Big 4×4 off-roaders are part of the Aussie landscape, serving as family-friendly wagons ready for weekend adventures and the Big Lap. But which one is best?
The large off-road SUV is both a practical and aspirational vehicle for many Aussie families. Not only do these 4×4 wagons typically have plenty of space for everyday duties around the suburbs, but they’re ready to head further afield – even deep into Outback Australia with the right preparation. As well as negotiating difficult terrain, their skillset also includes hauling a heavy boat or caravan. We’ve brought together 12 of the most popular all-terrain 4WDs on sale today and put them through the rigours of our comprehensive testing regime to discover the Best Off-Road SUV for 2022. So climb aboard and let’s get stuck into this dirty dozen…
Welcome to carsales’ Best Off-Road SUV 2022 mega-test, where we get our hands dirty with 12 of the most popular go-anywhere four-wheel drive wagons and tested them against more than 110 separate criteria across seven key areas of evaluation.
We’ve previously tested a range of popular large seven-seat SUVs based on a passenger car platform to find carsales’ Best Family SUV.
But that left aside a broad range of excellent 4×4 off-roaders, which are often required to serve as a family runabout yet are also primed for tow hauling duties, long-distance travelling and rugged mountain or Outback touring off the beaten path.
Many off-road SUVs have an easy existence in the suburbs, but they’re also set up to ply Australian highways, back roads and bush tracks.
An ever-growing trailer boat and caravan market has also put fresh focus on these SUVs, with their ability to pack up and head off with a heavy trailer in tow for sometimes tens of thousands of kilometres.
Of course, the term ‘SUV’ and even ‘4WD’ now covers a broad spectrum of vehicles, many of which simply aren’t designed or developed to venture far off the blacktop.
For the purposes of this comparison test, our shortlisted contenders are large wagons – some of them sharing their ladder frames with utes – that come with four-wheel drive and a dual-range transmission for off-road work.
There are now many models in this category that are premium contenders, so we’ve applied a price cap of $100,000 (before on-road costs are added) to contain the field to those which are more affordable for Aussie families.
To keep our comparison as tightly matched as possible, we chose the most affordable entry-level 4WD variant in each model range.
In a few cases where there was a choice between petrol or a more expensive diesel option – such as with the Jeep Grand Cherokee, Land Rover Defender and LDV D90 – the cheaper petrol-engined model was selected.
That left us with 15 eligible vehicles, two of which are about to be discontinued – the Haval H9 and Mitsubishi Pajero, so they were left out – and one that didn’t make the cut: the Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series.
We believe the LC70 – despite many updates during its long life – has too much of its original 1984 DNA to be considered for Best Off-Road SUV in 2022. It’s an admirable off-roader but a long way from being a great family all-rounder.
That doesn’t mean our remaining contenders are all fresh designs, with the lifecycle for 4×4 off-roaders often running much longer than in other segments.
That the 2022 Toyota Prado first arrived in 2009 appears to have done it no harm; it continues to remain one of the most popular vehicles in its class, helped along by many upgrades – the most recent introduced mid-2021.
The next-oldest wagon here, the Y62 Nissan Patrol, was launched globally in 2010 but arrived in Australia in 2013. While essentially the same vehicle under the skin, the Patrol was last updated in 2020.
Also with a 2010 global debut was the WK Jeep Grand Cherokee, which arrived locally in 2011. The Grand Cherokee has been revised many times since, with the fresher-faced WK2 model’s run due to end in May, when the long-awaited fifth-generation model touches down.
The Ford Everest arrived with much fanfare in 2015, and, just like the Ford Ranger ute on which it’s based, has been updated multiple times since. There’s a new-generation Ford Everest just around the corner, too, due around mid-year.
The Mitsubishi Pajero Sport and Toyota Fortuner have also been here since 2015, when their donor Triton and HiLux models were also released, with both receiving updates in 2020.
The LDV D90, based on the T60 ute, arrived in 2017 with a petrol engine and was joined by a diesel version in 2020.
In the past three years there’s been a bunch of new arrivals that have made selection for our 4×4 off-road SUV mega-test, including the fourth-generation Jeep Wrangler and the second-generation SsangYong Rexton, both of which arrived in 2019. The Rexton was also upgraded last year.
There are three other big nameplates that have muscled in on the action, entering a much-anticipated new generation: the Land Rover Defender made its local debut in 2020, the Isuzu MU-X arrived in August 2021 (based on last year’s impressive new D-MAX ute), and the Toyota LandCruiser 300 turned up two months later in October 2021.
Our judging process
As we do with every carsales Best award, we’ve put each of our 12 contenders in front of the judging panel to assess them against more than 110 separate criteria across our main categories.
These are: safety, technology, comfort and convenience, driving performance, and ownership costs, as well as two additional areas of assessment for this test – towing and payload, and off-road performance.
We’ve analysed more than 1300 individual feature and specification details for the 12 models on test, but global computer chip shortages and other issues related to the global pandemic have meant that vehicle specs can sometimes change at a moment’s notice.
