Although it might not seem to be it, we automotive journalists aren’t all the time jetting across the globe to extravagant locations so we will drive costly unique vehicles. Typically we’re requested to roll up our sleeves and do one thing extra right down to Earth. I used to be just lately tasked with the arduous project of taking this $250,000 Storyteller Overland Beast Mode XO to Sequoia and Kings Canyon Nationwide Park to overview it.
Storyteller Overland is an Alabama-based clothes shop that turns odd Mercedes-Benz Sprinters into lifted, kitted-out go-anywhere cellular houses, in addition to different extra intense (and sure, costlier) rigs. I examined out the Beast Mode XO, which is predicated on a 20-foot-long, high-roof, all-wheel-drive Sprinter 2500 that Storyteller then lifted and transformed right into a rugged but feature-filled camper. The Beast Mode XO is designed to offer homeowners with all the pieces mandatory for all times off the grid, with seating for 4. Here is what I discovered.
Full disclosure: Storyteller Overland loaned me the Beast Mode XO for 4 days and let me take it out to Sequoia Nationwide Park. The van was delivered full with many of the fundamentals wanted for all times off-grid, and I drastically respect the expertise.
Beast Mode XO is Storyteller Overland’s most off-road pleasant van
When you’re like me, you’ve got by no means heard of Storyteller Overland earlier than, so let’s begin with the fundamentals. The Beast Mode XO is the corporate’s most off-road-focused Sprinter-based providing. To that finish, it has 10.5 inches of floor clearance because of the usual Evictus Superior Suspension, a 360-degree digital camera system, and beefy BF Goodrich KO3 all-terrain tires that, when paired with the Sprinter’s current all-wheel-drive system, create a really succesful off-roader. Notably, there are not any locking differentials on the Beast Mode XO so it isn’t as succesful because it may very well be on paper, however I subjected it to some rutted trails and diagonal slip conditions that I did not count on it to traverse, but it did so with aplomb.
So it will possibly take you off street, however what are you able to carry with you? So much, really. Regardless of having seating for 4, there’s solely a single mattress that is an “RV queen,” which is fashioned from two halves that fold up in opposition to the partitions of the van when not in use. When folded down, the sleeping floor sits 3.5 ft off the ground, leaving loads of room beneath it in what Storyteller calls “the storage” for no matter goodies and toys you carry with you in your off-grid trek. For something that does not match contained in the van, the roof rack can deal with an extra 300 kilos of payload, and the Owl Vans rear-mounted locking field can maintain smaller issues, too.
Brace yourselves, right here come the specs
When spending time off the grid, the Beast Mode XO has all the pieces you want for at the very least just a few days away from civilization. There is a 21-gallon freshwater tank, and a 24-gallon gray water tank that providers the galley sink and the bathe within the totally enclosed rest room, in addition to the “out of doors bathe,” which is definitely only a hose that attaches on the rear of the van. As for the commode, that BoomBox Rest room additionally hides a swiveling cassette rest room with a 4.75-gallon capability, or about similar to the quantity of a giant shoebox. I can’t be reviewing the lavatory as I didn’t want to check the capability of that cassette rest room, however the enclosed rest room has a devoted ceiling-mounted exhaust fan to forestall inflicting organic warfare in your tenting buddy.
Logan Okay. Carter
Ample electrical energy is offered by the Lithionics 16.8-kWh lithium-ion battery, and that battery is charged up by a high-output auxiliary alternator hooked up to the engine, or by the usual roof-mounted 100W photo voltaic panel that may be expanded to 325W. It has a 3,000W high-capacity inverter, a 30A energy wire, and a roof-mounted energy plug to permit simple becoming of a Starlink Mini satellite tv for pc web system in case you want to doomscroll in nature. There are a complete of eight 110V retailers sprinkled all through the van, together with a number of which can be conveniently accessed from outdoors the van, in addition to six USB ports and two 12V retailers. The van is fitted with an air compressor, and whereas there is not any range, it comes with a transportable induction cooktop that may be plugged into any of the retailers on the van, in addition to a microwave and fridge/freezer.
Logan Okay. Carter
To maintain you snug when you doomscroll from the protection of your $250,000 van, it is fitted with a diesel-fired heating system and a roof-mounted cabin air conditioner for intense local weather management, or you possibly can change on the cabin’s high-powered ceiling consumption or exhaust fan. There are dimmable LED lights all through the cabin, in addition to on the sting of the ability operated 10-foot-wide-by-7-foot-long awning. The entire Beast Mode XO’s digital programs are managed by an 11-inch touchscreen Modecom management system that is mounted on the facet of the van behind the motive force’s seat, and plenty of have redundant buttons all through the cabin.
