BEFORE YOU turn away muttering, “idiots, why compare a ute with a wagon”, consider this: both of these 4x4s will set you back the high-side of $70K on road; both are super capable off-road yet are also loaded with luxury, convenience and safety kit, and both are conceived for recreational buyers. The only other showroom stock 4x4s this capable off-road, the LandCruiser 70 and the Mercedes G-Wagen, are significantly more commercial or service in origin and presentation.
Both Raptor and Rubicon also have hightech powertrains with small-capacity turbodiesel engines and automatic gearboxes with more ratios than you would have thought possible a few years back – 18, in fact, between the two of them.
Significantly, they are also factory ‘customs’, both a good deal removed from the bread-and-butter models in their respective model line-ups. And in both cases the factory ‘modifications’ are aimed at making a more capable off-road-focused 4x4, not necessarily a better on- and off-road vehicle.
The Raptor is also the reigning 4X4 Of The Year and this all-new Rubicon may well be the next 4X4OTY; although, that’s a contest that won’t be decided until the end of the year.
In the meantime, is it Raptor or Rubicon that wins this bout?
RAPTOR
SUSPENDED IN HEAVEN
Serious chassis re-engineering, not extra power, is the ford ranger raptor’s killer punch.
THE RANGER Raptor was conceived by Ford Australia off the back of the success in the USA of the F150 Raptor, a desert-racing-inspired factory custom version of Ford’s hugely popular F150 Pick-Up. With help from Ford Performance, Ford’s global high-performance division, the Ranger Raptor was then locally developed off the back of the Ranger ute, which just happens to be largely Australian designed and developed anyway.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة November 2019 من 4x4 Magazine Australia.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة November 2019 من 4x4 Magazine Australia.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
CORRUGATIONS.SAND, AND SPINIFEX
WHEN TALKING LEGENDARY TRACKS, THE CANNING STOCK ROUTE HAS THE TITLE OF LONGEST HISTORICAL STOCK ROUTE IN THE WORLD, BUT TACKLING ITS 1850KM IN A 1970S LAND ROVER MAKES FOR ONE INTERESTING DRIVE FOR THE TV CREW FROM SERIOUSLY SERIES. YOU CAN SEE FOR YOURSELF BY VIEWING ROAD TO RUIN
PURE WATER
THE GUZZLE H2O STREAM IS THE IDEAL WATER PURIFICATION SOLUTION FOR PROVIDING A RELIABLE SOURCE OF CLEAN DRINKING WATER OFF THE GRID
DOES IT GET ANY TOUGHER FOR THE AT52S?
HAVING TACKLED SOME OF THE ROUGHEST TRACKS IN THE COUNTRY, THESE ALL-TERRAINS HAVE PASSED THE TEST
TOP 5 4X4 SPOTS IN SA
HERE ARE FIVE OF THE BEST 4X4 DESTINATIONS IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA
PLUGGING IN
GWM IS STUDYING THE VIABILITY OF PLUG-IN HYBRID VERSIONS OF ITS POPULAR 4X4S FOR THE AUSTRALIAN MARKET. WE GOT A CHANCE TO SAMPLE THEM ON TRACK
TOP TANK
WE HAVE COME AWAY IMPRESSED AFTER A WEEK IN GWM’S TANK 500 HYBRID 4X4.
HARD EARNED
HARD WORK AND THE RIGHT ADVICE HAVE HELPED JAMES ATKINSON BUILD THE PATROL OF HIS DREAMS
DYNAMIC DEBUT
OUR FIRST TASTE OF THE LC250 COMES IN THE FORM OF THE LEXUS GX550 OVERTRAIL, AND THIS LUXURY 4X4 WAGON IMPRESSES BOTH ON THE ROAD AND OFF IT
BLACK GROWLER
IF YOU’RE GOING TO SWAP FROM A DOUBLE-CAB UTE TO A 4X4 WAGON, YOU MIGHT AS WELL GO WITH THE BEST AVAILABLE. BRUCE HAS DONE JUST THAT AND EQUIPPED HIS GR SPORT 300 WITH THE BEST GEAR ON THE MARKET
2025 NISSAN PATROL MAKES GLOBAL DEBUT
CURTAINS DROP ON SEVENTH-GENERATION PATROL BUT NOT HERE UNTIL 2026
