Off Road Capabilities?

Hello,

This may come across as a fairly stupid question. But I am wondering what the real capabilities of the P38 are off road?

Reason I ask is because I have a 1997 4.6 with an auto box. I must make it clear that I have next to no off road driving experience so please bare with me.

The car has General Grabber AT2 tyres all round.

I took the car off road today and it did not really live up to my expectations.

One of the reasons for purchasing this car is to get me out of my village that suffers badly in the winter with icy roads which in some places are quite steep and sometimes we get a good covering of snow.

I took the car on a grass bank which was wet and fairly muddy and on an incline. The car got off the tarmac and onto the bank no problems, and I was able to travel along the bank for a few feet, however as soon as the mud got deeper it went no where. Traction Control light flashing and wheels just spinning. Reversing was not an issue, probably because of the incline, and I was able to go backwards and try again several times. No matter how I approached this mud I failed. I tried all of the low gears, with manual mode enabled and disabled. I tried the softly softly approach and the foot to the floor approach and nothing seemed to work.

So I am left to either believe that I am useless at driving off road, or there is something wrong with the car, or the tyres are not suitable for this type of mud.

I did a little reading about the General Grabber AT2 tyres and some people say they are OK in the mud, but cant cope well with deeper mud due to the shallow tread pattern. But on the other hand they are supposed to be excellent in ice and snow.

If it is down to the tyres then I need not worry and stay away from wet mud and hope they perform well in ice or snow. But I am concerned that there might be a problem with the car will not perform well in ice or the white stuff.

What are your thoughts?

Cheers

Are all 4 wheels being driven? Front prop in place?? Front diff intact???

As far as I can tell, all of the wheels are being driven, I opened the door to look at the wheels while accelerating and both front and rear wheels on the drivers side were turning.

Prop and diff are in place and look fine externally to me.

If you don't want muds why not try AT3 tyres

This answer is not not meant as sarcasm or a dig at you but have you thought of going on a one day off road experience. Or do you have an experienced off-road driving friend who can show you how to handle the veh off-road? You need to learn the basics if nothing else.
I obviously have an advantage that work has taken me out to show me the capabilities, on and off road, of each LR that I have driven for them, or I would have gone on a day course. These vehs really do have great capabilities off-road but they are only as good as the person driving. Driving on mud/grass, takes a different technique to driving on snow and if you don't know the techniques, no tyres on earth will help.. If you just jump in and hope for the best, you won't get it.

thats what i'm going to do
Explore Off-Road .com - Professional Off-Road Training and adventures. Beginner tuition,Expeditions.

thats 1 place i have looked at.

Landyboy90 said:

If you don't want muds why not try AT3 tyres

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I am hoping that the AT2's will be good in the snow and ice as they are reported to be so.

gold rover said:

This answer is not not meant as sarcasm or a dig at you but have you thought of going on a one day off road experience. Or do you have an experienced off-road driving friend who can show you how to handle the veh off-road? You need to learn the basics if nothing else.
I obviously have an advantage that work has taken me out to show me the capabilities, on and off road, of each LR that I have driven for them, or I would have gone on a day course. These vehs really do have great capabilities off-road but they are only as good as the person driving. Driving on mud/grass, takes a different technique to driving on snow and if you don't know the techniques, no tyres on earth will help.. If you just jump in and hope for the best, you won't get it.

Click to expand...

Yes, I have thought frequently about doing an experience day as I realise that my off road driving skills are basically non existent.

Are you basically saying that the tyres I have on the car are indeed capable of getting the car through this mud if driven correctly?

I tried several approaches at different angles, speeds and gearbox settings.

sas1810 said:

thats what i'm going to do
Explore Off-Road .com - Professional Off-Road Training and adventures. Beginner tuition,Expeditions.

thats 1 place i have looked at.

Click to expand...