What’s it like in a single day?
The drive from my dwelling to my campground in Sequoia Nationwide Park was simply over 300 miles, and I introduced my boyfriend alongside for the journey. We spent two nights within the van off the grid in Sequoia in mid-September, so the climate through the day was lovely, within the mid-70s, however at evening temperatures dropped right down to the excessive 30s.
As a reminder, I am taller than 99.99% of the Earth’s inhabitants at 6-foot-8, so I’ll deal with the angle of my boyfriend who’s a extra cheap 6-foot-1. He might arise straight contained in the van because the inside is 6-feet-3-inches tall, however the rest room has much less vertical clearance than the remainder of the van at simply over 5-foot-8.
Logan Okay. Carter
The DreamWeaver mattress is oriented sideways contained in the rear of the van, and it is bookended by bulges the place the rear-most facet home windows would usually be, which just about permits it to accommodate somebody who’s 6-foot-6 tall, and it is simply over 4 and a half ft huge. As a result of I am taller than most individuals on the planet I could not fairly straighten my physique out on the mattress whereas sharing it with my boyfriend, however I might be capable of comfortably sleep diagonally if I have been alone. My boyfriend mentioned the mattress match him nice, and we each favored the thick sleeping pad’s agency cushioning. The mattress sits fairly excessive off the ground, however there’s a shiny orange fold-down step that I am certain helps the vertically challenged.
I drastically appreciated the sliding window on the head of the mattress and the highly effective exhaust fan, each of which got here in clutch when my boyfriend and I assumed it might be a good suggestion to have baked beans for dinner on the primary evening. When you’re planning on sharing a mattress and/or a confined area with somebody, do everybody a favor and keep away from consuming beans.
Logan Okay. Carter/ Jalopnik
The van comes with insulated window covers which have little magnets alongside the perimeter to safe them to the home windows, and so they did an ideal job of blocking out the morning mild. I slept closest to the rear barn doorways, although, and the chilly evening air simply permeated them so I made certain to cocoon myself within the blanket to cover from the chilliness.
A succesful tenting companion
Within the daytime, the Beast Mode XO serves as a implausible area to take refuge from all of the bugs and dust that run rampant in nature. It comes normal with a full complement of magnetic bug screens that permit you to have the facet and rear doorways open with out worry of inviting a swarm of mosquitoes in, or in our case, the swarm of hornets that we woke as much as on our final morning on the campsite. Mixed with the highly effective vent fan, the screens let loads of recent air breeze by means of the van, sans the sucky and stingy creatures.
The van’s transportable induction cooktop can feasibly be used on the counter contained in the van, however we opted to cook dinner on the desk that folds down from the bottom of the sink when the facet door is open. When our campsite was inundated with hornets, we arrange the swiveling desk that mounts behind the also-swiveling driver’s seat, turned the passenger seat round, and widened the second row of seats so we might each eat on mentioned desk. The motive force’s seat cannot be rotated whereas the desk is put in, although, which is one other case for this van being finest match for 2 rich campers. The fridge is deeper and extra spacious than it seems to be, however the freezer part is kind of small. There’s ample cupboard area, although, and loads of pockets and pouches round to stow the rest in that won’t match within the drawers or cupboards.
Logan Okay. Carter
The facility operated awning offered an enormous shady spot to hang around beneath when the solar got here out and instantly raised the temperature by over 30 levels, and at nighttime its dimmable LED lights make it simple to see what is going on on beneath it. All of those niceties can rapidly and simply be retracted, folded up, and shut contained in the doorways while you need to hit the street.
The AWD system by no means flinched on distant trails
Arguably the best factor concerning the Beast Mode XO is its off-road functionality. I booked a campsite for this journey, however I nearly regretted doing so as soon as we hit the paths and located loads of distant areas that we might have parked at for the evening. The Beast Mode is Storyteller’s most off-roadable van because of all-wheel drive, all-terrain tires (together with the full-sized spare), that huge battery to maintain all of your electronics and lights working when away from civilization, and the lavatory that can be utilized in a pinch.
Venturing off the crushed path on this van resulted in quite a lot of head-tossing and swaying, however by no means to the purpose of it feeling unstable. It was like how I think about driving on prime of an elephant feels; preserve a sluggish, regular tempo and it’ll overcome intimidating terrain, however you, your passenger, and all of your stuff within the again can be oscillating like seaweed in a rip present.
