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PaulG

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Everything posted by PaulG

  1. Day 33 Alice Springs to Dunmurra Put in some extra miles today - 850 kms. Still amazed by how beautiful the desert savannah is after recent rains - the countryside is greener than most of the South Australian countryside we traveled through. Stopped at Wauchope roadhouse for lunch and Dunmurra roadhouse for overnight. Stopped at Devil's Marbles again - there is a small creek behind the rocks with crabs in it - these can only be seen 2 or 3 weeks a year after rains - very fortunate to see these interesting desert crabs. Pictured here is Wauchope Day 34 Dunmurra to Palmerston The last 650 kms! Enjoyed the transition from desert savannah to tropical woodlands. From dry riverbeds to flooded plains. From 30% humidity to 90%. From clear blue skies to endless monsoonal clouds. Stopped at Mataranka hot springs for a swim, and Katherine Coffee Club for lunch. Stayed overnight at in-laws in Palmerston - we are almost home - 20 k's to go Day 35 Home again in Darwin! Total trip distance about 9200 kms! I will measure the tyre wear soon and summarise the tyre performance.
  2. Day 32 Glendambo, SA to Kulgera, NT - another 700 or so kms today. Stopped for lunch at Cooper Pedy and toured an old opal mine and underground home. Did a quick side trip up the Oodnadatta track to the Moon Plains. This amazing landscape has been used in quite a few movies requiring an alien or desolate landscape. This picture shows the ground after recent heavy rains. Can't wait to get some time to photoshop this picture to put the Kluger on Mars (pink sky) or the Moon (black sky). Day 33 Kulgera to Alice Springs - only 370kms in total today - We planned to travel much further today but got sidetracked going to Stanley Chasm and Simpson Gap. The desert savannah in central Australia is amazingly green and lush after recent rains! Fabulous time to travel through this country. Ended up at a cool motel where we hand-fed Rock Wallabies just outside our door! Pictured is Simpsons Gap.
  3. Day 29 Spent the day exploring Victor Harbour and the little towns around that area. Took a horse drawn tram over the bridge in Victor Harbour to Granite Island to see some penguins. Went for a swim in Horseshoe Bay, Port Elliot. Fell in love with picturesque Strathalbyn. Then back to Murray Bridge via Tailem Bend for our last night here. Pictured here is Horseshoe Bay, Port Elliot Day 30 Back to Adelaide suburb of Semaphore for our last night before heading back to NT. Managed to fit in a final drive to Tanunda in Barossa for a look at a Hot Rod car show - over 250 cars lining both sides of main street in Tanunda. Day 31 Left Semaphore and started long haul home. Stopped by in Woomera to check out the rocket park and museum. Staying at Glendambo motel tonight as first stop (about 700kms from Adelaide) Pictured here is Woomera rocket park. Yes the Kluger is there in the picture. Can you spot it?
  4. Day 27 Did a day trip to Birdwood - a little town which is home to the National Motor Museum. Only spotted a couple of examples of Toyota vehicles - a Tiara (precursor to the corona) and a Troopy. Was amused to see a lovely example of a Datsun 120Y (my first car) and a Yamaha RD400 (my first motorcycle). From Birdwood we drove to Gumeracha site of the Toy Factory and a huge Rocking Horse. The weather was cold and wet - 15 deg C at 2:30pm - 30 degrees cooler than yesterday!!! This photo shows the weather conditions from a lookout in the Adelaide Hills The Kluger is a joy to drive through the winding Adelaide Hills back roads, and the Toyos handled the wet roads excellently. Sometimes I had to rein in my speed as I went through the Hills, I was feeling like I was driving a sportscar. Day 28 A short drive from Murray Bridge to Montaro - a open range zoological park - Giraffes, Rhinos, Lions that kind of stuff. Worth a visit. Then another short drive to Mannum - a beautiful Murray River town - for a picnic lunch by the river. The highlight of the Mannum trip (for the Kluger that is) was a river crossing by cable ferry as seen here in this photo: We've now done over 5500kms since the new tyres were fitted and we still have plenty more to go!
  5. Before leaving Wallaroo we went for a drive on North Beach for a refreshing swim. In this picture is our 2007 Kluger, the in-laws 2008 Hilux, and me uncle's 2009 Landcruiser Sahara. Days 21-23 Left Wallaroo, Eyre Peninsular for Tanunda, Barossa Valley and had a wonderful stay at a bed-n-breakfast. Spent the time exploring the towns in the Barossa and wine-tasting and antique shopping. Also picked up the keys to the Kingston Estate (the mother-in-law works for the owner)for an exclusive look at this old sheep station. Fans of Mcleod's Daughters may recognise this property as Drover's Run. Day 24 Drove back to Adelaide for one night in Semaphore. Now very hot again in Adelaide. Went for a swim at Semaphore beach at 7:30pm. Beach was packed full of like minded people. Sun still hadn't set