Moderate rock crawling- how much protection will the underbody protection provide?

[Hedrock]

@Todd C i just saw an article about a rivian running the rubicon, so maybe I’m being a little extra doom and gloom on the break over aspect.

 

[Dive Bar Casanova]

Just my take.
My wife is a rock crawling fanatic. We climb some crazy double black diamond stuff in our Rzr's and Can Am X3.

Other than rock trails that the tour services like the Pink Jeep take Tourists on, I'd never crawl a fine multi-purpose vehicle like the Scout EV.

So easy to do some serious damage.

But that's just how we roll.

 

[Dive Bar Casanova]

Broken Arrow Trail; Devils Staircase.
Looks brutal but is really easy.

Submarine Rock as well:

The Pink Jeep Vendor will even give out a free map of the trails they run.

Wife and I did the Back Way Crown King trail in the Can Am.
We felt bad for the people we came across in new Lexus 4X4's and new Suburbans stuck in really bad situations.

Stranded situations that took a day or even longer for a volunteer service to get them out of. Then they dealt with the vehicles damage.

Moderate to Difficult means some parts are moderate some stretches very difficult and they don't really understand that.

The Magic Bridge:
Desert heat on one side, then you cross over and it's chilly on the other side:

 

[Todd C]

Different people have different levels of trails they’re willing to take their vehicles on. And different levels of skill to do so. In my Bronco, and for my future Scout, I draw the line at no body damage. I’m okay using the skid plates as they were designed, though. For me, that’s reasonable.

However, I know buyers will be all over the board with what they intend to do. I’m just hopeful these will handle difficult enough trails to make them suitable for some solid exploration. I don’t want to be limited to fire roads and light crawling, that I could take any family SUV on.

I also think Scout’s personality and heritage carry with it an expectation of going where “common” SUV’s can’t go. It needs an elevated level of capability to be considered a legit successor to the name. If not, it’s going to be viewed as just another poser. I don’t think any of us wants to see that happen.

 

[PMurphy]

So as I read this thread I started to think of the “heritage” of the Scout brand which gets talked about a lot. The original Scouts were simple, heavy duty work trucks. This made the prime candidates for modifying for high difficulty off roading. Pretty sure the last generation stock Scouts would not have been well suited to what serious off-roaders now expect (don’t recall how much skid plate protection the last gen had?).

My off roading in a Jeep Gladiator diesel confirms: torque - good/weight - bad. Off roading a EV of any type will be different than the ICE alternatives we use now. The risk/cost of EV battery damage is a real issue for hard core users.

Not sure how much off roading capability it is reasonable to expect? IF Scout can get close to its current peers in stock/base form it is likely a win. A heavy duty off roading version even better BUT not sure we all want to pay the cost for that. Cost will be an issue to make the Scout competitive and meet the initial price targets. For now I will happily use my reserved Traveler as a medium duty on/off vehicle. IF I think the trail is going to get ugly the Jeep will probably get the call (know what it will cost to fix it IF I mess it up?!). Comments??

 

[Todd C]

PMurphy, I agree. A more capable option package, or best choice, stand-alone components that would let buyers choose what level of capability they’re wanting and willing to pay for. The winch for example. Add underbody protection if you wish. We’ll see what Scout decides on all of this.

 

[6-ScoutFamily]

Hedrock, totally I agree. I was surprised to see they’re the sizes of an Expedition and F-150! Within inches, which I’m a bit bummed to find out. I was expecting, like my old Scout, a mid-size. I suppose the proper comparison would really be the upcoming Expedition Tremor. I suspect for capability it will fall between that and a 4-door basic Bronco, in reality.

Todd C I think you have the right of it here. The size of the Scouts will be the primary limiting factor. I wouldn’t get near the Black Bear with either of these vehicles. That said, if the Traveler/Terra were closer to Jeep/Bronco dimensions there’d be no stopping them.