Advice on buying new SUV for off-road

[Bravoecho]

3 hours ago, Looper said:

a couple of charts from me:

This is the chart that shows the last car used by approx. 433 members with whom I have driven since I joined the club. It's 183 drives for you. As you can see the big four are Jeep, Toyota, Nissan, and Mitsubishi. 

This one is a bit more comprehensive chart. where i have listed models. There are a total of 118 Wranglers in the mix. 

And the winner is Pajero LWB with 57 driving it currently. followed by Wrangler JL LWB (44) and FJ (41) Cruiser and Xterra (38). of these four only JL is currently available, and the rest have been phased out.

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There are 118 Wranglers in the mix.

I am more surprised about there being a Duster in the group. Was he lost and joined the group mid drive?

[Frederic]

19 minutes ago, Bravoecho said:

I am more surprised about there being a Duster in the group. Was he lost and joined the group mid drive?

That Duster was a great little 4x4 and he did great in the dunes as it’s super light. 

[Gaurav]

8 hours ago, Stumpy Paj said:

I would Always look at what the locals and tourist drives are using as that a good indicator as to what works (they are out there every day unlike us weekend warriors)

This is a million-dollar misconception. Let me explain to you why.

I have been under the same influence (in 2006) and bought Land Cruiser - thinking, it was a king of desert as all desert safari companies are using it. After the first few drives realized its boat size was heavy and long and not practical for any good dune bashing. Why Desert Safari companies use it because it's the most forgiving and economical car for their daily business - which require a 15 min - 30 min desert trail in a 5 km radius for tourist to show sand splash, few sideys and moderate climb at sunset point. This train track route is miles away from what weekend offroaders do - explore, push the limits, and cross the desert from one side to another.

Fast forward two years, after seeing so many Patrols flying thru the dunes - bought a SWB patrol in 2008. It was much better than LC but still unable to fly through anywhere. The simple reason was Patrol used by local and racers boys has been heavily modified with a buffet menu of 400 HP - 800 HP - 2000 HP depending on how deep your pocket and wasta. Now, if we buy a new car and are scared of voiding the warranty, we have to limit our reach and find peace somewhere in between. Why ppl love Patrol to be modified is the core reason that it has a huge engine bay with the smallest engine size, that can fit a hell of a mod, turbos, fans, and headers and still disguise as regular Patrol.

If you really wanna base your offroad car purchase, go to any offroad club drive starting point and see you will find:

• 75% cars with a mix of Wranglers, FJC, Patrol (SWB) and Xterra (older model)
• 20%  Land Cruisers, Patrol Safari LWB, Prado and Pajero's
• 5% Patrol Y62, Grand Cherokee, Discovery, Liberty, Fortuner etc.

[Abdelghani]

Here is my opinion after some good time off-roading as a passenger and a driver.

Get a Japanese car, preferably Toyota(FJ, Prado, Hilux) or Nissan(SWB VTC).

 

Sincerely, FJ daily driver.

 

 

[Nilakantan Erode]

@GauravGreat insights. Takes the steam out of Land Cruiser and Nissan Patrol a bit!. Hopefully the dealer will not see this post. I was also impressed and influenced by the LC & NP spectacle shown by the safari companies. Clearly...there is lot more to it.  Great learning!!

[Gary F]

Wow @Looper I’m impressed I knew you loved statistics but this is impressive.

Would love to know how the outliers faired in the sand. Mercedes G wagon how did that do?

and not one single Unimog on the list , I know it’s a commercial vehicle but this portal axels would give amazing clearance.

[Srikumar]

5 hours ago, Gaurav said:

If you really wanna base your offroad car purchase, go to any offroad club drive starting point and see you will find:

• 75% cars with a mix of Wranglers, FJC, Patrol (SWB) and Xterra (older model)
• 20%  Land Cruisers, Patrol Safari LWB, Prado and Pajero's
• 5% Patrol Y62, Grand Cherokee, Discovery, Liberty, Fortuner etc.

And if you are really lucky, you might sight a near extinct XJ. Some believe they have seen a unicorn 🤣

[Looper]

1 hour ago, Gary F said:

Wow @Looper I’m impressed I knew you loved statistics but this is impressive.

Would love to know how the outliers faired in the sand. Mercedes G wagon how did that do?

and not one single Unimog on the list , I know it’s a commercial vehicle but this portal axels would give amazing clearance.

See for yourself. It is by @Batuhan Kulac's YouTube channel and the Jeep that I can see here seems that of @Gok Krish and he is talking about THIS drive.

 

[DP1011]

20 hours ago, Looper said:

a couple of charts from me:

This is the chart that shows the last car used by approx. 433 members with whom I have driven since I joined the club. It's 183 drives for you. As you can see the big four are Jeep, Toyota, Nissan, and Mitsubishi. 

This one is a bit more comprehensive chart. where i have listed models. There are a total of 118 Wranglers in the mix. 

And the winner is Pajero LWB with 57 driving it currently. followed by Wrangler JL LWB (44) and FJ (41) Cruiser and Xterra (38). of these four only JL is currently available, and the rest have been phased out.

---

There are 118 Wranglers in the mix.

Who is Isuzu? 😉? Any idea? or @Frederic might know?

[Frederic]

28 minutes ago, DP1011 said:

Who is Isuzu? 😉? Any idea? or @Frederic might know?

Actually you might find it hard to believe but there was an Isuzu Amigo on YOUR Absolute Newbie drive ! These are superb little offroad monsters, driven by a friend of mine @abms2ktrooper