Questions & Answers
How many travelling with you ?, people , vehicles - Currently 2 in each car, hopefully to find a few more to do similar set ups in same cars.
How many klms are you expecting to cover in one day? - The top speed on an Aixam is 50mph (90km/hr), and prohibited to get on motorways in most of Europe. I'm guessing 4-6 hours average days driving sounds reasonable (including breaks). so about 400-500kms
Are you using this car for pure transport or a mix of fun/transport ? - We don't own the car we intend to do the travelling in yet, that's yet to be acquired but when we do, it'll be purely for this trip.
I'm going to search the specs. on this car, I'll get back to you. - Here is some spec i found for you 2001 Aixam Evolution 500 car technical specifications - automobile tech data from Carfolio.com - 2 door 0.5 litre (479 cc) Inline 2 9.6 PS, 1 speed transmission as with most things on the net, it's not 100% accurate.

couple o things
cheaper to put suspension bags in the existing coils than change setup
Polyair Springs air bag suspension lift kits about $300 for a full kit combined with a portable air compressor will give you fully adjustable spring tension.
Cargo barrier a bit expensive (about $400) but has two purposes - stops equipment from braining you if you stop suddenly, and also acts as a roll cage.
With that 16 litre tank I'd take an electric fuel pump, they're only small, saves unpacking fuel
These things can be taken off when finished so a little saved

I'll look those things up... by electric fuel pump, do you mean pumping it down from a jerry down to the tank/fuel line?

something like this Amazon.com: Facet Fuel-It Transfer Fuel Pump: Automotive
there are cheaper models, run an extension from your cigarette lighter or battery

Reckon i could rig one up to syphon off the fuel in the jerry-cans on the roof while driving? .... i'm seeing this being a solution for unstoppable driving. :D

:thumbup1: spoken like a true road warrior
I think the real art here is in the packing I found a set of drawers in the back allows access to most things without a major unpack, you could rig a cheap set up
you mention putting 15" wheels on . Is this an easy option? if so you can purchase 8 ply light truck 10 if you can get it

Until I have the car in my hands, I'm not sure about anything to be honest, I know the stock comes with something like a 13-14" alloy with something ridiculous like 75mm wide rim. I'm sure that's exactly the type of tyre you end up finding in the east. :D

As for the drawers, I'll look into it. Keep in mind that I don't want to own the car more than a year, I'm not wild about investing wild amounts of money on it. If it turns out to be a trooper by the time i get to Ulan Bator, I'll consider buying another when I get home... definitely not spending it on this one though.

Whats the payload for that car ie. the GVW or Mam (I'm guessing its quite low) ?

Take off the weight of the car + 2 adults , that'll leave you the payload

Now thats the weight limit you've got maximum to fit water, fuel , camping gear, clothes etc in. Do this before you even think of modifying it.

Does it come with a spare wheel or a can of goo. You'll need a spare. Add in the weight !

What spares do you need to take - these can be split across several vehicles if you are convoying.

Whats the range you need between fuel fillups ? this will dicate how many jerries (at 20kg at time) you will need. I agree with your syphon solution for fuel transfer.

400-500kg a day will be a dream, guessing you won't be doing you 90kmh flat out all day on rough roads, you'll need to preserve your car and take brakes to allow shockers etc to cool.

You must secure everything down, so a roll or accident doesn't kill you with flying bits

Then see if you have weight room to mod the cars/do the trip. Do not overload.

It sounds a fun trip, but make sure you can carry enough water and fuel

beat me to it Rich! I read through all that and i was wondering why 'payload' had not been mentioned!

Its going to be very little, so your going to have to travel light. forget storage drawers and boxes, think black bin bags!

priorities as pointed out above, spares, water and fuel. everything else takes 2nd place. work out what you need to carry volume wise (fuel/water) and see what that leaves you.

Its going to be a tough challenge. when did you say you were doing this?

G

Payload.... I've never heard of it.... well... of course I have, but never in context of a vehicle's day-to-day payload. Where would I see that info? Owners manual?

If you look at their website, at the different models it gives in the technical stuff that the difference between the weights of unloaded and loaded is about 275kg.

Sorry, I'm misunderstanding. Is that 275kg a guide weight for the vehicle, or a legal weight for the vehicle class or what?

Our clapped out Aixam in Spain was heaving along about 17 people last summer... admittedly we had removed the adorning panels/doors/windows, but even then that's good going.

A car will have a maximum plated weight ie. the most the car can weigh fully loaded with people fuel etc

Unladen Weight 380kg Max Laden Weight 675kg
From Aixam Cars - Websters of Stoke

Your 17 people would be massivly illegal as the car will be overloaded

The biggest breaker of overland vehicles is overloading, remember you arn't running along tarmac but dirt roads , tracks , sand etc, overloaded cars break easily in these environments

So payload is 295 kgs

So 380kgs + 2 adults - say 80 kilos each so take off 160kgs

So 135 kg available for all your kit, fuel, clothes, spares, water, food etc.

Just a note, i'm not anti what you are trying to do - but you've got to work within the limitations of the vehicle

I totally appreciate that, the car in Spain with 17 people onboard was not a road legal venture... simply Spanish fiestas, and the attitude of: "let's see how many people can physically get on board a 2 seater".

Thanks for the heads-up on the info. I believe the model car I'm actually looking to get has pretend rear seats, chucking them out will give probably an extra 10-20kgs However, an extra spare wheel will probably consume that right back again. :)

I'm looking forward to this and I don't even own the car yet. hehe

Neil if you get a roof rack pack only lite gear on top . sleeping bags etc. Do not store fuel as this is heavy, and I hate to harp on a point, but centre of gravity shift is accentuated in small cars quite easily.
The airbags I mention wil give you a larger weight carrying capacity but you still have to be anal with what you take and how you pack. A $20 two draw lightweight plastic set of drawers in the bottom of the back boot will ease a lot of access probs. one for tools and one for cooking utensils I find are the things I reached for most.
Other things you will have to take are spare fan belts,hoses (water) fuel filter ( fuel can be shite OS) two-way comms. (saves stopping to evaluate position and alleviating anxiety all the time)
Water is calculated at 4lt per person per day for desert driving ( you can reduce this as along as you can forgo a little personal hygiene ) carry as low in the vehicle as possible.