Destination: Australia's dead centre

Dead centre debate

If you think there’s lots of debate about which one-tonne ute is the best you’d be right. But that quest pales into insignificance compared to the arguments that have rolled on for years about where exactly the centre of Australia is situated.

As far back as 1860 explorers, geologists and cartographers have been doing their calculations, plonking flags in sand, building cairns and declaring they are standing on the true centre of Australia.

It’s easy to understand why there’s been debate. Finding the centre of Australia when it’s got such an uneven coastline makes it a huge challenge. Add in the curvature of the earth and the vastness of this continent and you’ve got a real head-scratcher.

Take your pick

There are at least five different points in the southern Northern Territory that have over the years been declared the centre of this massive continent.

These days what’s now known as the Lambert Gravitational Centre is the closest thing we have to an official heart of Australia. Just a few kilometres west of Finke, it’s named after Dr Bruce Lambert, one of Australia’s top cartographers.

Lambert Centre was calculated as a Bicentennial project in 1988 using data from 24,500 high-water marks along Australia’s coastline. Commemorating the spot is a small replica of the flag tower atop Parliament House.

Incredibly, all that computer power pretty much confirmed calculations made by legendary Outback explorer-geologist Cecil Madigan in the 1930s with a metal cut-out map of Australia and a plumb bob and string.

Essentially, Madigan hung the map vertically and laid the string over it hundreds of time. The intersection point was where he calculated the centre of Australia to be, where in theory you could balance a map perfectly on your finger.

Amazingly, that point turned out to be only 11km due east from Lambert Centre.

Enter HiLux Rugged X

Interesting, but what’s all that got to do with the new Toyota HiLux Rugged X?

Well, when we heard Toyota had built the most off-road oriented version of Australia’s top-selling new vehicle – the HiLux — there was only one way to test it out and that was take it to the Outback.

And by giving it a name like Rugged X… well the next step was obvious; take it to the very centre of the country. Maybe X doesn’t mark the spot at the Lambert Centre, but we’d make sure a Rugged X did — for a little while at least.

Essentially, Rugged X is a HiLux SR5 with new exterior bolt-on bits, including a hoopless high-tensile steel front roo bar sitting under a new grille, a snorkel, a winch-compatible alloy bash plate and, twin front tow hooks rated to 8000kg.

There are also 17-inch alloys and A/T rubber housed under moulded wheel-arches, plus heavy-duty steel side-steps, a four-piece sports bar that can carry up to 75kg vertical mass or help tie down 200kg in the tray. A heavy-duty rear bar has more recovery points and an integrated tow bar.

Inside there are perforated leather seats, a new instrument cluster and black roof lining… so not much extra, really. Carrying over from the SR5 are six airbags, a reversing camera and hill ascent and descent control.

Climate control, sat-nav, cruise control and a 7.0-inch touch-screen are standard but there is only one USB output, no digital speedo or Apple/Android phone connection. As an auto it’s priced at $63,690, making it the most expensive HiLux you can buy.

The Rugged X has no drivetrain modifications, so the 2.8-litre 130kW/450Nm turbo-diesel four-cylinder, six-speed auto and part-time 4x4 system must cope with a 207kg hike in kerb weight compared to the SR5, at 2252kg.

As well as that, ground clearance, approach and departure angles and carrying capacity have all been reduced compared to the SR5.

The plan

Our route to get to the centre took us all the way from Adelaide in the south, through Coober Pedy and around through Oodnadatta to Finke. Out here the travelling is flat and open and distances vast.

This is Toyota country. From the pristine 200 Series LandCruisers towing huge caravans up the Stuart Highway to the battered 70 Series utes being flogged into the ground on the vast stations, they are everywhere.

And, driving the Rugged X, you can understand why. Once the going gets rough or you head off-road it is an impressive drive.

The compliant suspension, the way the bumpers have been shaped to aid corner clearance, the bash plates and the heavy-duty tow hooks are all off-road plusses. The Toyota’s locking rear diff also make substantial off-road progress achievable.

But perhaps the Rugged X’s best feature is its combination of LED headlights and lighting strip, which turn night into day. That’s a huge asset in the Outback, where bouncing critters like to get in the way.

Un-Toyota issues

Unfortunately, our Rugged X also struck decidedly un-Toyota issues on this trip. The instrument panel surround slipped down and partially covered some warning lights and a plastic trim on a rock rail came loose.

But far worse was the engine’s persistent habit of dropping into limp-home mode. It happened four time and was rectified each time by disconnecting and re-connecting the battery.

Turns out the 1GD-FTV engine – which is also used by the Fortuner and Prado -- has a dust sealing issue in the airbox and it’s a problem Toyota says will take some time to fix properly. For now, a visit to your local dealer for a clean out is the only solution.

Trouble is, when you’re hundreds of kilometres from anywhere, visiting your local Toyota dealer isn’t really an option.

Madigan lineage

Still, Cecil Madigan faced more serious challenges and overcame them.

Think of Madigan as a real-life Indiana Jones. Born in Renmark, South Australia in 1889, he went with (Sir) Douglas Mawson to the Antarctic in 1911-12, served with the Royal Engineers in France in WWI, crossed the Simpson Desert by camel in 1939, pioneering the infamously tough Madigan Line, served again in the army in WWII and lectured on geology for many years at the University of Adelaide. He died too young in 1947 of coronary vascular disease.

Today, it’s quite easy to replicate Madigan’s plotting: just balance a cut-out map of Australia on your finger and you’ll end up somewhere in the right vicinity. We took a map with us on our trip and you know what? It works. Well, roughly.

Easy to find

Not that we were relying on Madigan’s cut-out alone, as you’ll find Lambert Centre on any decent map.

The turn-off from the Finke-Kulgera road is well marked and the sandy track into the site is actually a fun, high-range 4x4 drive — just what the Rugged X was made for.

The site arrives with little warning. It’s a relatively unassuming place and a small replica of the flag tower atop Parliament House sits in a red dirt clearing surrounded by brush.

There’s a plaque explaining the site’s significance, you can camp on-site and there’s even a drop toilet, so you can park Doug the shovel for a night. Now that seems a decidedly low-key and appropriately Australian way for a landmark to be recognised!

This may not be the exact centre of Australia – no doubt the debate rolls on about that one – but it’s close enough for us to be pleased to have got here.

There’s no debating the credentials of the Rugged X and its ability to navigate the Outback though.

Yes we’ve had issues, but if the HiLux has more problems at least we know there’s lot of other Toyotas out here to borrow parts from!