It's just as simple as that, the thing's just a blast to drive around, climbing onto areas thought otherwise impossible and through mud and water so deep that even heavy trucks drown and get stuck.

Quite literally nothing can or will stop this thing.

From starting a new game, be it hard mode, new game+ or normal, this thing is incredibly easy and cheap to not only get your hands on, but upgrade too

For optimal set-up you really only need the tuned suspension, KR 104 engine and a pair of mud-tires, with the JAT MS III being the best, no need to swap the transmission even, but if you must I recommend the freeway

When playing on Hard mode or newgame+ when the fuel costs money, you can take this car around the entire map and then some for pennies, costs practically nothing to drive this thing around the place as you will average around 1-1.8 liters per minute with the right set-ups and will never actually get stuck

The real one is named GAZ-69, how could you not like something with a name like that?

Because the vehicle itself has everything heavy inside of the floor of the vehicle, engine, exhaust, fuel tanks, and has a canvas roof with no metal at all up there besides the small windshield, the center of mass of this car is so low down that it will seemingly never flip, you have to really, really mess up to flip it, and even when it does flip, half the time it will roll right on over onto its wheels again like magic

Get your hands on this little car, should be easy enough as it's on the same map on Taymyr that you get the Tayga on, which is more than enough to get this thing back to your garage for free, once that is done, simply complete the Geological Exploration and Looking Beyond the Horizon missions to unlock the quarry, which you can then drive right over to and get the tuned custom suspension from.

Congratulations, you now have it, all the parts you really need to make this car shine.

KR 104 engine
This is because of how lightweight the car itself actually is, it doesn't need anything stronger than the basic 104, extra power merely just burns more fuel for no actual benefit, while the original KR 37 is simply just too weak and ends up burning more fuel than the 104 due to lacking in power.

Archaic or Freeway transmission
This is really down to personal preference, the Freeway is more fuel efficient due to having access to the high gear, but requires more micro-managing than the archaic which is itself easier to use, and also more fuel efficient when specifically driving on low-gear ONLY

Tuned Custom Suspension
The car is so insanely bottom-heavy that you really don't need to worry about tipping over.

39' JAT MS III tires (MS 1)
If you have the DLC, go with MS III every time, they offer simply the best traction for the areas that the TUZ-166 will need it the most in, that being in mud, while MS 1 is the only choice you really have without the DLC, always go bigger, more balloony tires with the TUZ

Snorkel and Winch should be rather obvious, but for sake of completion, you should have the Autonomous Winch and Tall Front Facing snorkel.

As for the roof rack, it is a here or there, it largely depends if you want to be slightly more stable, or nearly double your range.