PandaSpeedShop

Yeah I agree with Daan! If you are super negative you will never do anything. I have driven a 1973 gaz from Russia no problem and have driven there and back in a 1999 Bora. Also years of driving a track and drift car to events teaches you some good field fixes 😂. I am accepting that I might come back with a crumpled beer can of a disco and make it into a challenge truck when I return. The TD5 is a little more fragile than a tdi which is a worry. What do you recommend for waterproofing? I have got an ECU relocation loom but there are still the SLABS and BCU in the passenger footwell. I am thinking cut all the wires and extend to put them on the roof. The fuse box in the engine bay is delicate and so is the one under the steering column. They will be trickier to relocate. Or am I worrying for no reason and should just WD40 and Vaseline the hell out of them? The regulations for adventure say 1.5m water crossings, which puts it above the clocks on my disco. All good until you have to stop or get stuck in the water, then you are in trouble 😂. @Daan thanks for the video link, doesn’t look to bad for that G-wagon. So I have faith in the disco. The plan is for me to leave the disco over there after the event and then fly out there and get it a few weeks later after it has had the major bits replaced. I just can’t get enough time off work to drive there, do the event and drive back all in one go. Plus I can let my mates over there worry about fixing it enough to drive it back while I chill at work and hound them for progress updates 😂.

No trailer here, it’s getting driven there and back.

Have been watching lots of videos from Ladoga and the narrow ridge section looks tricky for bigger cars. Looks like a whole lot of smashed bodywork trying to squeeze a disco between the narrow trees at the top 😬

Thanks for the information guys. Did not even consider tyre soap as causing a problem. I wonder how much they will actually flatten out when aired down, they seem super rigid on the side wall currently. Do they soften up with use at all? I guess being remoulds they aren’t the best performing tyre. Also slightly concerned about them not being aggressive enough, they shouldn’t dig down but they may be a bit lacking in bite for the muddy sections. I hope they self clear ok with a bit of throttle. The other issue I am worried about is the weight and size of the thing. Going to be a 300/400kg heavier than most I recon. It’s 2200kg as it sits right now. No crew, no spares and on smaller tyres. The 2 seats will be coming out of the 2nd row and I think I will be loosing all the carpet but she’s going to be a big heavy beast. Any idea on what yours weighed in at @Daan?

I put them on with soap. Is that an issue?

Hi, yes I will be keeping the thread updated as much as possible. The links to the profiles are https://instagram.com/ladoga_disco?utm_medium=copy_link and https://instagram.com/panda_speed_shop?utm_medium=copy_link The diff ratios are going to 3.75 to keep it fairly similar to stock on 33” tyres. I need to retain some road manners so I can’t go for crazy crawl ratios unfortunately. I have also been issued a race number, we will be crew number 604 😀 On the advice of the previous thread I have gone for insa turbo K2 tyres (trepador copies) in 285/65r16 which came up at exactly 32.8”. I was very surprised about this. Ended up going to the tyre shop with a tape measure as I was really worried about them being oversize. Sorry for the rubbish pictures, but I was very excited to pick them up and get them on a set of modulars. They went on surprisingly easily and took no effort to sit on the bead, which gives me some confidence in them staying on aired down. Now I have to get them on and work out if I need to do any cutting, really hope I can get away with no or minimal cutting.

Hello everyone, as you may have seen from a different thread I am in the process of putting together a Discovery 2 to compete in Ladoga Trophy 2022. I will be competing in the adventure class - 33” tyres, 1 winch, minimal body and mechanical mods. The obvious stuff like air lockers, winch bumpers and mild suspension lifts are allowed. I am trying my best to put together something fairly bullet proof with the help and guidance from a few big names in the game. @Hybrid_From_Hellis building me some pretty special diffs and should be sharing the progress in here. Wil from Goodwinch has advised the TDS-12 winch and all the associated recovery equipment. Which has just turned up and I will be building a winch bumper to suit shortly. Winchester gears are building a stage 1 gearbox and stage 2 transfer case with an Ashcroft ATB diff and that is going to be paired to a LOF Extreme single mass clutch. I can safely say my credit card will get a good workout with all that lot, but hopefully it will result in a pretty well built disco. There will be lots of progress n the coming months and hopefully some interesting updates for you all. Feel free to follow @ladoga_disco or @panda_speed_shop for more in detail updates. I will leave you with a couple of pictures of the disco as it sits today.

I have entered into the adventure class, waiting on a race number and more information from the organisers. I have been talking to the guy running the event. I have also got a new credit card coming, hope it’s a water cooled one. Going to get hot with all the spending 😂

Those that drove to the event, did you run your mud tyres all the way there? I wonder if I am going to have to drive there on a/t and carry the mud tyres with me.

@Hybrid_From_Hell thank you for all the information and advice with the diff units, really has cleared a lot up for me. I can’t help but think I am getting a bit carried away here, but it’s so easy to do. Hopefully should have a pretty capable truck at the end of it all. please do post the build pics, I would love to see them!

This really concerns me. I am not sure how to get round it apart from buy and hope for the best. Is there a good non-remould alternative at a similar price. BFG Mud tyres don’t look aggressive enough, Radar renegade seem more aggressive, comforser cf300 look similar to mudzillas but I am not sure any of them will deal with mud and bog like insa turbo special track.

Thanks for the replies guys. Spoke to Will at Goodwinch, will be getting one of their winches in along with all of the associated accessories. Had a set of 285/75r16 insa turbo special tracks measured and they come in just within spec at 32.8” so will have a set of those on their way after pay day. Going for a set of Ashcroft lockers and HD shafts next month too. Managed to pick up a gpsmap64s pretty cheap second hand too. So going to get familiar with that. I have also started an Instagram account to document the build/trip. @ladoga_disco for those that might be interested. Or @panda_speed_shop which is my normal account with a mixture of restoration/paintwork/fabrication/drifting.

