My previous blog posts for SHELL Helix are always about contest and roadshows. Today I'm going to share with you an exciting 3-episode Shell Helix: Driven to Extremes adventure series.
SHELL has taken on one of the most forbidding places on the planet, the
jungles of southern Malaysia in monsoon season, to put its motor oil,
Shell Helix to the ultimate test. Former Formula One racing driver Mika
Salo, Oscar-winning Hollywood actor Adrien Brody and a couple of thrill
seeking mechanics teamed up to undertake a journey across one of the
most punishing and hostile terrains on earth in the third and final
episode of Shell Helix Driven to Extremes, three-part television series, which airs on:
- Discovery Channel (Astro Ch 551)
- Date: 27th March 2013.
SHELL commissioned Shell Helix Driven to Extremes
to put its premium motor oil, Shell Helix, to the test in some of the
coldest, hottest and roughest locations on earth. The severe rains and
steep trail roads experienced in the third episode provided a perfect
opportunity to test Shell Helix’s:
- low viscosity
- rapid flow
- low
friction properties on some of the roughest roads on the planet.
The
tropical monsoon conditions also tested the oil’s ability to operate
efficiently with a heavy engine load for long periods, as the vehicle
struggled through thick mud and water.
Actor Adrien Brody crossing a river in the NIssan Patrol
Mika
Salo said, “What an experience with some of the best people and driving
of my career. To see the effort that everyone put in to help us succeed
was truly humbling.”
Adrien Brody added, “This was something different to anything I’ve ever done!”
Actor Adrien Brody gets the winch ready after his NIssan Patrol got stuck in thick mud.
Alongside
Salo, Brody’s role was to co-drive the pair’s Nissan Patrol as they
travelled across the rainforest of southern Malaysia. And in the middle
of an unusually torrid rainy season, conditions were harsh and
unforgiving. The team journeyed along the Ulu Sedili Trail, tackling
slippery roads, dangerous insects, swollen rivers, and fallen trees,
before reaching their destination - Kampong Peta at the fringe of the
Endau Rompin National Park.
Adrien Brody trying to get some rambutans with a slingshot at an orang asli village.
Throughout
the journey, the Nissan Patrol was exclusively filled with Shell Helix
fully synthetic motor oil, which removes up to five times more dirt and
sludge, protects the engine up to three times better, and reduces up to
twice as much engine wear as a normal mineral oil.
In the vast Taklamakan Desert, China
Expedition
mechanic and former rally driver Paul Marsh said, “Shell Helix has gone
from the freezing -60°C Siberian conditions experienced in episode one
in Russia to the blistering over +50°C heat of the ‘Desert of Death’ in
China during episode two. In this third and final programme, the oil
kept the engine running in the extremely wet tropical jungles of
southern Malaysia. That’s pretty impressive.”
Expedition
leader and former Royal Marine Mac MacKenney added, “Jungle terrain is
highly dangerous, so this expedition was at the mercy of one of the most
inhospitable environments known to man or machine.
At
one point, the rains washed our original route away so we were going in
blind. For us this was to be the real test. This was pure combat - the
team and the vehicles against the jungle.”
Ex-superbike champion Neil Hodgson (left) and Hollywood actor Henry Cavill in China.
The
secret behind Shell Helix’s ability to perform effectively and
consistently in extreme conditions is the rapid lubrication it provides
to vital engine components. Shell Helix also works to protect against
the build-up of deposits, keeping the engine clean and preventing it
from overheating, even under extreme conditions.
To
find out how Mika Salo, Adrien Brody and Shell Helix performed in the
punishing terrain of the rainforest of southern Malaysia, tune in to
Discovery Channel on March 27, 2013 to watch the third episode. You can
also log on to the Shell Helix Driven to Extremes YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/shellhelix) to find exclusive behind-the-scenes content from all three episodes of the series.
Three-part television series of Shell Helix Driven to Extreme:
1st Episode: 13th March 2013
- saw Hollywood actor Tom Hardy and former
Formula One racing driver Mika Salo face temperatures as low as -60°C as
they drove along the ‘Road of Bones’ in Siberia, Russia, to one of the
coldest inhabited places on earth, Oymyakon.
2nd Episode: 20th March 2013
- Hollywood actor
Henry Cavill and former Superbike champion Neil Hodgson tackled the
hottest driving conditions on the planet in the ‘Desert of Death’ in
China, experiencing blistering over +40°C heat as they journeyed from
Hami to Urumqi, the farthest city from any ocean.
3rd Episode: 27th March 2013
- the most exciting and last episode featuring Oscar-winning actor Adrien Brody and ex-F1 driver Mika Salo taking on the jungles of Ulu Sedili, Johor.
Here are the opportunity to embed some of the
behind-the-scene videos on your side and Facebook page from now leading
up to the screening day.
BEHIND THE SCENE VIDEO: GETTING STUCKED IN
BEHIND THE SCENE VIDEO: TROPICAL DANGERS
BEHIND THE SCENE VIDEO: SURVIVING THE JUNGLE
BEHIND THE SCENE: EXTREME PROTECTION
