1. Off-road driving has its own unique fundamentals that need to be gradually mastered.
In off-road driving, the posture you adopt is vastly different from everyday driving because you often encounter highly uneven terrain. If every bump causes you to slide or bounce in your seat, you’ll lose control and won’t even be able to accelerate properly. Unless your body can maintain the correct posture steadily. You might have experienced this before—hitting a ditch on a dirt road, your body jerking violently, making it hard to control the accelerator. Driving like this is completely out of control. That’s exactly what off-road driving is like—the vehicle’s posture is constantly changing.
Let’s look at how to maintain the correct posture. First, position your hips properly. Adjust the seat forward or backward until your knees still feel comfortable when the clutch pedal is fully depressed. For automatic cars, press your left foot firmly against the floor of the cabin to keep your body firmly against the seat.
Next, secure your arm positions. Hold the steering wheel at the 10 o’clock and 2 o’clock positions, leaving enough room for your elbows to move. Sit with the backrest fully upright so that even when holding the steering wheel in a straight line with both arms, your elbows remain comfortable. The backrest must lean sufficiently forward so that you can sit upright. This posture may feel uncomfortable at first, but it’s essential for off-road driving. If you consciously adopt this posture every time you go off-road, you’ll quickly get used to it. Quick tip: Before tackling an obstacle section, lower both side mirrors to better see the terrain around the rear wheels.
2. Keep Your Eyes on the Road Ahead
The most effective posture while off-roading is sitting upright. In this position, your body remains most stable, making steering, braking, and clutching more agile. Moreover, it’s easiest to see the road ahead, as even slight irregularities can affect driving. When off-roading, it’s crucial to clearly see the path and stay on the correct route, so it’s best to keep your eyes fixed firmly on the road ahead.
3. How to Use a Seatbelt?
ELR can sometimes work against you. When the system detects tension on the seatbelt, it locks it. This system is called Emergency Locking Retractor (ELR). But sometimes this system can be quite annoying—some seatbelts use pendulum mechanisms that lock the belt with even the slightest angle of the car, preventing you from releasing it. Many off-roaders have encountered this issue. We can install a stopper on such seatbelts—you can pull the belt out a bit longer, leave some slack, and attach a stopper so it doesn’t lock up at the slightest movement.
4. There’s a Principle to Steering Control
Proper steering makes sense. During off-road driving, never place your fingers inside the steering wheel rim—this prevents finger injuries if the wheel kicks back. It’s not hard—just stay focused, and you’ll get used to it. The safest way is to grip the steering wheel along the outer rim with your fingers. Don’t take shortcuts by gripping it backward—if the wheel kicks back, it could injure your wrist.
5. There’s a Trick to Turning the Steering Wheel
Hand-over-hand steering is often used by WRC drivers. Start by gripping the steering wheel with your left hand and turning right, then release your right hand. When your left hand reaches your right hand, transfer the wheel to your right hand, which continues turning downward. When your left hand slides to the lowest position, grip the wheel again for the second rotation, while your right hand slides to the highest position, ready to take over. Repeat this process. This technique, commonly used by WRC drivers, allows for precise and quick wheel direction changes.
6. What Is Kickback?
If you feel resistance while steering, beware. Kickback is the wheel’s reaction when hitting an obstacle, causing the steering wheel to suddenly jerk back with significant force, potentially trapping or injuring your fingers. Even power-assisted steering has slightly less kickback, but you should still be cautious.
7. Clever Uses of the Differential
1. Go downhill slowly while braking
When making a sharp U-turn at the mountain base, the slope at the corner is about 20 degrees and fairly steep, so be cautious going downhill. Brake steadily to keep the vehicle under control.
2. Don’t accelerate through turns
Generally, under these conditions, you can drive using rear-wheel drive and accelerate through turns using reverse rotation. This might bring the rear of the car into alignment with the slope, placing it in a good position to complete the turn. However, the ruts on the road are too deep for accelerating through turns.
3. Use the differential
Apply braking with the differential, retrying failed turns. But when releasing the differential brake, its function makes a noticeable difference, allowing the vehicle to pass smoothly along the intended path. When going uphill, keep the front of the vehicle steering and braking, and build momentum during acceleration to help rotate the rear. This greatly reduces the turning radius.
4. Let the rear slide while going uphill
The rear sliding maneuver should be done in 4WD mode. The rear end rotates around the front wheels used for climbing, making the turn quick, and then all you have to do is climb.
8. Making Sharp Turns
On low-friction surfaces, using the ruts made by the front wheels can help you turn. Generating momentum through acceleration can make the rear swing around. The right driving techniques can sometimes help you execute sharp turns you’d normally think impossible.
1. Turn the wheel fully during impact
Use the full width of the path, keeping the inner wheels as close to the mountain wall as possible, while turning the outer wheels fully.
