The YouTube channel Far from Ordinary has shared a video from an unusual test performed with a SHERP off-roader. While technically an all-terrain vehicle (ATV), the SHERP is still mainly built with water, swampland and sticky mud in mind, rather than desert rocks.
The team decided it was about time to see how well the vehicle would perform out of its element and took it to the famous Goldbar Trim and Golden Spike trails in the Moab Desert, Utah. Wheel spinning did not take long to manifest: low-pressure tubes with mud tires wrapped around them made the rocky slopes and outcroppings too slippery to navigate.
After a couple of attempts at adjusting tire pressure (thankfully, this can be done straight from the driver’s seat), the test pilot was able to ascend a tall rocky climb, albeit much slower than a Jeep Wrangler LWB did with some suspension improvements. Making things worse for the Sherp was the fact that it lacked any kind of wheel steering: turning is accomplished by brake-locking one side of the vehicle, much like on transports with tracks instead of wheels.
Despite the difficulties, the author of the video pointed out that the SHERP managed to outperform the tuned Jeeps at certain parts of the trail – such as the stone stairs – thanks to its giant wheel diameter.