First Sydney/NSW Tiguan get together (21 Feb)

[Tigger]

Hi guys!,

Great to hear all about the outing on sunday. Seems like you all had fun....except for that damage...ouch.
Good pics too-thanks for including them. True that if we had the option of the track and field front end, this may have been minimised. (but wouldnt it ruin the look of the car though! imo only)

Hey, just a question. How do you find the going with the auto box over all of such terain? I have always been a fan of manual when I am offroad and need a little more control. Also helps if the car stalls. etc I presume all of you with the 147 have auto, as I have not heard of a 147 with manual?

[Arctra]

Hey, just a question. How do you find the going with the auto box over all of such terain? I have always been a fan of manual when I am offroad and need a little more control. Also helps if the car stalls. etc I presume all of you with the 147 have auto, as I have not heard of a 147 with manual?

My TDI is auto and I have to say I was quite happy with the way it handled. I did slip into tiptronic mode most of the time to get greater control of the engine speed more than anything else.

[Tigger]

OK, I see. That would have helped I'm sure. How did the other auto petrols go?
Keep us informed of any other outings too. Would be keen to get mine a bit dirty!
Hey there are a few good trails around the southern highlands areas near Robertson. Not real offroad tracks, but enjoyable trips near the waterfalls.
Hope the clean up and repairs / protection go well with that sump!

[duncan]

Looks like a great day had by all.

Just had a look at the video, and I'm confused about ActungTiggy's Tig.
Whilst having the OffRoad tech switched on 'locks' the centre diff, the standard setting should provide drive to the rear wheels once slipping is noticed in the front wheels.
It looks in the vid as if thats happening. You can see a puff of dust coming from the back passenger side of the car. ActungT then drives the Tig until he's got 2 opposing wheels off the ground at which point forward motion stops. All well and good,ALL 4WD with just a centre diff lock will stop and sit with the 2 wheels with the least traction spinning away.
What I would have expected here was to see the electronic traction control cut in to stop the 2 wheels spinning and transfer drive to the wheels on the ground.

SO the big question is...was the ESP button on or off?

I'm going to reckon off, otherwise there's a fault with the traction control module.

[Achtung Tiggy]

OK, I see. That would have helped I'm sure. How did the other auto petrols go?

I didn't use tiptronic at all and had no problems controlling the car. On difficult terrain going downhill, I just let gravity move the car with my foot on the brake controlling the speed. And going uphill it's just gentle pressure on the accelerator.

What I would have expected here was to see the electronic traction control cut in to stop the 2 wheels spinning and transfer drive to the wheels on the ground.

My theory is that when the 2 wheels started spinning, more torque was transferred to the grounded wheels, but this still was not enough to push the car through. For normal driving the torque split is 90% front 10% rear. When a front wheel spins I don't know how much torque can be transferred to the rear wheel. In that instance at Yengo National Park it wasn't enough.

SO the big question is...was the ESP button on or off?

ESP was on as per normal driving conditions. I don't think turning ESP off would've help much as it's used to correct under/oversteer by calculating the direction the car is travelling and where the steering wheel is pointing at and braking the appropriate wheel.

[duncan]

The Haldex system is capable of shifting all the driving to the rear if necessary.

So if the ESP was on, why was your traction control not kicking in? I would have thought it should have come in fairly early on to prevent the wheelspin.

What happens if you bury the boot from a standing start? Does it wheel spin or does the little yellow ESP light start flashing? You might have to wait til the roads a bit damp or find a bit of grass/dirt somewhere to try it.

[Arctra]

If you look a little earlier in the video he managed to get over the threshold with opposing corner wheels off the ground, but that time he was carrying a bit more momentum. It actually surprised me a little to be honest.

When I did a similar test a while ago in the same pit without carrying any momentum I had the same problem, but in that case I don't think I was aggressive enough with the throttle. When I tested it again this time in the same situation (I wasn't patient enough to wait for the camera to be on me) I was more aggressive with accelerating and it pulled me out.

I'm not sure being more aggressive would have helped Achtung in this case though... I think a lack/loss of momentum may have been to blame.

Incidentally, the whole time I had offroad enabled with this trip, I also had ESP enabled. Even when you turn ESP off it isn't really off anyway... it just lets you push further before it kicks in.

[Moonan]

Great outing guys, and really great pics / video!
The same "bowl" has seen many a Touareg playing in the dirt and mud. You need to have a few goes at the steep bit with your different options "ESP", "off road" both off and on to get the full idea of what works best for you. For example, in an equivalent situation (steep standing start, uneven ground with at least 2 wheels off at some time) in the Q5, I find I have to turn the "off road" button OFF (ie back to highway settings) to maximise traction. Certainly not what I would have expected. The Tig will not be exactly the same, as the systems are a bit different, but my point is that if you can take the chance to test all of the options, then you will collect the wisdom for all to share.
Have a great day at Stockton when you go, Tiguans will love the sand!

cheers,