Ford Lanun Darat takes man and machine to the wilderness
After an extended hiatus, the Ford Lanun Darat 4×4 adventure is back, with the latest edition taking its participants to Slim River, Perak. Held last weekend, it was the first Lanun Darat outing held under the watch of Sime Darby Auto Connexion (SDAC).
Compared to previous Lanun Darat events that featured more intensive off-roading, the courses were much easier this time around, a fact made clear by the Escape soft-roader being able to participate. However, the wilderness experience was not compromised, as participants still had to sleep in tents brought by themselves.
SDAC plans to organize the Lanun Darat adventure on a more regular basis, and at different locations as well, to maximize its reach to Ford owners far from the Klang Valley. In an effort to attract more publicity, SDAC invited several members of the media to participate in the outing, Autoworld being one of them.
I was there as Autoworld’s sole representative, and we flagged off from SDAC’s headquarters at Jalan 225, Petaling Jaya on the morning of Saturday, 17 July. On SDAC’s official Ford Everest test car, which graced these pages some months back, we made our way to Tanjung Malim, where the convoy regrouped at the famous Yik Mun pau restaurant – a perfect excuse for a tea break, as we waited for the rest.
Registered participants, limited to 30 cars, consisted entirely of Ford Ranger pick-ups. Although entries were open to the Everest and Escape as well, the only units of those cars were our media unit and a couple of support vehicles from SDAC. One particularly massive group consisted of off-roaders from Kota Bharu, where the Ranger has a huge following.
Before long, we hit the road again, with the convoy traveling in a tighter formation as we headed to our campsite at Kampung Ulu Slim. Our access to the campsite was via the crossing of a river, a perfect way to welcome a 4×4 off-road convoy.
After having lunch and setting up our respective tents, the entire group sat through a lengthy, and I mean lengthy, briefing on the range of activities designed to allow the owners to experience the full-breadth of abilities designed into their Ford off-roaders.
The instructors hired by SDAC for the event, and I hear they will be re-used in the sub-sequent Lanun Darat events, were highly seasoned off-roaders, with some boasting experience in the legendary Camel Trophy off-roading challenges held in the 1990s.
We set off for our first off-roading exercise late in the afternoon, with grey clouds cast over our heads. It drizzled every now and then, but thankfully there was no pour. The off-road course featured the usual obstacles such as high bumps, ruts, and mud.
Our Everest test car was shod in Michelin Cross Terrain tyres, which were reasonably competent off-road, but had me really worried when we came to deep mud. Well, guess what, we really got stuck, and had to be winched out. The saving grace for us was that a few of the more serious-looking Rangers also needed help to be pulled out as well, so it wasn’t a major embarrassment by any means.
The course was concluded by a drive across a 30ft-deep lake, which curiously had a 8-inch deep pathway cutting right across its centre. Driving the cars across this pathway made for some of the spectacular pictures, one of them you see accompanying this article. One car had a particularly hairy moment as it drove too near along the edge of the pathway, and had to be winched back on course.
After we concluded the off-road course and headed back to camp, day soon turned into night and dinner was served. One group even took campfire singing to the next level by setting up a full-blown karaoke system with microphones and loud speakers. Trying to catch some sleep on the back of a long week, I was certainly not amused, and I’m certain many of the wildlife around us shared my sentiments.
The next morning, we spent some time at SK POS Bersih, a primary school setup for the indigenous orang asli population. There SDAC personnel presented donations in cash and in kind to the school headmaster for the benefit of the school pupils. Coming from an urban school, where the headmasters are used to announcing numbers of straight-A students, it was indeed humbling for me to hear a headmaster declaring his pride in having numbers of students who passed UPSR, never mind excel.
From the school, participants were then given a choice to return to the off-roading ground we visited the day before to attempt the log-bridge exercise that could not be completed due to time constraints, or white water rafting, or an off-road excursion deeper into the jungle to another orang asli kampung. Some chose to raft, but the majority, like me, opted to take their machines into the off-road excursion.
As we ventured deeper into the wilderness, I grew to further appreciate the rugged and no-nonsense charms of the Everest. I had noted in my review a few months back that the Everest had a brutish appeal about it, and this excursion merely served to re-enforce my views.
Since I reviewed it in February, the car has went on to clock some 10,000 kilometres, and it appeared none the worse for wear. Bear in mind, there are quite a few press reviewers out there who would not have hesitated to take this thing up mountains or wade rivers. Surviving that without so much as a squeak represents excellent build.
As we tackled rivers, ruts and mud, the Everest took it all in without a squeak of protest, just easing us along with the considerable amount of torque at its disposal. Having to stop when switching between 4H and 4L proved quite a chore at times, but because the convoy was traveling at relatively low speeds, it did not blunt progress too much.
We doubled-back on our route upon reaching the orang asli settlement, where some members of the convoy kindly dropped some snacks to the delight of the local children. We inched down hill with great care, this time calling in the services of 4L with greater frequency. On our way downhill, the whole convoy of 4×4 owners found themselves humbled at the sight of a 1993 Proton Iswara automatic negotiating its way uphill without appearing to be in too much difficulty.
Arriving back at camp, participants began to pack up and disperse. Some delayed their departure waiting for friends to return from white water rafting. One of our media colleagues even had to contend with her son not willing to leave, and consoling the young boy proved quite a task, until he fell sound asleep.
Plans are currently well underway for the next Lanun Darat installment to be held in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Unlike this one, the KK edition will feature tougher off-roading challenges to cater for a more rugged group of customers.
