Conquering the Alcan 5000: Rally Racing Adventures and the Grit Behind the Wheel
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Conquering the Alcan 5000: Rally Racing Adventures and the Grit Behind the Wheel
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The Lillian Thalls are back with harrowing stories from the winter Alcan 5000 and where they played, placed among the complete.
Spit it out when they finished.
Spit it out when they placed among their competitors.
I had it written down, right I?
just screwed it up.
I thought maybe Mike wrote it for you.
It's probably that donut that I'm all wired up on.
Could have been that donut Got the sugar.
Yeah, You'll hear my thoughts on driving the new 2024 Lexus LX600 Luxo.
Mobile Pricing in particular is coming your way and Mr Mars has this week's events calendar just ahead.
On the In Wheel Time Car Talk Show, today's show is sponsored by the Houston Mecham Auction starting next Thursday, april 4th, through the Sextet NRG Center.
Howdy, along with Mike out of this world, mars, we always need more.
Jeff Zekin, I'm Don Armstrong.
Glad you could join us today and look who's back from their big trip up north, andy and Mercedes.
Lilienthal.
How y'all doing out there.
Hello, great to be here again.
Yes, well, it's good to have you.
Let me ask you this how did it go to the Alcan 5000?
It went really well.
We ended up actually winning our class Whoa.
Thank you, thank you.
But you still got your coats on, so you must have got really, really cold up there.
I know Haven't thawed out yet.
We almost were going to wear our hats and our Don Parkas just because, but you know.
Just because, yeah, okay, so for those that don't know, let's explain to everybody what the Alcan 5000 rally is.
Yeah, it's a 5,000-mile time-speed distance rally, a road rally that starts just outside of Seattle, washington, and this year's route took us up to Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories, cut over to Whitehorse in the Yukon, took us up to Fairbanks.
We drove all the way up to Coldfoot, which is halfway to Prudhoe Bay on the Arctic Ocean.
Then finished down to Valdez Alaska, and then finished in Anchorage in time for the Iditarod All in 10 days.
My God, was there any sleep to be had by anybody?
Never that much.
So I will say this year we were mid-pack in terms of our number, so you start out on your number.
So, in other words, each morning, let's say, the first car out is at 8 o'clock.
So if you're car 1, you're out at 8 o'clock.
Well, we were car 15, so we're out at 8 o'clock.
So we generally get in a little earlier than when we were car 39, say, in 2020 right, we might want to talk about what a time speed distance rally is or a tst rally is, because people might think of stage rally yeah.
So it's basically an.
It's precision driving, it's accuracy.
It's not how fast you get there, it's how accurately you get there.
So, like golf, it's a.
It's a.
You want a score of zero.
So if you're good, if you go through a checkpoint early or late, you're penalized.
So being accuracy in the driving, that means Mercedes did all the driving.
I did all.
Yeah, she did Listen.
I was a driver navigating.
Trust me the navigator has all the work.
The driver, just you know, steers and accelerates and brakes On ice and snow, though.
So he had a challenging enough time as it was.
Yeah, and the joke, of course, is that the navigators always know where we're going and the drivers all at breakfast were like where are we going?
I don't know the navigators all know If this is my map, if you can kind of see, probably not because the screen you never know but, there's.
This is my map.
So we ran what is called the SOP class or the seat of pants class, which basically means we have a stock odometer.
We are in this rally organization, we're allowed a GPS odometer.
I always went to the hundredth and that basically was it and I had a.
I had a child's calculator.
It's like bright lime green.
It's huge.
So if I'm bouncing around the road I can just hit it and I'm not going to be accidentally hitting like a three.
If I wanted to hit a two or something like that, and that's how I roll, I didn't have any fancy computers or rally apps running while I was competing.
So that's how we competed.
And so when I told Andy left, he really needed to turn left because if it was in 0.28
miles we really had to catch it.
So it's a lot of a lot of things going on at the same time.
What, what kind of vehicle did you guys drive this in?
We did it in a 2024 Ineos Grenadier.
That's a brand new company and a brand new vehicle.
How'd it do?
It did really well.
It did really well.
The funny thing is we picked it up with like 87 miles on the odometer.
We drove it to Seattle so it had about 287 miles on the odometer and everyone was like, oh, how do you like it?
I'm like I'll let you know in 5,000 miles.
So I had, we literally just got it.
So it took some getting used to I mean, like any vehicle would but boy, it really proved its worth on some of the really really bad roads up there.
It's full-time four-wheel drive, so it was great in the snow.
