The A Team

Keen To Head Straight From The Showroom To Serious Off-road Tracks With Only A Tyre Stop Along The Way? These Are The Seven Best 4x4s Money Will Buy.

- Fraser Stronach

IMAGINE you have all the new 4x4 dealerships you could wish for, all closely grouped together in some remote and rugged location. All you have to do is walk into one and pick a 4x4 to drive back home … home being hundreds of kilometres away via the roughest tracks imaginable. In some parts there may not be tracks at all.

You can’t modify your chosen vehicle as there are no engineering workshops among all the new dealerships, but factory options are available. And there’s a well-stocked tyre shop, so you can swap to more off-road-friendly tyres provided you stay legal (we know state regulations vary, so for argument’s sake let’s say NSW). So what new 4x4 would you pick if price wasn’t an issue?

It may be a fanciful scenario, but it’s the thinking behind compiling this list of the most off-road-capable showroom-stock 4x4s, listed one to seven on their ability to cover any type of off-road terrain you can imagine: soft sand, slick mud, ruts, holes, rocks, steep climbs and descents, or any combination of the same.

The seven are: Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, Toyota Land Cruiser 70 Series, Mercedes- Benz G-Class Professional, Ford Ranger Raptor, Toyota Land Cruiser 200 Series, Land Rover Discovery and Suzuki Jimny.

1 JEEP WRANGLER RUBICON

ORIGINAL AND STILL THE BEST

ALL JEEP WRANGLERS ARE CAPABLE 4X4S, BUT THE RUBICON IS THE BEST OF THE LOT.

IS THERE currently a more iconic 4x4 available than the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon? Not only is the Rubicon the most off-road-capable vehicle in the Wrangler range, but it’s also the latest hero vehicle in a long line of 4x4s born of the original World War Jeep, the most iconic 4x4 of all time. Big call? Then here’s a quick history lesson: If it wasn’t for the original WWII Jeep there would be no Land Rover, Toyota Land Cruiser or Nissan Patrol as we know them today. End of story.