Dealer yards are full of caravans built for dirt and owned by people who never leave bitumen. This test sorts the choice and accounts for what the heavier build costs when unused.
4 min readUpdated 2026-09-11
Sort your nights, not your self-image
Write out the next three years of realistic trips and sort every night by road surface. If almost all are sealed or maintained gravel, on-road is the right van. If corrugations and unmaintained roads are real, buy for those.
Sealed road, caravan park or powered site.
Formed, maintained gravel.
Corrugated road. Sustained washboard.
Station tracks and unmaintained gravel.
Sand, water crossings and travel beyond phone coverage.
The once-a-decade trip
A single Gibb River Road plan does not alone justify the heavier build; hiring or re-routing may cost less. Count the nights, price the difference and decide whether you are buying a van or an option on one trip.
What the heavier build costs you when you do not use it
Money. Off-road starts at $103,250 and on-road at $85,875, recommended retail including GST, subject to change. Dealers confirm pricing.
Weight. Heavier suspension, construction and twice the water add mass. Check towing capacity, ball download, GVM and GCM.
Wear. Mud-terrain tyres are noisier and wear faster on bitumen. See the tyre guide.
Fit. A longer, taller van is harder to place in older parks and driveways.
What the lighter build costs you when you should have gone heavier
Sustained corrugations work at fasteners, joins and cabinetry in ways careful driving cannot prevent. If weeks of unsealed road are real, managing around the lighter build on every trip is the worse purchase.
What is the suspension, by brand, model and rating?
Is the wall system timber-free, and what is the roof?
What coupling is fitted?
What tyre and rim, and what load rating?
What is the fresh water capacity and tank count?
What is the tare for this exact plan, and what does it include?
What is the ATM, and does axle count change it?
What does the warranty cover and exclude on unsealed roads?
How Network RV splits it
On-road is for sealed roads, coastal routes, powered sites and van parks. Off-road is for formed gravel, corrugations, station tracks and bush camps. There is no third range or bridging pack.
The off-road build is not the better van; it is for rougher ground. Both ranges carry family plans, so choose sleeping arrangements separately with the bunk guide.
Network RV does not build for sand, water crossings and genuinely remote work; JB Caravans covers that class.