Imagine this. It’s a rainy day. You’re on your local 4×4 track with your trusty Freelander. Suddenly, you find yourself perched on top of what looks like a steep, muddy drop that seems to go straight into a lake. UPS! Your heart is pounding. When he looked at this from the other side, he could see that what was needed was a sharp left turn at the foot of the hill to prevent him from drowning in the depths of the lake. It seemed so much easier from that angle, looking up; not this, looking down!

Well, you think, what is needed here to avoid drowning face down in what may be monster-infested waters is a slow, controlled descent. But if you keep your foot on the brake you’re just going to skid, well, it might not be that bad, maybe it’ll do a 360-degree turn as you go down the hill, then at least you won’t see what’s coming. Drowning is coming!

So maybe I can let the gears work. But this hill is steep! Will the gears really keep it slow enough to round that corner at the bottom? Oh the monsters are waiting, are you sure it wasn’t one that just poked its head out of the water?

Then you remember the magical yellow button on the gear stick. Excitement, rather than fear, takes hold of you when you press the button and the green light of a descending vehicle appears on your dash. You go into first gear and accelerate enough for the nose of your Freelander to tip over the ridge. Then take your feet off all the pedals. Wow! Slowly and smoothly, with perfect control, your Freelander rolls down the slope. Uh uh, was it a slight slip? Well, if it was your Freelander, now he’s got it all under control. Here comes the bottom of the hill and that sharp left turn, ah, child’s play, no dinner for you guys today, lake monsters!

So that’s what your Hill Descent Control (HDC) is for on your Freelander. The magic button that will control your descent downhill, whether in first or reverse (maybe you should back up and try it in reverse, you think, or maybe save it for another day!). When the Hill descent control button (HDC) is in any of these gears, then your Freelander as good as it takes over. It works with the traction control and ABS system to allow you a controlled descent down that steep and muddy hill – all you have to do is drive!

After that successful descent, why not try a trip through the warty mud bath? Umm, Hill Descent Control (HDC) doesn’t work on the ground in four feet of sinking mud. Where was the number for the recovery of that tractor?