So if you’re sold on particular features of any of these vehicles, check with the dealer that they are in fact part of the deal before you sign up.
Safety
Strong safety credentials have become essential for the success of any new vehicle on sale in Australia today, including modern-era 4×4 off-roaders which have long since moved on from the days when they were simply hard-core bush-bashers.
Most new off-road SUVs now feature a vast array of driver-assist safety technology, but some are more comprehensive and innovative than others.
Crash test ratings are an important ingredient to assessing a vehicle’s safety, yet this is a segment where the results are mixed.
Some off-road SUVs have achieved excellent results, some now have outdated results and others have delivered poor results. Some haven’t been independently crash-tested at all.
More on off-road SUV safety here
Technology
You would expect all the media and communications tech such as Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity – perhaps with a little hi-fidelity to go with it all – when spending up to $100,000 on any passenger vehicle.
But not all off-road SUVs are the same.
Native sat-nav, DAB+ digital radio and more than one USB port up front are not – repeat, not – a given among these entry-level off-road SUVs.
You get much more infotainment tech in some off-road SUVs than others.
More on off-road SUV technology here
Comfort and convenience
You might hope that an off-road SUV wagon costing up to around $100K would be chock-full of high-grade equipment and premium features. But, again, that’s certainly not necessarily the case here.
A car-maker’s interpretation of comfort and convenience is also slightly different in this off-road segment, as shown by, for example, a couple entrants having more easily cleaned rubber flooring instead of carpet.
There are more equipment differences than you might first think for this segment.
More on off-road SUV comfort and convenience here
Driving performance
Years back, 4×4 off-roaders were, as the name suggests, primarily focused on the main job at hand – their performance in the bush or the Outback.
These days, it’s all about the entire journey.
There are good reasons for this. Those vehicles with better performance, ride and handling are more versatile and engaging, giving drivers more confidence while also ensuring comfort for all occupants over long distances.
Often, more engaging vehicles make you less tired as well – important for those long Outback hauls.
It may not match a large SUV that’s been designed especially for paved roads, but an off-road-oriented 4WD can be enjoyable and comfortable to drive, and some here are a lot better at it than others.
More on off-road SUV driving performance here
Off-road performance
While many off-road SUV owners never take their vehicle beyond bitumen or graded dirt roads, there are plenty who do – and, at the very least, we all want to know what our vehicle is capable of.
Off-road performance of 4×4 wagons like those on test here is better than ever thanks to quick-acting traction control systems and more sophisticated off-road powertrains.
However, some of these off-road SUVs are simply smarter than others in practice when traversing rough terrain.
More on off-road SUV off-road performance here
Towing and payload
Long gone are the days where you could simply load up a vehicle as much you wanted with a big trailer behind and head off on holiday.
Safety legislation and insurance requirements have made vehicle payload and towing capacities more important than ever.
Most of these off-road SUVs have been built to carry and tow significant loads.
We examine which models can not only legally carry and tow the most load, but which can realistically do it better than others.
Performance, ride and stability can all suffer when a vehicle is loaded and towing, and some here are naturals at it while others are not so accomplished.
More on off-road SUV towing and payload here
Ownership costs
The cost of running and maintaining a vehicle in the off-road SUV category is just as important as any other.
In fact, with more weight, more powertrain complexity and tougher conditions involved such as towing and off-road touring, this type of vehicle can certainly cost more to run.
But maintenance price shock can be largely avoided thanks to the transparency afforded by capped-price servicing.
New-vehicle warranties are also increasingly comprehensive with the likes of roadside assist and loan cars, and they generally run for a longer period than in years past.
Tyres are much easier to price these days, too, so there are no surprises in this department either.
Importantly, knowing what your vehicle is worth second-hand is no longer something you’ll only discover when it comes time to sell.
Today, consumers can more easily find reliable resale information well before the fact. You can now purchase a new off-road SUV knowing what it will likely be worth when the lease expires, or when you expect to trade it in.
While many of the vehicles on test have similar ownership costs, there are some marked disparities that might surprise you.
More on off-road SUV ownership costs here
Now it’s time to name our Best Off-Road SUV for 2022.
Best Off-Road SUV 2022 contenders:Ford Everest Ambiente 3.2D 4×4Isuzu MU-X LS-M 3.0D 4×4Jeep Grand Cherokee Night Eagle 3.6PJeep Wrangler Unlimited Night Eagle 3.6PLand Rover Defender 110 P300 2.0PLDV D90 Executive 2.0P 4×4Mitsubishi Pajero Sport GLX 2.4D 4×4Nissan Patrol Ti 5.6PSsangYong Rexton ELX 2.2DToyota Fortuner GX 2.8DToyota LandCruiser GX 3.3D
Toyota Prado GX 2.8D
*Some alternate models are shown for illustrative purposes
Keyword: Best Off-Road SUV 2022