Here is a cross post from my forum for those who are interested..
Beth and decided to cruise the Pinz to circle yer wagens 22 in Sevierville TN this past weekend.. It was aboiut a 3.5 hour drive in the Pinz that was a real blast.. Crusing through the mountains listening to the sound of aircooled superiority and the tranny howling and differentials meshing was awesome! (BTW- when you can find a chick these days that will ride 3 hours+ in a rig like this while being stared at by every passer by and listen to the gears and tires howling, do without a radio or A/C and not care you know you are a very lucky man!)
On the way up we got about 15 MPG! Thats pretty good for this big beast being driven at WOT across the mountains with a pretty good load..
So on the way to the show I remember that there is a tributary of the Tennessee river that goes along side the show grounds and I was already contemplating putting the pinz to its first big test since I have owned it... I get to the show and decide against the river crossing.. Then on the last day of the show an old buddy of mine says "Jake I dare ya to cross the river in that thing" and that got me thinking again.. So then I decided what the hell and went looking for a good entry point into the river... We found it and I jumped in, locked her in low range, engaged 4X4 and locked both differentials....
I walked across that river like a mountain goat! I never even spun the first tire crossing the river and even coming back up the river bank! We finished packing and drove the beast back home across the mountains and got 18 MPG on the way home!
Nothing like a real 4X4 without a damn radiator.. Here are the pics
It was a little swampy when I first entered the river, but that was no challenge for the Pinz!
Right about now I wondered just how deep the water was going to get.. This was only about 2 feet- nuttin to it.
This is one wide little river
After turning around here I am on the way back toward the crowd.. By this time about 40 people were watching saying "Damn, that guy is crazy" Here you can see the mad scientist behind the wheel and the MassIVe badge on the passenger side placard holder- where it belongs.
Here is the Pinz wiping his shoes off before climbing the bank out of the river bed..
And here I am climbing about a 50 degree incline in 4X4 with the diffs locked and the engine screaming about 4500 RPM and going about 2 MPH!
This is quickly becoming my favorite of all my toys, hell I think I like it better than either one of my Porsche's- perhaps thats because it even has a rifle rack from the factory!
I just ordered me some new tires today for it.. the old swiss army tires are the originals from 74 and have seen better days.. The new ones are 3" taller and 2" wider than stock.
Just wait till this baby gets a set of Nickies and EFI...
