Tricky off road question ????

[William Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close William]

Re: Tricky off road question ????

Thanks for the youtube link I hadn't seen that one before...the Prado fairly outshines the D3....

No problems, it is a Toyota video... so it may be biased.

Cheers

[KAKADAZ Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close KAKADAZ]

Re: Tricky off road question ????

Thanks for the youtube link I hadn't seen that one before...the Prado fairly outshines the D3....

No problems, it is a Toyota video... so it may be biased.

Cheers

NEVER.....wash your mouth out....lol

[maxjj Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close maxjj]

Re: Tricky off road question ????

reminds me a bit of the auto vs manual debate. After having owned a few manual 4wd there is no question in my mind that auto is better, but you used to get funny looks if you had an auto, it wasn`t a real 4wd.
Its about trying it, I reckon, see what it does with it on and then turn it off, play with it. If it involves pulling fuses, its properly not meant to be switched off.

If the Kakadu with centre diff lock and rear diff lock engaged is stuck, chances are that mogul mode isn`t going to safe you. But unless I misunderstand the whole thing , mogul, rock , sand, mud setting just adjust the amount of wheel spin allowed before something like traction control and stability control takes over. May even adjust abs settings. If a different setting keeps the momentum going its a good thing. Bit like why autos are mostly better than manual. There would be situations where the electronic aids maybe better than the diffs locked. Can I borrow your car for a week, I will promise to report back on results.

Having said all that, its nice to drive a manual, with centre diff locked on a gravel road and the tyres biting, the feedback is superior than what you get these days. Fourwheel drifts anyone. :P

[KAKADAZ Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close KAKADAZ]

Re: Tricky off road question ????

reminds me a bit of the auto vs manual debate. After having owned a few manual 4wd there is no question in my mind that auto is better, but you used to get funny looks if you had an auto, it wasn`t a real 4wd.
Its about trying it, I reckon, see what it does with it on and then turn it off, play with it. If it involves pulling fuses, its properly not meant to be switched off.

If the Kakadu with centre diff lock and rear diff lock engaged is stuck, chances are that mogul mode isn`t going to safe you. But unless I misunderstand the whole thing , mogul, rock , sand, mud setting just adjust the amount of wheel spin allowed before something like traction control and stability control takes over. May even adjust abs settings. If a different setting keeps the momentum going its a good thing. Bit like why autos are mostly better than manual. There would be situations where the electronic aids maybe better than the diffs locked. Can I borrow your car for a week, I will promise to report back on results.

Having said all that, its nice to drive a manual, with centre diff locked on a gravel road and the tyres biting, the feedback is superior than what you get these days. Fourwheel drifts anyone. :P

I agree mate its going to be a bit of trial and error (I'm happy to do this myself) but appreciate your kind offer lol...I haven't really tried the centre diff and rear diff lock combo but will do next weekend..

[maxjj Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close maxjj]

Re: Tricky off road question ????

I agree mate its going to be a bit of trial and error (I'm happy to do this myself) but appreciate your kind offer lol...I haven't really tried the centre diff and rear diff lock combo but will do next weekend..

centre diff locked and rear locked is nice, allows you to drive nice and slowly. minimises damage to track and better for comfort of passengers.
But sometimes momentum is key, whether diffs locked or electronics is then better is hard to say, most likely they all have their use.

I remember following a mate up a loose rocky steep track and my manual would move around a bit as rocks moved and it slipped here and there. All nice and predictable, you could tell the lsd was working and the car moved around a bit and it chucked rocks out the back.
His VX prado had the dancing lights on the dash, but never slipped or moved around anywhere near as much. Definitely more surefooted, it climbed like a cat. The electronic aids worked really well, surprised me.
In that scenario the rear diff lock would have helped, but I reckon the electronics made the big difference.

[barajak Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close barajak]

Re: Tricky off road question ????

It would be nice to be able to drive the same course with aids on and off to get a fair answer to the question. I have a GX and can say the traction control is good going uphill. The 150 has less suspension travel than the 100 series I am used to and the Prado lifts a wheel often, this is not an issue as the ABS stops the unloaded wheel from spinning and you keep moving forward. Do not use your decent control to go down long mountain track though. This is where mechanical aids and driving experience comes into its own. If you were to try to decend say the north side of Mt Pinnabar (NE Vic) using electronic aids your vehicle will run out of brakes before you are halfway down. This is not a theory, it has been done. You also need to keep in mind that at the bottom of most decents on tracks there is water of some kind, be a lot better if your brakes are cool.

[KAKADAZ Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close KAKADAZ]

Re: Tricky off road question ????

It would be nice to be able to drive the same course with aids on and off to get a fair answer to the question. I have a GX and can say the traction control is good going uphill. The 150 has less suspension travel than the 100 series I am used to and the Prado lifts a wheel often, this is not an issue as the ABS stops the unloaded wheel from spinning and you keep moving forward. Do not use your decent control to go down long mountain track though. This is where mechanical aids and driving experience comes into its own. If you were to try to decend say the north side of Mt Pinnabar (NE Vic) using electronic aids your vehicle will run out of brakes before you are halfway down. This is not a theory, it has been done. You also need to keep in mind that at the bottom of most decents on tracks there is water of some kind, be a lot better if your brakes are cool.

Agreed I still like to have control down hill..I would love to find a track somewhere where I can test both diff lock and multi terrain...shouldn't be that hard to do some testing just need a bit of time arrgh.

[thylacene Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close thylacene]

Re: Tricky off road question ????

jeez I feel stupid. what electronic aids? I have a 120 gxl and a month old 150gxl - I have had a weird sound a fair few times which I assume is some sort of electronic aid, but on Fraser I turned off Traction control most of the time - whatever that is?

I will use electronic aids if it still makes the driving experience enjoyable. however I do enjoy the simple spinningtyres, etc. - the basics.

does my 150gxl have electronic aids ? i just assumed same as my 120gxl

The "weird kind of sound" is probably the stability control kicking in, mine does it when I forget its not a Subaru ;^)

Cheers

Thy