Logan Okay. Carter/ Jalopnik
I used to be totally impressed with the bottom clearance and breakover angle, which prevented any contact with the myriad boulders and steep peaks that we traversed. The two.0-liter turbodiesel four-cylinder would not appear like a lot, nevertheless it produces 208 horsepower and 332 lb-ft of torque, with gobs of that torque accessible low within the rev vary, so easily crawling over rocks was a breeze. Simply bear in mind that this can be a 10.5-foot-tall van, so that you’re in all probability going to scrape the roof on some branches. The Sprinter’s comparatively slim physique is useful on overgrown off-road trails, however the 360-degree digital camera system remains to be very a lot appreciated. It hates while you get near something, although, so it precipitated quite a lot of panicked beeping that was much less appreciated off-road.
This huge, heavy van is shockingly composed on-road, even at 70 mph
The tiny turbodiesel that made off-roading a breeze additionally made freeway driving a breeze, a lot to my shock, and the Sprinter has adaptive cruise management and lane-keeping help to mitigate the malaise of the lengthy freeway stretches between civilization and nature. The Beast Mode had no drawback maintaining with the 70-mph visitors on the 5 freeway, and although it definitely would not really feel peppy, there’s sufficient energy in reserve to get you previous a line of semis with out inflicting a visitors jam within the left lane.
Storyteller matches the Beast Mode with an upgraded set of JBL audio system up entrance, that are highly effective sufficient to drown out any undesirable noise. The sound high quality is not notably excessive constancy, however its loudness makes up for that shortcoming. That mentioned, the inside of the Beast Mode is remarkably quiet at 70 mph given its all-terrain tires and drag-inducing facet ladder and roof rack.
Tony O’Toole
Driving up the steep and constant grade that’s the Grapevine, I made a decision to drop the cruise management right down to 55 mph and the Beast Mode felt prefer it might have climbed all day. I might have pushed it tougher, however 55 felt good and sustainable with out forcing the tachometer needle to rub shoulders with redline. Its gas financial system impressed me, too — over the course of my 600-mile journey, I averaged round 16 miles per gallon of diesel, regardless of numerous slow-moving off-road driving and high-speed freeway driving.
My largest concern with piloting this hulking van was its top. Inside, you sit just about eye stage with massive rig drivers, wanting down on the massive males of their cute little F-350s and Silverado HDs. Regardless of its formidable top, it was minimally affected by cross-winds, and it by no means felt overly topheavy. Even once I deliberately hit a raised tabletop on a curve at 70 mph, the suspension soaked up the sudden incline, and the physique did not sway, tip, or lean one bit when the tabletop dropped down once more in the midst of a curve at 70 mph. I audibly mentioned, “wow.” It is mighty spectacular.
Who’s this $250,000 van for?
I’ve one thing to confess: I lied concerning the Beast Mode’s worth. I mentioned it is $250,000, however my press van was really $245,737.67. At that worth, I believe the Storyteller Overland Beast Mode XO will make a splendid toy for a wealthy and adventurous couple who take pleasure in discovering distant trails to discover. Given this van’s excessive worth, it is a good factor it qualifies for RV financing, which works extra like a mortgage than a standard automobile mortgage. I do not assume it might make an ideal full-time dwelling for somebody planning to spend prolonged durations of time off-grid, primarily as a result of rest room scenario, however it might in all probability work for every week off the grid, or longer in case you’re not afraid to poop in a gap outdoors.
Storyteller has different variations of this van that prioritize various things than the Beast Mode XO, together with the Mode OG, which is identical dimension however swaps out the complete rest room within the Beast Mode for a collapsible rest room setup, and options an extra mattress as a substitute. In order for you extra room, the Crew Mode XL is constructed on a Sprinter with a 170-inch wheelbase and has the complete rest room, 5 seats, two beds, and a bigger 37-gallon recent water tank.
Logan Okay. Carter/ Jalopnik
The entire fittings in my press van felt sturdy, well-installed, and seemed nice, too. Storyteller makes very full, turnkey vanlife rigs for an array of consumers, so long as they will afford the excessive worth. The Beast Mode XO is a good choice for these with the itch to discover far past the attain of civilization and keep there for comparatively lengthy stints of time. It was exceptionally liberating to know I might spot a path, and with out hesitation say, “I’m wondering the place that one goes. Let’s discover out!” That is the ability of getting loads of torque, water, all-wheel-drive functionality, and a snug mattress.