Anyone like dirt roads? Im having great times!!

EDManual · 13-08-2005, 01:55 PM

I am having fantastic drives to work these days!

Going to Canberra from Melbourne way, I turn off the Hume towards Tumut, and burn over the Brindabellas to Canberra! If you can keep your average speed up you can save time from going on the highway!

Theres about 50km of dirt roads that are just fantastic fun! hills, corners, mountains, mud, water splashes, jumps, little wooden one way bridges, hairpin corners, greatly cambered corners.... and on the way back, there was snow! so had to go a little slower on that as its very slippery!! but beaut! wish I took my camera. Through there you get up to about 1200metres twice and inbetween a steep valley. At some stages the road was so soft and slushy I had to keep my speed up to make it through. GREAT GREAT GREAT fun!!
Ashphalt roads are fun too,but theres no challenge unless you are going really really illegally fast and sliding through each corner, and how often can you do that?

You coudnt see what colour my car was after that, or my lights or number plate!(cleaned lights and plate at next servo)

(PS on my 2 last trips I popped 2 tyres, hopeless sidewalls on cheap tyres!!)

LUXO_8 · 13-08-2005, 02:06 PM

haha, sounds like it would have been heaps of fun..

i dont mind sliding around on dirt roads...... wouldnt do it on my 17's though...

rob_o · 13-08-2005, 02:23 PM

Sounds like great fun, but just be careful on public roads as its pretty damn easy to lose control and kill yourself, or others.

Sourbastard · 13-08-2005, 02:41 PM

Gentlemen. A toast, Heres to EDManual, and the parts of him we couldnt find.

EDManual · 13-08-2005, 02:51 PM

Thanks guys, but I didnt say I was going fast did I? also i wasnt speeding. I really never drive past my ability, and in fact dont even drive at that. perhaps 80 to 90% is as fast as I will ever go.

My enjoyment here is not so much as the speed(which was not that high) but the adventure of the drive and the surroundings.

jeesh give me a break.

Do you tell your old uncle who is nearly bogged in his Patrol he is a daredevil who will kill himself for going into a puddle spinning his wheels at 4 kmph? yeah! thats dangerous.....

b2tf · 13-08-2005, 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EDManual

Thanks guys, but I didnt say I was going fast did I? also i wasnt speeding. I really never drive past my ability, and in fact dont even drive at that. perhaps 80 to 90% is as fast as I will ever go.

Just because you're not speeding doesnt mean you're driving safely. I think thats what people are trying to say.

XLS99 Ute man · 13-08-2005, 05:18 PM

I say good on ya
Do it if your havin fun, i know i would!
well acually i do

Yaw · 13-08-2005, 05:26 PM

Sounds like a lot of fun.......I sometimes feel quite foolish since I have a Ford Escape that we use for the extent of getting over traffic islands and other obsticles like that.....I can't bring myself to taking it in the dirt for fear of hurting our pride and joy...LOL

I have however years ago had the fun of driving on a regular occurance a Mazda T3500 long wheel base truck fully loaded with half a dozen ride-on mowers on the back over a road called Gap Creek Road. Man that was fun doing 80 klms through there. Anyone that knows the road will have a laugh.

Woz · 13-08-2005, 07:31 PM

When I first got my license I was living in a small country town called Elphinstone with my old man. The day I got my license I spent the first few hours of driving alone heading up and down dirt roads. Never really got any speed except for on a couple of straights where I might have hit 60k, but that was about as quick as I went. Just fun to slide around, get a little sideways, spin the tyres, throw some mud around.

I actually think it was a bit of a lesson aswell, because there was a few times when I maybe took it a bit too far and learnt very quickly how to correct properly.

It was especially fun doing it in my much missed XF panelvan. If you're gonna slide around like you're on the water, you may as well drive something that handles like a boat.

I've had the XB up there on those same roads a few times now, and I think the quickest I've gone is something around the 20-30k range. Funny how that works. You can really feel the love.

XD-Machine · 13-08-2005, 08:20 PM

man i would be to worried about putting scraches in my paint job then the speed i am going, lol. if you wanna do that i say go to a driving course and pay for safe fun

EDManual · 13-08-2005, 08:24 PM

Yep Woz, its certainly an excellent way to learn some control of your car. Better than being caught out with no idea of what happens when you get sideways towards a powerpole....

And I do know someone who died like this. She had no idea how to control her car.(like MOST people dont) Swerved for a rabbit or something, got sideways into a pole.

Get out there and have some fun sliding around on dirt I say, it could save your life. Just do it in a safe way, with slowish speeds where theres nothing to hit....

Another friend of mine had just got his Learners, His old man took him out to some dirt roads to do fishy's.(Yep, lol) Years later, you wouldnt find a better driver.

NZ · 14-08-2005, 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EDManual

Yep Woz, its certainly an excellent way to learn some control of your car. Better than being caught out with no idea of what happens when you get sideways towards a powerpole....

