Many vehicle owners these days are taking their cars out for vacations to destinations that are beyond the beaten tracks. Thanks to the new good roads and highways and increased connectivity, this is now more and more possible and the preference for taking one’s own vehicle is becoming more common for the sheer pleasure of driving.
However, beyond the regular Shimla, Manali, Darjeeling, Gangtok, Jaipur of the world, there are a lot of offbeat destinations where we want to drive down for the first time, but we are not sure as solo travellers, lest “something” should go wrong.
Ever wondered what that “something” could be? Is it the vehicle, or is it our fear of getting stuck in an unknown place in an inopportune situation?
This is not meant to be an offroading thread, it is rather a thread on how one can use one’s knowledge of their own cars, and their own driving prowess for navigating through offbeat destinations.
So is it a 4×4 vehicle that gets you through?
Now in an affordable range there are many 4×4 vehicles available, which can ferry a small family comfortably. But there are terrains where a 4×2 will also go with equal ease.
There are also many expedition teams who take people for self drive to off-beat places. If a person has not much prior experience of off-road trails, these guided expedition teams are a good way to experience the not-so-regular terrains.
Few people have adventure-ready vehicles equipped with things like off-road tyres, high lift jack, winch, sand ladder, shovel, snorkel and many more. And they mostly know when to use these appropriately.
There are people who want to venture solo, or many people venture with their 2WD cars.
But that fear of “something” may be a situation where one is stuck in an isolated area, where there is no network in the phone to call for help.
On the other hand when a not so equipped driver visits a place in a stock car, they may not be that prepared to take on a tricky situation. Plus carrying too many extra gears for the car will not leave enough space to pack your own luggage!
Is a 4×4 or SUV mandatory to take on bad roads? Not always! Even sedans and hatchbacks can negotiate bad roads if driven in the right way.
It is important to understand the limitation of your vehicle before venturing.
So let us have a small discussion in regards to travelling on the roads less traveled! Again a simple normal tar road can get tricky if it snows, rains or after a landslide!
Now OTRs and off-road clubs are getting popular day by day.
I believe that in most cases the cars are more capable than their drivers, primarily because we do not spend time to know our cars and stretch them to their threshold. It is important to stretch one’s driving capabilities and one’s vehicle in a measured way in a more controlled environment so that both our driving skills and our knowledge of our vehicles come handy in real life situations.
My suggestion will be, if you are into solo touring, and even if you do not own a 4×4, still sign up for OTRs to gain experience.
Drive a car in the OTR, and if it gets stuck, there is ample instant help available.
Knowing this, will give you the comfort of also making an attempt of trying to recover the vehicle by yourself – which is extremely important.
There are loads of self-recovery tactics, and those videos are hugely available on YouTube. I will share few links in this thread. One can learn from them and practice.
The below pics of my Duster and Etios are from OTRs, just to see the limitation of the vehicles & its driver. Now I know how much water the Duster can handle or how much slush the Etios can handle!
On the first attempt the Etios was stuck in slush when I attempted to drive slowly and the car had to be towed out. In the 2nd attempt I used momentum and was able to come out from the same slush.
For the Ecosport rocking the vehicle helped with slow release of clutch and by minimum usage of the accelerator. The front left wheel actually got bogged inside the loose gravels. It went in till the rim and the wheel was loosing traction.
I will share my own experience
Know your car well!
You should know the underbelly of your car like the back of your hand. If your car does not have an underbelly protection then knowing the location of the important components like the sump, oil filter, gear box, silencer box, catalytic converter, differential, the lowest point of your car etc. is even more important.
While attempting a water crossing, know the placement of the air intake pipe, whether the ecu is water proof or not, knowing these are important.
The essential items to carry while travelling to offbeat places
- Toolkit.
- Tow rope and shackles.
- Tyre inflator
- An extra tube
- Jumpstart cable
- Extra fuse
- Few spares (Most cars have their own weak point, identify that and be prepared for that.)
- Extra mats
- A small shovel
- One 20L jerry can
- Zip ties
- Snow chain/Nylon ropes.
All the above hardly require one duffle bag.
Now, coming to places like Ladakh/Spiti they are no more off-beat destinations. There are ample of help available everywhere. But then there is always that off-beat place which one can opt to explore.
Common places where our cars may get stuck
- Water logged roads or water crossings
- Inclines with less traction
- Snow
- Slush
- Sand
Now many cars come with terrain mode. They have special modes like snow/slush/ rock/ sand.
These work in tandem with the traction control. The traction control detects the wheel spin and the Ecu controls the power supply accordingly.
But many cars do not have these modes, but they only have a traction control.
Traction control can be helpful and not helpful both. If the traction control cuts the power where I can take the car out even with the wheel spin, I switch off the traction control. The decision has to be taken on the spot.