by 8:30pm when we left. Seems weird to us tropical folk. Day 25 Left Semaphore for Murray Bridge which will be our base for a few days. We found a Freeway! the M1 Princess Highway to Murray is a freeway. Very hot in Murray Bridge today - 45 deg C according to BOM. our in-car temperature gauge got to 48 deg C!! Can anyone claim a higher reading? Day 26 To escape the heat, we used the Kluger as our air-conditioned lounge and did about 250kms exploring the Murraylands, back to Barossa, down to Handorf, and back to Murray Bridge. Temperature got to 45 deg C again in Murraylands. The Kluger continues to perform well. Motor temperature remained steady even in extreme 45 deg temps. We have negotiated quite a few dirt roads off the regular tourist roads without a problem. Toyo tyres seem nice and solid on the dirt. We even managed a few steep dirt inclines (and declines) without any hint of wheel spin.
  6. Haven't been able to update my travel journal so far - a little thing called Christmas and New Year got in the way... Day 4 A short run (about 300kms) from Port Augusta to Glenelg in Adelaide completes to Darwin-Adelaide leg. Driven in very hot conditions (42 deg C). Kluger has performed faultlessly from go to whoa so far. Days 5-12 Spent a week in Glenelg exploring Adelaide city and suburbs. Mostly city driving. Every major road seems to have a 60km/hr limit. Someone forgot to put a freeway through this place. Day 13 200km drive to Wallaroo on Yorke Peninsular Day 14-21 Spending a week in Wallaroo exploring the small towns on the Yorke Peninsular on day trips. Weather is hot one day, cold the next. Here's a pic of my niece (left and daughter (right) collecting shells/flowers at Port Victoria Tomorrow we head to Tununda in Barossa Valley for a few days. FUEL CONSUMPTION Here's some fuel consumption numbers so far (calculated from each fuel load at each refuel) 69.63L 644kms - calculated economy 10.8, indicated economy 10.2 58.01L 581kms - calculated economy 10.0, indicated economy 10.2 45.58L 448kms - calculated economy 10.2, indicated economy 9.9 49.42L 483kms - calculated economy 10.2, indicated economy 9.8 39.85L 400kms - calculated economy 10.0, indicated economy 9.9 58.87L 529kms - calculated economy 11.1, indicated economy 10.8 I've left out a couple of refuels where we forgot to write down the numbers. TYRE PERFORMANCE Handling of the car is excellent with the Toyos on bitumen and small sections of dirt that we've been on. Wet bitumen road handling is also excellent. Ride comfort is excellent at 40PSI. Tyre noise is perhaps a little more than the stock Bridgestones. I've measured the tread depths again here in Wallaroo. We have travelled a total of 4258kms since tyres were fitted. Tyes are wearing evenly. Front tyres are losing a little more rubber than rear (to be expected from FWD?) Front outer tread depth average - 7.7mm (new 8.3mm) Front inner tread depth average - 8.3mm (new 9.1mm) Rear outer tread depth average - 7.9mm (new 8.3mm) Rear inner tread depth average - 8.7mm (new 9.1mm) OTHER ISSUES The dash rattle has become evident on rough road surfaces. We now have the rotten egg smell when accelerating to overtake. Not evident at all before last service. And here's a new problem that I haven't seen discussed before: The rear door glass hatch gas strut mounts have come loose (the mount on the glass end). these mounts are only held on with one screw and have now started slipping around when opening/closing hatch. Most annoying as we are using the glass hatch quite a lot to load/unload gear whilst we are in 6 seater mode. Have tried tightening, but they are still becoming loose.
  7. I've had the car wheel spinning up a similar incline angle on a mix of hard bedrock, loose gravel/stone and sand (stock tyres). I simply approached again at a faster speed and got up without a problem. To be expected from a FWD station wagon anyway. Don't see a problem.
  8. Day 3 Marla to Port Augusta - only a short run today 750kms or so. Managed to sleep in a little longer - adjusting to South Oz time. Stopped at a little place called Glendambo for fuel and lunch - essentially a pub and two service stations - the obvious benefit of this place is two service stations means cheaper fuel as they compete with each other, $1.39 I think we paid. Fuel consumption is still just on 10L/100km. Topped up the cold air pressures before I left Marla this morning. Weather conditions were HOT and dry with an easterly cross wind - 40-41 deg C on the outside temp guage most of the day. This photo is a rest stop 50 km out of Port Augusta. I am getting to grips with the fuel consumption meter on the Klugers. Unless there is something wrong with this meter, I'd be taking the consumption figure on the meter with a grain of salt. When the car is stopped and engine running, when the instantaneous reading goes full-scale to 30L, this number is integrated into the average reading. We can be sitting at servo after a refuel with engine running and reset the display, after leaving car running for a few minutes will we run the airconditioner and stuff around getting kids buckled in and comfy. When we hit the highway, the consumption takes about 60-80 kms on the road before it slowly changes down to read low 10's. There should be some sort of algorithm built into this thing a prevent to instantaneous reading going to fullscale when stopped. Does everyone's do this? Explains why the figures I get around town are wildy different - 12L, 15L - depends on how many traffic lights you stop at. Anyway, I'll have some real fuel consumption figures in a day or two. I'm recording the amounts we refill with and distances. Just need time to sit down and calculate them. I'll also measure the tread depths of tyres once we get into Glenelg tomorrow.
