Went for a bit of light off-roading the other day in Bunyip State Park VIC. Car was handling quite well on rough surfaces and through a bit of mud going down slopes. Near the end of the slope discovered the road condition was too bad to drive though so had no choice but to head back uphills. Was a bit afraid as I wasn't 100% confident going uphills through mud. And just as I expected, drove into some wet mud and got stuck. Couldn't reverse or go anywhere DSC flashing crazily. Stepped out of the car and my foot landed in 6 inches of mud. Tried to dig the mud out from under the wheels but was soon losing energy and hope. Luckily another 4WD came along and I shamefully asked for help. They were happy assist, also they were Britsh

So he reversed his almost 20 year old Land Cruiser down the hill. Actually took about 15mins to clear my towing hook from the mud. Then it was full throttle and I was pulled up the hill like I didn't weigh anything. Thanked the guy with a $50 note and I hurried out of there.

Wasn't the day I was expecting, but shall I say an experience. I also got to experience Mud Terrain mode for first time. What I found was that it kind of retards steerring, making steering response slow. Is this what it's meant to do? Anyone advise me on what Mud mode actually does? Was there any way I could of got out without help?

Last edited by Huang on 11th Oct 2010 5:34 am. Edited 1 time in total

Yikes! Glad you managed to get out! Do you know which part of the park you were in at the time? It's been pretty wet the past few months so I'm not completely surprised there's some areas of thick mud. Have been thinking about heading out to Bunyip but because I've never been out there I don't know what to expect.

http://www.parkweb.vic.gov.au/resources05/05_0301.pdf

Cheers

I was on Andersons Track heading towards Blue Range Road, I was about 50m away from that intersecton. Most roads are uphills going from South to North. I'd recommend driving South bound. It seems there are different levels of difficulty for each track. And yes going in Summer would be ideal as I've discovered.
Tip, RACV doesn't want to have anything to do with it when you get stuck. LR roadside assist will charge you if they need a 4WD to get you out. Quite ridiculous really....

Quote:

LR roadside assist will charge you if they need a 4WD to get you out.

The mud and ruts setting doesn't retard the steering. If the dsc light is flashing then it's likely the engine was being throttled, I've had that before. You will be in trouble in mud if you have street tyres on, no grip you need at least AT tyres. Also 18 or 19 inch rims are hopeless off road, 17's are best. Whether you could get out depends if you were just slipping around or if you were stuck on your belly with the wheels spinning in the air. If you were just slipping then you should have let some air out of the tyres to get more traction. You can go down to around 15 psi with safety and it makes a big difference as your cars foot print just about doubles. Stepping out into 6 inches of mud is excellent fun indeed.....been there done that. Mike

I forgot to add that you just naturally lose steering in mud, turn the wheel all you like but you just keep going more or less straight. Nothing to do with the terrain setting.

Hi Guys

Turning the DSC off always helps a little especially if the conditions are slippy as it allows the power to still get to the wheels. I assume you can do this in an i6? (They don't sell them in the UK anymore)

Lucky some guy came along - would advise that you always travel in pairs especailly if you are so far off the main road!! Don't want any forum members missing!!!!!.

Sounds like fun if you take precautions.  There's always a way forward!

2008 Freelander Td4 GS - Stornoway Grey - Now Gone - Sob
2011 Freelander Td4 GS 150 - Rimini Red - in its place - Better x far x 4!!

TrickiDicki wrote:

Quote:

LR roadside assist will charge you if they need a 4WD to get you out.

That's not how it was sold to me - the dealer said they'd recover you from anywhere - but what you say sounds much more likely. Hard way to find out though...

The 19's are too low profile, I doubt if AT's are available. The diameter of the tyre and wheel combined has to be more or less the same so that it fits in the space. More rim equals less tyre/rubber. On sand you will not have enough bagging of the rubber to give good traction. On rocks or gravel you will risk serious damage to the rim or pinch the sidewall. Like I said, 19's are hopeless off road compared to 17's. Think of it like you going for a bush walk in ladies high heel shoes, they are fine in a shopping mall but no good if the going gets rough.

We just went for a drive in Bunyip the other day. Going up Andersons Track we were passed by a Disco with serious tyres, winch etc. Couple hundred yards further he got stuck into this:
http://bit.ly/hKCBns
Well after he'd slipped and slided around for a while he then hitched up his winch, gunned the engine and finally got to the top. We decided discretion was the better part of valour and headed the other way! The trail bike went his length in the mud. All good fun
Nice to see the forest in such good nick after the fires of a couple of years ago.

RE:19 vs 17inch rims. I just went from the LR 19's to a set of volvo 17's. Cost me $100 on ebay Fitted them with Bridgstone Dueller ATR 145/65's. Took her into Kinkuna Nat Park yesterday and what a difference the new wheels make. Kept her in mud/ruts all day (kinkuna is combination sand ruts and mud - with a long sand beach which we didn't go n yesterday) and she didn't even look like faltering. Increased my confidence 100-fold in the cars capabilities.

That would be 245/65/17's I assume? One size up from the standard 235/65/17's. I'm putting that size on next and was hoping it fits without rubbing anywhere. A little bit of extra clearance.

Oops - yeah sorry 245/65/17s. No problem at all wrt rubbing.

What tyres are you going for, mike?

Ive been using Yokohama Geolander A/TS and really happy with them. Ive got 40k kilometres on a set and not really showing much wear yet. The H/T Goodyears that the car came with only lasted 50k kilometres. The Duelers should be pretty good though?

I was going to go fo the yoko's but got talked out of them by the bob jane manager in Bundy. Not because they were inferior to the bridgestons - but because (in the his opinion) the two tyres are equal in all respects - except price. The geo's were $100 more per tyre. Whilst I'm not normally one to choose cheaper tyres - his testimony as to the quality of the duellers was enough to sway me into saving $400

I'm very happy with them in the 500-odd km's i've done on them so far. Off and on road.