I think you may have to define 'desert trip' a bit more clearly.
There are different types, and they conjure images of heavy soft sand(like say Lake Eyre in near summer time), or Vic Big Desert/Wilderness areas up near Ouyen/Mildura area.
Soft sand will suck the life out of your Tdi like nothing else, so you'll have to be ready to push it hard in some situations.
The problem is as, all will know, the tdi doesn't have any low down torque to make up for having chosen a gear, then committed to it, only to find you should have been a gear (or two) lower.
With a V8(RRC) and TD5(D2) have more low down torque, so doesn't matter as much. And as 'every one said' ... loading it up too much is the same as having less power(or torque).
For soft sand driving with open diffs, I'm glad I got the auto in my D1.
But then you have different desert trip types like say running up north of Port Augusta say up the Oodnadatta track or around the Flinders ranges on gibber type gravel tracks and roads.
Still nice challenging tracks to be had, just different, and then you simply have the steepness of the track to contend with, not the power sapping softness of quicksand.
The difference is, if you find yourself suddenly in too high gear on the harder but steep gravel tracks, you don't lose momentum and then more likely to get stuck.
What/where you planning for a desert trip?
With a young child, and their need for stuff, I'd say keep it less remote and more easy adventure to see some awesome country side .. ie. maintain an easy distance to civilisation for a margin of error.
You don't want to find out that you didn't bring this, or that, or enough of something that you all may need.
Nice easy trip that I'm sure you'd love would be: Via Mildura to Port Augusta. Stop to check out Kanyaka ruins, and then onto Wilpena pound, and then head north any way, Chambers Gorge is a nice area, spectacular scenery getting there.
Head towards Blinman, then through the ranges to come up to either Brachina Gorge or Parachilna Gorge. East to the Highway to get you up towards Marree and then Lake Eyre South .. Lake Eyre North is heavy sand but at least fairly flat so easier going than dune country. I reckon tho, once you've seen the majesty of the south lake, the north lake is just more of the same, just a bit more grandiose .. so balance the difficulty of a trip with the reward.
The beauty of this area is just the eye candy of the desert, but the ruins that dot the area as you head further north give you that sense of human endeavour and tenacity, and also the feeling of isolation.
Keep going north through Oodnadatta and as far as (say) Mt Dare/Dalhousie Springs, and depending on time, either head back from there or just a bit further and into NT/Alice Springs/Uluru/Kata Tjuta and then home. And then theres stillmore to see on the highway south from NT too(Coober Pedy, Island Lagoon near Pimba, etc).
What time of year are you hoping to head off, and how long?
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