Everywhere Tig

[harrip]

I'm presently taking my Tig on a bit of a jolly around Oz. There is a summary here - www.ivebeeneverywhere.com.au ( I'll be adding some tig specific content in due course.)

So far going well - loving the fuel consumption. Most days its averaging around 6.1 to 6.3 l/ per 100 KM. Its a 2.0 TDi

[ChrisJ]

Looks like you will have a great trip, nice photos on your site.
Just one question though - what's the passport for?

[clip]

great site you got there. Couldn't think of a better vehicle to do that sort of trip in either.

[AlanTig]

Keep it all coming...its wet and cold in the UK so what you,re doing is very warming to look at..just love the look of some of those old buildings

[harrip]

Thanks guys. The passport fills a spot

Today was more interesting from the Tig point of view as I tested out the Tyre deflate warning - i.e. I had a puncture 150KM in the middle of nowhere. It worked and possibly helped save a tyre rim. The warning light came on (with an audible sound) and I then stopped to inspect my tyres and indeed one was hissing away. More details here - http://www.ivebeeneverywhere.com.au/?p=213

[DJY]

great site - and wow it sounds like you will have an amazing trip!

Good to see another Tiguan owner also a Mac man too!

[harrip]

I've done a brief review of the tig following the start of my Oz trip. It can be found here - http://www.ivebeeneverywhere.com.au/?page_id=446

Cheers,

P.S. @DJY - once you've used a Mac no going back huh

[AlanTig]

I've done a brief review of the tig following the start of my Oz trip. It can be found here - http://www.ivebeeneverywhere.com.au/?page_id=446

Cheers,

P.S. @DJY - once you've used a Mac no going back huh

I,m just loving this threadkeep it coming please

[nibot99]

One day........
One day I'll pack up and set off on something similar in the Tig.

[harrip]

Just a quick update on this to say I had a great trip to Brindabella last weekend. Brindabella is 68KM west of Canberra, but on the way the road disappears and turns into a dirt track (much to my surprise).

Anyway, the tig made easy work of it and I'd recommend the trip to anyone in the area - it would be a good Sunday afternoon type ride. Further details are at http://www.ivebeeneverywhere.com.au/?p=607

[Tigwild]

What a fantastic trip. Great concept as well.

I turned off on an access track under the power lines at probably the exact same spot from which you took the photo of the brindabella valley. The track is really just two wheel ruts and heads up underneath the powerlines to the top of the ridge and then down the other side. I headed up there in the Tig to see what she could do and was amazed at how effortlessly it climbed that very rocky, steep and eroded track. I had to pay particular attention to the ground clearance, but traction wise I was really impressed and the first gear on the auto is low enough to allow you to crawl over the bigger rocks and ledges.

I uploaded a photo that I took about halfway up that track to Bonzle - http://maps.bonzle.com/c/a?a=p&p=281425.

Thanks for sharing your trip.

[vvsingh]

Love ur writing style - great work.

[harrip]

@Tigwild Ah - that view looks familiar with those power cables. Did you pass through "Piccadilly Circus" earlier too? Its a great area and good to be off the beaten track.

Thanks vvsingh

[Tigwild]

harrip

Yeah - I'd been past/through Picadilly Circus. After the power lines we went down towards the Brindabella Valley and then turned off to go down Gentle Annie's firetrail to the Goodradigbee River and then along Webbs Ridge firetrail. We had to stop for some guys in a 4wd convoy coming down off Webbs Ridge and they were a little suprised to see the Tiguan doing the steep rocky climb up Webbs Ridge. There's a picture here that gives some idea of the ridge firetrail.

As long as you take real care with positioning your wheels because of the limited ground clearance its amazing what the Tig can do. It is certainly much more capable that I would have expected from a "soft-roader". The only thing I have noticed in comparison to the Jeep Quadradrive II system I'm used to is that the full electronic locking diffs on the Jeep and the low-range allow you to crawl up and over the rocks. As long as one wheel has good traction (like is in contact with a rock ledge) the Jeep will go up and over. Taking the Tig on the same section I found that it would spin the wheels that were on the loose gravel and not transfer 100% of the power to the wheel with grip. So on the Tig you need to maintain a little bit of momentum to avoid losing grip. A couple of times I had to roll backwards just a touch (like 10cm) to get a very small "run-up" at some of the obstacles. You can't hit them fast because of the low ground clearance so its a bit of a balancing act. But, to a certain extent the short wheelbase means that the smaller ground clearance is not that bad either.

If anyone is interested in some nice offroading that the Tig is more than capable of then give Two Sticks Road a go. It starts off Picadilly Circus and travels a ridgeline and then along the side of Mt Coree. Awesome scenery and nothing too demanding. I probably would not recommend taking the Tig on the detour up Mt Coree unless they have recently graded the fire trail. It was pretty rocky and feral a couple of years ago and you needed all the ground clearance you could get.

Hope the trip's still going well.