A wet farm paddock is also a good way to have some fun while learning how to regain control of a car. its not like being on tar seal where things happen quicker but the same principles are there. I remember one time in my mums car before I could get a licence (14) I came up our driveway but didn't go round the turning circle the normal way. Part of the driveway was covered in old leaves and it went past a large impliment shed. As came up i hit the brakes to slow down but the car slid heading towards the wall of the shed. I would have never known to take my foot back off the brake. It takes a fair bit of mental power to overcome that sense of brake = stop in an emergency. I'm glad I did I would have got a fair kick up tha **** if I had of gone through the corrogated tin wall!

dogbreath_48 · 14-08-2005, 10:38 PM

We've gotto remember this is how possum borne died too (dirt road + corner + oncoming Range Rover), so be careful!

Having said that I enjoy a 60km/h blast in the dirt too! I'm positive it's bettered my onroad skills. Plus it feels like your going a million k's an hour on glass when you get back onto the blacktop

-Stu

Ryan · 14-08-2005, 10:45 PM

Man old VLs with no exhausts and Chasers are ideal for dirt roads. lol

XD-Machine · 14-08-2005, 11:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EDManual

Yep Woz, its certainly an excellent way to learn some control of your car. Better than being caught out with no idea of what happens when you get sideways towards a powerpole....

And I do know someone who died like this. She had no idea how to control her car.(like MOST people dont) Swerved for a rabbit or something, got sideways into a pole.

Get out there and have some fun sliding around on dirt I say, it could save your life. Just do it in a safe way, with slowish speeds where theres nothing to hit....

Another friend of mine had just got his Learners, His old man took him out to some dirt roads to do fishy's.(Yep, lol) Years later, you wouldnt find a better driver.

i dont think i am that stupid to swerve so wildly on a dirt road or small road at high speeds (60 and up) or in fact in any dangerous situation (poles around), just so i dont kill a rabit or dog (mabey a cow) but in the end i would rather my life over my car.
so in fact you dont need to go on dirt roads to learn how to drive you just need to learn how to drive properly which is look ahead, take in your suroundings, dont panic, try to see dangerous situations before they happen, ect. accidents can be prevented with common sense and road awarness, and you dont need to go thrash your car to learn how to get out of stupid situations.
i still after saying this do recomend a driving course still, once i pass my L's and after a little time on the road i go do one.

EDManual · 15-08-2005, 10:05 AM

Yeah there are lots of ways to learn how to drive, this is just one (and a fun one). It saved me once :-) this is my story...

Was going through a green light doing 40 or so in the right lane, a car went straight between two lanes of stopped traffic in the 1st and 3rd lanes of a red light doing 60 or 70, he was only metres from the front of my door, heading straight for my door! (Happens SO FAST!!) I did an awesome accelerating swerve handbrake slide to get out of there, missed by a whisker. Only to see the other car skid through the intersection past where I was. Was shaken, but not stirred, and happy to have my skills once again help me out. I told a few people about this, and to this day I really cant think of many people I know who would have missed that car.

And why is this so?
Its cos I like dirt roads :-)

Tote · 15-08-2005, 11:07 AM

It's a nice drive isnt it? You can also go south through Tumbarumba and hit the Hume near Tarcutta for a different diversion. I usually use a company car as a weapon of choice though ))
Regards,
Tote

Heeno · 15-08-2005, 12:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EDManual

Yeah there are lots of ways to learn how to drive, this is just one (and a fun one). It saved me once :-) this is my story...

Was going through a green light doing 40 or so in the right lane, a car went straight between two lanes of stopped traffic in the 1st and 3rd lanes of a red light doing 60 or 70, he was only metres from the front of my door, heading straight for my door! (Happens SO FAST!!) I did an awesome accelerating swerve handbrake slide to get out of there, missed by a whisker. Only to see the other car skid through the intersection past where I was. Was shaken, but not stirred, and happy to have my skills once again help me out. I told a few people about this, and to this day I really cant think of many people I know who would have missed that car.

And why is this so?
Its cos I like dirt roads :-)

yea man totally agree, it is one of the best ways to learn how your car handles, preforms under messy situations, how to correct suddern slides/loss of traction and also does make you become a better driver, lol some people think its just hooning or thrashing your car, well funny thing is their the one imbeded in the pole cuz they had no clue on what to do!

it can also be very safe if you do it in the right spots to ie. yours/friends paddock, no trees or poles around, land is quite flat(no large rocks or holes) and it also pays to put some protective gear on, incase of a roll (yes it does happen).

i believe it does help, it has saved my *** many times when the unexpected happens.

XD-Machine · 15-08-2005, 12:49 PM

yeah i gess you guys have got your points, i just couldnt do that to my car, i would be kickin myself if i rolled my car. if i had a box to stuff up i would do it no questions asked, but how much ppl have a car just to screw up, not many

15-08-2005, 05:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rob_o

Sounds like great fun, but just be careful on public roads as its pretty damn easy to lose control and kill yourself, or others.

exactly, locally there was a fatality due to a 22yo driving at speed on a dirt road, went too fast around a corner and colided with a hilux...... tray took his head off... the 15yo passengers survived....

just be carefull having fun on dirt roads (and sealed ones as well)

Eclipse · 15-08-2005, 05:49 PM

This is why i have a rally car, so i can do this legaly!