Best SUVs off-road: Top 12 medium SUVs compared - some fail to make it! - video Dailymotion

CarExpert

We test ALL of the highest selling medium SUVs in Australia on our light off-road course to see which is best! Paul Maric's muddy light off-road course includes a test of the chassis rigidity, an offset mogul test to see how good the traction control system is and finally a test to see how they go climbing Log Mountain.  The cars we tested in this mega comparison include: - 2022 Toyota RAV4 Edge Hybrid AWD -- Toyota Rav4 review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YBnFWEH_Ag -- RAV4 v CX-5 comparison: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kt2pINvgW4g - 2022 Mazda CX-5 Akera Turbo AWD -- Mazda CX-5 Akera review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whEtrQWv4GE - 2022 Haval H6 Ultra AWD -- Haval H6 review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7KWL-EesyI - 2022 Subaru Forester 2.5i-L -- Subaru Forester review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hjCS3SskoQ - 2022 Volkswagen Tiguan 162TSI R-Line -- Volkswagen Tiguan review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEOMZT4LIo8 - 2022 Ford Escape Vignale -- Ford Escape review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AiFGKZIhls - 2022 Kia Sportage GT-Line AWD diesel -- Kia Sportage review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgg39UjyVbY - 2022 Hyundai Tucson Highlander AWD diesel -- Hyundai Tucson review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvzWv-TTP6s - 2022 Jeep Compass Trailhawk diesel - 2022 Honda CR-V VTi-L AWD -- Honda CR-V review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ip_r3QZi9U - 2022 Nissan X-Trail Ti AWD petrol -- Nissan X-Trail review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igPggtXk1B4 - 2022 Mitsubishi Outlander Exceed petrol -- Mitsubishi Outlander review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OlQrv_rvSQ  Skip Ahead: Intro: 00:00 The Test Course 01:00 Jeep Compass 03:49 Toyota RAV4 08:03 Mitsubishi Outlander 11:33 Subaru Forester 14:31 Kia Sportage 16:40 Hyundai Tucson 20:05 Mazda CX-5 23:28 Ford Escape 26:48 Honda CR-V 30:00 Haval H6 33:57 Volkswagen Tiguan 36:50 Nissan X-Trail 40:43 Verdict 43:44  We review every new car on the market, bust car myths, cover the latest car tech and answer your burning questions.  Whether you need new car advice, purchase validation or simply love learning more about new cars and technology, we are your car experts.  Subscribe to Car Expert: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7DvMhvy3H7ntEgn9n3xQcQ?sub_confirmation=1  You'll find us dropping new video content three times a week. If you'd like to ask a question about one of our videos, simply leave us a comment. If you'd like to give us any feedback on our content, feel free to email us, or alternatively, hit us up on social media.  Finally, we want this channel to grow with your support and feedback. If there's anything you don't like or would like to see us change, we'd love to hear from you!  Follow us on social media to see what we're up to and to ask any questions!  CarExpert: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarExpertAus Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/CarExpertAus Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carexpert.com.au  Paul Maric: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaulMaric Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/PaulMaric Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/PaulMaric  #suv #offroad #comparison

Transcript

00:00 G'day, I'm Paul.

00:15 Every time we publish a medium SUV review, you guys are asking us, "Can you do an off-road

00:19 one?

00:20 Show us how far they can go off-road."

00:21 Well, that's what I've done today.

00:23 So we have assembled all of the best-selling medium SUVs in Australia, with the exception

00:27 of the MG HS, that unfortunately wasn't available and they wouldn't allow us to use a dealership

00:32 car, and the Renault Cagliostro, which unfortunately wasn't available as well.

00:36 So both of those cars won't be in the video today.

00:38 Now this is going to be a long video, so if you do want to skip ahead to other parts of

00:42 the video, you can use the time codes on the screen, or if you're joining us on YouTube,

00:46 you can scroll down and use the chapters below.

00:48 Now, if you haven't done so already, subscribe to our channel and press the bell icon, because

00:51 I'm going to be doing more of this sort of stuff, and that's going to tell you every

00:54 single time one of these is published, but let's get cracking.

00:59 Welcome to our first test.

01:00 So you've arrived at your summer home and there is a muddy bog to get to the other side.

01:05 Will your medium SUV get there?

01:07 So what are we testing here?

01:08 This is a test of ground clearance, and also how well the car's going to be able to deal

01:12 with a bit of angle.

01:13 So we're going to reach about 20 degrees of lift on the side here as the car's come through.

01:17 It's nice and soft down the bottom and very muddy, so it's going to be a good test of

01:21 not only the tyres and how much traction they have, but exactly how the car deals when it

01:25 does have that angle and how the ground clearance affects its body.

01:28 When they reach the centre, though, this is where we're going to test how rigid the chassis

01:32 is.

01:33 And what I mean by that is two diagonal tyres are going to be off the ground, and two will

01:36 have contact with the ground.

01:38 What that does is put the chassis under stress.

01:40 We're going to then try and open and close the driver's door.

01:43 Vehicles without a rigid chassis are going to have metal-on-metal contact, because everything

01:46 is slightly out of place.

01:47 So that'll be a good test to tell us how strong the vehicle is before we move on to our next

01:52 section.

01:53 Unfortunately, you're not home and hose just yet, because you've got another bog hole here.

01:57 This comes up on a bigger angle, which means we have another opportunity to scrape the

02:02 underside of the car and potentially get it beached.

02:04 Not fun!

02:05 And it's also very soft through there as well, full of leaves, so it will really require

02:09 a little bit of pace to get the car through.

02:11 Once we get to this next part, though, we're going to kick a wheel up in the air and reach

02:14 full wheel articulation.

02:16 This is going to be the ultimate test of the traction control system, and also the four-wheel

02:19 drive system, because you only have two tyres that have contact with the road.

02:23 The car's then going to figure out how to do everything else on its own accord.

02:27 It's also worth pointing out that each car has a slightly different wheelbase and a slightly

02:31 different weight distribution.

02:32 So while their rest positions may differ a little bit, the end result should be the same.