We switched over to a Michelin XI snow tire, which did super well.
I even took third place in the ice racing competition with it.
So yeah, it did really well, and as far as the trim level, it was the Trialmaster trim.
So for the Ineos Grenadier there's three different levels or three different trim packages.
So there's the base level, the Fieldmaster and then the Trialmaster, and the Trialmaster is the most ruggedized, most off-road capable version of all of them.
What's the MSRP for that?
Just around 80.
Just about 80 USD, starts at about 80.
Ours had some options on it, like the optional rock sliders, the rear ladder, a winch roof rack and a light bar, a couple other things.
So ours was probably closer to 85,000, 88,000.
How many days does the rally go?
It goes 10, 10 days of competition.
Two of those are what they call sort of optional days, where you can either go, do something it's called an extreme control that will allow you not to be, not to have points added.
So one of the days, for instance, you can go to Coldfoot, alaska, which is a 500 mile round trip From Fairbanks, from Fairbanks and then To get fuel, to get fuel and see the Arctic Circle, which is, you know, we were probably one of the first grenadiers, if not the first grenadier, to get to the Arctic Circle, one of two In grenadier to get to the arctic circle, one of two in uh, in the united states.
So, um and so.
But yeah, it's, it's 10 days, so it's, it's intense.
You have a competition in the morning and then up to a 650 mile drive day and there might be another one at the end of the day right, and the other extreme control was uh, we ended up doing both of them.
we had ice racing, as andy had alluded to, on the islams, on great slave lake of all places, um, where that was held, and then in the afternoon we did both optional extreme controls, where one of them was an ice road called Dutta Loop, which is just outside of Yellowknife to get back into Yellowknife, but then also a long-haul road to get to the start of another ice road called the Ingram Trail, which that might sound familiar with some folks because the Ingram Trail is where Ice Road Truckers is filmed.
So that was pretty neat.
Well, we're rolling the pictures that you sent Mike while you're talking, so those are very, very cool pictures.
How many other vehicles were competing in the entire event?
So there were 36 total teams that started the event and of all 36 teams, every single competitor and team finished this year, which is a huge feed in of itself, especially with it being a winter competition.
That includes the front wheel drive mini Cooper that was completely stocked Like that guy was a.
That guy was a champ.
You know, here's us in these big four wheel drives with all this power and stuff, and this guy showed up in a Mini Cooper Clubman and he finished.
Oh God.
Hats off to everybody.
Yeah, and what insane asylum did he come from?
I'll repeat one, because I think he took that Mini or another Mini.
The last previous one Was it the summer or winter?
It was the 2021.
Yeah, winter.
Last previous one, was it the summer or winter?
It was the 2020 one.
It was the winter.
Another winter one.
And that was.
We were told by the Rallymaster that 2020 was one of the worst snow years ever and actually the gentleman in the Mini Cooper in 2020 had so much snow packed up in his sort of his transmission tunnel area, if you will, that he um he ended up getting it was the shift linkage.
It was a manual transmission.
It was so packed in there he couldn't get out of a certain gear, so he had to bring it into town and defrost it for keep going.
But you get all kinds.
I mean there was another one is 73, uh, uh, 73.
Capri, with a three oh two swapped in it rally preps and all this stuff, and they won in in 2020.
And uh, but they were back again for 2024.
And it came in second or third.
That was Russ and Garth.
They're local to the Portland, the Pacific Northwest area, very experienced.
Yeah, the very experienced.
Did you get any time in a hotel room?
Oh, yes, yeah, yeah.
Each night where we have accommodations at a, at a, at motel, holiday inn or something, holiday inn, where were you sleeping?
Yeah, yeah.
I always thought maybe he was dreaming of a holiday inn.
But, yeah, some of the hotels are nicer than others.
A lot of them have gotten better over the years, so that's good.
And again, being mid-pack and having a little bit more power, we're able to get in early enough to get dinner almost every single night, which is fantastic, not something that happened in 2020.
So we might want to tell them what we were driving in 2020.
Well, we were driving our Mitsubishi Pajero, which was very slow and didn't do much more than 65 miles an hour.
The Ineos had plenty of power and we could certainly cruise along nicely.
And as he glosses over the fact that it was a Pajero, let me just rewind it for a couple seconds.
A Pajero, ours is a 1991 Mitsubishi right-hand drive diesel Pajero and it was in the Arctic in the winter when we competed in 2020.
So that might be able to tell you a little bit about that and how slow it might be.
