WH Dep Ed Alice Ellis goes off the beaten track to try her hand at extreme driving.
Once upon a time, 4WDs were a rural-Australia thing – the only city slickers buying them were extreme weekend warriors or serious soccer mums. But now, for the first time, SUVs – the modern-day versions of 4WDs – have outsold regular cars here in Oz. And it’s us girls who’ve driven this change – more women than men are now behind the wheel of sport utility vehicles. So what’s all the fuss about? Why have SUVs become so popular? And should I get out of the station wagon and into the SUV myself? To find out, I take a trip to the Holden Proving Ground in Lang Lang, Victoria: more than 875 hectares of extreme off-road conditions, winding country roads and speed tracks where all vehicles are tested and tuned for Aussie conditions.
Trying terrain
First the Holden engineers get me behind the wheel of a Trailblazer and take me about as off-road as you can get. When I see that I’ll be driving up and down what are basically vertical dirt hills, through muddy lakes and over boulder-size crags, I start to freak a little. “I don’t think I can do this,” I say.
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