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Tyre pressure down to 20. Sand mode. DSC disabled. “S” on the dial for manual gear selection. And an incredibly beautiful day on the beach.
With longer legs and bigger, chunkier boots, this time the DS felt totally at home on the sand. I hardly ever felt/heard the underbody contact the sand, and I could go anywhere I wanted instead of being stuck in other people’s ruts.
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I will be bookmarking this thread for it's mods in case I ever end up with a DS. Well done!
Checked out Booloumba Creek camping area today. That was rather disappointing. I suppose if the creek was flowing and the foliage greener it'd be more pleasant, and possibly the long bush walks which fan out from there are the real attraction.
Having driven 90 mins to get there I wasn't keen to just head home, so I crossed the bridge to the north and headed west on Sunday Creek Rd towards Jimna. That's a beautiful drive, an average 40-60 kph on hard packed dirt or gravel sections through the different forest zones across the range. There are plenty of intriguing side tracks which I mostly didn't have time for, but there was one section which has been cleared of trees that I couldn't resist clambering up to the highest peak.
(The forum doesn't seem to like my panoramic photo. I'll have to try uploading it another time sorry.)
Tyres on 40psi for bitumen gave me a fuel consumption of 7.3L/100km over a 120km stretch :thumbsup:
Dropped down the 30 for the rocky start of Sunday Creek Rd so as to avoid having everything shaken to bits. 30 was super comfortable and had heaps of grip on the rest of the drive. It gave me enough grip to mud-and-ruts up a steep bank with high approach and breakover angles, me going slightly sideways to avoid body contact with the ground and therefore doing a bit of three-wheeling over the crest. I also checked out the emergency braking performance on a safe section of downhill gravel – these ATs stopped me much quicker than I imagined would happen.
In to LR service tomorrow for them to check out the oil leak I found the other week. It'll be interesting to see how they react to a DS with an unusually tall stance :blink:
At last I feel I can contribute to this thread as I had my first real off-road trip with my DS today.
Headed to Wilbinga, a popular dune/beach area just north of Perth for a day of sand driving. Was in company with much larger 4WDs such as a Prado, Shogun, Ranger, and D4 but I was able to do most of what they could with the notable exception of deep soft sand as I just didn't have the clearance or the power they had to plough through it. Still, the DS put up a credible showing and I had a great time trying out the capabilities of the car.
Apart from a Rival bash plate, everything else on my car is standard, including stock 18" wheels with road tyres, and I needed to drop them to 15psi to get over the largest dune of the day! As mentioned in another thread, I bought some 17" wheels last week but have yet to fit the A/T tyres to them, so will have to wait until the next trip to find out how much difference they make. Was in sand mode most of the day, and tried mud/ruts and grass/gravel/snow a couple of times, but the higher revs of sand mode definitely has the edge. Noticed the diff lock was only ever 1/4 engaged so most of the drive was still going to the front wheels.
Here's a picture of our final destination after an hour or so driving down sandy tracks and over dunes to get there. None of us ventured onto the beach itself today as the sand was too soft, although one guy from another group did, and immediately got bogged, then proceeded to rip the bull bar off his new car in an attempt to be towed out by a mate - ouch!
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Good work! I was up at Wilbinga on Sunday taking my younger cousin in his D1 and a friends son in his GQ Patrol. It was their first time off-road in their new cars and they had a ball. Thanks to recent rain the sand wasn't as soft as it can get in summer and we all got through ok, especially since they are newbies. We saw a variety of cars including a Perentie which they thought was awesome. I'm glad you had a good time and know what your new DS is capable off. Should be more fun with your new tyres and rims though. Enjoy!
Looks like a fun day!Quote:
Originally Posted by Mamil
Remind me where you bought the Rival plate? I tried a bunch of companies online but the freight cost to Australia was going to be hundreds of dollars and I couldn't find anybody local who would import it.
15psi is lower than I think I've ever gone. Good to know, thanks. Do you have your own gauge/deflator and compressor or did your mates sort you out?
