Motul lubricants used in ‘the most extreme off-road cars in the world’

Emil Grímsson is the chairman of Arctic Trucks, the only company with approval to drive cars on Antarctica. Naturally, his lubricant partner of choice is Motul. This is his story.

Tell us about Arctic Trucks?

Arctic Trucks was established in 1990 in Iceland. We had a situation in Iceland where people were doing conversions to cars that weren’t approved by the distributors or manufacturers. With the aim of listening to customers and trying to meet their needs, I was instrumental in establishing “official” conversions and this was the start of Arctic Trucks.

What changes do you make to the base vehicles?

Originally, it was very much focused on making the car safe and legal to drive on normal roads but also be capable of driving on snow and bad roads. Utility was the core of our focus. To do this, we have to rebuild the body around the tyres. So, we lift the vehicle, rebuild the body so the tyres can fit under it with limited lift. As we went bigger with the tyres, we started to extend the wheelbase, to get a good balance between the front and rear and get the right motions and stability. With the larger tyres and lower air pressures you could drive a lot of the bad roads in a much easier and more comfortable way and also have less punctures.

How many vehicles do you build a year?

Around 1,000. The Iceland government has acknowledged that this is saving lives and has a huge benefit for a lot of users. Today we have operations in Iceland, Norway, UK, Poland, Russia and Dubai.

Your vehicles are also approved for us in Antarctica – can you tell us more?

We are the only company that has a permit to allow vehicles to drive to the South Pole or do long expeditions. We have 27 vehicles in operation in Antarctica. Scientific stations and so on have bought cars from us. So, for an expedition vehicle in Antarctica, the only ones in operation are ours.

How does Motul’s lubricants help with these expeditions?

We have been using Motul engine oil almost the whole time. This is, of course, one of the items that is very important. When we drive in minus 40ºC we have to rely on the engine working. Motul oil is incredibly important and works well in these conditions.

Witham Group is the distributor of automotive Motul products in the UK. Like Witham, Motul’s product culture is deeply rooted in its history . They are constantly searching for more innovative, effective and better-performing lubricants – even for the most extreme conditions. Motul’s excellent product development and performance success has led Witham to cement a quality partnership. Read more here.