... is when it gives you more grip than the clutch can handle!
Towing my caravan into a sodden Hadlow College last Friday I was dead proud about not needing the services of a tractor (even some pukka 4x4s were getting stuck).
Peak torque on my Sharan 4Motion (2.8 V6 petrol) isn't until 3400 rpm though, so it did need some revs and slipping of the clutch to get going each time. It all went wrong when attempting to manouevre the caravan on my pitch - I didn't realise that the wheels had sunk halfway up to the rims and I was going up a slight slope! Ended up (very briefly) with the clutch fully out, engine revving, going nowhere, white smoke billowing
After an hour or so to cool off the car (unhitched) drove itself out OK, and today we pulled the caravan out with no problem ... following a carefully planned route! The tractors were busy again, despite the ground being much better than last week. Watched a new Vito get stuck even though it wasn't towing anything - RWD may be a good idea when fully laden, but surely not when there's no weight on the back wheels. That's why my next 'dog-mobile' will be a FWD VW Transporter ... think I now understand why 4Motion isn't available with the most powerful engine (which has 400 NM of torque)
Towing my caravan into a sodden Hadlow College last Friday I was dead proud about not needing the services of a tractor (even some pukka 4x4s were getting stuck).
Peak torque on my Sharan 4Motion (2.8 V6 petrol) isn't until 3400 rpm though, so it did need some revs and slipping of the clutch to get going each time. It all went wrong when attempting to manouevre the caravan on my pitch - I didn't realise that the wheels had sunk halfway up to the rims and I was going up a slight slope! Ended up (very briefly) with the clutch fully out, engine revving, going nowhere, white smoke billowing
After an hour or so to cool off the car (unhitched) drove itself out OK, and today we pulled the caravan out with no problem ... following a carefully planned route! The tractors were busy again, despite the ground being much better than last week. Watched a new Vito get stuck even though it wasn't towing anything - RWD may be a good idea when fully laden, but surely not when there's no weight on the back wheels. That's why my next 'dog-mobile' will be a FWD VW Transporter ... think I now understand why 4Motion isn't available with the most powerful engine (which has 400 NM of torque)