MIX IT TO THE MAX

Around the country, Isuzu owners trek to the bush (or the beach) to gain and hone their skills — and see what their utes and wagons will do

It’s a ripper day in the chilly Wolgan Valley. Under clear blue skies, a steady convoy of four-wheel drives clambers over the sandstone ridges. Crawling up and down the fire trails in this land of wallabies, wombats and wattle, 14 Isuzu 4WDs reach yet another spectacular lookout in the forests.

Around the country, in the bush or on a beach on one day each month, D-Max and MU-X owners get to know what their vehicles can do, organised and shepherded by Isuzu Ute Australia. As well as the learning, there are the scenery, the bonhomie and beers at day’s end.

There are also a handful of three-day outings each year, like this one in the mountains about 150km northwest of Sydney.

I-Venture clubbers pay $1500 per vehicle, with two people aboard, to cover guide, instructor, vehicle permits, meals, accommodation — and lessons and laughs.

Our trek begins on a Friday at the Hydro Majestic Hotel with quick words and quips from I-Venture trainer Dave Wilson about how 4WDs work, how 20-22psi in the tyres is best for this part of the world and how best to have that ripper time. Our guide is Bathurst local Simmo.

There are folk from three states in a mix of wagons and utes, all automatics.

Paul and Kathleen Gollagher from Brisbane are on their seventh I-Venture in a three-yearold D-Max. Rookies Tony Chahoud and Daniel Fedrigo from Sydney have teamed up in Tony’s newish MU-X (Daniel owns an Isuzu, too) to see how it’s done.

The Isuzu four-door 4WDs are competent and capable machines and good value, with the utes starting from $39,490 and the wagons $44,990. The shared 3.0-litre turbo diesel (130kW/ 430Nm) is a reliable worker that will go all day. The chassis and suspensions are robust and the build quality good, even if there’s an oversupply of hard plastics in the cabins.

The Isuzus may not be as sophisticated as some — more Blundstone than RM Williams — but at these price points there’s room in the budget for custom extras. High on the list would be tyres with more aggressive off-road tread and a rear differential lock.

Fed, briefed and packed, we’re all good to go. We scale and descend the tracks to the Lost City — natural sandstone sculptures in the Newnes State Forest — then head off to ancient art work at Blackfellows Hands cave.

There’s gentle coaching and coaxing on channel 20 from instructor Dave: “Let’s pull the speed down a little … good … hold that line … now left, a freckle more.”

The standard Isuzus negotiate rough and ready tracks as easily as those with modifications.

Serious sections of off-road work precede some dirt drives and then a bitumen run to dinner and the night’s accommodation.

The Gollaghers didn’t know much about four-wheel driving before buying a base D-Max and heading out with the I-Venture club. Now, after adding $12,000 worth of upgrades, the Queenslanders are regular off-roaders.

“There were a lot of places we wanted to see and it’s a bit daunting when you don’t know how (to four-wheel drive),” Paul says.

“If you don’t know what you’re doing you could get into strife. These are well-organised trips, nothing overly difficult and the more you do, the more experience gained.”

Mates Tony and Daniel knew they needed better off-road skills to get access to a farm block. “We’d definitely do it again,” says Daniel. “And it shows stock vehicles can do a lot.” The “lot” is evident on the next trek, to the majestic Wolgan Gap lookout in the Ben Bullen forest and more forest tracks, followed by a gold panning break in the Turon River, before an overnighter at Rydges Hotel on Conrod Straight, Bathurst.

Day three starts with laps of the famed Mount Panorama circuit before another scenic drive and back into scrub in Marangaroo National Park and a splash in the Coxs River near Mount Walker.

Homeward bound, there’s precious little sign of any vehicle damage but plenty of signs and sounds from satisfied Isuzu owners to highlight why I-Venture outings book out smartly.

After three days of wandering forest trails, climbing and descending some difficult lowrange terrain, wading through rivers and lunching in the wild, all agree they’d do it again.

View www.iventureclub.com.au.