The world of performance upgrades is vast, and it’s easy to get lost in a maze of tweaks.

The key for any owner is to start with a firm idea of what is to be achieved, what the budget is, and what the vehicle is to be used for.

A few decades ago, obtaining more performance was about engine swapping. Land Rovers received Holden six-cylinder engines, ‘shorty’ Land Cruisers had Chev V8s shoehorned under their bonnets.

Then, as engines became more and more electronic, the focus shifted to performance gains achievable by ‘flashing’ the engine management or using an aftermarket chip.

Turbocharging and supercharging also gained some fans, but were mainly niche modifications for off-roading.

Many now know that massive horsepower is not the ideal for off-roading, and that a fat torque profile is much more important and much more useful.

Today, 4WDers understand that improving performance is a broader project than just getting more power: brakes, suspension, tyres and more create a performance ‘envelope’ for off-road driving.