RV FEATURE
Picture the scene. Seven or eight brand new MU-Xs at the base of a steep, scalloped track that wiser people might have avoided. Mark Taylor, the lead instructor of the i- Venture 4WD club, had already determined these vehicles were up to the task, and had already picked the best line.
This was to be the ultimate test of the vehicle’ s out-of-the-box 4WD capabilities. And frankly, if Isuzu Ute Australia was willing to potentially add a few dings and scratches to the lovely new bodywork of these vehicles, who was I to argue? As instructed by Mark Taylor, I put the vehicle into low range, pressed the button to engage the rear diff lock, and then the button to engage Rough Terrain Mode.
In first gear, I crept forward, following the hand signals of the crew, who were there to monitor wheel placement as I and everyone else aboard their own MU-Xs negotiated this rutted stretch of boulders, gravel and valleys. The pressure in the tyres had been reduced to 24psi – as others did this track, I watched as the tyre rubber deformed around rocks both large and small. As I maintained constant but gentle throttle input, my vehicle began to articulate and move with the gnarly terrain, gently walking itself up and over the worst of it.
With correct wheel placement and the valuable input of a spotter, I was able to avoid bottoming out on any obstacles, scratching up the side steps or the paint, and there was not a single dent in the body. Traction was harder to find at the final hill. But by then, the only way out was up and over. I felt the wheels slipping a little in the loose gravel. Was this a bad idea, after all? Suddenly, the wheels gripped the loose surface and I was out.
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