The Subaru Forester proved the winner in the Crossover category...  

Your servant was invited by Ludo de Ravet, Editor of 4x4 PLUS magazine, to participate in the jury of the election of the 4 x 4 of the Year. The magazine organises this event already for the 19^th time, and is refining its selection criteria always more. Last year, to follow closely the market evolution, a new “Crossover” category was added to the existing ones (Offroad, Pick-Up and SUV).

This year the category Offroad is divided in two subclasses (“Pure” and Luxury”). The “SUV” category is now further split up between “Hybrid” and “Non-hybrid”. So now the contest of the 4 x 4 of the year has six class or category winners.   

Hans Knol ten Bensel

The Mercedes GLK came on top in the SUV category... 

The jury – consisting only of professional car journalists - was invited to drive the cars in December in a very snowy Zolder, for two consecutive days. The test included of course an off-road section, and a road section. The road section consisted of roads with heavy snow and clear roads, so we were able to test the cars extensively in all road and weather conditions.

For 4 x 4’s only…  

In the Crossover category, only four-wheel drive cars were selected for the test. This year, the Subaru Forester won this category. Subaru has over the years been a very strong defender of four-wheel drive, and this year with an engine type better suited to the Belgian (European) market, the Forester left its competitors behind. Its excellent road holding, high level of active safety and functionality won the jury over, beating the BMW X1 in value for money with the Nissan Juke falling back due to its high(er) consumption.

The formidable VW Touareg proved the best in the SUV Hybrid category...

In the SUV category, with of course also only 4WD vehicles, the Mercedes GLK came out as winner, followed very closely by the Volvo XC60 and the Land Rover Freelander. The Mercedes impressed with top class finish, design and its very high technical standard.

In the SUV Hybrid category, the Lexus RX450h was beaten by the formidable VW Touareg Hybrid, and indeed the Touareg shows very impressive road and off-road qualities, which put it above the Lexus, even when considering the VW’s higher fuel consumption and price.

The “pure” Offroads

These are the cars where all the 4 x 4 fun started, and your servant has still his Suzuki Samurai, as you can read on my site (click here to see the report on driving my Samurai to France), and I enjoy this “pure” car now in the Ardèche hills and mountains. It is still in the (lengthy) process of being registered in France , a saga which almost knows no end, but which we hope to conclude in the coming months.

The Land Rover Defender was the winner this year, in a category where the Jeep Wrangler is also a remarkable contender.  

The “Luxury” offroads…

This category is growing ever larger, with many contestants (Land (Range) Rover, Mercedes, Mitsubishi, Porsche, Toyota, Volkswagen…

Many makes are launching new models in 2011, so they fall out of the boat for his contest. The battle was between the Range Rover and the Range Rover Sport. The Range Rover proved a capable contender with its new TDV8, but it is the Range Rover Sport who could keep last year’s title. The car convinced the jury with sporting and very stable “on”road behaviour, and of course outstanding off-road capacities. 

Pick Ups

This year the Nissan Navara has a new V6 Diesel engine, and VW has added a new star in this category, the Amarok. The Navara proved the winner by a very narrow margin, with the Mitsubishi L200 and the Isuzu D-Max expected to be superseded by new models soon… 

Needless to say we are looking forward to the 20^th edition!

Hans Knol ten Bensel