02:37 But we're not done just yet.

02:38 We have one final test.

02:41 Welcome to Log Mountain.

02:42 Join me on a journey to the second cone up here.

02:45 I struggle to find my way up and realise I'm incredibly unfit.

02:49 Now, Log Mountain is going to be all about traction.

02:53 What this is going to do is really give us an idea of how the cars progress through these

02:57 uneven terrains.

02:58 We're also going to try and stop the cars at one point to see how well the traction

03:02 control system can deal with moving it forward.

03:05 The bigger SUVs that we test here, such as Land Cruiser, Discovery, we're able to stop

03:10 them, hit the throttle, and it's able to sort itself out in terms of the electronics.

03:13 It'll be interesting with the medium SUVs because they don't have things like diff locks

03:17 and grunty engines like the Land Cruiser and Discovery do.

03:20 So I'm looking forward to finding out how they go up here.

03:23 Then what we'll do if they pass or fail the test of stopping, I'm going to try to go up

03:26 with a little bit more pace just to make sure they can actually get to the very top, and

03:30 then they'll come straight back down.

03:32 Before we get started, I wanted to mention that this is a super light off-road test.

03:35 It's nothing too crazy, but it's consistent and it gives us a point of comparison.

03:39 I'll also call out that if the car has an off-road setting, we've picked the most suitable

03:44 mode before we get started.

03:45 Speaking of which, let's get cracking.

03:48 Okay, it is Jeep Compass time.

03:52 Now, it is worth noting this is the Trailhawk, it's trail rated, and that means that it's

03:57 met Jeep's off-road standards over there in the States.

04:00 They have a certain test course that cars have to be able to go through to meet the

04:03 trail rated standard.

04:04 Now, this has, it's a bit deceiving, there's a four-wheel drive low button, but it's not

04:08 actually a proper four-wheel drive low range.

04:12 All it does is it uses the car's existing gearbox and gearing to simulate low range,

04:17 similar to what the Amarok does.

04:18 You then have a four-wheel drive lock button which distributes 50% of torque to the front

04:22 and rear.

04:23 So, I'm going to engage four-wheel drive low, that's the most aggressive setting.

04:26 You've also got then a section here for enabling four-wheel drive modes.

04:30 I'm going to put that into mud.

04:32 This is the most hardcore four-wheel drive here in the medium SUV segment, so I am expecting

04:37 this to do pretty well.

04:38 Get it through our seesaw, come to a stop here for our door flex test, which is about

04:49 there.

04:50 Oh, that's not good.

04:55 So, yeah, basically the door is stuck.

05:00 It is hitting metal on metal as it opens and closes, and then when it does shut, unless

05:05 you slam it really hard, it sits open a little bit.

05:08 So obviously when the body is in this full flex condition, and if I roll forward even

05:12 a little bit more, when it's in that full flex condition, it's obviously not rigid enough

05:18 and it's flexing just a little bit there, stopping that door from opening and closing

05:22 properly.

05:23 So, yeah, pretty disappointing that the most off-road focus car here doesn't have the rigidity

05:27 to be able to close its door properly or open it.

05:31 Okay, let's move through to the next section.

05:34 This actually feels like it hasn't tapped on anything.

05:37 It has a stack of ground clearance, so it means that it's sort of cruising through all

05:41 this stuff.

05:42 All right, here we go.

05:43 I'll line it up now with our tyre in the air.

05:48 There it is, just there, we're teetering.

05:50 So I'm going to get off the brake now and just roll onto the throttle and we'll see

05:54 how well it performs here.

05:56 It's actually already doing a really good job.

05:58 As I roll out of the brake, I can feel it already trying to move forward.

06:02 I'll give it a bit of throttle now.

06:06 That is effortless.

06:07 That is really impressive.

06:08 It just got through that without any problems.

06:10 So it basically just engages the rear axle, it manages any slip on the rear axle all on

06:16 its own.

06:17 And look, to be honest, I would have expected it to do that anyway, being that it is trail

06:20 rated.

06:21 Okay, Log Mountain.

06:22 Let's give this a shot.

06:25 All right, throttle feels good, very consistent.

06:28 The ride's actually pretty good coming up here as well.

06:32 Let's get it wedged.

06:36 Okay, here we go.

06:38 So it is wedged.

06:39 Let's see if the electronics can sort it out.

06:43 Feels like it's doing something fine.

06:52 Give it just a little bit of lock there.

06:59 So it's just come up with a message saying four-wheel drive system temporarily unavailable.

07:04 Service four-wheel drive system.

07:07 Not very good.

07:08 Okay, so I'll go back down and I'll try going up again.

07:12 This time I'll just stay in the throttle and let's see what it does, whether the four-wheel

07:16 drive system is actually working at the moment or not.

07:18 I don't know.

07:19 I have a feeling it might not be because I can feel just the front wheel slipping.

07:26 That is all right, let's stay in that.

07:30 Okay, there we go.

07:32 We made it up.

07:33 So yes, momentum is key, but the electronics couldn't get it above our little ledge there

07:38 and then in addition to that, it threw up a warning message about the four-wheel drive

07:41 system not working.

07:43 So yeah, pretty unimpressed about that, given this is or should be the most capable four-wheel

07:48 drive here that it came up with those errors.

07:50 It's worth calling out as well on our way down here, it has a hill descent control and

07:54 that's actually doing a really good job going downhill.

07:57 So that is good.

07:58 If you do get yourself stuck, it's able to manage your descent without too many dramas.

08:04 Okay, so road four.

08:07 One thing I'm going to point out is that the Edge used to only be available as a petrol.

08:11 So it had a drive shaft that ran down the centre of the car.

08:13 It activated the rear axle and it had like a limited slip differential that worked using

08:18 the brakes.

08:19 This on the other hand being the hybrid, it has no drive shaft, it just has an electric

08:22 motor that services the rear axle.

08:24 So if anything, this should actually work the best because instead of it waiting for

08:29 a command from the front and then moving a drive shaft, this just pulses an electric

08:33 motor.

08:34 So I'm going to put this into the trail mode.

