Membership of 4WD clubs

[dmm_au]

The thread on whether the Touareg is a real 4WD got me thinking about the perception of the Touareg.

Anyone here a member of an Australian 4WD club?
If so did you have to overcome much predjudice from owners of 'the usual suspects'?

David

[99gti]

I smell a Landcruiser or Patrol. Or even worse - a stinking Rav 4 with side steps and fluffy dice!!!

[dmm_au]

Huh? If you are refering to me, I don't yet own a 4wd, but I'm planning on placing an order for a new TDv6 on Monday. Young enough to cope without the side steps, and I don't think I'll take the dice option either.

[dmm_au]

To follow up my own post, I went along to the 4x4 expo in Melbourne today.
A number of Melbourne 4WD clubs were represented. Some seemed vehcile agnostic, but the majority were the Nissan/Pajero/Landrover/RangeRover Club.

I did have a chat the the AWD Club, which seem to have a focus on soft roaders, but I'm thinking that might be a good starting point.

http://www.awdvic.org.au/

Don't get me wrong (or be offended). I think the Touareg would probably be amoungst the most capable vehicles in this group, but it might be good to start easy, and I suspect that's the focus of this organisation.

[Flipper Dog]

Hi Dmm Au,
I have found the same here in Sydney. There’s the specific vehicle makes/models clubs eg: Land Rovers, Toyota and those other Jap ones, the over the top modified types, the prestige “I’ll only drive on lawn” types and then the AWD soft roaders.
When you approach them with a Touareg they are inclined to fog you off.:?

I have a tag along tour coming up soon and the wife wants to do a 4WD course so let’s hope I can make some heads way with the Touareg’s repartition as an off road capable vehicle.

I have spent over 20 years braking Rovers and Toyotas (and some American ones as well) in parts all over the world to know I have the best Range Rover equivalent on todays market, and it is from the right side of the English Channelj:

Flipper Dog
V6 TDI

[Transporter]

Hi Dmm Au,
I have found the same here in Sydney. There’s the specific vehicle makes/models clubs eg: Land Rovers, Toyota and those other Jap ones, the over the top modified types, the prestige “I’ll only drive on lawn” types and then the AWD soft roaders.
When you approach them with a Touareg they are inclined to fog you off.:?

I have a tag along tour coming up soon and the wife wants to do a 4WD course so let’s hope I can make some heads way with the Touareg’s repartition as an off road capable vehicle.

I have spent over 20 years braking Rovers and Toyotas (and some American ones as well) in parts all over the world to know I have the best Range Rover equivalent on todays market, and it is from the right side of the English Channelj:

Flipper Dog
V6 TDI

So, if there is not Touareg 4WD club than if on this forum is enough Treg owners we could established one here. ;)

[dmm_au]

I think it's clear that the Touareg has suffient support in this forum for a group, but there is more to forming a club than that. I'll hold off until I actually have a vehicle, but I look forward to attending a Touareg meet in Victoria (or perhaps the boarder).

I think it make sense to have a vehicle specific club if people need/want help with vehicle specific issues, but I think these forums do a great job of that. I'd want a local club of people to lead trips and pull me out if I get stuck :)

Although, Flipperdog, I did consider asking the Range Rover club is I could join :)

[bobzed57]

Hi dmm_au

I'm a member of the Land Rover Club of the ACT, joining a couple of months after getting my Treg. A few years ago the club opened up to all comers, not just LRs, and now there are RR, LR (of all varieties), Cruisers, Patrols, Hyundais, probably a few I've missed, and I'm the sole Treg.

I've never experienced any prejudice with these guys in fact, they were impressed that I was prepared to take my vehicle off road and go places with them. There was only one occasion that I got a bit of flack. I was on a two-day accredited training program and there was one guy in a s**t-box hilux ute who kept banging on about how the Treg wasn't go here, and it wasn't going to go there, and it wasn't going to be able to cross that creek, and on and on. The other members of the club cracked before I did and told him to wind his neck in.

All said and done, they have been impressed by the Treg including advantages over some of the other makes like; a better turning circle, foldable mirrors for the squeezy bits, engine power, the low-range ratios, some of the features like hill descent and climb assist and importantly the comfort.

