Car News Articles

Splitting the hardcore four-wheel-drives into their own category this year stacked up a pair of cars that were so far apart that the difference between them was as extreme as the harsh environments in which they excel.

You could argue that the Toyota LandCruiser diesel deserved to be there, even though we would have preferred to have had the all-new Prado that wasn’t available because it hadn’t been launched in time.

The ’Cruiser is ingrained in our psyche as an Outback icon, and for decades Toyota has used this country as its proving ground. In that respect, it’s more Aussie than Dame Edna.

Pitching it against a British upstart such as the Land Rover Discovery 4 was too a tough call.

On paper, we’re looking at similar money, almost equally flexible interiors, like-minded powerful diesel drivetrains, and unquestionable off-road prowess.

But the Discovery did two things so much better than the now bland LandCruiser; it was a lot more at home on the bitumen, and it really made you feel special.

Considering the amount of time you’re going to spend looking at the car’s interior as you commute to and from work, and the amount of time you’re likely to spend in traffic, the Discovery excelled where the LandCruiser struggled.

Even so, the Discovery is not perfect. That old weeping sore — Land Rover’s reliability — came into question during testing when our test car’s battery flattened after a door was left ajar. Once recharged, punching the Discovery’s start button became a hit-and-miss affair to see if the engine would fire into life.

That aside, we think the Discovery is the better car.

But what do you think? Did our judges get it right?