AnswerID: 7483 Submitted: Wednesday, Oct 16, 2002 at 00:00
Mart
replied:
I've had a Black 96 Prado VX (auto) for about 3 months now, and it just went through the 150k service without a hitch. The engine is very smooth - the only notable thing being the click-click of the solenoids (so i've been told).
Fuel Economy isn't something I can really comment on, as I upgraded to this car from a 1969 Mini 1100 :) I keep track of the
fuel prices using http://www.fuelwatch.wa.gov.au and so far have been filling up both tanks every 2 weeks.
I've taken it on a few coastal / dune runs, and through the Eureka
Driver Training Course in Mundaring.
Last weekend a friend and I did the Lancelin -> Cervantes run, which was great. The rear
suspension is bottoms out fairly frequently, but I'd say that comes with age, and I'll be upgrading those within the next couple of months, along with the
tyres (it currently has balding GrandTrek PT1), which are very bitumen oriented.
It is far more capable than I am off-road, and it never ceases to amaze me when it conquers what looks like really steep dunes, or particularly rough tracks.
I really have no complaints about the car - it looks and goes great :)
We have a few more weekenders and day trips tentatively planned, so hopefully I'll have more to contribute soon.
I hope you enjoy your prado!
Cheers,
Martin
Reply 5 of 6
FollowupID: 3429 Submitted:
Wednesday, Oct 16, 2002 at 00:00
Mart posted:
Hi Gpa,
We got to Lancelin at around midday, which was unfortunate, as it was high tide :(
Our late timing, along with the fact that the firing range had shut off access to the beach, meant we hit some pretty rough, rocky tracks - not rough as in challenging - but rough as in tedious, choppy limestone type stuff that you need to re-inflate your
tyres and crawl over. At least, that was our technique. We missed a 11km beach run because of this. The most beach we saw was an 8km section, which was great :)
Our timing also meant we got to Cervantes at around 7pm - when it was dark. The track out of Grey was another slow rocky stint that is only made worse by the reduced light - that section wasn't particularly enjoyable.
To answer your question - i'd say get to Lancelin at around 8.30-9am, and regardless of any detours, you should still get to Cervantes with a nice chunk of daylight to spare. Just the right time for photos :)
We took a small detourto the left just past the firing range, and i shot this scene : http://www.sumo.com.au/4wd/4wd.mov
You'll need to have the Quicktime Player installed to see it properly.
www.quicktime.com.au
Cheers
Martin.
I hope this form accepts HTML tags - if not, please ignore all the weird stuff in brackets :)
FollowUp 2 of 3
FollowupID: 3432 Submitted:
Wednesday, Oct 16, 2002 at 00:00
Gpa posted:
Mart, there is a 25km beach run between Tims Thickett and Preston beach near
Mandurah. If the rocky point is exposed at TT, then get back on the HWY and head to White Hills about 4km South. We went at high tide, and although there were some narrow points, and 1m wash-aways, we made it through without too much drama. Take a shovel and expect to get bogged. Have fun - it's a great run. PS - Preston beach has toilets,
shop, fuel and air. All the trip-notes, Ranger Ph # etc can be found in the small book - "4WD days out of Perth" - $11 from bookshops.
FollowUp 3 of 3
