Not quite a snow test

[Taka]

I went up the snow yesterday. Well it is Lake Mountain and only 1500m high, but snowing when we get to the top.

I dropped the tyre pressure to 32psi as advised and was not required to carry chain at all. The road is icy and I engaged the SNOW button. It dampens the acceleration so much that it does not like to get up the hill in a hurry. Don't worry, I did not get trustrated as I stuck behind a Honda Jazz.

Not problem with driving and never miss a beat. I guess all cars get up there easy and hardly worth a test

Even a few FWD Kluger were there. They are required to carry chain sometimes, but not yesterday!~ :)

Snow was really white... so white that I have not seen in Australia. Like Hokkaido in Japan. Perfect day!

When I was about to go home, I used the OBDkey to check the coolant temp! 1 degreeeeee!

So I waited until it warms to 40C ~ while the kids were changing, before I moved the car.

Edited July 21, 2008 by Taka

[holmesie]

Nice story and pics Taka :)

I haven't seen snow for many years, must take my kids (and the Kluger) one day!!!

[Taka]

Yeah. You should go. We were lucky that it was cold about 0 on the top, and 13 in Melbourne, and rain all day (snow on top)

Edited July 21, 2008 by Taka

[Taka]

Yeah. Some Indians were there and they were so nasty when they displayed their yummy curry in public!

Tell you what! Driving a 4WD chasing people down twisty roads was fun.

EDIT: I also forgot to say.. the whole trip uses 11.4L/100km. It was averaging 14L/100km on the way up. The SNOW button costs petrol

Edited July 21, 2008 by Taka

[kluger2]

Went up to Mt Buller over the weekend

2WD fitting chains at chain bay 3 - the guy waved us thru and said we would be OK and didn't need chains

Followed a 4WD crew cab thing up (ute with 2 rows of seats) - it was spinning the wheels and sliding around a bit and drove very slow

Kluger didn't skip a beat - engaged the snow button and it did feel a bit sluggish but didn't break grip once - traction control did not engage once driving up.

Have a village access pass so drove right into the village, dropperd everything off and then drove down to the carpark - lots of ABS when going down and found that it was better to drive in S2 and click back to S1 if I needed to slow down - very effective on the steeper sections and slowed down with no slip - so basically drove down switching betweek S2 and S1 as needed

Very happy - one of the main reasons we purchased the Kluger was to be able to get the village access pass and be able to drive up to the village to drop people and luggage off.

Same on the way home - more fresh snow and 2WD and all the busses had chains on but doidn't need them on the Kluger

I don't want to take any risks so if there was any sign that traction was bad I would have put the chains on immediatly - but it just felt so solid the whole time I didn't get close to thinking I needed to put chains on

Outside ntemp guage never went below 0 - I am sure that it was colder so I think the display only goes down to 0 and is not able to display negative temps (can anyone confirm this?)

Cheers

Kluger2

[Taka]

No my only go to 0 or 1. Never see -1.

BTW: We need someone in Tasmania or Canberra to tell us that ;)

Edited July 21, 2008 by Taka

[Blackkluger]

How come snow chains are not required? We were looking at going somewhere, and that seems good. Dont have chains for 19"!

[Taka]

Hotham you need chain even 4WD!

http://www.mthotham.com.au/today/reports/snowreport.htm

Buller you need to carry chain, but not fitting them until you are told.

http://www.mtbuller.com.au/winter/snow_report.aspx

More here

http://www.vicsnowreport.com.au/report.html

The kid love the snow, may go again. Will go to Richmond - there are some good 4x4 store there to see if any chain for 19". Doubt there is 19" available at chain hire shops. If all fails, we will go to Lake Mountain again, since they are not expecting needing to carry chain for 4WDs.

[Blackkluger]

The site says chains for 2wd, so 4wd all clear? Dont want to get there and dissapoint the kids. Is entry $25? per car? just to C snow?

[kluger2]

For Buller (possibly all of Vic) they assess the conditions daily and decide what is applicable for that day - but this is only for a day trip - up and back on same day.

So sometimes a day trip will not need chains on any vehicle - sometimes just for 2WD and sometimed for all vehicles

For overnight stays all vehicles are required to carry chains (I guess conditions change quickly and you may need them the next day)

So if you stay overnight and if the conditions on that day you leave are such that you need to fit chains then you have them with you.

When we went up and came back they were fitting chains to 2WD but not to 4WD/AWD - always talk to the traffic control crew - they know what the conditions are like and will advise - if it is marginal then caution is the go and fit chains - 4WD/AWD is no guarantee!!

As this was my first trip in the Kluger I was very careful and was waiting for the first sign of any slip and would have put the chains on quick as a flash but it was rock solid - however, even though 2WD's were required to fit chains the road was still good - in the past I have seen it much worse when we drove up in a 2WD with chains on - so it probably was not a real test - will need more snow for that!

I purchased Konig chains - size 255 - the shop had to contact the supplier to find out the correct size as the Kluger 19 inch tyres were not on the chart - this may have changed by now as the supplier was going to issue a new chart with the Kluger tyres listed - in any event don't buy until you have tried them on for size!!

Cheers

Kluger2

[Blackkluger]

How much were those chains? And where can you get it?

[kluger2]

From memory they were around $440 or so - much more expensive than the ones I had for the old commodore from 5 years ago!

We go to the snow quiet a lot so I wanted good quality - the Konig (most of the good brands) have a self tensioning system - you put them on and drive away - no need to stop and retighten etc after a few hundred meters or so

Most ski shops will sell them - may pay to call ahead to see if they have the 255 size in stock

cheers

Kluger2

[holmesie]

No my only go to 0 or 1. Never see -1.

BTW: We need someone in Tasmania or Canberra to tell us that ;)

It's supposed to be able to show -40 to 50deg C. Worst we'll see here, on the Central West slopes & plains, is -7 on a really frosty morning :o

Edited July 23, 2008 by holmesie

[Blackkluger]

wow $440 just for snow chains, for just 1 trip i intend to make, wish they told us the day before if chains are required. Ive never been to lake mountain, do they often require chains?

[Taka]

Not really for Lake Mountain, it is only 1530m high.

Good for XC skiing and tobogganing... good for kids since they are not far to drive.

For me I like the road going to the mountain and back ;)

[Blackkluger]

Ive only ever been to bulla once and other times to falls creek, got chains for a regular car size wheel, not these things.

[jat]

Yeah. Some Indians were there and they were so nasty when they displayed their yummy curry in public!

Tell you what! Driving a 4WD chasing people down twisty roads was fun.

EDIT: I also forgot to say.. the whole trip uses 11.4L/100km. It was averaging 14L/100km on the way up. The SNOW button costs petrol

Hi TAKA,

I don't know weather you like Indian or not but sure u like their curries, you are invited for indian curry at my home .You will surely like both curry and Indians too.

Cheers,

Jat

[mdv]

No my only go to 0 or 1. Never see -1.

BTW: We need someone in Tasmania or Canberra to tell us that ;)

Its not a very cold winter in Canberra this year - my Kluger outside temp has not gone below -3 :)

But I do like the heated driver's seat - very therapeutic too.

Edited August 5, 2009 by mdv

[PantherX]

I was up at Hotham last week and I can confirm that the temp gauge does go negative. It was down to -4 at one point! Kluger didn't miss a beat though.

[ash40]

I will be heading down to perisher in two weeks and will let you know how my 2wd handles the snow.I'll take some pics especially if i need to fit chains on the kluger. B)