That does look good. Just seen the weather forecast, and they predict lots of the white stuff for us; so might end up off roading anyway!!!

sas1810 said:

thats what i'm going to do
Explore Off-Road .com - Professional Off-Road Training and adventures. Beginner tuition,Expeditions.

thats 1 place i have looked at.

Click to expand...

Looks ideal, hopefully there is something nearer to where I live in North Devon.

DoZZa said:

I am hoping that the AT2's will be good in the snow and ice as they are reported to be so.



Yes, I have thought frequently about doing an experience day as I realise that my off road driving skills are basically non existent.

Are you basically saying that the tyres I have on the car are indeed capable of getting the car through this mud if driven correctly?

I tried several approaches at different angles, speeds and gearbox settings.

Click to expand...

your tyres are totally unsuitable for driving on wet grass/mud especially with an uphill gradient, you need something with a more open tread, and no amount of training will make up for it


http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=3ShJZnH3flQ&feature=endscreen

DoZZa said:

I am hoping that the AT2's will be good in the snow and ice as they are reported to be so.



Yes, I have thought frequently about doing an experience day as I realise that my off road driving skills are basically non existent.

Are you basically saying that the tyres I have on the car are indeed capable of getting the car through this mud if driven correctly?

I tried several approaches at different angles, speeds and gearbox settings.

Click to expand...

I'm not an expert on the tyre front but it sounds like you have double trouble, inexperienced off-road and doubtful tyres. I'm sure someone on here will be able to give you the DS solution on a good all-round tyre and specific tyres for specific jobs.

johnlad said:

your tyres are totally unsuitable for driving on wet grass/mud especially with an uphill gradient, you need something with a more open tread, and no amount of training will make up for it


Who said Range Rovers were good off road!!*- - YouTube

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That would explain it then. Do you happen to know if the AT2's are any good in the snow and ice?

Just another thought and apologies again for the dim question, I know nothing about off road tyres!

But are the General Grabber AT2's a directional tyre?

DoZZa said:

That would explain it then. Do you happen to know if the AT2's are any good in the snow and ice?

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i think there a lot better in snow than they are in the mud, but no tyre unless studded grips on hard compacted ice, by the way wet grass is'nt called green ice for nothing, lol

I have got General Grabber AT2's on my p38. I find them pretty good off road and no problem at all in wet grass. In mud they are OK unless it is really deep and the treads fill up. Mind you my treads are like new which might be your problem.
I have 4 wheel TC but the vehicle traction is that good without it, it seldom comes on.

DONT go in water... dont ask how I know, its very expensive

wasnt that person in video later reported to be using normal road tyres?

DoZZa said:

That would explain it then. Do you happen to know if the AT2's are any good in the snow and ice?

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They're good in snow. About as good on ice as any other non studded tyre - my sig pic was me wedged sideways across a very steep downhill bit of road after performing at least 3 full 360s on the way down. I was crawling in L1 when I lost traction so I wasn't being dumb either.

If the dumbass local farmer had left the road alone it would have been fine, but his council sponsored attempt to plough it simply turned it into a skating rink.

So, the moral is, be careful on ice!

Generally offroad they are good but the treads can get clogged in thick mud. Don't forget that all AT tyres are a compromise between good (and quiet) on road performance and ok offroad performance.

I had AT2's fitted to my old motor. they where fine on tarmac and good in the snow.

however standard summer tyres on my L322 and they are fine in the snow. never got stuck even when i tried.

I wouldn't bother fitting AT's all year round unless your going to be doing a lot of off roading.

I had AT2s on my old classic, I found the newer ATs (I know - weird - the AT2s came before the ATs) to be better all round. The ATs were fantastic in the snow last year. Better lateral grip than the old AT2s - less prone to sliding down cambers etc.

Wet grass and (anything less than dry) mud really are beyond AT tyres, although the Grabbers perform well (for ATs) on these surfaces. The key to off-road driving is anticipation and maintaining momentum.