XC70s conquer Stockton Beach, Anna Bay - 3rd NSW/ACT Drive Day

**Matters** · 03-07-2010, 04:58 AM

When it comes to sand duning, the Volvo XC70 probably doesn't come to mind. As the pictures below show, perhaps it should.

Today's drive commenced in Sydney's leafy lower North Shore. The destination: the Anna Bay entrance to Stockton Beach, some 180 odd kilometres North of Sydney.

Waiving us off from the starting line was "SydneyV70xc", who couldn't make the trip. He turned up in his dramatic yellow Lotus Esprit V8, much to our collective delight.

From there we leisured up the Freeway and made a brief stop to pick up our Rescue vehicle: a 2010 Toyota Prado ZR Diesel Turbo [as it turned out it wasn't needed]. I piloted the Prado in lieu of my BZ XC70.

MyZomela, accompanied by his wife and son, piloted his beige XC70. PJ810, ever the die hard, was in charge of his near immortal white ride. A sleep deprived Tank 2 navigated his silver XC.

We started off a little tentative, sticking mainly to the beach. But after a while, all of us slowly drifted towards the dunes. MyZomela led the way, bravely testing his vehicles capabilities. The other two followed, including some impressive wave crashing by the ever daring PJ810.

As it turned out, the XC70s took every dune that I took in the Prado. They had to work a little harder due to their lower ride height, but apart from that they were amazing. We were all blown away at how capable they were.

Pretty soon we were zipping up, down and around. Tank 2 got mildly stuck once, due to a lack of pace, but reverse gear and a little people power got it going again. He gave it another go - got some air - and cleared the dune without fuss. For good measure he went around again.

Seeing the XC70s ripping around was quite a sight. It certainly caught the attention of the many heavy SUV users, such as the Landcruiser, Pajero and Patrol crowd.

All in all, the XC70 was mighty impressive in the sand. Let's hope that more of you get to experience its capabilities.

[PS. I have some experience on sand/dunes and encourage you to go with experienced people at least for your first time. You need to let down the tyre pressure - we went down to 15 psi - and you need to be told how to drive on the sand. You must also know of the dangers, practises and peculiarities of the particular area you are driving in. Your insurance probably won't cover you here so it is better to be safe than sorry].

**Matters** · 03-07-2010, 05:00 AM

PJ810 warms up the seat in the visiting Lotus

**Matters** · 03-07-2010, 05:05 AM

**Matters** · 03-07-2010, 05:09 AM

**Matters** · 03-07-2010, 05:11 AM

**Matters** · 03-07-2010, 05:13 AM

**Matters** · 03-07-2010, 05:15 AM

**PJ810** · 03-07-2010, 05:34 AM

It most certainly was a fantastic day that saw all of us amazed at the capabilities of our cars. Seeing the Prado struggle slightly to get up one of the steeper dunes, we all decided to be sensible. Matters knew which words would trigger my buttons, and in no time I decided I had to give it a go. A few minutes later all the XC70s were up in the more difficult dunes with no real effort. The main consideration was clearance. My car bottomed out on the odd occasion. But traction remained strong and steady.

It was a liberating experience to have several kilometers of clear beach ahead of me, no other cars or people, driving about 60km/h with the breaking waves only metres beside me.

Here are some of my photos. More will come from all of us:

**sydneyv70xc** · 03-07-2010, 12:14 PM

What a hoot! My XC is sorry she lost her cam belt otherwise we would have as much fun as you guys! Great pics and my pics of the bunch would be PJ810 splashing, MyZomela disappearing into the dunes as you see his rear end sinks

into the horizon and Tank2 looking at the scenery

between the two XCs.
Well done

fellows and we gotta do another before the October long weekend you discussed over dinner. Maybe in a few weeks we do a day trip again? Maybe less exciting like a picnic somewhere close? Hopefully my XC will be fit to play then.
Now don't forget to wash every inche of the XCs and get that salt off. And don't forget to wash the engine bay when its cold. You don't want to crack a head or the turbos and cover the electrical bits!
Cheers

p.s. Bravey Award goes to Tank2 for his second attempt and PJ810 gets the Best Surfer Award!