All that said, there a number of 4WD clubs in Canberra and I'm not sure I'd be as welcome in some of them, you know the ones, if you're not on 33inch muddies with a six inch lift etc, you're a pussy. The LR club was recommended to me as the most egalitarian and I can attest to that. This club is into touring and having a good time and if you have to occasionally get the car dirty etc, well that's OK too.

If you have been following some of the threads in another Touareg forum, you'll note that there's already been a few get togethers, so we already have the genesis of a Touareg club. We should probably start to take advantage of the memberships in various forums and get together for trips and stuff.

Cheers

Bob

[dmm_au]

It's been very quiet here of late, so I thought I'd add to this thread.
My partner and I are off to interview the Range Rover Club of Victoria (http://www.rangeroverclub.org.au/)tonight.
They seem to be fairly open to vehicles other than Range rovers and their website says 'it's all about the people', so better go take a look at them :)

[bobzed57]

Hi dmm_au

How did your interview go?

BZ

[dmm_au]

Nice bunch of people. Slightly older crowd, but they seem to be of the opinion that they want to 4wd to get places and not bang up their vehicles.
Interestingly not many range rovers in the car park. Quite a few discoveries, but also landcruisers.

We think we might also check out the landcruiser and pajero clubs, although I'm pretty tempted to go with the rangers. After all didn't we all consider the range rover sport??

[Flipper Dog]

After all didn't we all consider the range rover sport??

Wash your mouth out, Range Rover Sport that tarted up Disco, One only considers the real Range Rover thank youj:

Good the hear that they are welcoming and are looking at not smashing their vehicles around too much.

I use to be a member of the Land Rovers Owners Club in Sydney about 10 years ago in my Discovery days and they were very much the same....enjoyable off road driving within the limits of the owners ability and if you were up for it the heavy stuff the old series 3 and early Rangies eat up with smiles.

I think Range Rover owners would appreciate the Touareg‘s European heritage a bit more than the others and being an older crowd more responsible with their off road tours.

Please keep us posted on how you go.

Flipper Dog

[rodrocco]

Wash your mouth out, Range Rover Sport that tarted up Disco, One only considers the real Range Rover thank youj:

If I had the choice it wouild be a real RR for me too Flipper, but don't write off the Sport. It is a very capable off-roader.

With VW having recently done to round Australia roadshow, why not approach them as a group and get them to organise an "off road track day" in each state. ....even if it is only once a year. I recon it would be a fantastic public relations exercise.

I wonder if Jutta reads this site during her lunch break?

[dmm_au]

They do this in the UK, but my car broker tells me he knows of only two VW 4wd corporate days in Victoria.

I think it would be very possible, to approach VW's marketing/pr department, but what we are lacking is a register of members, in each state, like a club.
As it currently stands, I think forums like this one are doing about as much as they can to promote the vehicle without any incentives from VW.

This is a bit like the group buys thread. We've got something going on here, but how to leverage it. I would have thought if we were all prepared to get our vehicles services by the same dealer, and report to the group on the service we received, then we could demand better service, and switch our business to the dealership that offered the best service.

[armdlo]

Hi dmm_au
As Bobz says the Landrover Owners Club is a great organisation, I have been a member here in Victoria for 20 years and they allow all types of vehicles, I cant wait to show them what my V6 tdi will do.Give them a call speak to Andy Kovach on 0418 563 663 the President, tell him I suggested it. ( getting my new toy in Jan 08, them Ill show them what a Treg will do.)
Greg Wilson

[dmm_au]

Greg,

Looks like my TDv6 is showing up late March now. Build week 4.
Disappointing, but I guess it's only a few extra weeks.

I looked at the LR owners club. I was put off by the fact you can only be a full member (http://www.lrocv.com.au/store/page.pl?id=75) (with voting rights) if you are a landrover owner. Otherwise you're an associate member.

The Australian LRO do have a very active forum, and look to be a good club, but who want's to be a second rate member?

David

[armdlo]

Hi Bob
You are a busy man, and now that I see you joined the LR club I think you must be a good bloke.Liked your reply to dmm_au. I wish he had ordered a diesel tho.
Did you get your misaligned panel/ door sorted out?
Greg

[dmm_au]

I did order a V6 diesel.

[armdlo]

Greg,

Looks like my TDv6 is showing up late March now. Build week 4.
Disappointing, but I guess it's only a few extra weeks.

