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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64749
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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X-Mode sound like DAC in my Tacoma (Downhill Assist Control).
It uses computers and rotation sensors to prevent sliding of any tires to reduce the chance of slipping sideways and rolling over. Works only in 4WD
Low Range. You just steer and don't touch brake or gas... it is a controlled safe drop down on steep, rough, rocky, uneven grades... works terrific,
but it is a bit nerving the first time you try it as you feel like you need to put your foot on the brake... but you don't! I used it on the
Widowmaker and other similar grades.
Goat, that you have a 4WD and don't use it is really a shame, because 2WD vehicles do the majority of damage to dirt roads. Because you only are using
50% of your traction ability, you are spinning you tires twice as often to push your weight. 4WD is dirt road-friendly as you will have little to no
spin/slip.
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mtgoat666
Select Nomad
Posts: 18122
Registered: 9-16-2006
Location: San Diego
Member Is Offline
Mood: Hot n spicy
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Quote: Originally posted by David K  | X-Mode sound like DAC in my Tacoma (Downhill Assist Control).
It uses computers and rotation sensors to prevent sliding of any tires to reduce the chance of slipping sideways and rolling over. Works only in 4WD
Low Range. You just steer and don't touch brake or gas... it is a controlled safe drop down on steep, rough, rocky, uneven grades... works terrific,
but it is a bit nerving the first time you try it as you feel like you need to put your foot on the brake... but you don't! I used it on the
Widowmaker and other similar grades.
Goat, that you have a 4WD and don't use it is really a shame, because 2WD vehicles do the majority of damage to dirt roads. Because you only are using
50% of your traction ability, you are spinning you tires twice as often to push your weight. 4WD is dirt road-friendly as you will have little to no
spin/slip. |
If i dont need 4wd, i dont use it. Get better mileage that way. For unpaved roads built with normal grades (slopes), my 2wd locomotion is not tearing
up road relative to your less efficient 4wd locomotion.
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Ken Cooke
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8942
Registered: 2-9-2004
Location: Riverside, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Its Pole Line Road time
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This is one of the worst stretches of Baja road in existence - the road to Mission Santa Maria de los Angeles. When I bought my Jeep Rubicon, it was
for traveling roads such as this one - reliably, to see what lies at the end of said road.
The Subaru Outback I looked over inside the Buena Vista Mall (Barranquilla, Colombia) back in January looked luxurious for the drive down Hwy 1, but
it wasn't up to the kind of travel I'm most interested in. The family that got stuck coming out of Guadalupe Canyon had no business there in a family
sedan. They would have been better off in a truck-based vehicle with true 4WD with selectable lockers and low range like the Jeeps you see here.
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Bajakiter
Newbie
Posts: 21
Registered: 1-20-2007
Location: Venice Bch, USA & San Quintin
Member Is Offline
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Ken Cooke, true that the road to Mission Santa Maria de los Angeles is a very technical road that should be only driven with the right rig, but I
would bet the farm that at one point over the years, their has been some Mexican in a stock 1985 Toyota Camry that has gone down that road. 
I got caught on that road 10+yrs back in a freak rain storm late in the day while winching someone else out. It was ugly, we ended up spending the
night with the the back of my truck attached to a Pull-Pal (Best money I ever spent) and my winch on a larger truck (he took a turn too fast and slid
off the road). The rain was brutal and the whole night the road looked like a river.
Both routes (East & West) to Guadalupe Canyon, can be tricky depending on if it's rained or are in bad shape. That Subaru just took a wrong line
on the trail and that could easily have been avoided if someone had just gotten out and been a spotter or walked that area to see the best route.
A wise old 4wheeler once told me. "No matter how bad a$$ your rig is, it WILL get stuck sooner or later. Swallow your pride and use a spotter if you
are ever are not completely sure. Even if you are, use a one anyways!!"
Those true words have saved me time and time again over the years.
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Ken Cooke
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8942
Registered: 2-9-2004
Location: Riverside, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Its Pole Line Road time
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Wise words, BajaKiter! 
Here is an overland-prepped Subaru - probably better kept near campgrounds and hard-packed dirt roads of Baja
[Edited on 11-8-2015 by Ken Cooke]
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