D4 Christened

**brad72** · 2nd May 2010, 04:11 PM

Well, I have finally lost my 4x4 off road virginity and I must say the D4 is an amazing car. The slope was not all that bad by your standards. 25º slope at the bottom ramping to 35º at the top with 40º section 3/4 the way up. It was slippery loose dirt with tree roots and protruding rocks.

I have been procrastinating over this for a few days now since I could barely get up the hill on foot. The bottom section looked easy but the 40º part with a deep hole either side that would put the car on 2 wheels just didn't look possible with stock street tires at road pressures.

Anyway, off I went in rock crawl....this is easy i thought, hit the steep section, could only see sky, traction control clanking away but up she went over the crest of the hill. Woohoo I thought. My heart was beating like a jack rabbit. Just to make sure i didn't fluke it i tried again. She slipped a bit more this time and lost all traction at the 40º big holes but a few seconds later, off she went.

What a fantastic 4x4. Just getting to know what she can do is so much fun. The last guys i saw going up this track has huge tires an lifted suspension. who would of thought a stock vehicle was so capable. I did discover however that hill descent in reverse can be a little fast compared to 1st gear. Did get a scratch down one side however that SWMBO frowned at. Stupid lantana.

Added a few photo's to share my excitement

**Disco4SE** · 2nd May 2010, 04:15 PM

Well done Brad72, another colourbond moment. Still smiling?????

**brad72** · 2nd May 2010, 04:59 PM

Yep, still smiling. Just can't get over how this car can be so luxurious on the road yet still be able to tackle tough 4x4 tracks with ease, even for an amateur like myself. I did walk the track 1st though, that counts for something I guess. Maybe that's why my heart was beating so fast since I'm so unfit..

**rmp** · 2nd May 2010, 06:09 PM

Such a good post I copied it to the Stories thread.

**WhiteD3** · 2nd May 2010, 06:32 PM

Originally Posted by brad72

Well, I have finally lost my 4x4 off road virginity and I must say the D4 is an amazing car.

.............and that's shod with Wrangler I suppose? The D4 is a fantastic car but beware, it'll go places that it's factory-fitted tyres shouldn't, a lesson I learned in my D3 a couple of times

**Ashes** · 2nd May 2010, 06:42 PM

Having not done a lot of offroad (about 5 days driving in total) I'm not sure I would have had the confidence to try that hill by myself so 10/10 for getting it up there and back.

A scratch or two I recon is a good thing as it means you are getting the car into places that you can have some fun.

The 5 days offroad have given me more joy that the other 300+ days I've owned my D3 for.

Well done!

**brad72** · 2nd May 2010, 07:09 PM

Originally Posted by WhiteD3

............. , it'll go places that it's factory-fitted tyres shouldn't, a lesson I learned in my D3 a couple of times

I did wonder this. Is it the getting into trouble or getting out of it once your have gone too far that is the problem? The 18" wranglers don't have huge lugs on them. I could either splash out for some ATR's now and save these for when i sell it, get a set of 17"s and change over when i go 4x4'ing, or just wait for the wranglers to wear out. So many choices.

**WhiteD3** · 3rd May 2010, 05:22 AM

Originally Posted by brad72

I did wonder this. Is it the getting into trouble or getting out of it once your have gone too far that is the problem? The 18" wranglers don't have huge lugs on them. I could either splash out for some ATR's now and save these for when i sell it, get a set of 17"s and change over when i go 4x4'ing, or just wait for the wranglers to wear out. So many choices.

2 issues with the Wranglers; useless in any that even looks muddy, wet or slippery, and the walls are weak as. I broke the side wall in two wranglers

at great expsense.

I left mine on until they were had it (and then went to Scorpion ATR's) but that included replacing three of the set of five over 50,000km.

**DDdisco** · 3rd May 2010, 06:10 AM

Wherebouts is that track Brad? Might go and have a look at it myself just for a laugh. Is it near Toowoomba somewhere?

**brad72** · 3rd May 2010, 06:43 AM

Yep, in Toowoomba. Head to Echo valley (southern end of Ramsay Street) and keep driving south past echo valley to the dirt access road. About a K after echo valley you will pass a house on the RHS then start going down hill. The track is about a about a 500m on the LHS after this, heading up off the side of the dirt track. A Lot easier to see once you start heading north back up the track. The track itself is only 100 or so meters long but fun just the same. (GPS Co-ordinates 27º37'31.09"S 115º57'26.60"E (from google earth) In fact there a tracks strewn all over the place down there if you are prepared to do a bit of exploring.

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