Hi there

Thought you guys might be interested in an adventure that we are doing in our wonderful little 97 litre Polo. We are taking her on the Mongol Rally in July from London to Mongolia - 11,000 miles through 18 countries!

If you would like to follow our adventure and perhaps send comments (and much needed advice!!) and even, if you are feeling very nice, donate to our three great charities, please visit us at

www.apolo3.co.uk.

We would really appreciate fellow Polo lovers to come and visit us!

Hope you dont mind me posting on this site, a bit cheeky yes, but it is for charity!

Thanks

Natalie from APolo3

Edited 10 April, 200818 yr by APolo3

sounds mad, see you in a few years \o/

Sounds like it should be quite a laugh, is this the same thing Jack Osbourne did a few years ago with loads of Metros and Nova's

Yes it is the same that Jake Osbourne did, but he had a 4x4 support crew following him, helping when the roads run out in Mongolia!!

theres a lad on here that did it last year, he has a thread in the general car chat section, if you need any advice he would be the man to ask.

good luck with it and have fun!

sounds like a right laugh, till the car obverheats, no-one is around to help, and your stuck in outer monglia

Good luck with your adventure!

sounds like a right laugh, till the car obverheats, no-one is around to help, and your stuck in outer monglia

all part of the fun surely!!

i wanna do this rally when i have time

theres a lad on here that did it last year, he has a thread in the general car chat section, if you need any advice he would be the man to ask.

good luck with it and have fun!

his username is varnish and his co-driver last year wrote a blog of thier adventures, was a good raed

top fella and good for loads of advice mate

wonderful little 97 litre Polo.

Won't take long then! 97 litres! bigger than the fuel tank!

LOL @ jon. 97 litres. yeh i noticed that too when i first read this. think of the petrol money that would need :p

I've got a pair of mates doin this in a squareback mk2 polo.... ill grab em on here looks like a right laugh

The polo is a good little car.

It does have some weak points.

None of the Polos last year finished with an intact fuel tank (maybe one).

Make sure you make a tank guard for it.

The fuel lines are also exposed. It would not be hard to run them through the car, and I wish I did.

Brake lines will be battered, but will hold up well.

The gearbox is in quite an exposed position and will crack/split if you hit a rock hard enough.

Also the gear selector rod is exposed and if that gets bent, its a pain in the arse to fix due to its stupid design.

So, fit a sump guard that extends far enough back to protect the selector rod.

Also, VW wheels are pretty weak. Bring a lump hammer.

Other than that I had no problems, apart from shite fuel. Bring filters.

And oil, you can't get it in mongolia for love nor money. I tried both.

20W-40 is also very good for killing 2 stroke Mongolian motor bikes.

Of course if you come into Mongolia from the North past Ulan-Ude, you'll miss all the fun.

Come in from the west. You won't regret it.

i read in Evo magazine last month that someone was doing a rally in a mk3 loon. any one know if hes on here?

Thanks so much for the tips Varnish - very handy - will be giving them to the Barnardos Wheels Project guys who are helping us get the car ready for the trip. Do you know if 13 inch off road tyres and rims are available for the polo - what type tyres did you take?

Thanks again - very helpful, more than the guys who pointed out my typo mistake!!

Cheers

Nat

The polo is a good little car.

It does have some weak points.

None of the Polos last year finished with an intact fuel tank (maybe one).

Make sure you make a tank guard for it.

The fuel lines are also exposed. It would not be hard to run them through the car, and I wish I did.

Brake lines will be battered, but will hold up well.

The gearbox is in quite an exposed position and will crack/split if you hit a rock hard enough.

Also the gear selector rod is exposed and if that gets bent, its a pain in the arse to fix due to its stupid design.

So, fit a sump guard that extends far enough back to protect the selector rod.

Also, VW wheels are pretty weak. Bring a lump hammer.

Other than that I had no problems, apart from shite fuel. Bring filters.

And oil, you can't get it in mongolia for love nor money. I tried both.

20W-40 is also very good for killing 2 stroke Mongolian motor bikes.

Of course if you come into Mongolia from the North past Ulan-Ude, you'll miss all the fun.

Come in from the west. You won't regret it.

Thanks again - very helpful, more than the guys who pointed out my typo mistake!!

Nice flaming there.

I just took a load of road tires.

The car we were gonna take blew up less than two weeks before the start date.

But I had 2 polos, so I moved everything back over to the bad one, had to get it MOT, taxed and insured.

Then prep. the whole thing in a week!

But it did mean I had 10 wheels, as I took all the ones from the other polo.

I used them all too.

Ask a rally school/club if they have any old tires.

Or you could try to get sponsored by weller wheels and coleman tires.

a bloke i work with did this last year in a mk3 polo. anything you want me to ask him?

dont think he had too many problems except for the suspension collapsing...