Off Road anyone tried it yet?

[xc40fun]

Nice to see some photos of the xc40 off the blacktop. I reread my post and I probably didn't put it as well as I could've but my experiences with off-road is well beyond the average field or dirt tracks and more akin to quarries, rockeries, forests and deserts.

So when I took the xc40 off the blacktop, it was 'just' gravel tracks, farmer dirt tracks and grassy fields. I did transist from one surface type to another at speed, eg from gravel to dirt expecting a bit of a wobble but the xc40 handled it smoothly. I'm impressed with that.

Although with all the electronics, I'm not inclined to see how it does in deep water up to the top of the wheel arches. I've seen too many modern 4x4 in northern Queensland having electrical gremlins after going in deep on The Old Telegraph Track north of Cairns. Back in UK, my old Terrano II was never quite the same when I gave it a bath in North Yorkshire but I was able to keep on using it for another six years!

I used to have a Jimny and it was awesome for hard core off-road although I spent a pretty penny hardening various pieces to withstand the abuse.

I used Land Rovers in the deserts of Africa and they are well suited to desert and ruts (non sandy) terrain as it's weight helped it stay on track.

Now I use a Land Cruiser Troopy or variants of for off-road work in Australia. Awful on road especially in cities, very capable off road.

All 4x4s have their weaknesses and strengths in different off-road scenarios although driver's skills is often the limiting factor rather than the car!

[SPOm]

2 years on and I have just written my first posts in "Introductions" as I wait on delivery of my B4 AWD. I'm only posting because I too am an ex land surveyor who has driven LR Defenders all over the world and Jimmys in an autoyol planning survey in Turkey. So I am very much looking forward to trying out my new XC40 in some off-road and snowy situations.

[Dermottdog]

No, I haven’t tried the dedicated off road mode yet but it felt like I did yesterday!! As I pulled into a supermarket car park at night, I drove straight over a small traffic island. It was quite low and black in colour so it didn’t stand out. The car handled it with ease. I’ve since checked everything and no damage was seen on the car, wheels, tyres or sills and it drove home without any knocks, vibrations or steering pull. The island was covered in a rubberised material.

[White]

Maybe not everyones idea of off road but I take my XC40 along some muddy farm tracks and rough grass fields on fishing trips. Some of the grass fields are quite steep and when wet and slippery have left other vehicles spinning. I've put on "off road" mode and gone up and down such hills without any bother. It feels as if it would be capable in some more challenging situations and certainly leaves me with no worries about tackling such ground conditions.