15 Dec 06
There is, thankfully, a distant lack of sunbathers on our particular stretch of beach, so I don't have to worry about finding a lobster-coloured German tourist under my wheels at the end of the day.
So with minimal instruction - 'Hold the wheel steady and don't be afraid to give it some welly' - the first dune was attacked with gusto. It wasn't the best start to be honest, as after only a couple of metres I found myself significantly dug in and calling upon the assistance of a Discovery to haul me out. Not enough welly, it seems.
The next attempt went a lot better and I was up and over the dune within a matter of seconds. Choosing where to go next was more of a challenge as there's precious little time available before the next mound of sand presented itself. Within minutes though, I had perfected my all-wheel powerslide and took great pleasure in throwing lurid rooster tails of sand from all four wheels at every application of throttle.
Tackling the steep house-height dunes required a little more planning, so after finding hard ground on which to start from I quickly got moving and changed into second gear. The throttle's planted to the floor - the Terrain Response system having remapped the engine management to give as much power as possible to the wheels and allowing plenty of spin. In mud, the last thing you want is spinning wheels as they'll turn the littlest of mud into a quagmire within seconds, but on sand where momentum is key, keeping the wheels moving is the number one priority.
