I’ve been taking the xB EXBRO5 Edition on a number of local back road shakedown outings to get a sense of how the changes I’ve made are working in the real (rough) world, including a little test of hill climbing, thanks to this remote quarry access road. It doesn’t look terribly steep, but my iPhone measured it at up to 18 degrees at the steepest upper section. That wouldn’t be any problem at all if the surface was more solid or I had more than one-wheel drive, but it’s rutted and the surface was loose on the upper steep section.
My first attempt was with Traction Control Off. Note that I slowed down just before the ascent, so that I had very little or any momentum.
Electronic Traction Control, which applies braking force to the wheel that has lost traction, can be useful in some settings, but not in others. It’s generally most effective on wet pavement, and the least so in snow and very loose gravel and sand, where a churning tire can actually be better, up to a point. It creates a stuttering effect in situations like this, as the brake pulsates the slipping wheel.
So I turned it off in the second attempt. This wasn’t exactly scientific, as I might not have been going precisely the same speed. It too resulted in a fail, as one wheel started spinning in the looser and deeper of the two ruts. Note: If I was actually ascending this hill on a trip, I would have avoided the ruts, and tried to place my wheels in what looked like the firmest ground. I purposely placed the wheels in the ruts to see how it would do.
Try #3 involved more momentum, which is of course the best antidote possible for situations like this, in a vehicle that has limited traction. I don’t remember if Traction Control was on or off, but my sense is that on this section, it didn’t make much difference.
FWD vehicles are not at their best in this type of steep, loose surface, as the vehicle’s weight shifts to the rear. Depending on how the EXBRO5 trip across Nevada works out and if I’m still up for more in the future, I will seriously consider an aftermarket Limited Slip Differential, which is available. Obviously it’s a bit of an investment to buy and install it.
I’ve been driving the xB hard over longish stretches of rough forest service roads, which are pockmarked with wicked potholes and some nasty ruts, to make sure everything is holding together. On one of my outings I started hearing a metallic clunking sound from the front suspension. Something was definitely loose.
When I got home, I crawled underneath and checked every suspension bolt as well as mountings for the drive train and subframe. I finally tumbled to the obvious culprit: the nut normally hiding under a rubber plug in the center of the strut at the top, that retains the struts upper bearing. Out of sight; out of mind. But that’s been the only issue so far.
Removing the front sway bar has been a net positive. One of the consequences is increased oversteer, especially noticeable on downhill gravel curves, of which there are many on these roads. The rear end likes to come around, which for an old fan of Corvair and VW oversteer like me is both entertaining and not worrisome. Keeps it interesting.
I got this roof rack in order to carry a full-size spare as well as other stuff I’ll need for the trip; not just for the looks. I instantly noticed its effect, on both higher speed performance as well as mileage. The drop in performance is not too surprising, given that the xB’s little 1.5 L mill makes all of 103 hp, and the body is hardly aerodynamic to start with.
Having to work harder also means more fuel being consumed, so I did a test with it on and off on a flat stretch of I-5: the difference, as shown on my instant mpg readout, was up to six mpg at 75 mph, dropping from 28 to 22 mpg. At 70, it was about 5 mpg, and some 4 at 65. Taking it off felt like taking off a heavy backpack: relief!
I’m going to have to put it back for the Nevada trip, but the effect will mostly be felt on the way there and back, as below 50 mph on the overland sections the impact will be negligible. Good thing, as one leg is 219 miles between gas stations.
My outing one day also involved stopping off to hike to three remote waterfalls, and I’ll share a few shots of those. First up was Spirit Falls.
On the way to the next one, alongside a remote forest road, I encountered this unexpected tableau.
Keeping Oregon’s back woods weird.
Next up was Moon Falls, perhaps the most impressive of the three.
We had some welcome late-season precipitation, including snow at about the 4,000′ level.
It wasn’t enough to be an issue. But it was almost certainly the last snow of the season,at least at these elevations.
The final one was Pinard Falls.
Or is this the most impressive one?
These three are all located in a fairly remote area where the Willamette and Umpqua National Forests meet, about a 45 minute drive from our house.
Interesting comparison, that limited slip would make it a beast. Reminds me that my wife and I need to get out of the Portland Metro and partake of some gorge time.
While FWD has always been considered “safer” for winter hillclimbing in terms of stability, that unfavorable weight shift off the driven wheels certainly does no favors for actual traction to claw uphill will. Having said that, my parents use their 2007 Fit around their somewhat steeply sloped property and I’m always blown away by how that thing scampers up the slope on wet grass, with careful throttle application. I like this “subcompact fwd goes offroad” thing. With my old 4Runner various forest service roads were always just so easy and not challenging at all, with something like this you are at the edge of the performance envelope of the vehicle and the driver’s skill is being tested much more.
Paul will just have to adopt the early Model T technique of driving up hills backwards!
I used to read a Russian car blog with a lot of user-submitted trip reports, primarily in the Alti region of Siberia, many of them behind the wheel of second hand Japanese-market FWD economy cars. There was one grade in particular out that way that most of these cars struggled to ascend. Some tried the trip in reverse, others paid enterprising locals with ZiL and Ural trucks to haul them up.
with something like this you are at the edge of the performance envelope of the vehicle and the driver’s skill is being tested much more.
That is precisely the point.
