On our trip to Romania, we wanted to take a closer look at off-road driving.
The Hoppetosse is a very all-terrain vehicle. With a length of 8 m and a wheelbase of 3.60 m, it is quite maneuverable for a truck. Powered by an 8-cylinder diesel engine with 250 hp. Large 14:00 tires. Reduction gear. Center, front and rear axle differential. The ready-to-trip weight is 12.7 tons. This means there is still a 20 % reserve compared to the 16 tons permissible total weight – important when the going gets tough. There is sufficient ground clearance. My uncle Knud by marriage commented on this: ‘It’s nice when you can sit under the car.
So theoretically you can get almost anywhere with this truck.
What’s missing? The experience. So we’ve driven a lot in recent years, even on small and narrow roads. Today, we manage the dimensions quite well and have become a well-coordinated team with pilot Josef and co-pilot and chief navigator Ulrike.
We chose a few routes from the Pistenkuh’s book of off-road routes in Romania.
After arriving in Romania, we reduced the tire pressure from 5.5 to 4.5 bar by almost 20 % so that the truck runs more comfortably on the country’s bumpy roads. This tire pressure is also suitable for driving on slopes.
Our first route with a total distance of 54.5 km started about 30 km east of Brasov. We had deliberately chosen a very easy route that was suitable for getting in the mood. It was more or less a gravel road, always sufficiently wide. Listed in the book as difficulty level 1. Any car can drive it.
We then ventured onto another route that was supposed to have some more difficult sections. It was 95 km long, 58.5 km of which were off-road, difficulty level 3, and we started in Sibiu (Hermannstadt). There were 3,537 meters of elevation gain on the route – so quite a bit of climbing with the four-wheeler.
We drove onto the route late in the afternoon at an altitude of 447 meters. We just managed to drive through a small tunnel at the start of the
we were just able to drive through. Our plastic wash barrel on the roof rack is our highest point, about 10 cm higher than the truck. The barrel grazed the top, but it worked.
After a few hours, we reached a forestry site at an altitude of 1,370 m where we spent the night.
It rained during the night and we continued the next morning in good weather. Knowing that the rain had certainly created some puddles and muddy patches.
The road was bumpy, then became softer.
The most difficult part was a ride downhill on a slope with lots of washouts. But we managed to master it – it’s a good thing no one was coming towards us!
Now we know what Sabine and Burkhart Koch mean by difficulty level 3 – it’s doable for us. It was fun!
On our next route – quite easy but very scenic – we were on the road from Hunedoara to Dobra.
We had a beautiful sunny day in a changeable landscape for the 88 km route with 46 off-road kilometers.
As is usual with many paths in the Carpathians, this one also wound its way through deeply incised valleys up to a plateau, then further along the course of a river. We were particularly impressed by the Dobra Valley. Thanks to the seat height in the Hoppetosse, we were able to enjoy many beautiful moments as we rode through.
Dear travel enthusiasts, if you like being out and about in the countryside, even off the beaten track, then take a trip to Romania. There is something for every taste and requirement.
