Driving a softroader in sand article

[Arctra]

Hi guys.

I've been in contact with an avid offroad softroader in South Africa that used to own a Tiguan but has since moved to a Freelander2. Anyway, he wrote an article of driving a softroader in sand on on dunes. He wrote the article after taking his 2001 Subaru Forester on a trek in the Namibian sand dunes, but what he learned is still applicable to Tiguans. Here is a scan of the last page of the article giving his learnings from the trip. Click the thumbnail image to get the full size scan (4MB) to print out:



(I got permission from the author to share the article BTW. If you want the whole article (4 pages) please PM me with your email address and I'll forward it to you)

[Transporter]

Thanks for sharing. It is a good read.

[jimbomort]

thanks Arctra, we are goign to Moreton Island in April, so a few hints there might prove useful

Its a shame about the front overhang on the Tig, wish they'd bought out one with a better approach angle like in other markets, or even just made the general version better, would give it more off road cred. I can see it being the most limiting issue with the Tig in some driving

The approach angle prove much of a hassle on your recent trip?

[Arctra]

The approach angle prove much of a hassle on your recent trip?

Not as much of an issue as I expected to be honest. Clearnace was the biggest issue IMO. I think what you have to realise is that the max approach angle is the angle compared to your Tig on the straight and level. As soon as you start going up a slope your Tig is at an angle, so you can go up a steeper slope than you might think. That is where the front overhang comes into play. The more overhang you have the more you will struggle attaching a steep slope.

Looking at the Tig's front overhang you can see it isn't too bad, although on the chinless wonder (below) it's much better.




I think I have to wait till I go to the dunes before I can say whether the approach angle is "bad" or not.

[team_v]

Not as much of an issue as I expected to be honest. Clearnace was the biggest issue IMO. I think what you have to realise is that the max approach angle is the angle compared to your Tig on the straight and level. As soon as you start going up a slope your Tig is at an angle, so you can go up a steeper slope than you might think. That is where the front overhang comes into play. The more overhang you have the more you will struggle attaching a steep slope.

Looking at the Tig's front overhang you can see it isn't too bad, although on the chinless wonder it's much better.

I think I have to wait till I go to the dunes before I can say whether the approach angle is "bad" or not.

The guys on vortex are working out a way to fit the off-road front end onto non-offroad tig's.
Hopefully they can come up with an easy solution as this seems to be the only limitation other than the lack of sump/underbody clearance which can be increased with lift-springs.


Hopefully they can come up with something where we have not, since they have a much larger aftermarket support network for the Tiguan.
I think the guys from ABD Racingworks are working on a safari mod and off-road front end.

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=4618298&page=2

Page 2

[donweather]

Here is a scan of the last page of the article giving his learnings from the trip.

Thanks Arctra. Please excuse my ignorance, but what does HDC stand for in that article?

[Transporter]

Thanks Arctra. Please excuse my ignorance, but what does HDC stand for in that article?

It's Hill Descent Control.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_Hill_descent_control

[donweather]

It's Hill Descent Control.
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_Hill_descent_control

Thanks Transporter

[jimbomort]

Not as much of an issue as I expected to be honest. ..........The more overhang you have the more you will struggle attaching a steep slope.

agree, noting coming down a steep slope (for eg to a creek crossing, ditch etc) will be more of an issue than going up. Thats where you tend to get 'pinches' (ie sudden transitions) in combination with the weight being hard on the front end as you enter that transition, whereas going up a slope weight is on the back. Quite different situations in terms of compression of the front suspension and the degree to which any contact is likely to cause a drama rather than simply 'scuff and go over'.

I can see it might be an issue in deep sand (as more of a plough front end than a 'boat') but yes I haven't tested it out either yet

[hippyhippy]

Tiguan offroad performance

Im am very close to buying a Tiguan however I have a few concerns about its offroad performance.

According to the following article: 2008 Volkswagen Tiguan TDI offroad review | Car Advice | Reviews

The guys had some trouble with it off the beach. Now I plan to buy a SUV and take it to Stockton beach maybe 4 times a year or so. A friend of mine has previously had a previous model Sub Forrester (and now upgraded to a Prado), and even that was OK on the beach and never really had any problems, might have bogged a couple of times but we just went out of the car and dug up the sand and it was all ok. Weve even taken lesser cars theres including an older kia sportage(it was a heavy car), older suzuki vitara and that was ok even though clearance was a little issue. Basically I wouldnt be driving it all around Stockton, just get onto the beach and go straight to my fishing spot, no messing around in the dunes.

