Blackbettys first beach outing

[LandyAndy]

Hi guys
Getting down to the southcoast meant a chance to try the disco2 out on the beach.
I have a manual CDL that I made myself and tried various driving methods.Following are a few thoughts on how it went in different conditions.
For those Disco2 owners who are yet to do beach work you may find this interesting/helpfull.
I was very impressed with the way the vehicle handled itself.

HIGH RANGE/LOW RANGE/CDL UNLOCKED/HIGHWAY TYRE PRESSURE.
Obviously asking for trouble,but gave it a go.
SAND TRACKS,no problem at all,traction control was very useful on steep gnarly climbs with "rock you side to side" ruts caused by too many vehicles not deflating tyres and damaging the track,on the return I was really impressed to see no wheelspin marks at all where others before had plenty,still no excuse for not deflating the tyres.
THE BEACH,expected to come to grief and did.On the hardpacked wet sand no problems,no traction control cutting in.Soft but not boggy sand,no problems,small amount of traction control cutting in on take-off and gearchange.There was a disco1 V8 auto at the same point wich I followed onto the beach which also didnt stop to air down,seemed to be making a meal of it,it took quite some time for it to get up onto the sand rather than dig so perhaps the traction control was a bonus.
I headed into the soft dry stuff,2nd high CDL unlocked highway pressure.As I had a runup all was going OK,but the traction control was working plenty,downchanged to 1st as I was loosing groundspeed,actually started to gain speed but I didnt like how hard the TC was working.Did a gradual stop and gave the stauns a job.Reversed back still in high,tried forward was OK traction control working struggled to get up to boost,backed up again low with CDL unlocked no problems,TC working on takeoff and gearchanges and heavier boggy sand(diffs starting to drag).
All in all no CDL/TC on worked fine in all but the most boggy sand LET YOUR TYRES DOWN AND YOU SHOULD BE OK without a CDL.The biggest bugbear I had was the disco has no pull at around 1000rpm(turbo lag) on hills/soft sand when you are already down to 1st high,stalled easilly ops: ops: Gear selection beforehand is the answer.

HI/LOW RANGE/CDL LOCKED/TRACTION CONTROL ON/TYRES AIRED DOWN
By far the best of both worlds,stopped in deep soft sand and easily got going,minimal activation of TC,quick to get up on the sand,minimal bogging down on up and down gearshifts,got up to 70ks in the soft sand,I was really impressed.

HI/LOW RANGE/CDL LOCKED/TRACTION CONTROL DISABLED/TYRES AIRED DOWN
Wasnt a big difference but noticed the tyres dug in more on take off and took longer to get up on the sand.More digging in on gearchanges but acceptable.
Probably the best combination in the long run if you can disable the TC,I would say that the sand in the brakes would lead to rapid pad/disc wear if you do a lot of beach work.

As I have said I was really happy with the BlackBettys sand performance,its the best sand driving Ive done since selling my 2A 88".
Andrew

[stevo]

and other times with traction control and the transfer case locked will get you further ie steep and rocky tracks

[LandyAndy]

Hi Stevo
You are right,almost but not as good as lockers.I was very happy with the way the CDL/TC work together in mud and rock terrain.
Basically the post was more about testing the effectiveness or lack of,the traction control was on the beach.
Ive read so many times that so called experts say "pull the fuse" on the system,after my own messing around on the beach,I dont agree totally,I found the TC beneficial in most cases.
Andrew

[stevo]

nothing like trying things out for yourself and seeing if the experts are right or not most of the time I keep the TC on and only lock the transfer case when the TC starts coming on unless on sand or mud (when I find it)
then it gets locked

[Disco_Drivin_Dude]

I tow my boat (4.3 Hornet Trophy) up a 10k stretch of beach with a real mixed bag of sand density and angles, almost weekly and have never had to let my standard tyres down yet, even during boat recovery.

People that think TC is a gimmick, drive jap FWDs. Now I got to admit, until I experienced a D2 on the beach for the first time, I would never have bought a LR (the old man is painted in Nissan colours you see). While I would be lying if I said that aluminium panels didn't play a big part, TC was the one main factor that lead me to buy a Disco (and will NEVER buy anything else now, I've been coverted and the light is far to bright to ignore). TC might not quite be as good as lockers, but it does go a long way.

Now all I have to do is convert the old man from being such a one eyed 3.0L TD Nissian Patrol owner, to an even more one eyed Rover owner. He says he will never buy a Rover... but this coming from a man who won't even drive my Disco for fear of "No way son, someone might see me in it, let alone driving it, and beside I'm worried I might like it." One thing I do know, he ain't smiling when I blow the horn and wave at him as I pass him pulling in to a service station for EVEN MORE motion lotion, and I still got another 200-300ks of diesel left.

[LandyAndy]

Hi Guys
Just BUMPING this up for Mick
Andrew

[Pedro_The_Swift]

Good job Andy,,
I talk to every D2 I see on fraser and they all say the same thing,,

CDL??? whats that?

[mark2]

I tow my boat (4.3 Hornet Trophy) up a 10k stretch of beach with a real mixed bag of sand density and angles, almost weekly and have never had to let my standard tyres down yet, even during boat recovery.

People that think TC is a gimmick, drive jap FWDs. Now I got to admit, until I experienced a D2 on the beach for the first time, I would never have bought a LR (the old man is painted in Nissan colours you see). While I would be lying if I said that aluminium panels didn't play a big part, TC was the one main factor that lead me to buy a Disco (and will NEVER buy anything else now, I've been coverted and the light is far to bright to ignore). TC might not quite be as good as lockers, but it does go a long way.

Now all I have to do is convert the old man from being such a one eyed 3.0L TD Nissian Patrol owner, to an even more one eyed Rover owner. He says he will never buy a Rover... but this coming from a man who won't even drive my Disco for fear of "No way son, someone might see me in it, let alone driving it, and beside I'm worried I might like it." One thing I do know, he ain't smiling when I blow the horn and wave at him as I pass him pulling in to a service station for EVEN MORE motion lotion, and I still got another 200-300ks of diesel left.

Even if traction is not an issue for you (and it rarely is on the sand), the vehicle will be doing a sh*t load less work with the tyres aired down, particularly towing. However, tall skinny tyres respond a lot better to lower pressures, than wide low profile tyres. Give me a 7.50 R16 on the sand any day than a 'modern' 4WD tyre