08:36 There we go, that's active and we will see how it goes.

08:39 I'm really keen to see whether this actually stands up on its own two feet when it comes

08:44 to that trail mode.

08:48 Okay, I can hear the traction control working.

08:52 As we move through, we're getting to our seesaw section.

08:57 There we go.

09:01 There it is, just there, it's teetering.

09:02 So let's try that.

09:05 Nice, that is very nice and strong.

09:08 So a good chassis on the RAV4.

09:09 Okay, moving to the next section.

09:11 RAV4 is performing well so far.

09:14 Okay, I can hear the traction control working.

09:18 It's quite noisy, it's actually noisy in a lot of Toyota products.

09:21 This one is no exception and it is a little weird moving through here while the car is

09:27 completely switched off.

09:28 I'm going to kill that parking sensor.

09:31 That's one thing I'm not liking so far.

09:32 It only gives me a brief window to hit okay to switch it off and it only does it temporarily.

09:37 So okay, here we go.

09:38 We are going to kick that rear wheel up.

09:41 Okay, so we are now teetering, it's sort of just up in the air like that.

09:45 I'm going to release the brake, roll into the throttle.

09:51 It does feel like it's struggling a little bit here.

09:54 Oh, we're getting there, we're getting there.

09:59 There it goes.

10:01 Okay, we are through.

10:02 So yeah, look, I think the all-wheel drive system being hybrid definitely helped because

10:07 it meant that the electric motor at the rear could pulse quickly, but ultimately this didn't

10:11 feel as confident as some of the other cars.

10:14 It just took a while to do anything and that could be a limitation due to that hybrid electric

10:19 motor at the rear.

10:20 Log mountain time.

10:21 Let's see how the RAV4 goes.

10:23 Again, the engine is switched off for EV mode only.

10:27 Slightly disconcerting, but let's give this a shot.

10:29 I'm having to use a lot of throttle to get this moving.

10:33 Get it rested on our log up here.

10:37 Okay, there it is there.

10:40 So let's give this a shot.

10:41 I'm just going to get on the throttle and we'll just see if the car can release itself

10:44 from here.

10:45 It did roll back on its own there a little bit.

10:47 Okay, it is just flaring up.

10:51 Oh, it's so close.

10:56 No, we're just producing a smoke show here.

11:01 So I'm going to go back now.

11:03 So the electronics weren't able to sort itself out.

11:06 Okay, take two.

11:07 This one is a little bit more momentum just to make sure we can actually get up there.

11:11 Yeah, it seems to really be struggling with the throttle.

11:13 I have to kind of bury it for it to do anything.

11:16 We are getting up now though, which is good.

11:21 It just needs a bit of momentum.

11:22 So yeah, look, electronics weren't quite clever enough to get it up there like they were in

11:26 some of the other cars, but it does make it up eventually if you just go a little bit

11:31 more.

11:34 Atlanta time.

11:35 So this now shares a platform with the new X-Trail.

11:38 So beneath the skin, it is effectively an X-Trail.

11:40 So we've got some off-road settings here.

11:41 I'm going to pop it over to mud.

11:44 It changes the screen there ahead of the driver.

11:46 I feel like I'm sitting sort of really low to the ground here, which is interesting,

11:51 but we'll see how this feels when we go through.

11:54 I can't kill those parking sensors.

11:57 All right, we are getting there.

12:00 All right, here we go for the middle section for our rigidity.

12:04 Let's get it to teeter over for maximum flex.

12:08 It's about there.

12:11 No dramas at all.

12:15 Very rigid chassis.

12:16 All right, let's move on.

12:17 Let's see how it fares through here.

12:19 A little bit of slip at the rear there.

12:21 Okay, let's get this set up for a little bit of rear wheel in the air action.

12:26 All right, here we go.

12:29 It's just there.

12:31 So we are teetering at the moment.

12:32 So I'm going to let go of the brake and roll onto the throttle.

12:37 Yeah, it's kind of not doing a whole lot there.

12:46 We're getting parking sensors.

12:48 Yeah, look, we got there.

12:51 It was just struggling a fair bit.

12:52 It felt like it was spinning the wheels in the rear, rather.

12:56 So yeah, look, it was pretty weak there in terms of the mobile, and it didn't feel like

12:59 it performed all that strongly.

13:02 Okay, it's time to climb the mountain of logs.

13:07 Yeah, the throttle is very flary.

13:11 So as you push it on, it sort of, it just comes up a lot.

13:16 And the parking sensor thing is annoying because every time it comes up, I hit disable and

13:20 it just kind of stays on.

13:21 So all right, let's give this a shot here.

13:23 I'm just going to go straight for the throttle.

13:24 We'll see what happens.

13:27 Harder on the throttle.

13:32 It's interesting, it's doing something.

13:36 It's just not getting the progression.

13:47 It's just, there it is.

13:49 All right.

13:50 All righty, we got there.

13:52 It was actually really impressive.

13:54 It wasn't doing what a lot of them do, which is just flare up and give us wheel spin.

13:57 It also didn't throw up a four-wheel drive error warning either.

14:00 So that's actually really impressive.

14:02 It eventually got up there on its own accord.

14:04 And if I did that again with a bit more momentum, it would get up pretty easily.

14:08 The only negative I would say is just the parking sensor thing.

14:10 You can disable those, but it's just annoying having to keep doing it.

14:15 And the other thing I'll call out as well is the suspension just feels a little bit,

14:19 yeah, just a little bit funny when you're coming up.

14:22 You don't get a great deal of feel through the body, but hill descent control works in

14:26 reverse.

14:27 It's letting us down pretty easily.

14:28 So yeah, good job Outlander.

14:32 Okay, Forester time.

14:34 So this has like a, it's called X-Mode.

14:36 I'm going to put it into mud.

14:39 Forester is permanent all-wheel drive and the old one, or one of the older generations,

14:43 used to have a low range transfer case.

14:45 So this should actually do okay here, despite it not being sort of Jeep levels of off-road

14:50 capable, but we'll see how we go.

14:52 So dropped it into our bog hole here.

