What does it take to climb a Steep & Loose hill? Forester, Passport, Xterra, Power Wagon attempt

#hillclimb #subaruforester #hondapassport #nissanxterra #rampowerwagon
We just completed another trip to the Mojave Road and came across this mound made of little cinder rocks. This makes for a very loose (and steep) hill climb. But what does it take? Does an obstacle like this push the limits of your vehicle? Does it push the limits of what you're willing to do, or a bit of both. Find out in this video!
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[@ChuckUnderFire]

I’m always so impressed and delighted by the open and inviting tone to all of these videos for off-roading. In my opinion it’s the most positive, non-toxic masculine off-road channel on the internet. Thanks man. Gives me faith in this hobby.

[@JonDZ_Adventuring]

Wow! Thanks for the kind words! I really never thought about the vibes this Channel gives off. All I can say is that I’ve made a lot of friends through KZbin and Instagram, many of whom came along on this 4 night / 4 day trip. I don’t think any of us would tolerate toxic behavior. Can you imagine spending 4 days with someone high strung and full of drama 🤣? I put together this little Instagram post, this pretty much sums it up, “It doesn’t matter what color you skin is, how old you are, or what you drive. Hiking to abandoned mines and pooping in the woods 💩 takes a special kind of person, and these are my kind of people 🥰”. In these videos, we’re just being ourselves. instagram.com/p/Cbn-qWiPKTI/?

[@ChuckUnderFire]

@@JonDZ_Adventuring I definitely saw that post on IG, and that’s why I wanted to be sure and leave a comment like this on this kind of video. I can’t believe you really haven’t given it much thought. I feel like the one constant trend I always see in American off-roading content is a chest thumping characteristic that I never see here.

[@Ebass777]

Ah the Aiken mine. Very cool area of the MNPS. Used to be a very nice drive through the Joshua tree forest until the fire.

[@DIYDad1]

Cool video. Can’t wait to take my 19 forester off-road soon. We don’t have hills like this where I live, just very flat lands. Lots of snow and mud that’s about it 😁.

[@JonDZ_Adventuring]

Ty ty! 🙏

[@carlosc5464]

Damn missed out! Had to do a last minute trip to Austin :(. Hope I can join in next time. Awesome video!

[@yotagang3705]

great vid Jon! you should upload more

[@JonDZ_Adventuring]

Thanks @YotaGang 🙏. I try to release a video a week, but thinking about releasing some shorter videos in between.

[@Michael_Tran]

Hey...I recognize that Bronko! haha

[@JonDZ_Adventuring]

BRONKO 🤣🤣

[@04JALD]

Looking like a blast. Soon an old school burb will be in the pic. Great video again Jon

[@JonDZ_Adventuring]

Looking forward to that day DJ! You have to bring your Wife out too, that way she can talk to my Wife.

[@04JALD]

I want to very much. Only thing she is afraid of this kind of driving and she won't camp. I have some ideas I will talk to u about which still will be fun

[@durtyflyadventures]

Send it!! Haha some things slow and steady others send it!! Good call on both obstacles

[@JonDZ_Adventuring]

It’s rough driving up. My steel dish plates were in my wash bucket, making a terrible noise! 🤣. There’s too much turbulence on this obstacle. I don’t recommend it.

[@durtyflyadventures]

@@JonDZ_Adventuring ya going up seems like a good way to get the rock in brakes and who knows what else. I went down it but was worried about the little rocks going up

[@harmik98]

The major advantage in all these obstacles is having a traditional automatic transmission. CVT will kill power to protect itself.

[@JonDZ_Adventuring]

Yeah, they do that by using a torque converter that has an earlier stall speed. In the case of this obstacle, momentum is so important, and the CVT equipped Subaru was able to make it up 👌

[@FracturedNinja]

Am I the only one that could here Jeremy Clarkson screaming MORE POWER!!!

[@chrisperrywv]

Hey Jon- I always enjoy your content. The one thing is visuals- to my eye- always look harsh in bright sunlight. Any considerations given to ND filters to get your exposure straightened and fix the shutter speed?

[@JonDZ_Adventuring]

Thanks Chris! 🙏 I always appreciate your support and comments. I should probably take a photography class because I’m so unfamiliar with all of the terminology. I actually turned down the highlights in post editing to reduce the glare, but I guess that can only do so much. Thanks for the recommendation. I’ll look into these ND filters.

[@chrisperrywv]

@@JonDZ_Adventuring you do great things. I’m not 💯 sure what it is exactly that looks harsh to me, if it is the exposure of motion . I think you shoot with a GoPro right? If it is just the exposure then you can adjust a setting called “ISO” that adjusts how sensitive your camera is to light. The higher the number, the more sensitive it is and the brighter the image will be. If you already have it at its lowest setting and you are finding your highlights are blown out you can put an ND Filter on it which is essentially like sunglasses for your camera. If it’s motion… It can be tricky to nail it outdoors in bright sunlight. Especially if you want a set and forget solution. I am in no way an expert but I can tell you the prevailing wisdom is for natural looking motion you want you shutter speed (that’s how long your cameras shutter stays open) to be “double” your framrate. On GoPro- I don’t think shutter speed is usually exposed to the user interface unless you manually enable it, though I haven’t had a go pro in a long time so I could be wrong. But what that means is, If you shoot at 24 frames per second, you’d want your your shutter speed to be at 1/48. Most cameras don’t have 1/48 as an option so 1/50 is fine. 30 fps would be 1/60, 60 is 1/120 and so on. So if you have your frame rate set at whatever your preference is (let’s just say 30fps as an example), your ISO at its lowest sensitivity , but when you set your shutter speed to 1/60 it’s way too bright and overexposed you can either increase the shutter speed (meaning the camera opens its shutter for a shorter duration letting in less light and darkens the image) or you can externally block the light from coming using an ND filter. Sorry if that was way too much information or confusion. The other option is do nothing and I’ll shut up and watch anyway. Haha.

