Off-Roading & Camping in the TReg

I decided to buy the TReg as soon as I found out I was going to move to the Southwest.  After looking at the terrain, I knew I was going to need something capable of going offroad, but maintaining the ability to carve some corners up in the mountain roads...So now I've been living in southern New Mexico for a number of months now, and I'd been waiting to use the TReg for its intended purpose.

This weekend, I went on an impromptu camping trip up in the Sacramento Mountains.  The campsite was a mere 36 miles away from my house, but with the curve of the mountain roads and 30mph speed limit, it took over a hour to arrive.  Driving on these roads made me miss the grip and turning prowess of my R32, but even with the bigger tires, the big TReg handled beautifully in Sport mode.


Upon turning off the main highway, I started up a "gravel" road towards the campsite.  I use "gravel" because that's how it was described to me.  A more accurate description for the surface of the road would be "rocky trail".  There were rocks of all sizes, shapes and sharpness on the way up to the site.  At this point, I raised the suspension up to Offroad height and turned on the Comfort setting of the shocks.  With a couple of relatively smooth straightaways, and the high profile all-terrain tires I'd fitted, I was able to get up to 30-something miles per hour before my wife suggested I "back off" the accelerator.  After driving by a campsite and seeing it empty, I decided to do some exploring in the surrounding area.  I regret only doing this for a few minutes before backing in to my camping spot.

My mother-in-law had bought us a Sportz SUV tent for Christmas, and this was the first chance we got to use it.  It's a normal square tent that sleeps 6-8 people, and in addition to a screen room, has a "SUV sleeve" that connects to the back of most SUVs and allows a pass-through to the boot.  The TReg's back seats fold completely flat, and upon lowering the air suspension to the Loading Level, it's an easy task for anyone to climb into the back (including our two dogs). :-)

All in all, I'm extremely happy with the way the TReg handled the wilderness (and that it only screwed up my back for a week, sans air mattress).