And I think it it was 100 horsepower when it was brand new, in 91.
so yeah, we lost a drag race to a glacier and it works how did you guys get the grenadier?
how did you I mean, did they come to you and say, hey, do this?
yeah, that's an interesting question.
Um, so I actually talked to inyos right when they very first brought the hand-built number one prototype to actually was Houston a couple of years ago.
They trucked it up, trucked it over, they shipped it over and I flew down there, met the team, the beginning of the team, and at that time it was just a shell literally a shell and a steering wheel and, uh, some sort of a seat in a bunch of wires in in in the inside and the roll page.
Um, since then, I uh kept in tune with the manufacturer.
I went over to France to off-road uh, some of their uh PTO two prototypes.
Then I flew to Scotland and, again as a journalist, I was writing a bunch of articles and on podcasts and things.
During this time and last year no, actually in 2020, yeah, 2023 in Scotland I drove the European diesel and petrol specs in Scotland off road and on road for their global launch.
During that time I approached him.
We approached him and said, hey, you know, you guys have they.
They tout 1.1
million miles of severe duty testing.
So we said you know what?
How about?
10,000?
.
How about 5,000 more?
How about 5,000 more miles in a competitive fashion, in the new in, in the new um?
I'm sorry, but not the new world, but I mean in North American Arctic, um.
And they said yeah, and see what they say.
Well, I mean, that doesn't surprise me and considering y'all's experience in journalism and prowess on the track and off-road, I would say, yeah, let's get the thing over there to these guys and let them do their thing.
So where is the card now?
It's currently at Ron Tonkin Gran Turismo, which is the Inyos dealer for the Portland metro area, and yeah, it's on display on the showroom floor.
Last we heard.
I hope they didn't wash it.
No, so they actually asked us not to wash it because they're going to it's on, it's on display where we may do a presentation for some local INEOS owners.
And they said don't wash it, don't wash it.
So we even told the folks at Alaska Auto Transport who they usually want the vehicle washed so they can see if there's any imperfections, so they don't get you know and we told them like we don't want to wash it and they're like that's fine.
So yeah, no it's, it's good and dirty.
Yeah, they made exception for it.
I mean, they took over a hundred and some photos.
So just because they're very careful with shipping, and arrived with all three cracks in the windshield and everything.
So well, that's understandable.
I mean, with what you guys put that thing through, I can certainly understand that.
Are you ready to make your personal appearance with the vehicle in the dealership showroom?
Oh yeah.
Yeah, absolutely.
We'll probably share some photos and some video and some stories of the road and just talk about how well it did and how we didn't freeze to death.
I want to know if he pulled any shenanigans like, hey, go check that tire and as he's getting out, you drive off.
Yeah.
Anything like that.
Kind of no, Andy just finished.
We've got a YouTube channel via our automotive brand called Crankshaft Culture and via Crankshaft Culture on YouTube.
Andy just finished loading the last video short that we have Culture on YouTube.
Andy just finished loading the last video short that we have when we were competing.
As a navigator, I do have a little bit of time to create some social media content.
So I was posting daily reels and daily updates that were pretty extensive on Instagram and then I flooded out to all the different social channels via Craneshaft Culture.
So he posted all the day by day happenings video wise.
So if you are interested just to get a visual snapshot of all the videos, check them out on youtube.
They're quite entertaining what do we look up?
crankshaft culture yes, yeah, go to youtube and just look up crankshaft culture gotcha okay.
Um, I want to know at the end of the event, did y'all have a big party?
Sort of yeah.
So we finished in Anchorage, stayed at the hotel Captain Cook, which is a very nice establishment in Anchorage.
It was all valet parking which nobody really knew, so there was no parking lot.
So that was interesting, trying to offload all of our gear.
And there was an award ceremony and it was at a very nice part of the hotel.
So it was good to have gotten first place in our class of 17 vehicles, which again was the largest of the classes because there were 36 total teams.
Well, and to see everybody finally in one spot.
I think everybody was just so deliriously tired, um and, but it was just fun.
It was just fun to hang out and then just kind of go oh my God, we're finally done the camaraderie is so so first class at this event.
Uh, the unfortunate part is unfortunate part is there's just not enough time to really hang around with people.
So you know, at the end of the event you can a little bit, and so on, but yeah, man, it sounds like tons of fun.
So have you got it lined up to do again next year?
We have.
We've already signed up, so they're doing it a little bit different every now and then.
They kind of need a catch-up year, so it's usually every two years, like kind of like the Olympics, and it alternates summer and winter.
