I wonder...

[djambalawa]

My brother in law bought a new Prado the other day and wanted to see how it climbed a few piles of dirt nearby so I met him there in my Disco 4.

If anything the Prado climbed just as easy (or perhaps a little easier) than my D4 - and he had factory road tyres on and I have A/Ts.

We wondered at the time with the road tyres actually gripped on the hard dirt hills better somehow. Although I was a bit surprised as the D4 didn't seem to climb as good as it normally would.

But later I was wondering.. I didn't select a 4wd mode when I climbed the hills... nothing really seemed to suit.. wasn't rock or sand, mud ruts etc. But just hard dirt hills. But does selecting a 4wd mode do something like lock a centre diff or something?

I did put it into low gear and raise it - but didn't use any modes. I just figured that they only do stuff like change throttle response etc - but would have i been better off selecting a 4wd mode?

Its actually the same place as this video I took years back - although this was in my D3 and I probably did select a 4wd mode. The piles of dirt are different now but similar.

Toyota vs Disco - YouTube

[discotwinturbo]

I would have used rock crawl on that climb to minimise wheel spin, and to ensure all traction systems (traction control and lockers) were working at their maximum.

Brett.....

[gghaggis]

+1

Cheers,

Gordon

[~Rich~]

+2 ;)

[Geedublya]

+3 rock crawl is my default mode if its gnarly and not sandy.

[AnD3rew]

Yep, a while back I was on my own with two kids in the car and I attempted a knarly hill with a washout halfway up it which I probably shouldn't have without a backup vehicle there. But I had already come down and there was no other way back out.

I set off up the hill and I promptly got stuck in the washout wheels spinning and going nowhere. I stood on the brakes and got the kids out and away and then was just considering how I was going to manage a nasty solo winch recovery when I took a deep breath and did one last systems check and noticed the terrain response was still in sand and gravel. I switched to rock crawl and gently eased off the brake and into the accelerator and it just picked itself up and walked out, no sweat.

[Owl]

Yep, a while back I was on my own with two kids in the car and I attempted a knarly hill with a washout halfway up it which I probably shouldn't have without a backup vehicle there. But I had already come down and there was no other way back out.

I set off up the hill and I promptly got stuck in the washout wheels spinning and going nowhere. I stood on the brakes and got the kids out and away and then was just considering how I was going to manage a nasty solo winch recovery when I took a deep breath and did one last systems check and noticed the terrain response was still in sand and gravel. I switched to rock crawl and gently eased off the brake and into the accelerator and it just picked itself up and walked out, no sweat.

Yep - I've been there as well. Outback NSW drove up a dry creek bed with camper in tow looking for a secluded lunch spot. Setting off after a perfect lunch break, did a U turn and wheels spun and dug in the soft sand/gravel of the creek bed.
Thoughts going through my mind were - unhook the trailer, winch the D3 out, winch the trailer out, hook up and try again. I looked down at the TR, selected Rock Crawl (....or was it Mud Ruts? Anyway....). I eased on the accelerator and the mighty machine climbed out of the holes it had just dug hauling the camper with it. I started giggling like a school girl - SHMBO thought I was going mad.

Gota love these machines

[CaverD3]

That would explain the difference with the Playdo. The centre diff locks in 4x4 mode the D3's would slip.

[discotwinturbo]

That would explain the difference with the Playdo. The centre diff locks in 4x4 mode the D3's would slip.

Have you seen the latest add with the Playdo coming down a hill using crawl control ? It was completely out of control.....me thinks the Toyota media people did not view that part of the ad, otherwise you would think it would not have been aired.

Brett...

[rb30gtr]

Have you seen the latest add with the Playdo coming down a hill using crawl control ? It was completely out of control.....me thinks the Toyota media people did not view that part of the ad, otherwise you would think it would not have been aired.

Brett...

HAHAHAHAHA - Playdo.:D

[BobD]

Not to mention the sound effects the Prado was producing as it descended!

Bob

[Redback]

When we got our D4, I was really excited, as we were going to the high country in it, but this trip was very frustrating, getting stuck in places we used to cruise up in our D2, I thought this is no better than our D2 and all this hipe about these things is complete rubbish, but after driving the car more and more on some more outings and gradually learning more about how to drive the car and someone on here telling me I was using the wrong mode for certain situations:bangin: that I realised what I was doing wrong, since then I have been amazed at what this car can do and over time have come to terms with the way the car operates, took a while though:p, absolutely love this car now.

I think back now and realise that even with what I was doing wrong, I now know how good this D4 is:o

And as others have said in that situation, I would use Rock Crawl too

Baz.