14:55 Tiny bit of a slip there as it pulls through.

15:00 All right, here we go.

15:01 We're getting to our seesaw section and we'll test our door rigidity here.

15:06 So it's about there that we're teetering.

15:08 So let's try that.

15:10 Awesome.

15:11 That door opens and closes perfectly fine.

15:14 I'll come forward a touch more.

15:16 Yeah, no dramas there.

15:17 So very rigid chassis in the Forester.

15:19 Okay, let's go to our next section here.

15:22 So this is the deeper bog hole as we roll through and I try not to destroy Eagle's GoPro.

15:28 Now we'll line it up at this next section.

15:31 We'll get that wheel into the air now.

15:35 So there it is, just there.

15:39 So we are teetering at the moment.

15:40 It's literally balancing on here.

15:42 So I'm going to roll out of the brake and roll onto the throttle.

15:47 I can hear it doing stuff.

15:49 Traction control light is flashing.

15:50 Jeez, that is so impressive.

15:53 It is really fuss free.

15:55 So just a light bit of throttle and it just gets out of there.

15:57 So yeah, really impressed there with the Forester on that little section.

16:02 Okay, log mountain meets Subaru Forester.

16:05 So I'm going to go into dirt mode for X mode.

16:08 I think that's probably the best thing to do here.

16:11 And we'll get to our resting log just up here.

16:15 It's just about there.

16:20 All right, so now I'm just going to plant it.

16:22 We'll see what it does in terms of the electronics.

16:28 That is so good.

16:29 That is really impressive.

16:33 I mean that was seriously effortless.

16:35 So yeah, awesome job with the Forester.

16:42 So Sportage, now it has an off-road mode.

16:45 So it's called terrain.

16:46 You hit that button there.

16:47 We'll switch it down to mud.

16:49 For this, it's done its thing.

16:51 It's engaged hill descent control, but it looks like traction control is still on.

16:55 So let's see how it goes.

16:57 Hello?

16:58 To say the least.

17:01 All right, we'll get it over to our middle section.

17:05 Test the rigidity of this.

17:08 I do love these cameras.

17:09 I'm able to see quite a lot out the front there and I can see exactly where I'm meant

17:12 to be going.

17:13 Okay, there it is there.

17:15 Teetering.

17:16 So let's do doors.

17:17 That feels good.

17:22 It's opening and closing without any dramas at all.

17:25 So let's move on.

17:26 Okay, no scrapes so far.

17:29 Well, no significant scrapes anyway.

17:31 Feeling good so far.

17:34 A little touch down there.

17:37 Get that wheel up in the air.

17:40 We'll see what happens.

17:43 Okay, it's just there.

17:45 We're teetering.

17:46 Okay, off the brake and I'll roll onto the throttle.

17:49 Here we go.

17:52 Waiting with mated breath.

17:57 Okay, traction control is kicking in.

17:59 I'm applying more throttle.

18:02 Okay, cool.

18:08 It did get there in the end, but it did struggle.

18:10 Well, it struggled.

18:11 Yeah, I don't know.

18:12 I think it felt like traction control was doing its thing to a degree, but it probably

18:17 would have stopped working at some point there.

18:19 So one of the big advantages of the Sportage and the Tucson in diesel trim is they come

18:23 with a torque converter and not a dual clutch.

18:26 But yeah, ultimately I felt like it was struggling to actually utilise its traction control to

18:30 get it through.

18:31 So this felt like it had to work the hardest to get us out of that situation.

18:35 Okay, log mountain.

18:37 Let's give this a shot.

18:39 The ride feels good.

18:40 That's one bonus.

18:42 Oh wow.

18:43 I can't even make it over the first one.

18:48 Alright, let's get it up to our rest point which is just there.

18:53 Alright, so yeah, it struggled a little bit straight out of the box there.

18:56 So we're on our rest point, I've got it in that terrain mode, let's see what happens.

19:00 As I apply throttle.

19:07 No, we're not getting anywhere and it's just come up with an error message, check all wheel

19:11 drive slash four wheel drive.

19:13 So I'm going to go back down the hill now.

19:17 Once that error clears, I will try it once more.

19:21 This time with a bit more momentum, but it really didn't feel like it was progressing

19:24 at all going up there.

19:26 So alright, we'll give this one more shot.

19:28 A little bit more momentum this time just to make sure it can actually get to the top.

19:33 Alright, getting there.

19:38 Alright, with a bit of momentum we did get there but yeah, as you can see it basically

19:44 threw its hands up in the air when it started struggling.

19:47 It didn't really feel like the traction control was doing anything to get us up that incline.

19:52 So yeah, a little disappointing.

19:54 Does have hill descent control but it doesn't work in reverse.

19:57 Well, it doesn't appear to.

19:58 The car flies down the hill.

20:01 Yeah, definitely not made for off-roading I don't think.

20:08 So Tucson time.

20:09 Now this shares a platform with the Kia Sportage.

20:12 So in theory they should do the same through here.

20:14 I'm going to put this into terrain and then mud.

20:19 Let's see how we go.

20:21 That's a benefit with shared platforms, you know, if it's going to work on one it'll work

20:24 on the other.

20:25 So we go through here.

20:27 This will feel pretty good so far.

20:31 In-mode also puts the hill descent control on.

20:33 OK, we're in our centre section, let's test that door flex.

20:37 Get it to Teta which is just there.

20:40 We're at full flex.

20:48 It's kind of, yeah it's OK.

20:50 I thought it may have been grabbing there but it's OK.

20:54 So yes, pass on the door flex test.

20:56 On to the next section.

20:58 Let's move on through our puddle.

21:01 It's super muddy every time we go through this with a car it is chopping it up nicely

21:05 but no complaints so far.

21:07 They seem to be progressing through without too many dramas.

21:11 Alright, time for our little swing up of that wheel here.

21:16 OK, here we go.

21:19 Alright, we have that wheel in the air.

21:21 So what I'm going to do now is let off the brake and roll onto the throttle.

21:27 I can hear it doing stuff.

21:32 I can feel it grabbing gradually.

