Questions for the experienced off roaders

[landmannnn]

A bit of a driving day at a local muddy quarry today.
I've done plenty of off-road in the past, but not with an auto.

Do you just leave it in automatic mode or switch to manual?

I struggled a bit on steep sections when I went to manual, not the vehicle but pushing the lever over and remembering which direction to pull the lever to change up or down.

Second question, I got a bit stuck and wanted to rock back and forwards by selecting forward then reverse then forward again quickly. Are there any techniques to doing this with an auto?



Third question. Failed hill climbs. As we know, coming to a stop means you should hold the brake pedal, then select reverse and let off the brake for a controlled descent. In manual mode how do you do that quickly?

Maybe I just need to practice a bit more so muscle memory takes over...

 

[Tom D]

The grenadier is my first auto 4x4, I tend to use full auto most of the time, but on steep decent use manual mode, even though the auto mode does hold the gears on decent. I tried going up a muddy slope the other day with very little traction. I had A/T's on and very little grip. in auto mode I got to 8th gear low range with high engine revs and it did make it up the hill. But the wheel speed was very high, if I had suddenly found traction I could have damaged the transmission or been shot out sideways if I wasn't mindful of the wheel position. To get used to manual mode just use it in day to day driving and you'll soon get to grips with it.
Te great thing about the ZF box is it can change gear way quicker than you could in a manual. if you start to run out of steam you can drop a gear and maintain momentum in a way that you simply couldn't in a manual.

 

[anand]

Auto or manual is a bit of personal preference, with the caveat being engine braking.

The way we train is usually that for the average drive around, auto is perfectly fine; however for inclines or declines, selecting the proper gear can be much more advantageous. This is super helpful for using engine braking down a hill, or picking the gear for climbing a hill so that it doesn't change gear in the middle and either bog down or the RPMs jump and you get wheel spin.

Reverse to Drive and back is just something that takes practice

 

[Max]

Auto or manual is a bit of personal preference, with the caveat being engine braking.

The way we train is usually that for the average drive around, auto is perfectly fine; however for inclines or declines, selecting the proper gear can be much more advantageous. This is super helpful for using engine braking down a hill, or picking the gear for climbing a hill so that it doesn't change gear in the middle and either bog down or the RPMs jump and you get wheel spin.

Reverse to Drive and back is just something that takes practice

I agree with all and just wanted to add that practice is going to be the best point especially when picking the right gear for climbing, sand in particular. With rocky and shale inclines don't be scared to practice low range and lockers, try rear locker first and don't forget steering is quite different when front locker is engaged...practice slow as possible.
Happy motoring

 

[Tinerfeño]

I'm not especiallyt fond of automatic gearbox and always use manual mode in off-road. I would recommend it at least in all downhills. And always low range!

Rocking with automatic is difficult. Often the action is too slow to work properly.

One problem is getting the box to neutral as releasing throttle still keeps it crawling forward (or reverse).

 

[landmannnn]

Lots of useful tips, thanks folks.

Definitely a sharp relearning curve when you have spent decades using a manual transmission.

 

[trobex]

Auto for everything so far except for hill descent - that is my experience so far. I found the auto was superior to my manual gear selection in soft/muddy terrain as its quite responsive to throttle control once moving... - probably also because I'm not a pro!

 

[Braydo]

I'm still getting to grips with the Grenadier in difficult terrain, but my former 4WD was my first auto (thought I'd never do it, but with everything that's said about them figured I'd give it a crack). On balance, I found it superior, so had no qualms in taking the Grenadier.

Manual mode vs auto: I'm in auto until it gets tricky, then always in manual mode. I got caught early with my previous car changing gears when it really needed to hold, so now I never take the chance. In some terrains the wrong gear or an unexpected change can be dangerous. Get used to the sequential shift pattern - it feels natural after a while. Practice with it in day to day driving and it'll become second nature quickly. Fortunately the ZF shift direction is the correct way - get in a car with it round the wrong way and you suddenly realise how stupid it is. Downshift forward as you would when slowing down with gears, upshift backwards as you do when thrown back in your seat. Makes sense in a race car anyway!

Rocking: It's slower than a manual, but in my previous 4WD I could do it effectively. It's about matching the momentum shift which can work with an auto. The tricky thing I find with the auto is the lag in the accelerator. It's different, but it works. All that being said, I haven't tried it yet in the Grenadier.

Manual mode to reverse: That's just practice. Can be done quickly. But I do find the shifter is a bit soft for this type of driving - it moves too easily and I haven't got used to that yet.

 

[Tazzieman]

tricky thing I find with the auto is the lag in the accelerator.

A throttle controller fixes that

 

[trobex]

A throttle controller fixes that

I find it lags if the revs sit below the 1200+/- mark... I have not had to crawl or try to crawl rocks as yet and do not intend to do so for a long time, but I would assume a much more responsive controller is needed for such an undertaking.

 

[Tazzieman]

I find it lags if the revs sit below the 1200+/- mark... I have not had to crawl or try to crawl rocks as yet and do not intend to do so for a long time, but I would assume a much more responsive controller is needed for such an undertaking.

And/or a petrol version

 

[Tinerfeño]

A little bit of explanation. Our off-road driving may be quite different than in most other locations. We usually have lots of difficult sections and very few easier tracks. Very seldom I'm able to use low third gear. Our daily travel may be around 10-15 km (6-10 miles). When I was in UK we drove with locals in the Salisbury plain 120 km in 4 hours, that's 30 km/h (19 mph) average speed!

Some pictures:

 

[trobex]

A little bit of explanation. Our off-road driving may be quite different than in most other locations. We usually have lots of difficult sections and very few easier tracks. Very seldom I'm able to use low third gear. Our daily travel may be around 10-15 km (6-10 miles). When I was in UK we drove with locals in the Salisbury plain 120 km in 4 hours, that's 30 km/h (19 mph) average speed!

Some pictures:

Too much time spent getting out of bogs to be fun!!! But haha well done!

 

[landmannnn]

Having started this thread a few weeks ago as a relative newbie to automatic off road, and taking advice here too...

Full auto works absolutely fine on relatively flat and easy gradients
On the very steep uphills it will tend to go into first low, I preferred to go manual for 2nd or sometimes 3rd low.
On the steep downhills it wanted 2nd or 3rd when a steady 2nd or 1st low felt more controllable.
I still have think about whether changing up is pushing the lever forwards or backwards. Going from manual to reverse (and back) is a harder think.
On a very positive note the very stiff transfer box lever is no longer a fight, quite smooth even.

 

[parb]

@landmannnn I have the exact same experience as you do. My transfer box is starting to be really nice now.
I find the down hill assist to be quite useful.