This article could be very long - but it won't be because I cannot cover every possibility!

Many magazines are a good source of information and reviews on vehicles and equipment. Suggest that a one year subscription would give you some good ideas and cover most of the major players through their ads.

The modern vehicles now have all sorts of features that were unheard of decades ago before electronic controls became the norm.

Most people will have some criteria for selecting a vehicle - be it work related, just used for touring/camping, competition work (which is not our interest), used for carting kids to school etc. Prior experience with a make (Toyota, Nissan, Land Rover etc) will influence choices.

Provided that a vehicle is not overloaded, most modern 4WD have sufficient power and torque to handle most of the maintained fire trails in the bush in dry conditions.

I am defining a full 4WD vehicle as one that has a "low range" transfer case. Engaging low range will enable steeper hills to be climbed (at a safer lower speed if required). Low range is more often needed to descend steep hills at a slow safe speed without over using the brakes.

Automatic gearboxes are generally considered very good for climbing hills as the engine revs are always sufficient to get good torque. For a manual gearbox on a steep climb, it is necessary to get into the right gear before the difficult or steep sections. You will not have much time to change down a gear and maintain forward motion on a steep section.

On the other hand, coming down hill, automatics generally have less braking power than manuals. And diesel engines have better braking power than petrol engines.

More later .... and see other articles