Top Gear - sucked in ??

Just to clarify, the above coordinates are about 2 years old and since it is moving continuously they would be somewhat different at the time of the challenge

cooooorect! :-)

The boys must have been using old data - the GPS was showing somewhere around 78ºN 105ºW when they were at the "North Pole"

The pole is moving NW at around 40km a year so the lattitude and longitude would have been higher than George's figures.

Cheers

Pete

Stevo further down has clarified it - they were racing to the 1996 magnetic pole

On a couple of occasions you could actually hear an air compressor cut in and out momentarily, hence I'm sure air lockers were in use (even my blonde daughter exclaimed " they must have those locker thingys like yours,dad").

Yeah, I just wondered when they got bogged on a couple of occasions, I only saw one front wheel spinning away with the other sitting there uesless.

I'm pretty sure they would have had rock crawler gears in the transfer as well, to turn those rather large tyres.

Some positive bead locks would installed next time as well.

Most of the running would have been with diff locks off, or there would be no steerage at all. So it's highly likely that they got stuck with locks off, and then getting them engaged would the problem.

You'd better win the Lotto pretty soon then Snowy. The rate that the polar ice-cap is melting might make that run impossible in the near future.

Cheers,

Russ

This the list of vehicle mods that were undertaken and some of the survival gear:


Vehicle Arctic Trucks Double Cab 3.0 D-4D
Suspension Front: lowered by 50mm, moved 40mm forwards, additional 40mm lift.
Rear: longer, more pliant leaf springs fitted with heavy duty long travel pump stops and specially tuned shock absorbers.
Wheels and Tires Bespoke Arctic Trucks 15x12" aluminum wheels with two valves per wheel.
Arctic Trucks AT 405 38" studded snow tires.
Engine Standard 169bhp 3.0 liter D-4D engine, modified to cope with ultra low air temperatures.
Auxiliary heater added to boost coolant temperature before starting, together with fuel heaters and a heavy duty battery.
Air intake raised and special exhaust system fitted.
Auxiliary 90-liter tank increasing fuel capacity to 170 liters.
Transmission Arctic Trucks 4.88:1 differential ratios with front and rear diff locks with cold weather preparation.
Bodywork Flared wheel arches.
Front bumper bull bar protection with jack locations and winch mounts front and rear.
Heavy duty skid plates made of 5mm thick aluminum to protect the front bumper, suspension, transmission and transfer case.
Heavy duty running boards.
KC Xenon spotlights.
African Outback carrying rack.
Wheel Base 3125mm (from 3085)
Length 5335mm (from 5255)
Recovery kit Chain saw, axes, shovels, crowbars, high-lift jack and winch
Survival Equipment Tents, low temperature sleeping bags, heaters and shotguns were also carried for protection against polar bears.

You forgot another extra. The toilet seat on the tow bar.
I don't know if I would like to ride there while on the move. I so-pose if you were constipated the movement of the bumps might loosen you up a bit ?!
Lachie

hahahahaha Lachie and if you were well endowed the vehicle would have a rudder too!

There are some parts of the show that had been edited out. If you go onto youtube you will find a clip where they explained what mods have been done to the vehicles. From memory they had to completley modify the front suspension to take the wheels as they were unable to open the front doors due to the size of the tyres, there was something about heating pre heating the fuel amongs many other mods. Worth a look.

"There was only one sled with no other help"-
I don't think so. For a start a least there was a camera vehicle- and I reckon there would have been as many back-up vehicles with the dogs, as with the Yota.

True signman,
must have been others with the sled to operate the camera and do the sound.

The "Top Gear" team undertook its race during the annual Polar Challenge Ski race, in 2007. The race has been taking place every year since 2003 with competitors in three persons team racing on skis 320 nautical miles across the Arctic to reach the 1996 Magnetic North Pole.

This gave the Top Gear team and their TV crew access to the huge logistics and safety network associated with the Ski Race, despite the tv show giving the impression that they were out there on their own.

I'd like to know how they got the vehicles back and if not how much will it cost me to fly up there and get one free.
Geoff

Their faces when driving on that ice told the story, they were scared for sure.

This post was not meant to be negative, there's nothing wrong with having an enquiring mind.

I have said it was a great show, as have others, so you must have missed those positives?

Guess I must have, what hit me most was stats stats and more stats, and what should have hit you was funny funny funny........
lighten up mate