21:33 I'm applying more and more throttle.

21:39 It's getting there, it's just not all that confidence inspiring.

21:44 It's interesting, so it's going through but it really needs a lot of throttle application

21:47 to get it spun up.

21:48 It seems only then that it starts applying the brakes to the wheels.

21:51 So yeah, it doesn't feel all that confidence inspiring compared to some of the other cars

21:55 we've tested.

21:57 Log Mountain, beautiful this time of year, especially when it is a little damp.

22:03 Alright, we'll get past our first one which is just there.

22:07 And we'll sit it here.

22:10 So let's go for the throttle, we'll see what happens.

22:12 We're in the terrain mode.

22:13 Let's see how it goes.

22:21 Traction control light is flashing but it doesn't really feel like it's doing anything.

22:26 Oh, here we go.

22:28 Alright, we got there.

22:30 Excellent.

22:31 Alright, we've made it up.

22:32 Yeah, right at the end there it started to get the traction that it needed and it squirrelled

22:36 its way up.

22:37 So yeah, really impressive.

22:38 At the start it didn't really feel like it was going to get there but as it gradually

22:42 worked its way up it really started to sort itself out and it got there.

22:45 So it's fascinating, they must have really conditioned it for this type of thing to get

22:49 it there because ultimately it should in theory have been pretty poor when you look at how

22:54 it did on the Moguls.

22:55 So we'll work our way back down here.

22:58 It has a hill descent control but it doesn't appear to work in reverse.

23:02 I'm noticing as well something that is really unnerving.

23:05 The brake pedal is occasionally going, yeah like right now, it has gone completely hard

23:10 and I'm having to force my foot onto the brake like really hard to override the assistance

23:16 there to stop it.

23:17 So yeah, it's not really confidence inspiring and not overly impressive when you have to

23:22 manhandle the brake pedal when really it should just be gradual and progressive.

23:27 CX-5.

23:29 Now this actually has an off-road mode so I've got that engaged down there.

23:36 Compared to Mazda this forces the rear axle to act as a limited slip differential/differential

23:42 lock.

23:43 So we'll see how well that works.

23:44 I do like that the camera is giving us some great vision down the front there so I can

23:48 see exactly what's going on.

23:50 This is probably the most compact of the midsize SUVs so I am concerned about clearance and

23:55 it actually kind of just getting through this stuff.

23:58 But let's see how it goes.

23:59 We're on our sideways section.

24:02 Alright here we go with our door test.

24:04 Get that on its little teetering spot which is about there somewhere.

24:12 No dramas at all, that opens and closes just like it does on flat ground which is good.

24:17 Okay let's move on to our other seesaw.

24:20 This always feels unnerving as you drive through because you're on such an angle, you feel

24:25 like you're about to fall out of the car.

24:27 Okay so let's get this wheel up in the air.

24:30 Here it comes now.

24:33 There it is, just there it's teetering so foot off the brake.

24:37 Let's see how that goes.

24:40 A bit of throttle.

24:43 That's so cool, that actually feels like it's - ah that is awesome.

24:48 It actually genuinely feels like there's a rear diff lock working and you can actually

24:53 hear the traction control system kind of firing to stop it all from turning at the end there.

24:59 So yes in essence this is actually doing what it says on the box when it is in that off-road

25:03 mode.

25:04 It is mimicking a limited slip diff or a rear differential lock to ensure that you are getting

25:09 momentum.

25:10 So yeah it's quite an aggressive system, it seems to work well.

25:12 I'm keen to see how it goes on the logs.

25:15 Log mountain time for the CX-5 in off-road mode.

25:19 Let's see how it fares, the ride's nice, very soft and subtle up here.

25:25 Alright, rested just there.

25:30 Alright let's test out this system.

25:33 Throttle on.

25:34 A bit of lock.

25:35 I've got my foot flat to the floor here but it doesn't feel like we're going to get there.

25:48 Oh, no I'm going to give up.

25:53 No luck.

25:54 We didn't quite make it there.

25:55 It kind of felt like it was about to get there but we didn't get there.

25:59 So it's come up with an error there saying four-wheel drive system high load.

26:02 It's not an error message in the sense that it's preventing four-wheel drive system from

26:05 working but it has called out that it is under load.

26:08 So I'm going to try that once more, this time with a bit more momentum.

26:11 We'll see how well it goes.

26:13 Okay that's off and then on again.

26:16 Let's try this once more.

26:19 A bit more momentum.

26:25 It's getting up here with momentum.

26:26 So yeah a little disappointing there.

26:28 So it overheated the four-wheel drive system and then it failed to basically let us go

26:33 again until we stopped the car and restarted it again.

26:36 So yeah look the off-road system worked well on our Moguls but yeah for the Logs it didn't

26:40 seem to make that much of a big difference in terms of it getting up.

26:44 It's got there but just didn't make it.

26:50 So escape.

26:52 Let me put this into its off-road mode.

26:55 So there's sport, slippery and deep snow/sand.

26:59 I think that's probably the most sensible mode to use here.

27:02 Give this a shot.

27:05 This is the one I'm probably most concerned about making it.

27:09 I have a feeling it will just bottom out because it doesn't have a great deal of clearance.

27:13 So we'll bring that through to our Tita position.

27:16 There it is.

27:19 Just there.

27:21 Okay.

27:23 Door opens and closes without any drivers so from a rigidity point of view it is all

27:27 good.

27:28 Let's progress on.

27:29 This is the section it's probably going to have the most difficulty with just because

27:33 the ridges are quite pronounced on this centre section.

27:36 But we will see what happens.

27:38 Okay so far so good.

27:41 Not bottoming out just yet.

27:43 Okay here we go.

27:45 We're getting to our tyre lift scenario.

27:49 Okay and there it is just there.

27:53 We have a wheel off the ground.

27:54 So I'm going to roll out of the brake now and onto the throttle.

27:59 Wow.

28:02 That's actually amazing.

28:07 I'm actually in a bit of shock at the moment because that literally just walked through

28:11 there without any issues at all.

28:13 Like it didn't really bottom out.

