Enjoyed your trip. Given that it looks like a bog standard GXL you did very well on the muddy climb. I have an identical vehicle ordered since Feb and will be using it in the Vic high country (further South than you). Not quite as muddy as your area, but similar steep bush tracks. I'm going to do upgrades/modifications strictly on an as needed basis. The first thing will be to fit the BFG KO2 all-terrain tyres that are waiting in my shed! IMO a tyre upgrade is a no brainer. And because we'll be doing mostly single vehicle driving, with some river crossings, I'll be getting a good reliable winch next, and have ordered a Rhino front bar already. A winch might have made your recovery quicker? There will be a factory snorkel, partly for help on water crossings (jury is out on their effectiveness for that) and to protect from the fine dust we get on dry tracks here. With suspension, that's going to be a wait and see. Living next door to the Avon Wilderness we won't be doing much 4WD touring/camping, just day drives, so not a lot of need for heavy loads, or caravan/camper. If ground clearance becomes a problem, then maybe a moderate lift later. I look forward to more videos from you. Fortuners are not big sellers outside of WA so its good to share experiences with them in our local conditions.
What a great comment. We think the Fortuner is an under rated vehicle. We have managed to get through anything we have attempted… and we are not shy when it comes to tracks. You will be able to see what those tyres look like on our upcoming video as we just had them put on this weekend. Hope to see you out there!
@@any4wd I'll look forward to your hearing your opinion about the tyres. The main advantage I'm hoping for is toughness and no punctures on rough rocky surfaces. All-terrain tyres are generally noisier and less fuel efficient but the KO2s are apparently not too bad in those respects.
I have friends running KO2 and when new, the softer tread compound gives great performance but once they wear the harder tread block compound…. I have looked on line and the Falken Wildpeaks seem to be above average on wet bitumen? Maybe someone can comment? I have Khumo MT71s aggressive mud terrains on my manual Fortuner…. Very tough tyre - very slippery on road in the rain to the point where I put it in high 4WD during heavy rain on the road…. See what people say to that?
The KO is awesome offroad, however we have noticed that in the wet they can become slippery, thus why we put the road tyres back on when we went to Brisbane as we knew we weren't going to get a chance to leave the bitumen. Also heard good things about the Falken Wildpeaks, so it would be interesting to see what people who use them say
BTW in relation to your questions about legality of access, as a licensed land surveyor (retired), in my experience it is very rare for landholders to illegally padlock gates. And without a full and current title search you can never be sure about the status of property and tracks. My advice is unless its a life and death emergency, you should never break through gates or fences.
Thanks for the advice. We were curious as the lock and chain looked very new, and it did look like others had been through the paddock (with all the cows in it) recklessly & there was no signage at the start indicating private land / dead end. We have been through many gates before and always shut them behind us and follow any instructions there.
It's easy to venture into private property by mistake, I mean genuine mistake. Hema maps should include private property boundaries on their maps as I and my nephew found out once, no harm done as further up the track we started to see hand painted 'private property' signs and turned around. But we were still worried about the infamous territorial farmer with a shotgun so we gunned it outta there.🤣
I find the DAC a little too fast for my comfort. For descents I generally use low range first gear. It's a nice steady pace. I noticed you were on the brakes a bit in that down hill section. Were you in low range with the manual gear selection to S1? I never use auto for down hill in the fortuner and it tends to use the higher gears and runs off.
I think we were in H4 as we were experimenting with the DAC. Other than the first couple of meters where the DAC can feel like the car wants to run away from you, we find it is a good pace. Depending on the day and track, we normally manually select gears for better control to avoid the auto 'searching for gears'.
Would love to, but need to keep it legal as we are in the nanny state😂 and had issues with our old 4wd, and want to avoid engineering everything. Although a good lift with 35's does look good
Hahaha- I run 265/70 17 (31.7inch) and that is just ok with 2 inch lift and new upper and lower control arms…. But the Fortuner performs great off road! Just have to pick lines carefully and that is fun anyway.
We love going with other cars / people, but a lot of our trips are spontaneous, while we try fitting in with full time jobs. But there is a sense of security when you go with others.
Trespass, you only become a trespasser once you have been verbally notified by the owner or representative of the owner that this is the case. If you comply with a direction to leave, no offence has been committed.
Go the Tuna!!
The Tuna is a very capable car. I use mine for adventures too.. very under rated car. Great little vid, keep up the good work.
Nice video. Love the exploring.
