struggled.

I recommend:

(1) A tray back vehicle to carry the fuel. We and another group did that and were much lighter.
(2) Light weight and good weight distribution.I move my cargo barrier behind the driver seat and have my second tyre strapped there. Put my water (soft 10 kltr containers) there as well to get my weight over the axle.
(3) Time and plenty of breaks. We did the whole trip from Melbourne and back in 2 weeks. It was a blur of exhaustion for me. Easier for the others as they had 2 drivers in each vehicle.
(3) Good suspension. The Hilux (with the fuel) had air bags (great) but original shocks .. with poor rebound dampening. Nearly lost their load a few times across the spiniphex.
(4) No IFS. You can get through but you will depend on non-IFS vehicles to pull you out. In the spinaphex you will waggle front wheels. Without diff locks....
(5) Planning, planning planning. Don't hope for the best, plan altenatives. One group ahead of us had a vehicle that broke a spring shackle, they fixed it .. can you (we couldn't if it had happend to us)?
(6) More vehicles. We has 3 vehicles, that was not enough. Optimum is 5.

Good luck and enjoy.