Here's a first.

Riding home on the train last night, my. Wife calls. This puts me in a bad mood because a) I am in the quiet zone on the train and b) my wife knows this and only calls in an "emergency". Turns out she has been visiting a possible new school for the mini-wife. And decided to exit the car park via the sports field.

And got stuck. 50 metres in as it turns out - so the X didn't do too bad to get that far. Temp is -10C with 20cm of snow cover.

Once I arrive, We dig out soon enough. Interestingly, the car seemed very unruffled. Slamming the car from reverse to drive with accelerator floored created no explosions from the transmission or TC. Given how careful I been to preserve this part of the car, this type of "driving" caused me severe discomfort.

The wheels didn,t spin at all and the engine revs never went over 2000rpm. And we got out eventually.

So my hypothesis - the transfer case and transmission is not as weak as you or I may fear. I will report back if time proves me wrong!

Meanwhile, happy new year all!!!

 

This is what I like to hear. I have no idea why she chose to leave via the field but I'm glad she did haha.


Edit: what year is it?

 

Justink201, if the car in question is the one in his profile album, the 2005 estate, then it has no viscous coupling. In fact, I don't think any estate X-Type has it since the estate was introduced in 2004.

And no, what would break the transfer case is excess force. Basically, if you regularly floor it on maximum grip conditions (good tires on dry tarmac). If you're on snow or such it will sooner start spinning the wheels than breaking the transfer case. That being said, the viscous coupling in the early models may overheat and die if you engage in in long continuous wheel spinning sessions.

Do keep in mind that while AWD, this isn't an off-roader. The lack of ground clearance and rough knobbly tires can get you stuck on your belly like a beached whale. The only time I've gotten stuck in my VC-equipped 2001 car was a similar case when I thought I'd use an empty boat harbour parking lot as a roundabout, and it turned out to be covered in something like 20 cm of icy slush.

 

I conceptualize the transfer case/tranny combo as a grenade with the pin dangling half out, just waiting for some throttle abuse to go bang! Helps convey the idea to the boss (who is the main driver) not to bunny hop between the lights too much.

Re: choice of route home, yes, that had me wondering as I made my way there but based on previous experience, anything is possible and if she had told me she ended up on the roof of the school, it wouldn't have suprised me. Ok - i exagerrate, but only a little..

On this ocassion, Someone had cleared a bit of a track through the snow for a short way off the car park and that, on a magnetic heading basis, was the "right way" home. Lets say a couple of little visual clues (like a set of frickin' goal posts) got missed along the way...........

Magic.