28:14 The clearance was adequate and the tyres just spun up as they should and it progressed through

28:20 without any problems.

28:21 So I'm a bit shocked by this.

28:24 Good job Ford.

28:25 Okay it was impressive there but I think log mountain will unsettle the Escape.

28:28 I can already feel on the way up here it's starting to scrabble.

28:32 The traction, the suspension is bloody firm as well.

28:38 Okay there is our ridge.

28:40 Let's see how she goes.

28:41 Put a bit of throttle in.

28:42 Alright I'm flat to the board now.

28:47 Oh it is edging forward a little bit.

28:50 Try a bit of steering input.

28:59 Alright so we just got an error message there.

29:01 All wheel drive temporarily disabled.

29:03 I could just feel it sending all torque to the front.

29:05 So obviously we've overheated that or it's unimpressed with itself.

29:09 So I'm going to go back down.

29:10 We'll do this again with a little bit of momentum once that error clears and we will try one

29:15 more time.

29:16 Okay I've just restarted the car.

29:17 Let's give this another shot, this time with a touch more momentum.

29:20 Let's see how it goes.

29:23 Yeah the ride is bloody firm.

29:27 It's just throwing it about everywhere and I have a feeling that's probably going to

29:31 ultimately stop it from progressing.

29:33 Alright there we go.

29:35 We finally made it.

29:36 It needed momentum but yeah not a very durable all wheel drive system.

30:02 Now the CR-V, I think it could be the only SUV here that doesn't actually have an off

30:07 road mode per se.

30:08 So I've just put the off road screen on there ahead of the driver.

30:11 We'll see if that does anything and we may have to disable traction control if it does

30:16 end up getting stuck.

30:17 But we will see how we go.

30:18 Alright let's start pushing through.

30:19 I'm looking out the window because I've got a spotter there and he's keeping an eye on

30:26 everything for me to make sure we don't rip the front end off any of these cars and he

30:30 looks very concerned as we're driving through here so it must be quite low down to the front

30:34 there.

30:35 Alright we're almost at our centre section here to test rigidity.

30:37 There we are we're teetering just there.

30:42 Yeah that feels fine.

30:43 So rigidity good.

30:44 Let's try and truck onto this next section.

30:46 I can see the all wheel drive system display there is actually doing stuff which is cool.

30:51 Alright so far so good.

30:54 So this uses a CVT so it's a slightly different gearbox technology to some of the cars.

30:59 I think CVT should actually work better here because it is able to flare up easier, it

31:05 doesn't have gear shifts to manage and all that kind of thing.

31:07 So far so good.

31:08 We're about to pop out the other edge here.

31:10 We'll see if an off road mode actually makes any difference at all.

31:13 Okay here we go.

31:16 Teetering.

31:17 There it is there we're up.

31:18 So I can see the traction control light flashing.

31:20 I'm going to let off the brake and we'll see how it performs.

31:25 Making lots of noises so traction control is operating.

31:28 I can feel it trying to get us out of here.

31:30 I'll put some more throttle on.

31:31 Look at that so it's sending all the torque to the rear.

31:34 You can see it there on the display.

31:35 Yeah we're not getting anywhere here.

31:39 My foot is basically flat on the throttle.

31:42 No we're not getting anywhere so I might just try with a little bit more pace.

31:49 And a bit of steering lock.

31:53 Alright there we go.

31:56 We're almost out.

32:00 Alright we made it out.

32:01 So yeah look technically this I guess passed but it struggled very badly trying to get

32:07 out of there.

32:08 So yeah not the best system and I suspect that comes down to no off road mode.

32:13 It's not really designed to do any of this stuff but yeah it got there in the end.

32:16 It just needed a little bit of persistence.

32:18 Let's try log mountain now.

32:20 We'll see how it fares.

32:22 So the ride's good.

32:24 It's nice and gentle up here which I like.

32:27 Get it over our ridge.

32:30 Alright there it is there.

32:32 Let's see how we go.

32:33 So put on the throttle.

32:35 That all wheel drive display is showing us what's going on.

32:41 It is literally doing nothing.

32:43 It's just making a whole lot of sound.

32:46 Nothing is happening.

32:47 Now given this doesn't have an all wheel drive mode I'm going to try turning traction control

32:51 off just to see if that makes any difference.

32:53 Here we go.

32:57 Actually feels like it doesn't have enough power to get us above the ridge.

33:00 So this is the only car so far that we've tested that really doesn't even have enough

33:04 grunt to move it off that mark let alone slip a wheel.

33:07 So alright we'll try that again.

33:09 So that's a fail for that ridge test.

33:10 I'll try it again just with a little bit more momentum.

33:13 It should in theory make it up here without any problems but we won't know until we try

33:17 it.

33:18 There were no four wheel drive error messages either which is good.

33:21 So here we go, take two.

33:24 Alright, tiny bit more momentum.

33:30 It is really struggling.

33:34 Alright, almost there.

33:38 There we are mate.

33:39 Okay.

33:40 So look it did make it but it was not very glamorous and yeah it just didn't even have

33:44 enough power to get over the ridge while we were stationary.

33:47 So yeah look I don't think this is built for off-roading.

33:51 There are no off-road modes so this is probably just a car best kept inside the city.

33:56 Okay time for the Haval H6.

34:02 So this is one of two cars that we have on test with a dual clutch transmission.

34:06 So I think that's probably going to affect these the most because it is kind of, it's

34:10 not like a torque converter which can slip.

34:12 This is either on or off effectively and then it does slip in between a little bit.

34:16 So I'm going to put it into off-road mode.

34:19 So let's give that a shot.

34:21 This is also the lowest in terms of ground clearance so there is a good chance we won't

34:27 be able to get very far but we'll see how we go.

34:29 I can already hear it scraping and Scott's face is telling an interesting tale.

34:36 Okay we're getting to the middle section now which is our body rigidity test.

34:41 So far so good.

34:43 Here it comes.

34:44 Okay and there's our little teeter spot just there.

34:49 Let's see how this goes.

34:53 That opens and closes without any dramas at all.

