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On 6/20, I made the 120 mile round trip haul down to the Port Mansfield Channel and back. The drive starts at the entrance to Padre Island National Seashore and dead-ends at the channel that separates North & South Padre Island, which comprise the longest barrier island in the world. The National Park Service says a high-clearance 4WD vehicle is needed for the drive, and I agree with that statement.
Shortly past the visitor center, the “road” becomes sand. The trek involves driving through the reasonably populated Malaquite Beach for the first few miles, followed by nonstop beach driving with less & less evidence of humanity for the remaining 50+ miles.
Much of the drive was accomplished on the firmer sand closer to the water, but a significant portion was carried out in loose sand, or with one side on firmer and one side on looser sand.
Once I was through the more populated, northern part of the drive, I put my 2.3 manual in Sand mode (4H, with rear locker engaged), third gear and made the bulk of the drive with my cruise control on 30 mph, so I could concentrate on steering and enjoying the view of the ocean. In loose sand the engine would bog in third, disengaging the cruise and necessitating a downshift to second. As I got more experienced at the game, I would preemptively accelerate in third when hitting the soft stuff and them let off to resume cruise control, without it disengaging. I drove south with windows down and back north with windows up and the A/C on. The A/C worked great despite the brutal heat and humidity.
The only downside I would take away from my sandy journey was the poor gas mileage. A little more than 11mpg. Fortunately I had filled up my 2 door (smaller gas tank) at the outset, as my available range was only only about 25 miles at the conclusion.
On the drive home to Austin, I took the lesser traveled Toll Road 130. The speed limit is 85 and I set my cruise on 88. The stock,
Sasquatch Badlands was fine, if a bit noisy, in this setting, although fuel economy dropped from 19+ to about 16 at that speed.
Shortly past the visitor center, the “road” becomes sand. The trek involves driving through the reasonably populated Malaquite Beach for the first few miles, followed by nonstop beach driving with less & less evidence of humanity for the remaining 50+ miles.
Much of the drive was accomplished on the firmer sand closer to the water, but a significant portion was carried out in loose sand, or with one side on firmer and one side on looser sand.
Once I was through the more populated, northern part of the drive, I put my 2.3 manual in Sand mode (4H, with rear locker engaged), third gear and made the bulk of the drive with my cruise control on 30 mph, so I could concentrate on steering and enjoying the view of the ocean. In loose sand the engine would bog in third, disengaging the cruise and necessitating a downshift to second. As I got more experienced at the game, I would preemptively accelerate in third when hitting the soft stuff and them let off to resume cruise control, without it disengaging. I drove south with windows down and back north with windows up and the A/C on. The A/C worked great despite the brutal heat and humidity.
The only downside I would take away from my sandy journey was the poor gas mileage. A little more than 11mpg. Fortunately I had filled up my 2 door (smaller gas tank) at the outset, as my available range was only only about 25 miles at the conclusion.
On the drive home to Austin, I took the lesser traveled Toll Road 130. The speed limit is 85 and I set my cruise on 88. The stock,
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