I looked at the LR owners club. I was put off by the fact you can only be a full member (http://www.lrocv.com.au/store/page.pl?id=75) (with voting rights) if you are a landrover owner. Otherwise you're an associate member.

The Australian LRO do have a very active forum, and look to be a good club, but who want's to be a second rate member?

David

David
The past president and a member for 30 years has owned "other" wash my mouth out Japanese vehicles for half that time and he has no problem with associate membership and now myself, its the greatest club around, if u are a club person, but a great group to go camping with. Pls give the LROCV a try.The longest established club in Oz.

Greg

[armdlo]

I did order a V6 diesel.

God you are quick off the mark!!

[bobzed57]

Hi Greg

Tailgate all sorted. I bought the US maintenance manual for the LHD Touaregs and gave a copy of the relevant pages to my insurance company. All fixed in a couple of hours.

Cheers

bob

[Treggie]

Hi Guys

I had some fun with the Land Rover club a couple of months back. My wife is a member with her Disco and as it was in for some work, we took my Treg on one of their recent day trips. Copped a bit of light bantering about the Treg, including one wag who kept wanting to remind me that Britain won the wars and the Germans never did too well. Still it was all light hearted and being kind I played tail end charlie for most of the day. After a nice lunch at a little place in Gippsland we did some gentle off roading, following some power lines through some light bush. Everyone handled it well, as you would expect. There was one section with a water run that was dry, but genuinely tested the suspension articulation of most vehicles. Most took 2-3 goes to climb up, watching their tyre track widths and the water course between. I have to say the Treg was the widest wheelbase of the day, and with the rear diff lock engaged (via the centre console dial ;-D) I was up and over in one go. That seemed to make more than a few people stop and think.

At the afternoon tea break, quite a few blokes were taking a more serious look at the Treg and under the bonnet. One bloke loved the driving position and remarked how comfortable it would be for a long drive.

Definately good value to help change peoples minds.

On the point about the Range Rover Sport, my wife has just ordered herself a new V8TDI. Should arrive in Feb, and seriously looking forward to playing with that. Given the vw german website talking about a V8TDI Treg, I think that will be my next one. No rush here.

[dmm_au]

I'm going to go to the Victorian Land Rover Club's next meeting on Thursday 1/5/08. Have a look, and think about joining it. If there are any Victorian Touareg owners about, perhaps you'd like to come along.

Club meetings are held on the first Thursday of every month at 8pm, except January. Meetings are held at the Manningham Function Centre on Doncaster Hill (known as the MFC) 699 Doncaster Road Doncaster (Melways 33, F12) . Visitors are very welcome. If you wish to join or know more about the Club, come along to one of the Meetings, or talk to any Club Member or a Committee Member for more details.

[dmm_au]

Unfortunately, the meeting got moved to the 8th. A fact I didcovered after driving to Doncaster.

I'll try again next Thursday. Anyone else interested?

[dmm_au]

Erin and I went to a LROCV meeting last night.
Everyone was very friendly, but the meeting seemed quite bureaucratic, with proposals, seconding, motions etc. At one stage someone read out the subject of every e-mail the club had received in the last month!

One thing that was impressive was a trip that was about to depart to drive accross Russia. They were putting the cars into shipping containers and planning to return next October.

I think I want a club to provide some physical assistance (ie Snatch strap) and experience in leading trips.

For all the vehicle related stuff there are these excellent online forums.

Maybe we do need a Touareg Club after all.

[bobzed57]

Hi David

I just had a look at the LROVC's website and they seem to have a driver education program that should give you the skills that you need. Snatching is just a part of the driver ed. I've done a couple of accredited courses arranged by my club and they were very good covering snatching, winching (both hand and electric) etc, but also some really useful stuff like wheel positioning and how diffs work etc. If you check the link at the their website, which takes to the website for the 4X4 proving grounds there's a bunch of photos of Touaregs doing the course.

I've been on quite a few trips with my club and I'm slowly working up the experience where I'll feel confident and competent to lead a trip. My club does run a leader program and about every three months or so, the more experienced trip leaders share their experience with budding leaders. My recent trip to the Flinders was part of skilling myself up, but I suspect there's a fair bit of difference between running a trip where you're responsible for only yourself and one on which you're responsible for a group of others.

