Jollyman
X-TRAIL NEWBIE
Date Registered: 08-2006
Location: Brisbane
TOTAL POSTS: 58
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Stradbroke Island: 22-25 April
Just a quick trip report after spending 5 days camping and fishing on Stradbroke Island. For those that might not know where it is, Stradbroke Island is a sand island east of Brisbane and forms the eastern barrier to lower Moreton Bay. There are bitumen roads connecting the 3 populated centres (Dunwich, Amity Point and Point Lookout). You are able to drive on the eastern (main) surf beach which is about 32 km long. There is also a shorter drivable beach on the north of the island which is less exposed but doesn't get much surf.
The weather was absolutely magnificent the entire trip. The fishing was so so but we caught enough for a few meals. We camped behind the dunes about 27 km south along the beach. There were 8 of us on the trip, in a pathfinder (older style), suzuki grand vitara (older style) and my x-trail.
This was the first time I've taken the x-trail onto the beach since buying it last September. To be honest, I was a bit disappointed with how it went (maybe I'm just used to my previous car - the sand king Suzuki Jimny  ).
The first thing I noticed was the lack of clearance. For beach driving, you absolutely need a lift. While it didn't really stop me getting anywhere, any tracks with even moderate sand build up in the middle rubs the underside of the car. Luckily the tracks weren't too deep. But take it to somewhere like inland tracks Fraser or Moreton and it would be real trouble. I hit the muffler lots but didn't notice any damage (luckily it's sand).
The second problem was the 4wd system overheating. I was well aware of this problem, but I was very surprised with how quickly it appeared. After less than 10 minutes of driving though semi-soft sand with hard sections in between, the 4wd system overheated. Luckily it didn't happen in a very soft section, as you can really tell as soon as it reverts to 2wd (i.e. you'll bog very quickly if you don't take your foot off the accelerator). I was driving in 4wd auto as suggested to try to delay this happening. It could possibly have been the way I was driving, which was probably going 50km/hr through the semi-soft stuff in 3rd gear. This might have caused a bit more wheel slip than otherwise might have been the case, but this style of beach driving has never been a problem in any other car. Perhaps if I take it a bit slower it will reduce the wheel slip, but you don't want to lose too much momentum on the sand.
Apart from those two issues, it drove well and got through all exits no problems. A lift and lower profile muffler would take care of the clearance issues, but I'm a little concerned by the 4x4 system overheating. If you needed to do a long high tide drive to get back to camp I don't think you'd make it 
I drove with my tyres at about 17 psi for the trip. This didn't bag the (standard) tyres out much, so I reckon you could easily go a fair bit lower if required. Only problem is it drops the muffler even lower! I purchased a bushranger powerair 2 compressor prior to the trip and was very happy with it. I reinflated from 17psi to 36psi pretty quickly (I didn't time it) and had all tyres done without much of a wait. It didn't cut out at all.
Fuel consumption for the trip was about 12.9 l/100km with about 45% beach driving (mostly firmish sand).
I don't have any photos (yet) as the wife and our baby are visiting the in-laws and she took the camera.
Anyway, that's it from me. Hope you had fun working while I was playing on Straddie 
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Joel (X417)
2006 white manual ST-S w/ pedders suspension lift, milford cargo barrier, towbar, ERP, underbody RP, window tinting, nissan roof racks
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25/Apr/2007, 9:52 pm
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Revhead Kev
Date Registered: 10-2006
Location: Mona Vale, Sydney, AUSTRALIA
TOTAL POSTS: 6360
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Re: Stradbroke Island: 22-25 April
Hi Rob,
Check out the trip report here of when Rich and Nathan and some friends went to Stockton Beach earlier this year. Rich had a FULL car with "luggage to the roof and 4 passengers" as he states. Most of the trip was fine but at one stage he had to offload 2 passengers to a lighter loaded Exy to help, which he mentions later in the report.
--- Kev X450(c) T30 Guru
03 Titanium Ti T30 Series 1 **MODIFIED**
My Blog
My CarPC Worklog |
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27/Apr/2007, 9:13 pm
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Jollyman
X-TRAIL NEWBIE
Date Registered: 08-2006
Location: Brisbane
TOTAL POSTS: 58
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Re: Stradbroke Island: 22-25 April
Rob,
For the 15km trip along the beach on the way home it was full to the brim. 4 adults, 1 child, as much gear as you can fit including a bit on laps and a bit on the roof! (thanks to one car leaving early). The tide was good for the return trip though so no worries apart from a few muffler bumps. Get used to them Got through the exit without any drama.
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Joel (X417)
2006 white manual ST-S w/ pedders suspension lift, milford cargo barrier, towbar, ERP, underbody RP, window tinting, nissan roof racks
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28/Apr/2007, 9:20 pm
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