Enjoyed your trip. Given that it looks like a bog standard GXL you did very well on the muddy climb. I have an identical vehicle ordered since Feb and will be using it in the Vic high country (further South than you). Not quite as muddy as your area, but similar steep bush tracks. I'm going to do upgrades/modifications strictly on an as needed basis. The first thing will be to fit the BFG KO2 all-terrain tyres that are waiting in my shed! IMO a tyre upgrade is a no brainer. And because we'll be doing mostly single vehicle driving, with some river crossings, I'll be getting a good reliable winch next, and have ordered a Rhino front bar already. A winch might have made your recovery quicker? There will be a factory snorkel, partly for help on water crossings (jury is out on their effectiveness for that) and to protect from the fine dust we get on dry tracks here. With suspension, that's going to be a wait and see. Living next door to the Avon Wilderness we won't be doing much 4WD touring/camping, just day drives, so not a lot of need for heavy loads, or caravan/camper. If ground clearance becomes a problem, then maybe a moderate lift later. I look forward to more videos from you. Fortuners are not big sellers outside of WA so its good to share experiences with them in our local conditions.
What a great comment. We think the Fortuner is an under rated vehicle. We have managed to get through anything we have attempted… and we are not shy when it comes to tracks. You will be able to see what those tyres look like on our upcoming video as we just had them put on this weekend. Hope to see you out there!
@@any4wd I'll look forward to your hearing your opinion about the tyres. The main advantage I'm hoping for is toughness and no punctures on rough rocky surfaces. All-terrain tyres are generally noisier and less fuel efficient but the KO2s are apparently not too bad in those respects.
I have friends running KO2 and when new, the softer tread compound gives great performance but once they wear the harder tread block compound…. I have looked on line and the Falken Wildpeaks seem to be above average on wet bitumen? Maybe someone can comment? I have Khumo MT71s aggressive mud terrains on my manual Fortuner…. Very tough tyre - very slippery on road in the rain to the point where I put it in high 4WD during heavy rain on the road…. See what people say to that?
The KO is awesome offroad, however we have noticed that in the wet they can become slippery, thus why we put the road tyres back on when we went to Brisbane as we knew we weren't going to get a chance to leave the bitumen. Also heard good things about the Falken Wildpeaks, so it would be interesting to see what people who use them say
BTW in relation to your questions about legality of access, as a licensed land surveyor (retired), in my experience it is very rare for landholders to illegally padlock gates. And without a full and current title search you can never be sure about the status of property and tracks. My advice is unless its a life and death emergency, you should never break through gates or fences.
Thanks for the advice. We were curious as the lock and chain looked very new, and it did look like others had been through the paddock (with all the cows in it) recklessly & there was no signage at the start indicating private land / dead end. We have been through many gates before and always shut them behind us and follow any instructions there.
It's easy to venture into private property by mistake, I mean genuine mistake. Hema maps should include private property boundaries on their maps as I and my nephew found out once, no harm done as further up the track we started to see hand painted 'private property' signs and turned around. But we were still worried about the infamous territorial farmer with a shotgun so we gunned it outta there.🤣
Glad it is not just us picturing the farmer with a shotgun 😂
I find the DAC a little too fast for my comfort. For descents I generally use low range first gear. It's a nice steady pace. I noticed you were on the brakes a bit in that down hill section. Were you in low range with the manual gear selection to S1? I never use auto for down hill in the fortuner and it tends to use the higher gears and runs off.
I think we were in H4 as we were experimenting with the DAC. Other than the first couple of meters where the DAC can feel like the car wants to run away from you, we find it is a good pace. Depending on the day and track, we normally manually select gears for better control to avoid the auto 'searching for gears'.
I'd probably start at 4" lift with 35's - after that you could get a bull bar and some bash plates 👌
Would love to, but need to keep it legal as we are in the nanny state😂 and had issues with our old 4wd, and want to avoid engineering everything. Although a good lift with 35's does look good
A 4" lift and 35s on a Fortuner?! 😂 It's hard enough getting 33s to fit! It's a Fortuner. Very good car but know its limits.
Hahaha- I run 265/70 17 (31.7inch) and that is just ok with 2 inch lift and new upper and lower control arms…. But the Fortuner performs great off road! Just have to pick lines carefully and that is fun anyway.
Agreed that it's all about picking the right lines
Never knows there is a tunnel. It would be safer to travel with another car just in case. Thank you for sharing.
We love going with other cars / people, but a lot of our trips are spontaneous, while we try fitting in with full time jobs. But there is a sense of security when you go with others.
Trespass, you only become a trespasser once you have been verbally notified by the owner or representative of the owner that this is the case. If you comply with a direction to leave, no offence has been committed.
Good to know, thanks for the info 😊