Creating a definitive list of the “best” off-road vehicles is something of a fool (although, as you can see, that didn’t stop us from trying). Even if you identify the basic parameters for comparison – crossing angles, wheel travel, wading depth, cost, etc. – the problem becomes an environmental problem.
Some of these vehicles are designed to crawl on rock-strewn slopes where a single crimped brake line will bring the activities to a screeching halt. Others are designed to bomb over loose surfaces at heroic speed, and in a way that’s completely at odds with cars whose incredible traction will haul them through impossibly slippery terrain at no more than a walking pace. Then there are the mechanically unstoppable desert survival specialists. Each could be called an all-terrain, and each race has its own particular mix of strengths.
Either way, these are Autocar’s favorite copies of the traditional, go-anywhere 4×4 breed, in our own order of preference.
1. Land Rover Defender
After a preamble that spanned more than a decade, Land Rover finally presented the long-awaited follow-up act to the original ‘Land Rover’ in 2019 and launched the car into showrooms in 2020. After moving from ladder frame construction to a monocoque, and for many reasons otherwise, this new Land Rover Defender is more of a successor than a direct replacement; and some feared it wouldn’t be capable of the same kind of mud-slugging, rock-jumping, fording, hill-climbing and axle-twisting.
However, the new Defender can do almost all of this and more. With approach and departure angles of around 40 degrees and ground clearance of up to 291mm thanks to its height-adjustable air suspension, this car has all the vital stats right. And yet, it’s the style in which it tackles off-road driving, and the way it lightens the load on the driver to select just the right transmission mode, to maintain just the right amount of momentum. forward and to keep just the right line through those ruts, it really impresses.
Land Rover now offers four-, six- and eight-cylinder engines for the car, but the P400e plug-in hybrid has become the only four-cylinder available, while all diesel engines are now straight-sixes. The high-end P525 V8 version certainly has performance and presence to spare; but the D300 diesel would be our choice, which combines plenty of torque with respectable fuel economy, handling and refinement, and needn’t cost as much as some of the other versions of the car. For fleet users and city dwellers, of course, the P400e plug-in hybrid (which has a claimed electric range of 27 miles) will have its own particular lures.
The Defender is available in three-door ’90’ and five-door ‘110’ bodies, as well as a commercial ‘Hardtop’ version if you prefer; and whichever you choose, you’ll find that it’s a wide, tall and heavy car that’s not perfectly suited to the tightest of tracks or ‘green lanes’. But that acknowledged, this 4×4’s capabilities remain indisputable, and the way it does its off-road work makes it look like a car designed for people who don’t even like off-roading.
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Source: www.autocar.co.uk
This notice was published: 2022-03-23 15:57:57
