We have had our MY 2013 SE SD4 for nearly 12 months and I am still totally smitten with this vehicle. Over Easter we took it on a road trip from Sydney to Noosa in QLD and then back through country NSW and Barrington Tops. As a three person family we don't travel light, plus I had 2 x windsurf boards on the roof including quiver bag.

As a highway cruiser the Freely is a dream. I was driving a 6 CYL Holden Sportwagon which is a locally made car which is in its element on the open road. In saying that, the turbo Diesel engine of SD4 does not disappoint and the 420 Nm of torque is very handy on the climbs. Needless to say I had power on tap when I wanted it, with luxurious comfort to boot.

Day 1 saw us taking a break beach side South of Port Macquarie. The picnic spot was ideally located rights next to the hard wet sand..... I really had no choice but to go for a beach drive. Once we were on the sand, I put the Freely into sand mode and Command Shift automatically came into play. We cruised for a few hundred meters until I looked ahead and dread began to fill the pit of my stomach. The hard wet sand we had embarked upon was about to disappear into a high tidal zone and we were headed for dry soft sand. Note at this stage I had not anticipated running into dry sand so had not deflated the tyres. Within 30 seconds we had hit the dry sand and I was quickly knocking the gears from 3rd down to 1st. I was FREAKING out as we were heavily loaded and getting bogged on an isolated beach would not have been cool. All I could think was to keep the revs high and DO NOT STOP. My next challenge was to figure out how to do a U turn whist maintaining speed and revs without flipping the vehicle. I ended up performing a figure 8 type move and got her round in one piece. Once we made it back on the track and my heart rate had lowered to something close to a normal human being I began praising this helluva car. With no tyre deflation and fully loaded, the stock standard freely had met the challenge and pulled us through the sand. Most of the time I had my foot to the floor and revving up to about 5,000 RPM. That turbo diesel is one brute of an engine!

On our journey home we ventured through the Barrington Tops, where the Freely spent most of its time on the gravel. WOW in gravel mode this thing sticks like glue. As my confidence in the vehicle grew I was trying to see if I could get it a bit unstuck on the corners. NUP, the freely didn't want to have a bar of it and kept cornering like a boss. I am I. Awe of this 4wd's ability on the gravel.

All in all, I love my Freely probably more than the day I bought it.