Water logged street/ Water crossing-
Try not to be the first vehicle. Let another vehicle pass, gauge the depth and the path and then venture. If no one is in the vicinity, get down from the car and walk. Then decide whether to venture or not. If you venture then identify the track first & then take your car. Hidden boulders inside the water can be dangerous. It is always best to have a spotter who can get down from the car and guide you.
I know where the air-intake pipe in my car is located, so I make sure the water level is at-least a feet below the air-intake pipe & drive as slow as possible to not form a high wave. If a vehicle is coming from the opposite direction, it’s best to wait until it passes by so I do not have to face the wave created by that car.
Still in-case your luck runs out and you stall the car, do not crank it inside the water.
Taking few water crossings with my Duster and Etios. Slow, but steady is the key.
Inclines with less traction
Lower the PSI. At few places the car can crawl slowly, whereas in few places it requires momentum. It is important to take the right decision. My first approach is always slow, and if required, I increase the throttle. There is no shame in failing in the first attempt. Infact that can give you a better idea of the obstacle on where you went wrong. In such scenarios I put the traction control off.
Here the traction control will cut the power as soon as the car detects a wheel-spin, so with the TC off I could throttle it out.
An AWD or a WD generally manages to take such inclines. FWD cars suffer a lot on inclines with loose gravels. The front wheels struggle to gain traction. Sometimes taking the car in reverse helps. It will push the car instead of pulling. RWDs perform better than FWDs in such a scenario.
I will prefer a FWD over a RWD.
An AWD over a FWD
&
a vehicle with a low range gear box over an AWD!
Do not hesitate to put on your snow chains if you are driving on the snow. If you do not have one, tie the nylon ropes. On a slippery surface, always try to send less power to the wheel, in 1st gear there will be more wheel spin than 2nd or 3rd. There is no heroism on driving in 2wd mode. If you have a 4wd, engage it in a tricky situations and be safe. Always engage the 4wd before entering the tricky part. Once you get stuck things get more difficult.
On snow I just engage a gear and most of the time I leave all the three pedals and tap the accelerator when required. The lesser the braking the more the better.
If required, the tyre pressure can be reduced, but avoid reducing tyre pressure on black ice.
If stuck, shovel and floor mats come handy with reduced tyre psi.
Slush
Slush is always tricky. I fear slush the most. After driving for a small distance the tyre treads get filled with muck and they start to loose traction. If the car refuse to move ahead, I instantly reverse the car without trying to go ahead. The more I press the accelerator the more the car will dig in. Rocking the car helps.
My preferred gear in 2wd/Awd vehicle is 2nd, and if required 1st.
With a 4wd I generally prefer 4H over 4L.
Reducing the tyre pressure helps too.
There were instances where I cleaned the tyre treads to gain traction. But that was a failed attempt. So am not sure whether it can help or not.
A self recovery try from my end. If I wanted, the car could have been towed out in a minute.
Sand
Driving on loose sand is very tricky too, but thankfully we do not have to drive much on sand. But in Ladakh region there are instances where due to heavy wind the road get covered by sand.
First thing I do is, I reduce the tyre pressure to 15 PSI. Please check your tyre ratings before doing so. In some cases if the tyre pressure is reduced too much, the tyre can come off from the rim.
The throttle input should be precise. Enough power to move the car ahead, but you need to make sure the wheels are not spinning and digging in. My preferred gear in 2wd/Awd vehicle is 2nd/3rd and only if necessary then 1st.
With a 4wd I generally prefer 4H over 4L.
If the car gets stuck. I dig out the sand from the stuck tyre, put a rubber mat below the car. Then I rock the car front and back with little accelerator input and once the space is made, I take the car out with a bit of momentum.
A nice video of self recovery on sand-
Clearance in the underbelly of the car-
This is a very important aspect. I always ask someone to check the underbelly clearance and then I take the vehicle slowly. Once it refuses to move forward, it is important to check the clearance again. I have personal experience of breaking the front bumper clips of my friends car by trying to rock and reverse it out, when the car was stuck in sand.
Plus self recovery is possible till all the four wheels are on ground. If due to lack of clearance the car gets beached & the wheels are on air, self recovery will be much more difficult or not at-all possible.
Even on loose sand or slush or snow, if one accelerates a lot and digs in, the car will get beached. So never accelerate hard once the wheels start to dig in.
Rocks & boulders are the most dangerous. one mistake can damage important components of the car.
To sum it up, few things which help are-
Patience, keeping the cool, do not panic, survey the road or no road.
While taking on these adventurous drives, we often forget where to stop. There is a thin line between being stupid and being skillful. For example, I will take a calculated risk during the day time, but not during the night. I always turn back if I am not confident to venture. If I am not confident, I will only venture, if I have a backup.
There is no end to learning. The more you experience, the more you learn.
Will like to read and learn from the experiences of the other members as well.