That said, most of the clubs in Canberra welcome visitors and offer opportunities for prospective members to join in club activities to suck it and see. It's probably the same down your way. Maybe you should check out what else is about, after all, you've got to be comfortable with the group especially if you're going to be travelling all over the place with them. It'd probably good if you could get a few other local Touareg owners signed up as well. Safety in numbers I suppose you'd call it ;)

Cheers

Bob

[dmm_au]

It'd probably good if you could get a few other local Touareg owners signed up as well. Safety in numbers I suppose you'd call it ;)


I'd love to get a few other Victoria drivers involved. One of the reasons I opened this thread. The other option might be to join the Victorian VW Club and then form a sub group interested in VWs and FWDs.

I did a accredited 4wd course 6 months ago. Covered all the basics I expect a club course would cover. You're right it was helpful. I'd recommend the approach to anyone.

[T Rex]

Just like to support David's comments. We had Range Rovers from '86 - '02 and had many great camping trips - including several long outback trips solo. We would not have had the confidence to make some of those trips if we hadn't joined the Range Rover Club (NSW) and learned just what a capable 4WD can do - this learning took place by going on club trips and by participating in their courses. Considering the outstanding abilities of the Touareg I would recommend any owner who doesn't have 4WD experience either join a club or attend a course - you will be amazed what your car can do and enjoy it even more. Cheers. Geoff

[dmm_au]

We've joined the range rover club of victoria.
Smaller club than the Land rover club, and quite a few trips planned that we'd like to participate in.

We did our driver training (theory and practical) and I learn a few things I didn't know. Also it was a great opportunity to compare the capability of the touareg to a late and new model prado. In high level summary, I'd say a little less clearance and approach angles, with superior traction control.

We were the only ones to get stuck on a particularly muddy hill, but after dropping the tyre pressure a bit more, and getting a some more momentum, we got everywhere the other guys did.

[bobzed57]

Guys

Made the front cover of my club's monthly mag. 'twas the good lady wife driving as well. She's well-chuffed.

Check out http://www.lrc.org.au/magazines/200806_webversion.pdf

That'll have the die hard LR owners in a tizz.

Cheers

[dmm_au]

That's great. I think you're probably right in thinking there will be any number of landrover enthusiasts saying, "my Series 2 could have done that".

I haven't done any sand driving. While the slope you are dscending in the picture looks steep, is it particularly difficult or challenging? Were you using the hill descent feature of low first and no accelerator?

[bobzed57]

While the slope does look steep from the outside, it's no so bad inside. We had a couple of goes at this one. At my photo site http://s58.photobucket.com/albums/g250/bobzed57/Stockton%20LR%20Club/, there's video footage from the inside. chieck the movie file titled same dune.

We went over the edge in 1 low, no centre diff-lock, ESP on. the sand has a considerable braking effect, so you travel quite slowly. About half way down, we tapped the gear box to 3 low and started to accelerate. That's it.

The downhill assist was working, but once you were over the edge, there was no way you were going to stop.

Cheers

Bob

[T Rex]

Guys

Made the front cover of my club's monthly mag. 'twas the good lady wife driving as well. She's well-chuffed.

Check out http://www.lrc.org.au/magazines/200806_webversion.pdf

That'll have the die hard LR owners in a tizz.

Cheers

Hi Bob

Well done. What a great way to show you can handle the off road challenges IN STYLE. You don't need to drive a box on wheels to go off roading. Cheers

Geoff

[tezza]

Hi dmm_au



All said and done, they have been impressed by the Treg including advantages over some of the other makes like; a better turning circle, foldable mirrors for the squeezy bits, engine power, the low-range ratios, some of the features like hill descent and climb assist and importantly the comfort.




Bob

Bob, What is this Hill Descent and climb assist the salesperson has not explained this too me ?????

Tezza

[bobzed57]

Tezza

Check the manual as well, but basically, the car will maintain a very slow descent by selectively applying braking. It's most effective in low range and using the tiptronic.

As for going up, it's not really an ascent feature, but more a hill hold feature so that if you stop on a steep slope facing up hill, the car will stay in the one place without the application of brake or accelerator (within reason of course).

The best way to work it out is to find yourself a nice quiet steep hill and see what happens. Make sure you try facing up hill and down, using reverse and forward gears.

Cheers

Bob