new2ford

February 2005 issue of Overlander has 4WD of the year - unsurprisingly another Ford (well Ford by default) product wins (the new LR Discovery) but Terri comes in behind only the Discos and the X5 and ahead of the Patrol and some other far eastern rubbish. It is obvious the 4WD mags are having difficulty coming to terms with the new AWDs but Overlander does say some kind words about the Territory although it had a traction control failure on the rough stuff. The Landie is obviously a very fine vehicle but sure is ugly as hell beside the Terri. Whatever happened to David Bache's beautiful lines for the Range Rover - has somebody at Solihull lost the aesthetics manual? I still think the Terri is more practical inside and more attractive outside than the Beamer - why does every motoring writer feel the need to say they would prefer to be in an X5, I don't understand it? Apart from this I think Overlander is trying to compare apples and oranges.

 

outback_ute

Interesting, I saw the 4x4 Aust excluded any cars without low range from their award. As you say it is a difficult call - they would look silly awarding 4WDOTY to something without much 4WD ability, I suppose a better option would be to have 2 separate awards like the Australia's Best Cars awarded by NRMA & RACV etc.

As for the new Landie, it certainly takes cubism to a new level which I could live with but I can't believe the new model weighs 2700kg or so (weight not listed on LR website specs page!)