Date:         06 Nov 1995 11:55:11 EST
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "Tom Forhan" <TFORHAN@hr.house.gov>
Subject:      Syncros at Range Rover Test Area  (long)

     Two Syncro Westies attacked the Range Rover Test Area Saturday,
     with good results.  Derek Drew and I took our '90s and our families
     out for a morning of mud, muck and Syncro Madness.

     I've reported on this area before, essentially old farmland that the
     Range Rover people (US headquarters are in the DC metropolitan area)
     have set up for demonstrating their vehicles. It is traversed by a
     series of very rutted "two tracks" up and down moderate hills, into
     gullies, in both woods and open land. Many of the "roads" in the
     open areas remind my wife of central africa, where she worked for
     several years.

     Its nice to go to a place like this with a buddy vehicle to keep you
     out of trouble (or to share the trouble you get into. We did find
     trouble, too. Recent rains had left standing water at all the low
     points, and recent Range Rovers had made some gnarly ruts in the clay
     soil: their tires are much bigger than the Syncros!

     No gates for the Range Rover Test Area, they just bulldozed a couple
     of berms up at the end of the paved entry road to keep out the
     riffraff.  Up and over we went, and in about one minute we were pretty
     nicely stuck.

     Now, Derek's philosophy is that to get anywhere interesting, you have
     to be willing to get stuck. He had brought his light duty equipment,
     leaving behind the winch and chainsaw, but we were just fine.

     It happened when we had just gotten past one mud pit when the lead
     vehicle got caught just at the begining of a second. Those Rover
     ruts are deep!  We hooked up a tow strap, and with the diff locks on,
     backed up like a little train, retreating to the more solid stuff
     between the two quagmires.

     We de-aired the BF Goodrich Radial All-Terrain size 27LT8.5-14 tires
     (both vehicles run these: they are the ones you want, folks) to about
     18PSI, reconnoitered the next mess on foot, and proceeded through.

     Soon we were at the "Pyramid", an eight foot mound of dirt set on a
     little plateau. Three sides have been packed at somewhere between
     a 25 and 45 degree angle, and there is just enough room on top to
     stop your vehicle for "hero photos". For added effect,
     there is standing water (actually, standing mud) around the base.
     The key to climbing this little hill is the friend of all VW Bus
     drivers, momentum. You get a running start, and head for the
     hill, prepared to launch. First you hit the mud, which sprays up all
     over the side windows giving you a tunnel effect, then you realize
     that there is nothing in your forward range of vision but this hill,
     and it is about five feet ahead of your windshield. Of course, your
     windshield is forward of the wheels, and a millisecond later you see
     nothing but blue sky as you start the ascent. In another millisecond,
     the hill levels out abruptly (somewhere along here, reliable witnesses
     report your front wheels leave the ground) and you are perched on top,
     ready for your photo opportunity!

     The kids love driving around in mud, so next we played in the mud for
     a while, before heading off onto another trail.

     This one had even bigger muddy ruts, and you could easily  stuck on
     the high center. I had the lead, driving somewhat contentedly along,
     more or less with right wheels on the center, left wheels on the left
     "shoulder", which was rapidly disappearing into a pile of brambles.  I
     knew I had to get over onto the right shoulder, thought I picked the
     right space, but it was not to be. All of a sudden, we were stopped
     with the right wheels in the right ditch, left wheels up on the high
     center, frozen in time, and frozen at what looked to be about a thirty
     degree angle. We did not breath. The engine was running. I slowly
     turned the wheels full right, gave it some gas, and the tough little
     Syncro Westie crawled up the right shoulder. We were safe again, and
     even level.

     Derek watched this from behind. He reports that first he thought
     no one should move, because it seemed like we were so close to
     tipping.  When we did not go over onto our side, he wanted to measure
     the angle to establish a data point: take a Syncro Westie with four
     pax to X degrees, and you will not (likely) tip.   Much as I might
     like to have the data, we just wanted to get out! My wife and I both
     have some training and experience in judging bank angles of aircraft,
     and we think it was somewhere around 25-30 degrees. Maybe Derek has a
     photo.

     Of course, all this stopped Derek who was following us, and (remember
     the momentum) he ended up stuck. We got some debris ( a refridgerator
     door, and wheel and tire), threw them into the the offending mudhole,
     and he was out after a few tries and letting
     out a little more air from the tires.

     All in all, it was a beautiful fall day. I'm high on the
     off-road learning curve, and picked up a lot.  Dereks rule
     prevails. Ready and willing to get stuck, the Syncro Westies
     went places and did things I never would have considered before.
     We all had a great time.

     Tom F.
     90 Syncro Westie
     90 Audi 200 Turbo Quattro Wagon IA Stage I