34:56 Very good.

34:57 Let's move on.

34:58 Hopefully we get through and don't get stuck.

34:59 Yeah with having the least ground clearance here it's probably going to be its biggest

35:03 hurdle but I'm hoping that it can work through that and we don't end up getting it beached

35:08 as we move through the water here.

35:10 Oh I feel so low.

35:12 All right we've made it so far.

35:14 All right we're about to kick the wheel up to see how it deals with this loss of traction.

35:19 Here we go.

35:22 All right.

35:26 Oh see now that's not good.

35:29 It's got like a massive clunk as I roll onto the throttle.

35:33 Oh there we go.

35:37 Yeah there we go.

35:40 Okay so it got through but it struggled a lot and there were a lot of clunks coming

35:44 from what felt like the transmission.

35:45 Yeah it's really hard to describe.

35:47 It was while I was applying throttle it just started clunking a lot so yeah I'm not sure

35:52 if that was the actual transmission itself or the all-wheel drive system.

35:55 So yeah a bit of a mixed feel on that.

35:58 It got through there in the end but it really did feel like it struggled once the going

36:01 got a little bit tough.

36:03 So it was a little underwhelming on the Moguls but let's see how it goes here on Log Mountain.

36:07 All right coming through.

36:12 Rest it just there.

36:14 Okay I'm just going to get on the throttle we'll see how it goes.

36:18 Look at that.

36:21 That walked up.

36:24 That was no dramas.

36:26 So I did get that same massive knock through the body as I was coming up there.

36:31 I think that's something to do with the transmission.

36:33 Don't know but it got up there.

36:35 That was really good.

36:36 Once it sorted itself out it didn't flare up it just got up there.

36:39 So that's actually really surprising.

36:42 I'm pretty impressed by that.

36:43 I wasn't expecting it to be able to overcome that little lip.

36:46 So pretty impressive there from the Haval H.

36:53 Time for the Tiguan.

36:54 So this is the other of the two cars with a dual clutch but this has an off-road mode

36:59 so I'm going to flick over to that now.

37:02 Off-road mode is activated and then I'll put the off-road stuff on the screen here so you

37:07 can see that you can kind of flick between those different menus.

37:09 Nothing really too useful there.

37:12 So let's see how this goes with our off-road mode active.

37:16 This is a pretty sporty car so I fear that this is also going to bottom out a little

37:20 bit because it's got a nice looking front lip on it.

37:24 Alright here we go.

37:25 I'm watching Scott again as he panics as I come through.

37:28 Okay here we go we're coming to our middle section for rigidity.

37:34 This platform has been out a little while so let's see how this goes.

37:40 No dramas at all.

37:44 Very impressive.

37:45 So very impressed by that.

37:47 Let us move on.

37:48 Okay here we go I'm going to kill the parking sensors as we get panicked looks.

37:55 The body kit on this is really low so that's why I was convinced that it would be bottoming

37:59 out.

38:00 I haven't driven it just yet though so I guess it's sporty and functional as a four-wheel

38:05 drive.

38:06 Alright here we go we're coming up to our little mogul here.

38:10 Let's see how it performs.

38:11 We throw a wheel up.

38:12 There it is.

38:14 Just there.

38:15 So we've got a wheel off the ground.

38:16 Let's see how it goes.

38:17 Foot is off the brake.

38:18 Roll onto the throttle now.

38:19 A little bit more throttle.

38:20 Seems good.

38:36 No dramas there.

38:37 It's actually quite an impressive system.

38:39 That's the parking sensors coming back on.

38:40 Yeah it's a pretty impressive system because it's not, you know, the dual clutch isn't

38:46 slowing it down or affecting it.

38:48 It actually just gives you the progressive torque that you need to move the car.

38:51 And then when the wheel was up in the air it actually felt like it was moving on its

38:54 own speed.

38:55 It was braking as required.

38:56 I'm actually pretty impressed by this given how old this platform is.

39:00 It actually seemed to perform its job pretty well.

39:03 So yeah good job by the Tiguan.

39:05 Let's try log mountain now.

39:07 See if our run of success with the Tiguan continues.

39:10 Yeah this off-road mode seems to actually be doing a pretty decent job.

39:13 Get it up to our little section.

39:18 There.

39:19 OK here we go.

39:23 So we're going to load up the throttle and progressively apply more and more.

39:34 It's biting.

39:35 It's actually...

39:36 It doesn't look like we're going to make it up.

39:45 No, no bingo.

39:47 OK.

39:48 Back we go.

39:49 I keep getting errors about lane assist and it's because on the steering here I keep tapping

39:52 it.

39:53 I really don't like these buttons on the Tiguan.

39:56 They're quite frustrating.

39:57 But in other news the hill descent control works in reverse which is good news.

40:01 So big tick there for hill descent control in reverse.

40:03 Alright take two just with a little bit more momentum.

40:07 It is good to see that despite staying in it for as long as I did it didn't throw up

40:10 any transmission or all-wheel drive warnings.

40:13 And then second time around just by going with a bit more momentum it got up there without

40:18 any dramas.

40:19 So yeah look it's interesting.

40:21 The off-road mode actually works so it does a good job there.

40:25 The only downside is that it's just not quite well sorted enough to get it over that lip

40:30 and I think part of that could be the transmission.

40:32 The dual clutch just isn't really the best transmission for proper off-road driving and

40:36 that's where a torque converter is going to excel.

40:38 But outside of that it did a pretty good job.

40:45 X-trail time.

40:46 Now this is the only one here that can do two-wheel drive dedicated, auto or four-wheel

40:49 drive lock.

40:50 So I'm going to put it into the four-wheel drive lock mode.

40:52 It's come up with a message there saying that it's locked.

40:56 Let's get it set up on our seesaw for flex.

40:59 There it is just there.

41:03 No dramas.

41:04 This is the oldest platform here and yeah no issues there with body rigidity which is

41:10 good.

41:11 So let's move on.

41:12 So far so good.

41:13 Try not to smash the GoPro into the ledge there.

41:16 Okay here we go for our little offset mobile section.

