Ratbag
Administrator
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2012
- Messages
- 7,419
- Location
- Bayside, Melbourne, Vic
- Car Year
- MY06, MY10
- Car Model
- Forester SG & SH
- Transmission
- 5MT/DR & 4EAT Sports
Gidday Folks
A mate and I went on a trailer testing drive today.
Went up to Gembrook, Bunyip and around a whole lot of the dirt roads in the area.
The trailer was loaded up with most things except for the trailer tent, and the car didn't have the fridge or luggage on board, but did have the secondary battery, 1x 10L Fuel can, tools and my friend and his camera gear as "luggage" (say 105 Kgs for my mate and his gear ... :lol
I must say that I was pleasantly surprised at the performance of both car and trailer. I will have precise fuel consumption figures tomorrow.
Apart from the general performance on suburban roads, freeways, back roads and general hilly country work, there was one particular test I had in mind from my last drive up there: Halifax Road between Bessie Creek Rd and Mt Eirene Rd.
Halifax Road - ROAD!! Bloody goat track would be a better description! Halifax Road is a very steep descent followed by a very steep ascent of about 450 m each. The road has a warning sign, or two ... "No Through Road", "Dry Weather Only", "4X4 Only" - IIRC.
We approached from the "easy" side for the first attempt (the Bessie Creek Rd end). It is "easy" because it is the steeper and longer part, but downhill from our direction.
Took it easily down in 2nd/LR, then hit it fairly hard going up. I was somewhat concerned that we would run out of puff (with the loaded trailer) before reaching the top. As it turned out, we accelerated all the way up the far side, still in 2nd/LR. My mate said "Bloody fantastic!! Exhilarating!".
I must say I was pleasantly surprised at how easily Roo2 handled this climb. Completely stable all the way. No wheel slip. No loss of directional stability. Just did it. My mate reckons that if it will do this with such consummate ease, then it will take me (with trailer) anywhere I want, or dare, to go. I agree.
Looking down at the "easy" side:
After wandering about the easy roads around Bunyip for a bit, we had lunch in Gembrook. Best toasted BLT I think I've ever had :ebiggrin:. We then went back in the reverse direction. This time Halifax Road would be done in the not so easy direction, with the long, damp, loose uphill climb with curves.
No way was I about to take this lightly, knowing what a problem it would be to end up at the bottom, with a trailer, unable to go forward or back. It's single lane, with no turning points anywhere.
Again, chose 2nd/LR for the climb, as it is harder to run out of revs than it is in 1st/LR; and can always switch to 2nd/HR without too much loss of momentum. Also less likely to spin the wheels.
Took it slowly down to about 50 m of the sharp bottom very slowly. Last thing I wanted to do was bottom out the tow coupling (the change of slope is fairly sudden ... ). Put it in first/LR, and hit it in the guts as hard as it would go, changing to second/LR just before hitting the bottom.
The climb was a doddle :ebiggrin: :biggrin:.
We lost no speed at all in the climb.
The low-end torque of the engine is just phenomenal. Again, no histrionics. No wheel spin. Nothing.
.
Some photos:
At the top
Looking down ... doesn't look like much
But then it looks a little more serious. That dark line at the bottom conceals around 30 m of nasty sharp bottom.
Paused to contemplate. You can just see the drop off to the bottom and sharp change of angle. The dark line is hiding about 20 m or so of "road".
The coordinates:
The climb from nearly at the bottom, where the dark line was in the previous photo:
I just could not believe how well the car handled this, even with the trailer hooked up!
I am more than just pleased with the way Roo2 went. It is better than I ever hoped for when I bought it. Far better. Towing the trailer is so good that I hardly noticed it was there. The trailer hasn't changed at all with all the surgery done to it. It has always towed well, and it's even better now, if anything.
Too much weight on the tow ball though, and I need heavier duty springs on Roo2, as I have mentioned in my other thread.
Of course, this descent and ascent are far more steep and tricky than the photos show, as is always the case!
A mate and I went on a trailer testing drive today.
Went up to Gembrook, Bunyip and around a whole lot of the dirt roads in the area.
The trailer was loaded up with most things except for the trailer tent, and the car didn't have the fridge or luggage on board, but did have the secondary battery, 1x 10L Fuel can, tools and my friend and his camera gear as "luggage" (say 105 Kgs for my mate and his gear ... :lol
I must say that I was pleasantly surprised at the performance of both car and trailer. I will have precise fuel consumption figures tomorrow.
Apart from the general performance on suburban roads, freeways, back roads and general hilly country work, there was one particular test I had in mind from my last drive up there: Halifax Road between Bessie Creek Rd and Mt Eirene Rd.
Halifax Road - ROAD!! Bloody goat track would be a better description! Halifax Road is a very steep descent followed by a very steep ascent of about 450 m each. The road has a warning sign, or two ... "No Through Road", "Dry Weather Only", "4X4 Only" - IIRC.
We approached from the "easy" side for the first attempt (the Bessie Creek Rd end). It is "easy" because it is the steeper and longer part, but downhill from our direction.
Took it easily down in 2nd/LR, then hit it fairly hard going up. I was somewhat concerned that we would run out of puff (with the loaded trailer) before reaching the top. As it turned out, we accelerated all the way up the far side, still in 2nd/LR. My mate said "Bloody fantastic!! Exhilarating!".
I must say I was pleasantly surprised at how easily Roo2 handled this climb. Completely stable all the way. No wheel slip. No loss of directional stability. Just did it. My mate reckons that if it will do this with such consummate ease, then it will take me (with trailer) anywhere I want, or dare, to go. I agree.
Looking down at the "easy" side:
After wandering about the easy roads around Bunyip for a bit, we had lunch in Gembrook. Best toasted BLT I think I've ever had :ebiggrin:. We then went back in the reverse direction. This time Halifax Road would be done in the not so easy direction, with the long, damp, loose uphill climb with curves.
No way was I about to take this lightly, knowing what a problem it would be to end up at the bottom, with a trailer, unable to go forward or back. It's single lane, with no turning points anywhere.
Again, chose 2nd/LR for the climb, as it is harder to run out of revs than it is in 1st/LR; and can always switch to 2nd/HR without too much loss of momentum. Also less likely to spin the wheels.
Took it slowly down to about 50 m of the sharp bottom very slowly. Last thing I wanted to do was bottom out the tow coupling (the change of slope is fairly sudden ... ). Put it in first/LR, and hit it in the guts as hard as it would go, changing to second/LR just before hitting the bottom.
The climb was a doddle :ebiggrin: :biggrin:.
We lost no speed at all in the climb.
The low-end torque of the engine is just phenomenal. Again, no histrionics. No wheel spin. Nothing.
.Some photos:
At the top
Looking down ... doesn't look like much
But then it looks a little more serious. That dark line at the bottom conceals around 30 m of nasty sharp bottom.
Paused to contemplate. You can just see the drop off to the bottom and sharp change of angle. The dark line is hiding about 20 m or so of "road".
The coordinates:
The climb from nearly at the bottom, where the dark line was in the previous photo:
I just could not believe how well the car handled this, even with the trailer hooked up!
I am more than just pleased with the way Roo2 went. It is better than I ever hoped for when I bought it. Far better. Towing the trailer is so good that I hardly noticed it was there. The trailer hasn't changed at all with all the surgery done to it. It has always towed well, and it's even better now, if anything.
Too much weight on the tow ball though, and I need heavier duty springs on Roo2, as I have mentioned in my other thread.
Of course, this descent and ascent are far more steep and tricky than the photos show, as is always the case!
