News
BHPian G13BB recently shared this with other enthusiasts:
After owning the SN for around 3 months and clocking almost 4000 kms, I was finally confident enough for an off-road adventure. The place selected was Shri Gangadhareshwara Gudi Betta (near Kanakapura, Bengaluru), which is around just 50kms drive from south Bengaluru and should take slightly over an hour. It is a temple located on a hilltop. As soon as you take a diversion from the Bengaluru-Kanakapura main road, the roads start becoming bad, but they are still doable for any FWDs till the foothill. The last 1.5kms is something that requires at least some sort of 4x4. However, the last 200-300 meters require a true blue SUV with a proper 4WD transfer case (even 4 low in some cases). However, you do not need much of off-road experience for this trail (one of the reasons why it was selected as I personally do not have much off-road experience)
The drive was planned along with a fellow BHPian with his Jimny
The weapons of choice: AllGrip meets 4XPLOR
The last stretch that demanded 4H, observe the tight bends, even though it was an unsealed surface, I wanted to take the turns in 2 high, but the rear just couldn't get enough traction, hence switched back to 4H
The 4XPLOR system, as the name suggests, gets four different drive modes for the 4WD system. The last one is the sand mode, in which the traction control is turned off automatically, observe the video below.
I decided to follow the Jimny, as at any point, if the Jimny couldn't make it, I could be sure that the SN could not make it (thanks to poorer GC, approach, departure and break-over angles) As I approached the final stretch, Jimny informed me over the Baofeng to switch to 4-low and after switching to 4-low, the difference was day and night. I was able to conquer the stretch with just the clutch modulation and zero throttle input! I was blown away by the sheer torque and capabilities of the SN as it was the first I tried 4L.
Below is the dashcam recording of the last stretch of the uphill climb. PS. The video does not do justice to the difficulty of the trail!
https://youtu.be/Kcx6HtQFF5o?si=Bn8T8MO1Dgoo14ij
Below is the dashcam recording of the descent. Tried engaging the hill descent control, but it was too fast for the sort of terrain, hence had to use breaks manually.
https://youtu.be/ZPVzJ-OcggU?si=LT_Tn7eVUPNI-wxW
The BlackHawk at the top of the hill (True fans, observe the flag)
Proudly flexing the badges:
True SUVs reaching places in a world full of FWD "SUVs"
Fun Fact: The DEF level was at 61% at the start of the day, but when I checked after the off-road session, it was at 63%, not sure if it was a glitch or if it was due to the high RPM drive-up the hill. If it is the latter, the DEF range can increase as the soot would've got burnt during the climb, but how can the DEF itself increase? Not sure, but it doesn't matter I guess.
Overall, it was a great experience and happy to report that the SN did not scrape anywhere.
Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.