Sand mode is absolutely the best for.... sand. :) Just a reminder to also turn off stability control every time you go on the sand, because DSC actually is the opposite of what you need when sand driving. Legally I think the manufacturer isn't allowed to turn it off automatically for you, so it's up to the driver to remember every time you start the car.
And I know what you mean about the front/rear torque split, it's surprising when you see it. The Freelander/Evoque/DS platform has the front wheels driven directly out of the gearbox so always active, but the rears only get used as much as the car thinks is needed. It's an open rear diff (not locking) with a either single brake connecting the drive shaft to the diff (ie the Haldex AWD unit), or if you have Active Driveline there's a clutch for each wheel so torque can be removed from a wheel which has lost traction. Active Driveline also has the ability to disengage the drive shaft up front at the gearbox for extra FWD efficiency in easy driving.
I'm hoping to be back on the sand with some friends this weekend, too.
Autoranger in Germany. I bought the full four piece kit although I never fitted the fuel tank ones, and have since removed the rear diff one because it hangs lower than the rest of the underbody and I was hitting more with it than without. Shipping was 125 Euro or about two hundred Aussie.Quote:
Originally Posted by TB
I started out at 20psi as I was worried about damaging either rims or sidewalls seeing as I was on 18" road tyres, and there were some sharp rocks on the way in so just as well I didn't go any lower. However I just couldn't get up the steepest dune after five tries, so relented and lowered them to 15 and just floated up no problem on the sixth try. Carried my own 160 lpm compressor and a rapid tyre deflator doo-dah which made adjusting tyre pressures easy. Also invested in a snatch strap, tow bar mounted recovery hitch, and a set of TREDs, but didn't need to use any of those - thankfully!Quote:
15psi is lower than I think I've ever gone. Good to know, thanks. Do you have your own gauge/deflator and compressor or did your mates sort you out?
Thanks, that's a good tip - I'll have to try turning it off next time I'm on sand and see the difference.Quote:
Just a reminder to also turn off stability control every time you go on the sand, because DSC actually is the opposite of what you need when sand driving. Legally I think the manufacturer isn't allowed to turn it off automatically for you, so it's up to the driver to remember every time you start the car.
It's a great area isn't it. So close to the city, and yet you could be in the middle of nowhere! I can see myself returning a few times, especially as I want to improve on my performance on Sunday - practice makes perfect!Quote:
Originally Posted by cripesamighty
Hi TBQuote:
Originally Posted by TB
how are you finding things now that you've had the mods for a little while?
Im also thinking of taking your lead and getting the Spring lift and Tyres done.
I did a small drive into our state forest in Victoria and thought i would do a simple dirt road drive up to Mount Emu lookout, eventually ended up hitting a few very rocky and steep incline tracks and then onto a goat track on the way down that was super narrow and even rockier.
I was super impressed with the DS it just managed to tackle every obstacle thrown at it even on its stock standard 18" OEM tyres, it did bottom out on a deep ruts for a sec and i then realised a lift and proper tyres may be in order.
would be great to hear your thoughts on how the car handles now and how its bedded in since the changes and some drive time :)
""Cheers
G
Hi G
Well, you see, there came to be a bit of friction between my wife and I regarding how much I was nicking off in her car. Especially since our other car is a manual and she isn’t licensed to drive it.
So just over a week ago I took delivery of the 2010 D4 that’s now added to my signature [bigwhistle]
I managed to get back to Bribie a couple of weekends ago in the Sport. Tyres on 20psi weren’t low enough, I had to go to 15 for some of the softest stuff. Now I’m not sure if I’m going to be allowed to take the Sport out especially on the rougher tracks. I’m heading to Levuka in a couple of weeks and honestly I’d rather take the Sport to see how it goes, but current indications aren’t very positive that I’ll be able to do that.
Still I have no hesitation in saying that if you want to do more driving like what you described, you’ll enjoy the extra clearance from a lift. The tyres are a must.