  9. Day 2 Wycliffe Wells to Marla - about 900kms. Got up early at 5am and left family sleeping - drove back to Devil's Marbles (around 40kms) because we missed the sunset as we came through. Hoping to get some sunrise photos instead. Light rain and overcast meant pretty poor sunrise light. Snapped a few good shots anyway. Here's one with Kluger and rainbow - all together "awwwww, pretty" Back to Wycliffe Wells to pick up family. Wycliffe Wells is known as an alien hot spot. We didn't spot too many. Here's a shot of this wierd little place. The hilux is our support vehicle - the in-laws car. Drove through to Alice Springs for another fuel stop and lunch. Still using 10.1L/100km on cruise control at 110km/h. Left Alice with a tank of Opal - low aromatic fuel. Didn't use cruise control for first 80-100kms or so, sat on 105km/h and consumption was down to 9.3L!! Not bad for a fully loaded Grande. Dinner at Kilgora pub just north of SA/NT border, and through to Marla - 180 kms into South Oz. Staying here tonight. I will fill in more details later - very worn out right now...
  10. Day 1 Palmerston to Wyclifffe Wells - around 1100kms. Left just after 6am and stopped at Katherine for fuel. Although Katherine is only 300kms south of Darwin, it has the cheapest fuel in the Territory (why? that's another story) so we topped up here. Fuel consumption on this first leg was 10.9, but that was with a 100kms of urban driving before we left. We are sitting on a speed of 110km/h (by the speedo). Next leg was Katherine to Three-ways (a fuel stop just north of Tennant Creek) - this was a real test of the range of the Kluger's 72L tank. Total distance 643km, refilled with 69L of fuel - that's just 3L left in tank. Consumption was 10.1L/100km. It was sitting on 9.9, but we did the last 200kms at 120km/h. We have been using the cruise control the whole distance. Stopped for lunch during this leg at Daly Waters pub (photo) Stopped off the road to let this fella through: Three-ways to Wycliffe Wells - arrived safely at 8:30pm - about 14.5 hrs on the road. Car is traveling sweet. Family is not too cranky yet.
  11. Trying to figure out how to carry all our luggage. One suitcase is full of christmas presents! Luckily we are not travelling alone - the in-laws are travelling in convoy with us - in a 2008 diesel 4x4 hilux - so they are carrying lots of stuff in their tray for us. The Toyos I had fitted are the same profile as the stock - 245/55 R19 (is that right?). I should also mention that I had a wheel alignment done at same time. Car is handling very well so far, and tyre noise seems very low. We also had our 40,000 service done (at 38,000 on clock). Local dealer have finally agreed to replace inner door panels (cracked armrests - on all four doors), and to fix the steering shaft clunks. I didn't know about the oil line recall (haven't got a recall notice) when I took the car in for service. So I was blissfully unaware of this issue until browsing this forum. Embarking on a 7000km round trip with a dodgy oil line is a little disconcerting.
  12. yeah, forgot the split armrest problem
  13. I've now got a nice new shiny set of Toyo H/T Open Country tyres on my Grande. I've started this thread so that I can review these tyres for you and to share our holiday adventures as we cross the country from north to south and back again. We plan to leave Darwin (actually Palmerston - Darwin's satellite city 20k's south) on Sunday 20th December and arrive in Adelaide on Christmas eve. While it's possible to do this 3000km+ trip in two days, we'll be taking it a little easy to conserve fuel and of course the kids will be wanting to stop to pee every five minutes. The new tyres replace the stock Bridgestones that were very well worn at 37500kms. The Open H/Ts were $400 a piece up here, and so I only got a set of four, and kept a Bridgestone as a spare. I intend to maintain a pressure of 275kPa (40PSI) and sit on 110km/h (indicated speed - real speed about 105km/h). Road temperature is expected to be VERY HOT. Here's a photo of the tread pattern: The two circles indicate where I'll be measuring the tread depth. The outer tread measures 8.3mm, and the inner 9.1mm (I'm using a fairly accurate vernier caliper to measure). Anyway, I aim to keep you informed of how the tyres wear, road comfort, and other travel tips I think of along the way. Paul
  14. PaulG

