Although it could not seem to be it, we automotive journalists aren’t all the time jetting across the globe to extravagant locations so we are able to 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 lately tasked with the arduous task of taking this $250,000 Storyteller Overland Beast Mode XO to Sequoia and Kings Canyon Nationwide Park to assessment it.
Storyteller Overland is an Alabama-based clothes shop that turns atypical Mercedes-Benz Sprinters into lifted, kitted-out go-anywhere cell properties, in addition to different extra intense (and sure, costlier) rigs. I examined out the Beast Mode XO, which relies 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 supply homeowners with every little thing essential for all times off the grid, with seating for 4. Here is what I realized.
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 tremendously recognize the expertise.
Beast Mode XO is Storyteller Overland’s most off-road pleasant van
In the event 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 digicam system, and beefy BF Goodrich KO3 all-terrain tires that, when paired with the Sprinter’s present all-wheel-drive system, create a really succesful off-roader. Notably, there aren’t any locking differentials on the Beast Mode XO so it is not as succesful because it could possibly be on paper, however I subjected it to some rutted trails and diagonal slip conditions that I did not anticipate it to traverse, but it did so with aplomb.
So it might take you off street, however what are you able to convey with you? Loads, truly. Regardless of having seating for 4, there’s solely a single mattress that is an “RV queen,” which is shaped from two halves that fold up towards the partitions of the van when not in use. When folded down, the sleeping floor sits 3.5 toes off the ground, leaving loads of room beneath it in what Storyteller calls “the storage” for no matter goodies and toys you convey with you in your off-grid trek. For something that does not match contained in the van, the roof rack can deal with a further 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 every little thing you want for not less than a number of 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 absolutely 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 corresponding to the amount of a big shoebox. I cannot be reviewing the toilet as I didn’t want to take a look at 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 supplied 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 straightforward becoming of a Starlink Mini satellite tv for pc web system when you want to doomscroll in nature. There are a complete of eight 110V shops sprinkled all through the van, together with a number of which might be conveniently accessed from exterior the van, in addition to six USB ports and two 12V shops. The van is fitted with an air compressor, and whereas there is no range, it comes with a transportable induction cooktop that may be plugged into any of the shops 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 may 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 facility operated 10-foot-wide-by-7-foot-long awning. All the Beast Mode XO’s digital methods are managed by an 11-inch touchscreen Modecom management system that is mounted on the facet of the van behind the driving force’s seat, and lots of have redundant buttons all through the cabin.
What’s it like in a single day?
The drive from my residence 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 night time 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 will concentrate on the attitude of my boyfriend who’s a extra cheap 6-foot-1. He might rise up straight contained in the van for the reason that 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 nearly permits it to accommodate somebody who’s 6-foot-6 tall, and it is simply over 4 and a half toes extensive. 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’d be capable of comfortably sleep diagonally if I have been alone. My boyfriend mentioned the mattress match him nice, and we each appreciated the thick sleeping pad’s agency cushioning. The mattress sits fairly excessive off the ground, however there’s a vibrant orange fold-down step that I am positive helps the vertically challenged.
I tremendously 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 night time. In the event you’re planning on sharing a mattress and/or a confined house 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, they usually did an incredible job of blocking out the morning gentle. I slept closest to the rear barn doorways, although, and the chilly night time air simply permeated them so I made positive 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 house to take refuge from all of the bugs and filth that run rampant in nature. It comes commonplace 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 prepare 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 driving force’s seat cannot be rotated whereas the desk is put in, although, which is one other case for this van being greatest match for 2 rich campers. The fridge is deeper and extra spacious than it appears, however the freezer part is sort of small. There’s ample cupboard house, although, and loads of pockets and pouches round to stow anything in that won’t match within the drawers or cupboards.
Logan Okay. Carter
The ability operated awning supplied a large shady spot to hang around underneath when the solar got here out and instantly raised the temperature by over 30 levels, and at nighttime its dimmable LED lights make it straightforward to see what is going on on beneath it. All of those niceties can shortly and simply be retracted, folded up, and shut contained in the doorways once 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 night time. 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 toilet that can be utilized in a pinch.
Venturing off the crushed path on this van resulted in a whole 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 high of an elephant feels; maintain 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 completely 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 does 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 it is a 10.5-foot-tall van, so that you’re most likely 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 digicam system remains to be very a lot appreciated. It hates once you get near something, although, so it prompted a whole 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 does not really feel peppy, there may be sufficient energy in reserve to get you previous a line of semis with out inflicting a visitors jam within the left lane.
Storyteller suits 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 significantly 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 a number of 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 huge rig drivers, wanting down on the huge 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 after 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 value. I mentioned it is $250,000, however my press van was truly $245,737.67. At that value, 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 value, it is a good factor it qualifies for RV financing, which works extra like a mortgage than a conventional automobile mortgage. I do not assume it might make an incredible full-time residence for somebody planning to spend prolonged durations of time off-grid, primarily because of the rest room scenario, however it might most likely work for per week off the grid, or longer when you’re not afraid to poop in a gap exterior.
Storyteller has different variations of this van that prioritize various things than the Beast Mode XO, together with the Mode OG, which is identical measurement however swaps out the complete rest room within the Beast Mode for a collapsible rest room setup, and options a further 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
All the fittings in my press van felt sturdy, well-installed, and regarded nice, too. Storyteller makes very full, turnkey vanlife rigs for an array of patrons, so long as they will afford the excessive value. The Beast Mode XO is a superb 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 facility of getting loads of torque, water, all-wheel-drive functionality, and a snug mattress.
