Off Road Driving (Beach)

[T&M]

As others have said, air down, esp off, keep the momentum up, take a snatch strap with you (limited to where you can attach) and always always always go with another vehicle so they can extract you from anything unforseen.

[barrenjoey owl]

As others have said, air down, esp off, keep the momentum up, take a snatch strap with you (limited to where you can attach) and always always always go with another vehicle so they can extract you from anything unforseen.

Excellent advice!!!!!!

[Arctra]

I took my Tig onto the beach around new year and have to agree that it handles it well. There were 4 fully grown (and rather large) adults in the car, I dropped the pressures to 18psi and off I went. As ever, clearance was the biggest issue. I first drove over soft sand keeping up momentum, then did a standing start from soft sand, and she was fine. In the really soft sand when the engine was working harder the aircon cut out, but that was it really. If I had dropped the peressures further I probably wouldn't have made the engine work as hard. (Oh, had offroad on and esp off. I would be a lot more careful if you don't have offroad)

Only other advice I would give if you're going on the beach is know when the high tide it going to be, take a shovel (can get cheap small fold up ones at camping stores), and take 4 nice sturdy rubber mats to help you get out of trouble in case you do beach yourself.

[jimbomort]

Arctra, great to hear. Yeah clearance was the only real concern we had on Moreton Island.

I've got spacers now from jcubed, will post when all installed, but that will give us an extra 20mm all round. With tyres later i nthe year, hoping to achieve a net increase of at least 40mm all round, which should be enough to be handy and enough to venture back out to Moreton without the Mrs freakin out and to be fair she had a point, while the Tig romped it in, it is supposed to be our family car - not a grader!

[jcubed]

Hi Jimbomort,

Try first with just the spacers, prior to changing the tyres also. And deflate to 12psi.

Don't worry, the tyres wil stay on as long as you don't do "doughnuts".

You may just save yourself some money.

[jimbomort]

Hi Jimbomort,

Try first with just the spacers, prior to changing the tyres also. And deflate to 12psi.

Don't worry, the tyres wil stay on as long as you don't do "doughnuts".

You may just save yourself some money.

J^3 thanks, we ran them at 18 last time and that worked a treat, so I'd start at least on that. Never even looked close to getting bogged at that, and that was with a lot of underbody drag! Still was after rain, so we'll see. The 12 based on your experience in ZA

My gut feel last time was that an extra 2 inches would have made for a lot more comfortable level of clearance. but as I wont really be changing the tyres until they are at least close to worn out, may well give it a go first with just the spacers, else a trip out there is probably a year away.

[T&M]

Hi all (especially jimbomort), here are the new tyres thatwere fitted to the Mrs' Tiggy on the weekend. We were originally going to go with a more aggressive tyre pattern in order to tackle the occasional track, but the Mrs has had a change of mind, and considering its her work car, she wins!!!
We had the Hancroooooks on from the factory - they must be made of licorice!!! and total rubbish IMO.
This time we went with a VERY cost effective Maxxis 760 H/T in a size up from the stock size. ie we have fitted 215/70x16.
This will "fix" the speedo reading, fill out the guards a little, and give a little higher clearance, whilst still being able to venture off the tarmac (a little way). Could have gone to 225/70x16 for a few bucks more - these will easily still fit.
Here are some quick pics...









BTW, the tyres were $165 ea fitted and balanced!!!

[jimbomort]

T&M thanks they look great and a good price.

Let us all know how these tyres are on noise, handling etc as you gain experience with them - ie whether any obivous differences.

You also might also post what the actual increase in diameter is over the standard tyres?

[jcubed]

Tyre profile

You also might post what the actual increase in diameter is over the standard tyres?

Hi T&M,

Theoretically, you should get 10.75mm increased clearance. The result of a tyre profile increase is however sometimes surprising.

On the Hankooks, the Static Loaded Radius, actually went DOWN by 1mm from the 65 to the 70 profile tyre in the SAME series, due to a lower Load Rating, resulting from a softer sidewall.

Most accurate, is to do a before/after measurement from a sealed surface with the car level, to the inside of the fender edge through the centre of the hub.

[T&M]

Hi all,
Actual diameter increase is in fact, approx 22mm, so height increase is half (jcubed - very good!!) The ride quality and handling response is very good. Noise is almost zero - very quiet.
So far so good.

[jcubed]

Terrain Comparison

Hi all,

Related to the beach driving undertaken by some daring Tiguan owners, I thought it might be of interest to some to compare the Stockton beach terrain with what the conditions are like in the Namib desert.

Hence some video clips from our 2006 expedition with the Forester. You won't see the car itself, as the camera is clamped to the RH side roof rail. Not really demonstrating technique, just showing the scenery, really, from a driver's point-of-view.

Set the playback resolution to 480p to maximize the video quality. It was originally shot at this resolution, but originates from a point-and-shoot 5Mp Fuji V10, and inevitably has lost some resolution via youtube.

YouTube - Prado
YouTube - Chase
YouTube - Dune Run Edit

[jimbomort]

Hi all,
Actual diameter increase is in fact, approx 22mm, so height increase is half (jcubed - very good!!) The ride quality and handling response is very good. Noise is almost zero - very quiet.
So far so good.

T&M how you going with those tyres, still good after a 3 months experience with them now?

[Deavesy]

Off Road Driving (Beach)


Just thought I would share my latest beach shot up the mid north coast of NSW

[hippyhippy]

Just thought I would share my latest beach shot up the mid north coast of NSW

that beach looks real easy, the sand looks compacted and looks quite solid.

its the soft stuff you gotta look out for.

last time i took the tig to stockton there were patches of really soft stuff which i dared not go over, seeing as some of the larger 4 wd's were having some trouble, clearance is the only problem for the tig, if it had that extra 5 cm, i'd be 100% more confident.

[Deavesy]

Off Road Driving (Beach)

Yeah down by the water was but getting on and off the beach over the dunes wasn't so easy, mate in a hilux got stuck getting off