Range Rover vs Land Cruiser off-road challenge: which is the best? 

When it comes to off-road SUVs, they don’t get much more iconic than these two. The Range Rover may be the go-to choice for the rich and famous, but it’s also seriously capable when the going gets tough. The Toyota Land Cruiser on the other hand has a long-standing reputation for bulletproof reliability and unstoppable off-road ability.

To find out which is best when you’re off the tarmac, we’ve got hold of a 2004 Range Rover and a 2002 Land Cruiser, and we’ll be pitting them against each other in a series of challenges.

Before we dive into the tasks at hand, let’s take a look at the stats – starting with the Toyota. It has a 4.7-litre naturally-aspirated V8 with 235hp and 434Nm of torque, which is sent to all four wheels via a four-speed automatic gearbox. It’s a big old truck, weighing in at 2,260kg, and it’s also quite expensive. Despite having 276,000 miles on the clock, this old Land Cruiser cost us £5,000. Still, it’s £70,000 cheaper than the new Land Cruiser.

The Range Rover set the Carwow coffers back less than half that, just £2,245. This 2004 L322 model has the 4.4-litre naturally-aspirated V8 engine with 286hp and 440Nm of torque, and it’s fitted with a five-speed automatic gearbox. It is a touch heavier than the Land Cruiser though, tipping the scales at 2,440kg.

To make sure this test is as fair as possible, both cars have been fitted with the same brand-new Davanti all-terrain tyres.

So how are we going to put these cars through their paces? Well we’ve come up with a series of challenges to test things like grip, chassis articulation, control, manoeuvrability and of course there will be a drag race to test performance. This is Carwow after all.

The winner of each challenge will score two points, the loser gets one point and if a car doesn’t complete a challenge it gets nothing. The car with the most points at the end wins. Simple.

So which of these mud-pluggers will come out on top? Watch the video to find out!

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