So they're actually going to do a 2025 uh summer rally and then a 2026 summer rally to catch up.
Keep the schedule on check, so uh.
So there's going to be two summer rallies and we already put our name in uh for 2025.
So and who we partner with.
Not sure yet.
Stay tuned, we don't know so hey, it may be the in-wheel time team, you don't know.
Yeah, there we go.
Mike will help you drive.
Yeah, I will tell you this that if we joined you, you would not make it past the 200-mile mark.
There's no doubt about that.
First stop at Bucky's and it's over with.
Yeah, yeah, we carry too much gear.
we'd weigh you down if you think you got gear you ought to see us when we move, yeah, well, when we do a remote broadcast then you got to stop and pee.
So now, what, what?
What's next for you guys?
Uh, outside of the rally stuff, are you actually still employed, andy?
uh well, uh, I, mer Mercedes and I have our own business and we do writing and marketing and PR that kind of stuff for a whole host of clients in the off-road and outdoor industries.
So we're definitely employed that way.
Lots of busy things to do, including this weekend.
But what's next for us?
We're actually, believe it or not, we're flying to Texas here next week, going to be out in East Texas for a little while during the eclipse, and then we head up to Wisconsin for a few days for a family visit, and then we're, believe it or not, driving back from Wisconsin to Oregon, and then we've got a few things going on this summer that I think you guys will be probably pretty interested in, but we're sort of sitting on that one right now.
We've got to tease them.
I want to know about this Wisconsin connection.
Oh family.
Who we have family in Wisconsin.
Both of you, yes, where.
Central Wisconsin.
Her mom is in central Wisconsin and my mom and uncle are in western Wisconsin.
Halby Don's from Wisconsin.
Yeah, I didn't know that.
Yeah, I'm from Wisconsin too.
Oh, cool Whereabouts.
I'm right outside of Milwaukee, a little town called Waukesha.
Oh yeah, I worked in.
Waukesha at Poundbox Publishing for over five years my first job out of college.
Well, my dad used to work for a Waukesha Motor Company.
Oh my gosh, what a small world.
It is, isn't it Well, so we'll have to catch up sometime.
Yeah.
Well, I would say that we would meet you for your eclipse buzz, but I'll pass on that.
I'm actually working that day, but next time you're in Texas we must get together.
For sure.
Yeah, we're going to be on the eastern side this time.
Yep.
Otherwise we would Okay, well, very good.
Well, it's great to hear the stories.
We love it and glad you all made it back safely.
Busy couple there and we love you guys and stay in touch with us.
Appreciate you having us on.
Thanks a lot, you bet.
Thank you, thank you, as always, you bet Crankshaft Culture Yep.
Some fantastic pictures they had.
Yeah, mercedes-benz Really cool, no doubt, all right.
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Welcome back to the In-Wheel Time Car Talk Show Time.
Now for this hour's car review.
I got to drive the 2023 Lexus LX600.
Why 23, don?
Well, they're a little behind in getting the 24 models into the press fleet, so there, not much has changed.
So it comes in these trim levels the LX, which is the base, the premium, the F Sport handling and luxury.
I have the F Sport handling.
What size Class?
Standard SUV body on frame.
Think of a Tundra pickup truck underneath this thing, so obviously it's quite stout.
It's very off-roadable in the luxury kind of style.
Seats, including the driver three rows up to seven seats.
Exterior changes from last model year was all new in 2022.
Exterior features include a big, boxy, upright stoic.
Luxury body-on-frame SUV Oversized Lexus grille with modern squinty headlights high up on the front fascia.
Fixed side steps between the large wheel openings.
Rear hatch lighting.
Reminds of Lincoln SUVs.
Sorry, lexus.
What I like?
The overall conservative, high-brow design.
We could use improvement.
The busy lower rear valance panel I had to find something, so I was a little bit taken aback by that.
Interior highlights big, roomy, well-laid-out interior, large landscape-style infotainment screen above a well-defined center stack, changeable instrument cluster.
In other words, you can change the layout of that in the instrument cluster Cargo and trunk room.
Well big, with the third row seating down.
What I liked about it the high comfort level.
What could use improvement?
Some confusing nomenclatures that they use on some of the control buttons.
This has a 3.4
liter twin turbocharged V6 engine that turns out 409 horsepower, 479 pound-feet of torque through a 10-speed automatic transmission, tow rating up to 8,000 pounds, so you can get your Chris Craft behind it and take it to the, take it to the beach, yep Manufacturers.
Miles per gallon 17 in the city, 80, 17 city, 22, highway for combined to 19.