What would you recommend as the very minimum low line winch? I have a Chinese winch on the truck currently (winch max/rhino winch type of thing) and I will be buying a backup. It works ok for the pay and play days/punch hunts I have used it for but it would probably die a horrible death in a day or two at Ladoga.

Thank you for your reply, I am going to have to use the disco I have due to time and budget constraints. I will be going for adventure class which hopefully is a little less competitive than TR-1. As for the tyres I am thinking 285/75r16 which should be 32.8” I will have to go and measure the tyres I buy as I do not want to be over the max size and get bumped up into the class above. Initial thought lead me to insa turbo special track. I have used them before and they are very good in deep mud. Not sure how good they will be aired down due to them being remoulds and the sidewalls are far from soft. I am planning on taking a spare winch out there. As losing a winch is one of my big fears.

I am also lead to believe that the discovery 2 traction control system is more complex than that of a defender. So I think disabling the SLABS ecu would be the way to go.

That convoy looked amazing! So good that you guys managed to get out there in a big group. Nothing like strength in numbers. I am planning on using a TD5 disco. I will have a VW T5 van support car once I get to Russia, so should have plenty of space for spares. What device would you recommend for the GPS? I understand you get issued with one from the organisers to track your points? And then people have their own system that they follow? Do they issue the point coordinates the night before or do you have more time to research and plan the routes? What tyres do people go for? It looks like a lot of guys are using insta turbo special track looking things? I can’t seem to find creepy crawlers or trepadors in 33” it seems to be mostly remoulds or slightly milder offerings. From what I see the routes tend to be a mix of rock/side slope or bog so mud plugging ability is high on the list ad well as something that behaves well aired down.

The group of people that were stopped a couple of years back in Germany were actually asking for it. They were driving to an event called “wörthersee treffen” which is a modified VAG group event. It’s basically 2 weeks of chaos in Austria. The cars were on air ride with massively stretched tyres with various things wrong with the cars, loud exhausts and other things the Germans do not like. There was a group of like 10 of them so I imagine they did not make it easy for the police, they also happened to have stopped outside the traffic police headquarters on the motorway. I guess a well built Land Rover is a lot less conspicuous. I have been reading the rule book for the past couple of weeks. It’s actually fairly reasonable. It says stuff like “any diff locking method allowed providing it is retained in a stock case”. I have the advantage of being Russian, so I speak the lingo haha. If anyone needs help translating the regs, give me a shout I will happily help. As far as the truck, that is exactly the plan. I want all new perishables and every fixing to be touched to ensure that first of all its not seized and secondly that I have the tool required. I also want to make sure that I am familiar with every process on the truck I do not want to be in a position where I need my hand holding in the forest because I don’t know how to do something first hand. I also want to get a good understanding of the electrical system and various ECUs so that I know what I need to carry and where all the common faults are. Luckily I work in engineering at JLR so when there is a bit of downtime I can have a flick through all the legacy documents and get hold of the processes/torque figures/wiring diagrams. I run a couple of track day cars and a drift car and my friends always take the tiddle because everything is paint marked and I have tonnes of spares that I carry with me. I guess that kind of attitude will help with being prepared. thank you for all the replies guys, first hand knowledge is so helpful compared to just watching videos etc.

Thanks for the replies everyone. I am starting to think that building another TD5 disco and not destroying my daily would be the way to go. With the lessons learned from my daily and common problems fixed it could be a good cheap vehicle (compared to the defender prices). In terms of travel I am thinking of driving to Germany and then getting a ferry to Helsinki. Then it’s not too far to St Petersburg. Cuts out road miles through Russia which is a good thing - they do not like modified cars and anything that draws attention is likely to be pulled/fined. Has anyone had any trouble through the rest of Europe in regard to winch bumpers, lift kits and other off road modifications/equipment. I know a few people that have had a lot of trouble in Germany with low cars and their whole TUV approval system. In terms of vehicle prep, I am thinking about air lockers front and rear, how does that interact with the traction control system on the disco? I imagine you would have to do the “wire 9” trick on the SLABS ecu to disable all the electronic traction control when you lock the diffs? But I guess Ashcroft can probably advise on that. The adventure class is limited to 33” tyres. I currently run 265/75/16 which comes up around 31.6-32” depending on the brand and model. Is it worth going bigger? I am worried about the diffs and axle shafts surviving. I feel like many of the pay and play cars on 36” tyres are just tempting fate and it’s probably best to build a more reliable setup around a smaller tyre. Luckily I will have a support car in Russia so I won’t have to lug all the spares around with me the whole time, but I have no ability to trailer the car around to the start of any special stages. Everyone seems to be trailering, so I hope that’s not an issue and people are just trying to limit on road driving and save their equipment. I will be contacting the organisers next week to ask a few questions and try to get my entry in before the price hike at the end of Jan. Any words of wisdom are very much appreciated! I also need to wrap my head around the GPS bits that I need to invest in and get familiar with how it all works, nothing worse that not knowing how to use your equipment on the day.

Good evening everyone. Sorry for reviving an old thread, but I am looking to enter the Adventure class for the 2022 Ladoga trophy. For those that may not know it follows in the footsteps of the TR-1 class (33” tyres, 1 winch, no roll cage required, limited vehicle modifications required- pretty mild and sensible class) but it is not run against the clock however there is a maximum completion time for the day’s course. I am wondering if anyone else is considering it this year? The more crews the merrier. I am not fully decided yet but I think I will be using my trusty disco 2.