When Edaran Tan Chong Motor (ETCM) loaned four Nissan Frontiers to the organizer of the Rainforest Challenge (RFC) last November, company executives expected that the stock standard sport-utility trucks were not expected to do demanding assignments except perform auxiliary services like ferrying supplies, guests and members of the media at various locations along the RFC route.

However, the monsoon which brought buckets of rain halfway through the event changed everything. The supposedly easy tracks leading into the first campsite had turned into major ‘battlezones’ filled with obstacles like swollen rivers, mud pools and deep gullies. For competitors and others involved, the RFC became “The Great Escape” from the rain and floods!

It was then that the Frontiers proved their durability and effectiveness as hardcore 4x4 vehicles as they made it out of the “battlezone” safely. Raging rivers that had the vehicles submerged up to bonnet level;  slippery mud; crevices and giant mudholes which appeared unexpectedly… amazingly, the Frontiers got through them. To be able to withstand such extreme conditions without any modifications certainly proved their capabilities as off-road machines.

The 10th RFC had started off on December 1 in Jertih, Terengganu with 350 participants in 120 super-modified 4x4s from 35 countries. The first 4 days were days of calm before the storm. Midway into the event, the gathering monsoon clouds turned into a raging tempest which lasted for 7 days and nights in a row.

By December 7, with flooding everywhere, the order was sent out: Evacuate. All hardware had to be left behind as the stragglers struggled on foot to Sungei Lebir to be evacuated by boats from the Fire & Rescue Department and Marine Police. It was like “War of the Worlds” or "Jurassic Park" with scenes of abandoned vehicles and retreating adventurers along the rain-drenched, muddy route from Campsite 2 to Kg Miak.

After the rescue of the participants from Kg Miak to Laloh, it was time for Part Two – the recovery of the stranded vehicles which took place over two weeks from December 15 2007. The Frontiers again proved their worth in these post-event activities of delivery supplies and bringing personnel to Kg Miak from Laloh, again under atrocious conditions.
 
All in all, it was truly an epic event never to be forgotten for a long time by off-road adventurers from Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania and North/South America. RFC 2007 is now a legendary event, its tales told and retold across the continents by hardcore 4x4 enthusiasts. For surviving the greatest adventure of RFC in a decade, it was a great honour indeed for all participants.

As for the workhorse Frontiers which went through their trial by water and mud in the wettest, toughest and longest RFC, they earned the endorsement and respect from everyone in the Rainforest Challenge. These Nissans can most certainly be classed as the toughest 4x4 adventurers in the Rainforest Challenge – the world’s most internationally represented and extreme off-road event.

Editor’s note: The author is the Founder and Event Director of the Rainforest Challenge event. He can be contacted at jawee@rainforest-challenge.com .