AND THE WINNER IS…

Well, you can read that for yourself...

hat you see here is an esoteric collection of 4x4s brought together by being either new or significantly mechanically revised in the last year, to determine which is the best. That’s why it’s called 4X4 Of The Year.

It doesn’t matter that the least expensive is $25K and the most expensive nearly five times that amount, as this is not a comparison test of the type usually conducted by 4X4 Australia. Rather the seven shortlisted vehicles are scored against five long-established criteria (see p43) by our experienced judging panel and by secret ballot.

The seven shortlisted ‘new’ vehicles are the Mercedes-benz X350d, which just missed the release date cut-off last year so may seem ‘old’ by now, the Ssangyong Musso XLV, the Suzuki Jimny and the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon. The Mitsubishi Triton (new automatic gearbox), the Land Rover Discovery (new V6 diesel) and the Nissan Navara N-trek Warrior (re-engineered chassis) fall more into the mechanically revised camp, although you could argue that the Warrior is a new model, not that it matters.

In many ways it’s the year for the traditionalist with the Jimny and the Rubicon both having live axles at both ends. Given only three such 4x4s are currently available as new (the Toyota Landcruiser 70 being the other), to have two new such models in the same year is indeed a fluke.

Of the remaining five shortlisted vehicles, four also have live axles at the back and, in another victory for the traditionalists, all but one of the seven are separate chassis designs.

Engines of course are a different matter; nothing too traditional here. All but one are modern and sophisticated diesels, all with turbos,

high-pressure common-rail injection and diesel particulate filters to meet the latest diesel-emission laws. Some already also have selective catalytic reduction via a urea additive (Adblue) to meet future emission laws. All but one also have an automatic gearbox. All the seven shortlisted vehicles also have sophisticated chassis control electronics mandated by law in much the same way as the emission control systems.

The seven shortlisted vehicles originate from six different countries: Japan, Germany, South Korea, the UK, USA and, one could argue, even Australia. And, in a sign of the times, the majority are dual-cab utes.

We did intend to include a new Ram 1500 Ecodiesel, another dual-cab, but the test vehicle offer was withdrawn at the last minute due to a factory recall for a coolant leak issue.