When I had my cabin at 6000′ ft and on a relatively steep street, watching FWD vehicles, particularly mini-vans loaded up with the whole family attempt to climb was entertaining. Some folks “got it” and made those sitting in back get out and walk along side.
Our Suburban, being ex-government, had a front push bumper. That came in handy helping folks crest the hill. I even forgot to put it in 4WD sometimes and it still did the job.
I drove through a lot of Nevada last weekend, though mostly on pavement, and there was a lot of snow at higher elevations. At least 6” fell Friday night in Austin, on Hwy 50 and I also had heavy snow and sleet coming down from the sky, for about 50 miles in the Sierras, all of that on the California side of the state line, as I wound around to avoid the closures of recently plowed and opened passes. I’m sure by the time of your trip the weather will be warm but if it had been last week, your snow tires would have come in handy for more than just dirt road traction. BTW, if your route takes you anywhere near Gabbs, a semi-abandoned mining town, it is a treasure chest of CC’s. However, between heavy rain and a slightly eery feel, I didn’t stop to take any pictures. And if you haven’t been there, Spencer Hot Springs, just off the BDR southeast of Austin, is a nice stop though not quite up to the level of the best Oregon springs.
Great photos and I love this project. The Scion Overland edition is a mighty fine looking rig and appears to be quite functional as well. All three falls are quite impressive.
I’m surprised that the roof rack has that much effect on the MPG. I’ve got a hard box that I used on our minivan a couple of times and it did cost near 2 mpg. So it rarely got used, between the extra wind noise and the loss of MPG it went on right before the trip and came off as soon as we got home.
I suspect your discovery of a wilder side of the park may have another explanation.
The person responsible for the display, on hearing your vehicle coming, may have run off into the woods, waiting for you to leave so they could resume their enjoyment of the locale with their “girlfriend”.
Kinky! I like it.
I really enjoy these 2WD-turned-offroad posts. I experimented with my ’04 Sienna’s traction control in the snow on a local alley with a 15% grade. Under identical conditions, the van would make it up the hill with traction control but would get stuck about halfway up without.
I’ve seen FWD cars going up a 7% grade on I-70 in the snow, probably with all season tires, making it but barely, wheels spinning. Good tires make all the difference.
This just makes me wish I had bought one of these new- always liked them, but when they were available, buying a new car would have involved me winning the lottery or something. Then when I could afford a car, the much, much worse 2nd gen was out. (I leased a Mini instead.) It’s such a great, simple package. Give me one with a stick, and update the head unit to something that can do Apple CarPlay and I’d be fine for a very long time.
I wonder if they’re prone to rusting- I haven’t seen one in this region in years, nor its 2nd gen follower, even though they were relatively common cabs before Uber/Lyft decimated that industry.
The de-plasticking helps, as do the beefier tires.
As for the trip, Oregon is beautiful… but that found project with the doll would have definitely given me urban legend vibes. “Look at the doll, and you’ll have seven days to live.”
I had a 2003 Mini Cooper S as a daily driver and weekend autocross car for several years. I never took it on any logging trails, but I did drive it daily in New England winters. With proper tires, it was already pretty good in the snow (ignoring the low ground clearance). I added a limited slip, which, as I had hoped, made the car a lot easier to drive and quicker in autocross. As a bonus, the LSD moved the Mini from good to great in the snow. Traction was never a problem, even up steep, unplowed hills that it had struggled with before.
The Mini, while having poorer space utilization and more power, is similar in size, weight, and overall configuration to the xB. I would recommend adding an LSD to the xB if you’re going to be in low-traction situations out in the middle of nowhere.
Great photos. I love the “forest lounge”. The xB should have plenty of adventures left in it if it’s sharing genes with the Corolla bush taxi in this Dangerous Roads documentary:
https://youtu.be/y8k2ih45VRU
BTW I’ve been obsessed with the Dangerous Roads series. The driving skills of the drivers in these and the amount of life they wring out of their vehicles is incredible.
Paul, what year is the xB? Im surprised an inexpensive and simple Toyota product came with traction control. Was ir optional? Neither our 2005 Tundra nor the 2010 Fit had it.
’05 Tundras do come with TC, at least the 4×4. But there’s no button to readily turn it off. I strongly suspect the 4×2 has it too, but no button.
The Fit Sport had TC. And a button, but not labeled.
The xB was a high-content one-price package with essentially had no factory options and included TC. There were dealer-installed options, but they were dress-up stuff.
TC is no big deal; just some extra software as it’s closely related to VSC (Vehicle Stability Control (also known as ESC). Both apply brakes through the ABS system, as needed, for their respective purposes.
TC is a cheap alternative to an real LSD, and not a very good one at that. But they’ve become almost ubiquitous, as there’s no additional cost.
I had the cheapo base “fleet model” 4×4 and it did not have TC. A real LSD in the rear diff. Maybe the loaded TRD ones did.
The Fit is also the base model without.
You’re saying it had an LSD? Apparently Toyota dropped the LSD in favor of TC in ’05! You sure?
’05 was somewhat a transition year for the Tundra. ’06 was the last year of the 1st gen, but there seemed to be a few detail changes during the ’05 production run.
A friend with an early ’05 changed out the rear diff fluid for synthetic since he tows with it and it started chattering. Took it to the dealer for warranty repairs and they pointed out the owners manual prohibition on using synthetic in the LSD. They flushed it out with conventional fluid at no charge as a courtesy.