Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Rate your All Time 4WD vehicle.

They are still popular here, both 'Cruisers and diesel. I've driven a fair few miles in diesel 'Cruisers, mainly Troopies (like the second one) though I haven't owned one. Several of my friends have, and we've gone on any number of hunting trips and such in them. They are very tough, will go anywhere, and are built to last. They are also pretty cumbersome, tend to be thirsty, and aren't so great on road. That said, if you want to go well off the beaten track there's not much to beat them.

I had one in the Northern Territory with my wife for a few weeks of mooching about once, going to all sorts of remote spots down some pretty approximate sorts of "roads". At one point, we came to a sign on the driver's side of the track saying something to the effect of "you are now heading into a really remote area, with no made roads and no one to help you. Only experienced drivers in well-prepared vehicles, with plenty of spares, fuel and water should proceed past this point. Make sure someone knows where you are going and when to expect you". Given that in order to get there we'd already been an hour or so off the sealed road, down a pretty rough track, across a river crossing and over several sand ridges, this did give me a moment, but I did a quick mental inventory and decided "yeah, we'll be fine", and kept going, and went through some spectacularly wild and primitive country. I had no reason to doubt the Troopy, and it never missed a beat.

For all around use though, I prefer something a bit more civilised. My daily drive is a Mitsubishi Pajero (I think they call them "Montero" in the US). The current one is my fourth, and it too is a turbo-diesel. It is comfortable, roomy, runs and handles well on road, is economical on fuel, has plenty of power and with its low-range, locking diffs at centre and rear and good ground clearance, it goes anywhere I want to go, whether rocky trails, mud, beach driving or whatever.