2. Stay close to the inner edge when reaching the mountain road
Now you’ve reached the mountain road, but the turn is completed in an instant through the next three steps.
3. Give it your all for the final sprint
If you push for time here, you won’t get stuck. You need some momentum to clear an obstacle—lift the front end and make a quick dash.
4. Make use of the handbrake as well
You’ve passed the diagonal where you got stuck, but the rear wheels are still spinning. Immediately use your handbrake to assist with steering.
5. Accelerate to regain traction
When climbing, the tail may slide—ease off the throttle slightly to help the slipping tires regain grip.
6. You’re not completely through yet
You’ve made a 180-degree turn and think you’re in the clear, but stay alert—you’ll see you’re now in danger on a steep slope. Don’t lose your momentum or you’ll get stuck. Keep moving forward.
7. It’s crucial to hold the steering wheel firmly
When descending, gently apply the handbrake and drive slowly. Ensure all four tires have traction. If any tire starts to slip, there’s a high risk of oversteering during the turn.
8. Perform the steps smoothly in sequence
You’ve successfully completed a roughly 250-degree turn by transitioning smoothly from one step to the next. If you try this even in a competition where there's no room for error, you can speed up slightly.
9. Pre-observing the situation is very helpful
You’ll eventually come to a large muddy puddle. Since you can’t see the condition of the road through the mud, when planning your route, it’s important to observe how others fare as they cross.
Nine. Shift direction when accelerating through turns
1. Move forward slowly and correctly assess the situation.
To get around a large pit ahead without having to reverse multiple times, the only way is to change direction while accelerating through the turn.
2. Let the rear slide at the start.
As you enter the downhill, there’s a sharp turn. When going downhill, if the right side of the car is on a slightly downward slope, be prepared to let the rear slide so it moves toward the lower right side during the accelerating turn.
3. Shift back to 4L and accelerate.
While accelerating through the turn, you’ve been maneuvering the rear. Shift the transmission back to 4L and accelerate without hesitation. Avoid the inside of the uphill and aim for the outer line.
4. Once you climb onto the flat high ground, you can relax a bit.
The ground here is relatively soft, so after reaching the top, ease off the accelerator to prevent wheel spin and guide the vehicle back onto level terrain.
Ten. Power through muddy terrain
1. Observe not just the depth, but also the texture of the mud.
Scouting the muddy section is a tricky task. Check the texture of the upper and lower layers of the mud to figure out how deep you must go before hitting solid ground. Charging in without proper precautions will only lead to trouble—sometimes you must resolutely resist the temptation to try.
2. Make your first attempt based on theory.
First, start with strong power. When crawling up a muddy mountain road, starting power is extremely important—the key is how long that initial momentum can be sustained. Try to stick to the flattest possible route. If you immediately encounter a deep pit after starting, unless you absolutely can’t avoid it, try to maneuver around the undulating muddy path. Aim to charge in as straight a line as possible. This applies whether climbing a hill or crossing muddy terrain, so driving in a straight line for reconnaissance is crucial. Feel out the limits of the route you’re scouting. If your tires begin to slip, it’s best to repeat the attempt. By the time you reach your chosen route, you should have a good sense of its limits.
3. Don’t force things—sometimes it’s better to let go gracefully.
If the situation is beyond your capabilities, speeding up won’t solve the problem. It’s best to get the vehicle unstuck as you move forward, using the tire tracks to repeatedly try. Within the tracks, you can definitely accelerate, and you can also use this method to widen the tire ruts and find a path forward.
4. How much air can you let out of your tires?
Lowering the tire pressure increases the contact area between the tire and the ground. This makes the tire more flexible and less prone to getting stuck. However, if you let out too much air, mud and small stones may get into the space between the tire and the rim.
5. Slipping or controlling a slip
If your tires are spinning for no reason, ease off the accelerator pedal to regain traction—that’s the theory. At high speeds, you can also let the wheels spin to fling off built-up mud. Once the high-speed spinning throws off the mud, the tire surface gains better grip, and the partially dried mud is easier to shed.
6. Make a second attempt.
Try to drive out of the rut. Aim for firmer ground on the left or right side and drive out of the rut. First move one side along an available route, slowly approaching diagonally. Look for a path toward the hilltop. The surface at the top of the slope tends to be drier. While observing the road ahead and behind, keep the front wheels in contact with the ground so you can keep moving forward.
If you’re planning to drive your car into the mud just for fun, know that there’s rarely a rescue vehicle waiting nearby. If you need help, give a clear signal, and make sure everyone knows what you’re doing.
XI. Scouting the Route by Bouncing
1. Accelerate suddenly when starting. Sometimes the route may seem hopeless, but speeding over the potholes and dips directly in front of you can help.
2. Drive straight toward your destination, aiming directly for the mountaintop.
3. Quickly determine direction after landing. Once all four wheels are on the hillside, quickly steer uphill and choose the shortest inner line.
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