[Joybunny]

Hi all.
Just got back from our first adventure in our new vitara and I am not entirely happy
My gf and I love to get out of the city whenever we can to go camping and looking for wildflowers. Until march we were doing it in a 99 Honda hrv which had always gotten us where we wanted to go. We upgraded to a new vitara because we ripped the exhaust off it trying to get out of "the Cobbras" up in Alpine Nat park and combined with the other things felt it was time for a new vehicle.
I know that it will take me a while to get used to where the wheels are compared to what I just saw go under the bonnet and that the vit is bigger in every way than the hrv(and I am scared witless of getting any scratches) but I just need some advice on how to drive different types of obstacles.
Also, what is the easiest way to get decent 12V power to the rear. We have a 47L ARB fridge and Waeco Battery that ran brillantly in the HRV, but on our recent trip the fridge had it orange "low power" light on constantly and the battery never charged over 12.3V while we used the plug in the rear. We rearranged our load so that we could plug the battery to one of the sockets in the front and that got the battery up to 12.6V but I would really like to be able to get it to charge to 13V that we got in the honda
We are hoping to spend time in Murry/Sunset Nat Park in spring and want to know what we would need to ensure we can get home again in one piece.

[coily96]

The factory cig lighter plugs in most cars are only good to charge a phone or run a gps. Two many sorces and adapters and the factory wire wont handle a the extra load.

If your not good with auto electrics id get a shop to install a larger wire from battery to rear with a couple more plugs.

I ran a fridge, gps and phone charger in my new hilux and fried the phone charger and fridge running all at once.

[Matthew]

Joybunny wrote:

but I just need some advice on how to drive different types of obstaclesle

Best bet is join a club, you will gain more experience and knowledge from a club than you will from any other source.

[Gwagensteve]

^ this.

You'll learn more from a couple of trips with a club than you'll ever learn driving by yourself.

Steve.

[Bruce]

Gwagensteve wrote:

^ this.

You'll learn more from a couple of trips with a club than you'll ever learn driving by yourself.

Steve.

x2

[Mike57]

Take a look in the Clubs and Groups section on this forum. Sounds like you might be in Victoria. The Victorian club is quite active and has quite a few touring trips.

[christover1]

I'd like to do some Murray Sunset, too, hopefully you'll invite us along.

[Gwagensteve]

Murray sunset is cool. It's not really a 4WD destination, but it's cool country and very scenic.

Steve.

[Joybunny]

Thanks for the replies
I have been looking at the "Suzuki 4WD Club of Victoria" and they seem to mostly focus on the older vehicles. If they do have newer vehicles in their vids then they are almost exclusively Jimny's that have already been modded with lifts and bars and winches. I expect that this would mean that their chosen line might not be the best line for my GV as it is wider, heavier and significantly lower.
Guess what I really want is someone else with a newish GV that I can follow around for a day or two just to see how they drive or link to a driver training course that has some specific knowledge on the strengths/weakness of my particular vehicle

[christover1]

Clubs need newer vehicles to survive, don't be discouraged by that.


Our club used to be mainly old LJ's, then Sierras started turning up.
Now we have Newer Jimnys and Vitaras, and GV's are starting to multiply.

People tend to photograph all the hard stuff and highly modded cars,
but I think we all want to keep the club alive with new members ,
new vehicles and trips, as well as our older cars and members.

I think an off road course is a good idea, you would need to join a much bigger club for that.
I'm not sure of any clubs with a lot of GV's that run driver training.
We had 2 new GV's on our last High Country trip.

I think trip leaders with more standard cars could encourage others with more standard cars to go on their trips.
Cheers
christover

[alien]

i have a pretty heavily modified sierra and i still enjoy going out with stock vehicles - not because i'm showing off infront of them or anything, but more so i enjoy the challenge of helping to guide/spot them up something they would otherwise have thought was impossible.

Most clubs would have this same mentality... its not about you driving some chasm just because the last guy did, but it is about you being able to tag along with the group, and people helping you to do that, even if it means taking the easy way around.

[Joybunny]

I like the easy way

[Joybunny]

Yay!!!
I can post
Yay!!!
So when is the next Vic Suzuki club day out. I have looked at their website but it wont let me register with my email and I can only see trips to the high country planned for the next month or two?(I hate snow and it doesn't provide good conditions for flowers)

[Gwagensteve]

Come to the next club meeting and meet us - We have a couple of active members with mildly modified current GV's. Obviously the club has a hard-core element and that's what gets the most attention, but most members drive mild cars and do easy-medium trips.

You'll notice on the club site there is interest in a big desert trip (Wyperfield national park)

Steve.

[Joybunny]

2nd wed of the month is one of our orchid clubs meet day, don't know if the gf would fall for that one

[Rhinoman]

Suzuki producing a video showing how to drive off road, its linked from Ack's site here:

http://www.acksfaq.com/offroaddrivingtips.htm

There are also a million videos on Youtube showing how it shouldn't be done

[christover1]

Joybunny wrote:

2nd wed of the month is one of our orchid clubs meet day, don't know if the gf would fall for that one

Meeting nights are just gas bagging, trips are where the fun is.

When is wildflower season for Big Desert/Wyperfield area?

[Matthew]

I could bring some pterostylis pyramidalis to a meeting

[christover1]

Matthew wrote:

I could bring some pterostylis pyramidalis to a meeting

Is it already rolled

[Joybunny]

We want to do Murry/Sunset in the last week of October for our best chance to see what we want to see.
Pt. pyamidalis, that's from WA isn't it?

[Gwagensteve]

Murray sunset is accesible in a road car. I wouldn't get fussed about travel to there. It's all flat country. It's crazy slippery after rain, but if it's dry, i'd drive pretty much anything in there. no special skills/equipment are required.

Club trips won't always happen when you want, unless you offer to run the trip.

Steve.

[Joybunny]

What about the 2 day trips per month around Melbourne part the vic club page talks about? I would register over there but they don't seem to like my email address(gmail)

[Matthew]

Joybunny wrote:

Pt. pyamidalis, that's from WA isn't it?

Yeah, not sure which ssp though.

We had a colony at work that had to be destroyed. They were beginning to hybridize with another Pterostylis sp., so we dug them out and potted them up.

Gwagensteve wrote:

Murray sunset is accesible in a road car. I wouldn't get fussed about travel to there. It's all flat country. It's crazy slippery after rain, but if it's dry, i'd drive pretty much anything in there.

Aren't a lot of the roads in that area "dry weather road only"? As in, get caught driving on a slippery road and you're paying to get it resurfaced.

[Joybunny]

fair point
I generally stay off the tracks in winter coz I hate getting dirty

[shakes]

Joybunny wrote:

We want to do Murry/Sunset in the last week of October for our best chance to see what we want to see.
Pt. pyamidalis, that's from WA isn't it?

If you see a family in a white XJ cherokee could be us

CCJC is also a reasonable local club with a huge range of vehicles, some good knowledge and access to a good property. PM built4thrashing on here for more details.

[christover1]

shakes wrote:

CCJC is also a reasonable local club with a huge range of vehicles, some good knowledge and access to a good property. PM built4thrashing on here for more details.

Been on a few of their trips.
Probably join myself, too, once funds allow.