[redback]

Have just been down some Forest Roads and tracks in NSW, Australia and found the Terracan Highlander easy to drive and very capable. I have just had the Trek'n Tow suspension kit put on which makes the ride a little bit harder but has more control.

 

[Gary Ingram]

Hi redbac
i just bought one but havnt taken delivery yet.
Is the awd system a proper 4wd or only one in four wheels getting traction like the Disco traction control which was abandoned because it was useless in sand?

 

[redback]

I have not tried it in the sand but the unit I have is the highlander model which has the a 4wd system which is controlled by the ABS brake system - no lockup of the drive shafts.

However, in low range it performed like our old GQ Patrol 'walking' down the hill and the diesel motor/ gearing provides the torque to get up the hills.

Still got some testing to do but happy so far.

 

[Dane]

I got the "discount" basis version which has manuel gear shift AND (very important): True Part-Time 4WD.
This means the center diff. is 100% locker in 4H and 4L.
Downside of this basis version is that it dosn't have LSD on the rear axle - But that's another project :grin:

 

[Gary Ingram]

I have now recieved my Highlander and done some resonably good testing last weekend. Saturday was a 174km high speed 100km/h mud and gravel sprint afollowed by a 60km deep sand track to the beach. In company with a Disco 2 and a brand new prado . We bottomed out about ten times , the disco twice and the prado twice. Grounclearance could be a problem. Disco used 15.5 litres per 100km, the prado 11.5, and i did 11.4. Prado is petrol vvti motor.
Day 2 was 30 kms hill climb and very heavy sand. All went well until we stopped. The terracan didn't want to go again-bogged despite experienced 4wd driver. Just didnt have the ground clearance. Let the tyres down to 15psi and it it would go anywhere in sand! The prado and disco were treally on the edge on the way back lurching and spinning up sand and digging ruts (very antisocial for others following) but i could drive out of their tracks which were getting a bit deep and drive all around them. Felt good but undoubtedly they would have done just as well with deflated tyres.

Q. Redback , What do you mean it driven by the ABS? I cant find a decent explanation of the Highlander constant 4wd system anywhere.

 

[Dane]

On the "Higlander" which has a full time 4WD, the Terracan is driven by the rear wheels. When the rear wheels lose traction, the system directs torque to the front wheels. The bad part is that you have to loose traction on the rear wheels before you get 4WD, whereas on the manual part-time 4WD, when engaging 4H, the centerdiff is locked so torque is distributed 50/50 between front/rear acle from the start.
In my opinion this is an advantage you don't have to become partly "stuck" before the front wheels kick in, so in my situations, with the front wheel drive engaged from the start, you are less likely to experience getting stuck.

 

[Gary Ingram]

Dane, this is true but the slip seems to be obout 1/2 a wheel turn which is still too much. However it does have a limited slip diff, does the manual? I live on a farm and i put the highlander on a gravel stockpile hill of about 45deg until wheel slippage occurred. At this point i had two back wheels slipping and one front which is better than a disco or trooper, my other cars on the property. I really want to find out how effective the alltime 4wd is on wet roads. When we get our first decent rain of the season i will push it into a corner and let you know the results.

 

[Gary Ingram]

Dane, sorry just reread your previous post re lsd. I wonder what effect the lsd will have on tyre wear?

 

[FernanKhan]

Terracan or Higlander "Full 4WD" use Hall' effect transducers located at the front and rear axles outputs from the central transfer case, in order to measure front and rear speeds and lost of traction. That means that the ABS sensors are not used for theese porpuose, however, ABS activation signal enters the computer of ATT/TOD system to be accounted as one more of the many parameters examined to make decissions of how much and when torque has to be transferred to the front axle. Other signals looked are Brake and Throttle pedals.

The behaviour of this automatic 4WD system could be rated good or bad as personal preferences. Many users have found it even dangerous because the lack of 4wd coupling during slippery downhills driving. And many of them are asking Hyundai to provide either with a modified automatic program or a mannual switch to engage fixed 50/50 torque for special conditions, or both of them. You can read aditional info at www.ClubTerracan.net but as it's in Spanish perhasp you need gogle traslation service. Please join us asking Hyundai for these remedy.

(Rear LSD differential is available in both Full and GLS versions of the product)

 

[BRADLES]

Hi Gary Ingram. We have bought a Highlander diesel and delivery will be in about 2 weeks.
From what I can see on this forum there is lot of discussion on what size and type of tyre for off road use, as the standard tyre is 255/65R16 normal highway tyres and it seems extremely difficult to get the same size in off road tyres

As you tested your new Highlander on various off road surfaces, my question is, 1) What brand of tyre did you have, 2) What size were they, 3) If they were different size did you have any modifications done to your suspension etc, 4) Did the new tyre fit in the spare tyre hole underneath if it was a different size.

Also have you got the Trek & Tow kit and what did you think of it. We have ordered a camper trailer and the dealer suggests that poly air bags be fitted to rear coils.Are these necessary with the trek & Tow kit

Would appreciate any comments

 

[flyreels]

Hi BRADLES
I have just purchased the base model diesel as I wanted the option of choosing when to engage the 4wd system, as the Highlander auto system has had a lot of trouble in the past. As to your question about the Trek-n-tow kit, a mate of mine works for Hyundai and he also has a Terracan, and tows a large boat. He has a trek-n-tow kit fitted and you definitely dont need any poly air bags fitted. His boat weighs 2 tonne loaded, and with the kit fitted it doesn't sag in the rear end at all.
As for the tyres, I have just fitted Cooper Discoverer STs in 255/70 series 16, and the spare will not fit underneath. Therefore, if you get a flat you have to place the original spare on the front which makes it a pain if you get a flat in the rear because you have to swap a good front tyre and put it on the back, and put the spare on the front, as the Limited Slip Diff in the rear won't tolerate the different rolling diametres. On the front it doesn't make any difference as long as you are not in 4wd, so when I go four wheel driving I have another ST in the 255/70 strapped to the roofracks so it can be used in 4wd if I get a flat. As you have the Highlander, I would recommend you get the original size or carry a larger spare as the auto can cut in at any time if it senses slip and there is around 30mm difference in overall diametre between off road 255/70 16s and road 255/65 16s. Hope this helps.
Cheers, Peter

 

[Dane]

For off road purpose, I would choose the manual switch from 2H til 4H any day, for slippery wet/icy road, I guess the auto version is better. But as I regard the Terracan as an off roader, I really don't see why anyone would choose the auto??? Why not buy a Impreza if you want a tarmac 4WD?
I like to be in control of when the 4WD is engaged and when it is not. However when hill ascending or hill descending, 4L would be chosen, so in this case it wouldn't matter whether it is auto or manual.
Observation: The 2H reverse is very high geared, so it is almost impossible to reverse with a trailer without excessive use of the clutch. Would be nice with a 2L :clap:

On the LSD, I chose NOT to have this installed, again I like to be in control of when the diff. is locked. And when I see a difficult situation ahead, I would prefer to activate the locker BEFORE traction is lost. So I am going for an airlocker some time. Problem is getting information about which locker fits.
Also, the LSD is not 100%, and eventhough it would get you out of most slippery situations like wet grass, will it help when cross-axling?
Also in relation to the LSD as mentioned, is the problem with the spare, I use BFG AT's 255/70 (highly recommended for the Terracan!!!).
Go the the airlocker! If anyone has tried this, I (and probably others) would be very interessted to hear about it).