Sydney to Birdsville

Xtrail is fine on any of the public roads you'll be travelling on. take it easy, as you would with any vehicle.
Might be worth taking an extra tyre casing, as the Xtrail tyres are an uncommon size.

I'd head for Broken Hill then Tibooburra, Camerons corner, Merti Merti, Innamincka, Cordillo Downs, Birdsville, Mungarannie, Marree, Lyndhurst, Flinders.

Cheers
Phil

If you dont have a " need " to see Broken Hill / Silverton then ....
Dubbo / Bourke / Wanaaring / Milparinka / Toboorburra / Camerons Corner is not a bad run.

An extra spare is always a handy thing especially if running " odd " sizes .....

The X-Trail should be fine if mechanically sound ..... lots of this country was explored in VW Kombis before AllWD station wagons became available ....

Prepare wisely and have a good trip.

Rather than going on to Lyndhurst, consider turning south at Mt Hopeless and coming south to Balcanoona. You could then have a look at Arkaroola, before going on to Wilpena area.

G'day all, 10 years ago I bought a 1975 Falcon wagon for $ 1200, threw a bit of gear in the back & set off from Brisbane to Birdsville through Windorah, enjoyed the trip & the races so much continued to do the whole track through Maree to Adelaide, did the wineries then back home through Broken Hill, Louth then Brisbane all in 6 days (I could only get a week off work) fantastic trip. The only problems we had were 5 punctures & 2 holes in the petrol tank! Carried 3 tubes with us & patched the tank up with a square cut out of a coke can - 1 of the puncteres I had to screw in 3 self tappers to stop the air leak. Where we had one of the punctures a new Landcruiser had 3 flats in one go (gibbers again - not selective at all!) This Falcon was standard road height, loaded with 2 adults & 2 kids with standard road tyres - sold it for $1000 after we arrived home. Those old Falcons XA to XC were tough models. That was my choice of car to do that trip. You don't really need any special 4WD to do that trip (if it is dry country) only if you head into the sand. The road now is so much better than when we did that trip. I have just got back from this years Birdsville trip - Brisbane, Thargominda in the wet, Innamincka, Cordillo Downs, Birdsville, over Big Red, Windorah, Dalby & home, 9 days - what an adventure!
Met another EO in Birdsville, Dunworkin from Perth, said if they had known the Birdsville Track was in such good condition they would have towed their van to the races. If you drive at a speed appropriate to your capabilities, your car and the road conditions you shouldn't have any problems. You can't go too slow - you can only go too fast! Slow & steady wins the race. seee yaa

G'day again, when you are in Birdsville, drive out to Big Red & have a look at a real sandhill, if you don't want to have a go at it you can climb to the top & have a look, it's REALLY worth the effort to have a look, take a camera - you can see forever! The road to Big Red is in really good condition - don't drive up it if you are the only car out there, in case you need help. The race weekend it was great spectator sport with a large group of people lined up along the ridge applauding the brave ( have a look at my gallery for some pic's) Hope you enjoy the planning & the trip! I would suggest purchasing from EOz a Hema map "Great Desert Tracks, South East Sheet" is very informative & accurate. will cover a lot of your trip. seee yaa, Dingo