Drove down to the beach house today. Initial impressions:

* OMG this makes the drive easy. I didn't realize how much my Jeep beats me up on long 7+ hour drives.

* Managed just over 20 mpg, mostly keeping speeds at or below 70 mph.

* Airing down was the usual easy thanks to my set of adjustable air valves.

* Steering felt MUCH heavier afterwards. I don't recall the Jeep steering feel changing that much when aired down. Makes me wonder if the electronics are adjusting anything due to the warning lights.

* I hate Sand mode. Makes it feel like it's running in low range but I don't think it was. The shift points were unnecessarily high.

* Switched to auto and rpm dropped by about 1-2k and it felt much smoother thanks to the reduced engine speed. Only really needed some more rpm when it came time to cross into the dunes.

Looking forward to playing with it more this week. I love my Jeep but damn this was comfy.

 

Kev M...hope to run into you this week during your visit here. Since my last post, I have spent a lot of time driving here on the Outer Banks and have found the following:

* Sand Mode has unnecessarily high shift points in most sand situations here...completely agree with you.
* Comfort Mode actually works quite well...I don't have TR2, but imagine these work similarly?
* My preferred option is to use Sand Mode with manual shifting...where I can control the shift points. Most of the Outer Banks has variable sand...ranging from soft, deep sand to packed, hard sand on the same beach and this
* The Defender is crazy good in sand...the best off-road vehicle in the sand that I have ever driven (in the last 35 years of living on the Outer Banks and Cape Cod...in many cases driving daily on the beach)
* I agree with you that it is amazing that a vehicle can be so capable off road and be so amazingly comfortable to drive

 

Yup keep an eye out. We spent the day by up just past where they limit traffic on season. Maybe mile marker 17.

We'll be around.

I've been continuing to use Auto but shifting myself.

I maybe try sand again and shift. Does fine either way.

 

If I might continue talking to myself here, we've continued to play with the terrain/driveline settings. Someone recommended trying the Gravel/Snow setting, so that's what we used on a couple of drives today. I have to say I was surprised how well it worked on the deep, loose sugar sand.

So here are my thoughts in summary so far:

* Auto - works well in loose sand, but sometimes holds a lower gear than desired. Works better with manual shifting to keep rpm down when desired. Doesn't allow the Traction Control to be deactivated.

* Sand - works great for forward progress even in the worst deep, loose, dry, sand. But it does so at the cost of rpm so high (3k+) that you almost think the Lo Range has been selected. But if you manually shift up it's pretty good. Also it always you to deactivate the Traction Control.

* Snow/Gravel - is the surprise winner much of the time. I guess if you think about it this mode is careful not to spin a wheel too much as it could lead to loss of control under those conditions. So it largely translates well to sand where you want traction without a lot of slip. However it's a little slow to respond when the sand gets deeper/more loose it works, keeps rpm down, and just almost effortlessly walks out of deep sand, but I see where the Sand mode is better (more capable of forward progress) when it gets deep. Also, as you would expect snow/gravel doesn't let you turn off traction control.


So my thoughts are snow/gravel is great for most of my light duty beach/dune work. But when it gets tough Sand is probably better, especially manually shifted with the Traction Control off!

That's my story so far.

But very happy/impressed with how well the Defender on street tires does under these conditions even compared to my Wrangler on chunky All-Terrain tires.

 

Maybe my final installment.

Decided to try just not changing any Off-Road setting today and just left it in Comfort mode and let the Defender decide.

Actually worked really well UNTIL crossing some deep, loose sand between tracks near the dune line she slid sideways a bit and started to bury herself. Instead of trying to power out when that happened I switched back to Sand mode and it just climbed out effortlessly.

So you really got work at it to get and stay stuck.

 

yep, COMFORT means you believe you are on hard-top road. The logic is all founded on that driver decision. The computer logic is firmly against taking ANY action in COMFORT other than to apply DSC entirely. This is true in TR1 and TR2.

This was very important in TR1 and in the Evoque and the other non-full time JLR 4WDs because shifting out of comfort mode in those vehicles engages the front-to-rear clutch and starts the transfer shaft spinning and changes the differential sensors logic.

In TR2, the Defender will tell you (in big letters between the TACH and the Speedo) to go into AUTO and let the vehicle decide things (which is quite insulting at first -- like losing in computer chess). But it won't do much else except apply DSC to save itself and laugh to its networked peers, at your expense.

 

I wish I'd paid more attention but it was working so well I let my attention wander. But I could scould the rear and center diffs were still locking and unlocking in comfort. I guess that can still happen on hardpack if it was slippery enough.

But as soon as it looked like I'd gotten in trouble I switched to Sand to make sure I didn't have to get out the shovel of shame! 😄

 

yes, it will still apply the diffs., but with a different intensity and logic if it hears your telling it you are on hard top.

With TR2, I concluded that comfort has no use -- as in AUTO the vehicle will decide it all. (except for turning off DSC).

I don't use comfort at all now.

 

One more editorial comment:

In a LO range and low ground clearance environment, I would sponsor the Gen II (2016) Evoque's 4WD capability as just as or more capable against any other equivalent vehicle, even also against the Discovery Series (in LO and low clearance environment). Plus a lot of time was spent on three and two wheels, due to the geometry of the vehicle. Loads of fun !! And my better half thought it was insanely cute. (Sadly, this is no longer true on either point, unfortunately -- the wheelbase was extended, changing the weight and balance -- and the body shape was turned into a Discovery 5, Discovery Sport and Velar family Soap Bar)

It is a very good prep for using the TR1 and TR2 logic in the Defender.