I got 18 miles per gallon over 512 miles.
What I liked about it the power and the towing capacity.
What could use improvement?
Well, fuel economy.
But you know when you're buying at this level it doesn't really matter.
The 10-speed does clunk at times depending on where you are and how you're using the actual accelerator pedal and the brake.
I'm a two-footer and I'll tell you that it does cause confusion among some of the vehicles that I drive.
It weighs in at four tons, it's heavy-feeling and cornering feels a little top-heavy as well Ride and handling, but I like the adaptive air-ride suspension.
What could use improvement?
Well, at speed the rear end gets hiked up Like a cat in heat.
Yep, the cruise gap distance resets to maximum after each start.
That kind of bugged me because I use the cruise control.
Okay, pricing Base trim price $102,025.
Price is tested $108,460.
The base model price of this vehicle $90,815.
You want to ride, don't you?
I was in it.
We went for a ride in it.
Did we go for a ride?
Yeah, we did.
Where did I take you?
Where did we go?
What was our event?
It was something good, oh we went to Galveston.
It was so good y'all forgot.
Yeah, we went to the convention center.
No, yeah, I remember you wrote it down there because we were putting stuff in it.
Yeah, exactly.
It was a great vehicle Overall.
I really did like it.
Competitors include the Cadillac Escalade, or as I like to call it the Escalade $81,895.
The Lincoln Navigator it starts at $82,765.
And the Jeep Wagoneer Series 3, which is the top of the line $81,630.
Wow, and that is my review of the 2023 Lexus LX 600.
Like it or not, I liked it.
It was a good truck.
Yeah, I call it a truck because it's big.
Well it is.
It's a body on frame and you know it's funny because we used to be used to that body on frame.
You don't find too many of those left anymore.
No, there's not.
Everything is a crossover which is basically unibody construction, generally speaking, from a car and using the frame of the Tundra.
That is stout to begin with, correct, all right, if you'd like to get in touch with us, shoot us an email.
The address here is info at inwheeltimecom.
We're back.
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That's it for this podcast episode of the In Wheel Time Car Show.
I'm Don Armstrong, inviting you to join us for our live show every Saturday morning 8 to 11 am, central on Facebook, youtube, twitch and our InWheelTimecom website.
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About this episode
Andy and Mercedes Lilienthal share their thrilling experience at the Alcan 5000 rally, a challenging 5,000-mile winter road rally through harsh conditions in Canada and Alaska. They discuss their victory in their class while driving the new 2024 Ineos Grenadier, detailing the precision driving required in time-speed-distance rallies. The couple recounts the camaraderie among competitors, the unique challenges faced, and their innovative use of basic navigation tools. Listeners will also hear about the vehicle's performance and the intense nature of the rally, making for an engaging and adventurous episode.
Original notes
Buckle up for an exhilarating ride with rally champions Andy and Mercedes Lilienthal as they steer us through their bone-chilling conquest in the Alcan 5000. Their tale isn't just about the miles; it's a masterclass in precision driving through winter's worst without the crutch of modern tech. In a tale that encapsulates the raw, unforgiving nature of rally racing, the Lilienthals reveal how their trusty 2024 Ineos Grenadier weathered the icy gauntlet, emerging not just as a winner, but as a seasoned warrior of the Arctic.
The spirit of adventure doesn't end there; we salute the grit of all 36 teams that carved paths through the winter rally realm. Each journey is a testament to endurance, but imagine tackling snow-clogged transmission tunnels in a stock Mini Cooper Clubman – that's the kind of plucky resolve we're talking about. From vintage Capris to reliable Pajeros, these stories aren't just about the cars; they're about the relentless heart behind the wheel. And when it comes to the Grenadier, you'll get the inside scoop on its evolution from a mere prototype to an Arctic rally icon, now sitting proudly in a dealership, its battle scars worn like medals of honor.
But what's an adventure without friends to share it with? Pull up a chair as we reminisce about old pals, the kind that bring tales of solar eclipses and leave you yearning for the next reunion. Switching gears, we lavish some attention on the 2023 Lexus LX600, an embodiment of luxury that proves you can have both velvet and vigor. From its upscale cabin comforts to the punchy performance of its twin-turbo V6, we explore the LX600's highs and lows, reinforcing our love for the companionship and storytelling that drive the heart of the automotive community.
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In Wheel Time Podcast: Your Go-To Automotive Talk Show
In Wheel Time Podcast | Automotive talk with Don Armstrong, Michael Marrs, and Jeff Dziekan
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