i have returned from the victorian high country (2010 fl2 td4 - running 16" 225/75 maxxis buck shots) last week in april 2012 - travelled in convoy with a 2005 d3 and a 1990 range rover 3.9 petrol- the fl2 is extremely capable off road - spent a week travelling around and camping (rain and snow) the following tracks covered were rated 'black diamond' hard in the dry we covered these tracks in the wet and snow - if you know the high country these are difficult tracks -

monument track to craigs hut - rough and rutted

clear water track from craigs hut to mount sterling (parts of this track were extremely rutted - the fl2 was at its limit (as in not damaging anything)

the circuit road was partially closed to a land slip which forced us to travel the above tracks to visit craigs hut in the snow - all other tracks in the high country were wet - but passable

decent of billy goat bluff track from the pinnacles - starts at 1200m - drops 7km down to the river - heading down before the heli pad - the track has been chewed out bad by the boys running lifited vehicles with big tyres (took us 1 hour 15 minutes to decend from top to bottom- using hill decent) brakes smelt good ! stopped at the heli pad to let the brakes cool - there was an abandoned vw toureg on the track about 500m from the top (step section) of billy goat - you could just ease past - the dargo pub had all the guff on the vw - apparently the vehicle overheated on the way up and the main ecu shut the motor down and would not restart ( they were on a tag along tour - fund raiser) - how do you retireve this ? - helicopter, dozer, take the technician up -

no underneath damage to the fl2 and was never stopped and really did not look like getting stuck - wheel placement was vital - I had to hit almost every rock 'gently' of course I could find to keep the under side undamaged and to aviod being hung up -

on our way to the pinnacles at licola there was a 'mexican' fella who knew the area well in a lifted and muddy tyred defender td5 late model and this bloke said that there was no way the fl2 would descend billy goat with out damage and being out of control - this was after us travelling the above tracks around craigs hut -my mate in the d3 told him he would be surprised by the fl2 capabilities.

dont let any body tell you the fl2 is a suv just because it does not have low range

Cheers for that report Dave. ....need to explain mexican to our UK friends, Victoria is south of the NSW border so we call them mexicans.

I just thought he met a actual mexican, picture In my head when reading, he had the moustache, sombrero and the rest

npinks wrote:

I just thought he met a actual mexican, picture In my head when reading, he had the moustache, sombrero and the rest

with the 4x4 donkey - of course

Click image to enlarge

 2002 Honda VFR800
2002 Toyota Celica 140 Silver (mid life crisis - again!)
2007 FL2 GS Manual Army Reconnaissance Green + freel2.com sticker
2004 Toyota Celica 140 Black - Gone
2000 Toyota Celica 140 Silver - Gone
1998 Toyota Celica ST Pearl Green - Gone
1996 Nissan Primera 1.6 - Gone
1994 Rover Montego 1.6 Auto - Gone

Great report Dave, sounds like a fun ride. Any pictures / video maybe?

I grew up touring that part of the Victorian Alps riding Trials motorbikes. In those days, the only vehicles we ever saw, and very rarely at that, were range rovers. Awesome Country and great to hear you can slowly navigate the area in an FL2, albeit slowly and carefully.
I dare say it won't be long before a few people start seriously modifying the FL2 with (primarily) raised suspension kits and mud tyres, diff lockers (if possible?) etc and I suspect they will be able to go almost anywhere then. Great report.

Hi Dave, thank you for the great report.

VW Touareg, ha… When I was buying my FL2, I was considering the Touareg. Glad I didn’t go for it - very happy with my Landie.

i have just uploaded images (6) of the fl2 on the aulro web site in the gallery under billy goat bluff track- (victorian high country - victoria australia) the images also show the 16" rims and the maxxis buckshot tyres (my first upload - i will try and upload on this web site - in the future)

dave 2010 HSE TD4 Ipanema Sand - almond interior

i have just uploaded images (6) of the fl2 on the aulro web site in the gallery under billy goat bluff track- (victorian high country - victoria australia) the images also show the 16" rims and the maxxis buckshot tyres (my first upload - i will try and upload on this web site - in the future)

dave 2010 HSE TD4 Ipanema Sand - almond interior