[@JonDZ_Adventuring]

@@chrisperrywv thanks for the info. I went into my go pro and it shows shutter speed and ISO set to auto. But I did find a setting that has a minimum and maximum ISO. I reduced the “max” ISO from 1600 to 800 😃. Hope this helps! I also shoot with my iPhone 12 Pro Max. I also had to adjust the “highlight” setting in my video editing software because there was too much glare. I do this so that more terrain detail can be seen.

[@chrisperrywv]

@@JonDZ_Adventuring hit me up if you ever have time or the desire and we can go through some of the settings / scenarios. Or just KZbin it because I’m sure there are people who can explain it better than me. Haha.

[@Mall_Crawling_X]

nice, an xterra! love it

[@pnw_element9822]

Damn awesome brah u made it up yeah my 5 speed would be stuck in first gear with no more rpm and power to climb it haha

[@JonDZ_Adventuring]

I’m pretty convinced that you can make it up in any AWD/4WD just as long as you “SEND IT” hard enough.

[@pnw_element9822]

@@JonDZ_Adventuring yeah it needs lots of momentum plus with all the extra weight I carry man but overall ya look like ya had lots of fun again take care my brother

[@freedom_foz_6337]

I think what we all really want to know is “where did you get those cool glasses”?

[@JonDZ_Adventuring]

That’s a secret, but I will be giving out multiple pairs when I do the 15K giveaway

[@freedom_foz_6337]

@@JonDZ_Adventuring 🤞

[@mkadventures3381]

I wish I can go with you guys next time you guys awesome!

[@JonDZ_Adventuring]

Come on out! And bring Jeff Palma with you 😃, I’ve been wanting to hang with him 😉

[@mkadventures3381]

@@JonDZ_Adventuring I extend your message to Jeff Jon thanks 🙂

[@VacayCebu]

I have a 2021 Passport. What setting did you use for going up the hill?

[@JonDZ_Adventuring]

I popped the Passport into “S” mode, which is “sequential mode”. It lets you lock into gears, just as long as you don’t red line. Then I went into “Sand Mode”, which tightens both left and right clutch packs, and is suppose to split torque 30 % front, 70% rear. During my first two attempts, I can’t remember what modes I used.

[@RobbieHerrera]

I always go slow in my Excursion otherwise the head toss would have my brain flying out of my nose and ears 😂 but it looks like speed is the only way to get up that hill. Did the trucks use 4 Lo on it? Are you able to hold the gears on your Passport?

[@JonDZ_Adventuring]

Yes, the trucks used 4 LO. My Passport can hold a gear if I use “S” mode, which stands for sequential mode. But if I red line a gear, the transmission will upshift into 2nd. I had to feather the throttle just right.

[@jasondonnelly6966]

As the owner of a Sequoia and an Impreza both seeing plenty of trail time I think the Subaru would have made that climb much easier without all the extra weight

[@JonDZ_Adventuring]

The climb wasn’t easy. The Mitsubishi Outlander tried 4 times as well, but it has a 3.0 V6 and a 6 spd auto. Less weight would help any of these vehicles climb the hill, a lot of it has to do with how much gas and abuse you’re willing to have your rig receive.

[@alanmohn4146]

Just curious but is that the Aiken mine you are at.

[@erikbasil2787]

Yes that's the Aiken mine

[@bruceyyyyy]

Having done similar obstacles in various vehicles momentum is the way. I've never seen any vehicle crawl up that. The lighter ones tend to need less speed. Can't beat gravity I guess. Momentum: This is the way.

[@JonDZ_Adventuring]

Absolutely 💯 Bruce Bruce! Power to weight ratio really comes in handy here. I was having trouble with my sequential mode upshifting to 2nd gear. When the RPMs hit redline, it’s an automatic upshift. It was crazy to see how much faster the Xterra was entering the climb. I wonder how a dash mounted Go Pro would look during the climb.

[@bruceyyyyy]

@@JonDZ_Adventuring The easiest thing I've seen climb stuff like this is a side by side that's still kicking rocks just not nearly as much.

[@bruceyyyyy]

@@JonDZ_Adventuring Also would love to hear your feedback from a fellow car nerd on the new Forester Wilderness video.

[@JonDZ_Adventuring]

@@bruceyyyyy I have you belled 🔔, I was on the Mojave Road for 4 nights / 4 days and missed the notification. Awesome video! I have left a comment on the video. Looking forward to more of the Forester Wilderness.

[@bruceyyyyy]

@@JonDZ_Adventuring I figured you was busy. I thought it was fascinating the way the Red Outback and Foz Wilderness climbed so differently even though they have the same Engine/Trans

[@edgarandreasyan521]

I wonder if I would be able to crawl it with the front Nd rear locked

[@JonDZ_Adventuring]

Probably not 🤣. The terrain is really really interesting. The only way is to SEND IT.

[@kaboom06]

Where is this place?

[@JonDZ_Adventuring]

It’s off the Mojave Road

[@robertom883]

90% driver skill, 10% vehicle.

[@JonDZ_Adventuring]

I was going to say 95% driver courage 😃

[@bajasoobnut]

Sequoia should have gone in 4lo and 1st gear lol

[@TheTtrexx]

Old Xterra kilsl pilot

[@fermincarrasco800]

Subaru CVT is garbage should never go off road .

[@JonDZ_Adventuring]

Wooo, rough choice of words. While I’d never purchase another CVT again (or let my Wife buy one). The CVT Subaru made it up the steep hill. It has all sorts of gear too!