My main concern would be the under car protection which this article mentions, do you think thats a major issue? unfortunately we dont seem to have the "track" model that other countries have.

Also, does the offroad pack turn off the ESP that the article mentions? or is ESP always on?

Basically Im trying to choose between a current model forester and a tiguan. Everyone says the forester offroad ability is much better, but im not so sure and would like advice from people that have actually taken the tiguan offroad on the beach.

Thanks

[NZTiguan]

Hopefully JJJ from south Africa will give you the answers you need as he did a lot of sand work in a Tiguan before going to a Freelander 2. I haven't done sand work but I've done a fair bit of farm track and rough back country track work and I've found the Tig superb (though I do have the Track and Field version). Your main limit on sand will be clearance, the 4motion is definitely up to the task.

Regarding the ESP, no it does not switch itself off (as there ARE times you'd want it on) BUT personally I always switch it OFF when I switch the off-road ON. As soon as you go above a given speed they both switch back on again automatically anyway (well they do on my 2008 anyway). ESP off just gives you a bit less chance of the Tig "taking over" when you least expect it or want it to !!

Have a search through the forum. JJJ wrote a lot about sand work a year or two back and even developed spacers to lift the Tig a little.

Overall I'm certain you'll find the Tig excellent for what you've described here.

Cheers

[team_v]

Overall I'm certain you'll find the Tig excellent for what you've described here.

Cheers

Also let down your tyres to a respectable level and you should be fine.

[Arctra]

...According to the following article: 2008 Volkswagen Tiguan TDI offroad review | Car Advice | Reviews...

That article is a crock. Having taken the Tig on the beach with 3 large adult passengers. I drove on some very soft sand on the beach specifically to test the Tig I can tell you first hand that it is fine. Drop your tyre pressures nice and low (13psi or so) and don't drive like an idiot. Although I have the offroad pack, I don't think it is all that necessary unless you are in very soft sand and doing lots of turning, stopping and starting. I reckon the clowns that wrote that article had their pressures too high and were driving like tossers. Just my opinion though.

My main concern would be the under car protection which this article mentions, do you think thats a major issue?

I think this is a fair concern, and I would strongly advocate getting a nice solid bash plate like the one I had made up. With the realtively poor clearance of the Tig I did notice the back plate acted as something of a bulldozer blade smoothing out the lumps in the sand so the rest of the underbody didn't cop a beating.

Also, does the offroad pack turn off the ESP that the article mentions? or is ESP always on?

No. You have an offroad button and an ESP button. You can turn ESP on or off whether the offroad button is activated or not. And when you activate offroad it does nothing to ESP.

Incidentally, even when you turn ESP off, it doesn't ever really disable it - it just seems to push the limits at which it kicks in out a bit further. When on my brothers farm I did some testing with the ESP on and off, and even with the ESP off when I tried to do a 4 wheel drift around a corner the ESP kicked in.

Basically Im trying to choose between a current model forester and a tiguan. Everyone says the forester offroad ability is much better, but im not so sure and would like advice from people that have actually taken the tiguan offroad on the beach.

I cannot comment on the offroad ability of the Subie, but I can tell you that the Tig is a capable offroader. Its main problem is the poor ground clearnace. It's second major problem is that if you damage it (which is a distinct possibility when offroading) it is more expensive to fix than a Jap vehicle simply because in Australia spare parts for Euro cars are very overpriced.

PS. I have posted up several threads about me taking the Tig offroad, including pics and video's. So do a search through my threads if you want to get some comfort. As Derek pointed out, jjj on the MyTiguan forums has also posted some decent threads and advice on offroading with the Tig. The only other forum member I can point to as being an active offroader with the Tig is jimbomort.

[kaanage]

hippyhippy, have you read this thread?

[hippyhippy]

thanks for the replies... yeah i've read that thread

are there much loose stuff below the car?

would it be a good idea to get some tape and backup anything that is loose looking under the car?

Ideally I would like a TDI automatic model, would this be ok for the offroading? compared to say the manual?

my idea for stockton beach is that because i would only really drive on top of existing tracks that I "should" be ok.