    Driving Lights

    Try this link to my original post: http://au.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/inde...32&hl=paulg
  15. PaulG

    New Kluger Tyres

    I've ordered 4 Toyos. Best price I could find (in Darwin) is $400 each (fitted + balanced inc GST). keeping one of the Bridgies as a spare. Budget doesn't stretch to a set of 5 new tyres this close to christmas. I'll be driving from Darwin to Adelaide and back again this Dec/Jan holiday. A round trip of over 6000kms. I will start a new thread and review these tyres (and blog our adventures) on this forum if anyone is interested.
  16. White seems to attract bird ****. Or is that just me?
  17. I rotate them between services myself and get Toyota to do it at each service. I marked my tyres to check that they were rotated as per the owners manual diagram (all 5). I had to go back last service to get them to do it again properly.
  18. after i change the oil and add a K&N filter i hope to be able to do this with my klugger: Kittle Toyota buggy
  19. wtf! $660 for a remote! ouch. I'm gonna tether mine to a chain so kids can't lose it. Should be able to get a programmable universal remote, but you'll need to find another Kluger owner to let you program the remote from theirs.
  20. PaulG

    Special milestone

    Just added 700km over the Easter weekend with a family trip to Katherine region (from Darwin). Now over 27500km on clock - and tyres looking a little sad.
  21. On slow speed left hand turns I can feel a 'clunk' through steering wheel. According to USA ToyotaNation forum this is a common problem (although they have a right turn problem). Something called an intermediate steering shaft. Anyone experienced this?
  22. From specifications PDF http://www.toyota.com.au/kluger/specifications DIMENSIONS Overall length - 4785mm Overall width - 1910mm Overall height KX-R – 1730mm KX-S & Grande – 1760mm Wheelbase - 2790mm Front track – 1630mm Rear track: 2WD – 1645mm AWD – 1640mm Ground clearance (unladen) - 206mm Interior width – 1517mm Interior height – 1245mm
  23. PaulG

    Tire pressure

    I've noticed that all the Toyota SUV/4WD except Kluger have the option of a TPMS. Surely this should be available on the Kluger? Does anyone know if it can be fitted to a Kluger?
  24. No real information, but I've noticed that the RAV4 on the Toyota website has side mirror indicators. Is this new for the August 2008 build updates?
  25. There's a thread here that has plenty to say about colour choice: http://au.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/inde...9&hl=colour
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