41:22 Okay so wheel is up in the air just there.

41:25 So I'm going to roll off the brake again and into the throttle.

41:29 And it's getting there, it's getting there.

41:34 Come on.

41:35 Put his heart on the throttle now.

41:38 There we go, got there in the end.

41:39 So it took a little bit of motivation but once the traction control came on it pushed

41:44 it over the edge and it was really fuss free.

41:46 I think one of the advantages of the CVT is that it's able to just give you that little

41:52 bit of extra flair without having to fuss around with gears.

41:55 So that seemed to work okay.

41:56 It was a little hesitant but once I gave it more throttle it kind of powered through.

42:00 Didn't feel like it touched down anywhere either.

42:01 So X-Trail, I guess it's a tried and true favourite.

42:06 Log mountain o'clock.

42:07 Let's give this a shot.

42:08 Alright so the ride feels good, liking that.

42:09 Getting up to our little section just there.

42:20 Okay here we go.

42:21 I'm going to bury the foot, well gradually put the throttle on and then we'll see what

42:25 happens.

42:26 Slipping a little bit.

42:27 Alright I've gone flat to the floor now.

42:35 It's just kicking us sideways, it's not actually really getting us up there.

42:38 Try just a little bit more throttle.

42:44 It feels like it's about to get there but nah, we're going to stop there.

42:49 So yeah look, no all-wheel drive system overheating but it really did struggle to move anywhere

42:55 beyond just slipping the wheels.

42:57 So even in that four-wheel drive mode it just basically kept spinning the wheels and didn't

43:01 really give us any progress.

43:03 So let's try that again, this time I'll just have a tiny bit more momentum.

43:08 Okay here we go, this time a bit more momentum.

43:11 Alright, it's making a bit more progress there.

43:16 Yeah no drama.

43:17 So all it needed was a bit of momentum.

43:20 It's interesting, this is naturally aspirated and it had enough power to get over that ridge

43:24 and start spinning the wheels whereas the Honda sort of just didn't really do anything.

43:29 So yeah look, I think once this is moving it's fine, it's not the most advanced system

43:33 in the world and there doesn't appear to be an actual off-road mode to take advantage

43:37 of the four-wheel drive lock feature but it kind of just does the job.

43:40 [Music]

43:51 So that was a stack of fun.

43:52 We've come back to the office to analyse the results and before we get into the results

43:56 I thought I'd call out that we checked all of the tyre pressures on the cars and made

44:00 the tyre pressures exactly what the manufacturer recommends.

44:04 And I understand that obviously if you select different tyres or put meatier off-road tyres

44:08 some of these are going to be more capable than others but we stuck with factory tyres

44:13 and factory pressures just to make sure everything was nice and consistent.

44:17 Now let's talk ground clearance.

44:18 I was actually pretty surprised by this.

44:20 We had everything from the Haval H6 which was not very good in terms of ground clearance

44:24 all the way through the Jeep Compass which dominated.

44:26 And you can see on the screen there the comparison between the vehicles.

44:29 It may not seem like much but ground clearance is ultimately what you need to be able to

44:33 go over.

44:34 You can get through a lot of these obstacles and certainly when you get to slightly tougher

44:37 terrain ground clearance will ultimately stop you if you don't have enough there.

44:41 But there is another story to tell and we noticed this with the Tiguan that even though

44:44 it had an okay ground clearance it was let down by body kit so it kind of scraped a little

44:50 bit when we were doing some of the stuff on that offset Mogul and some of the other cars

44:53 also had these lips beneath the actual body kit that scraped a little bit.

44:59 Kind of sacrificial so you can give them a whack if you need to.

45:02 And in addition to that do you really need all-wheel drive?

45:04 Well we hit the Mogul in the X-Trail in two-wheel drive mode to make sure our course was challenging

45:09 enough for a medium SUV and as you can see it didn't really get very far.

45:13 It ended up getting stuck on the Moguls and even on the logs it couldn't make it to the

45:17 first obstacle when it was in two-wheel drive.

45:20 So if you are buying and wondering whether you should spend on an all-wheel drive system

45:24 even the poorer performing all-wheel drive systems will at least get you somewhere instead

45:28 of getting you completely stuck.

45:30 Let's talk about our standouts first and I think the first I want to call out is the

45:34 Tucson.

45:35 It was really fascinating because the Sportage over the exact same terrain performed kind

45:39 of the same but when it got to the logs it overheated its all-wheel drive system whereas

45:44 the Tucson on the other hand it just climbed up and there were no complaints there about

45:48 the all-wheel drive system.

45:49 So I don't know if there's a slightly different calibration given they do share the same platform

45:53 but the Tucson appeared to be a little bit more capable and the all-wheel drive system

45:57 a little bit more robust when it came to that constant and gradual load on our logs.

46:02 The other one that impressed was the Havel.

46:04 So despite having such little ground clearance it did an okay job on the Moguls.

46:08 It did have that knocking sound from the dual clutch but I thought the dual clutch would

46:12 ultimately stop it from progressing on our logs because dual clutch is kind of nothing

46:17 or everything but in actual fact it helped it get up the logs by giving it just that

46:22 little bit more traction and then the traction control system then prevented it from flaring

46:26 up and spinning its wheels and it really just climbed up pretty impressively I thought for

46:31 what shouldn't have got all that far given ground clearance and dual clutch transmission.

46:35 The Outlander as well, I think it's worth calling out that that made it up the logs.

46:39 It was another one that instead of just flaring up and spinning the wheels it did everything

46:43 nice and gradually and look it doesn't have a turbocharger so it doesn't really have the

46:47 opportunity to just send this huge pulse of torque to the wheels but the advantage that

46:52 it had with its CVT was that it was able to control things gradually and then allowed

46:56 the traction control system and the all-wheel drive system to take care of the rest and

47:00 it did show that while it had limited progression in the Moguls when it got to the logs it was

47:05 able to do everything nice and smoothly and get all the way up to the top without having

47:08 to go back down again.

47:09 And the Ford Escape, look it did overheat the all-wheel drive system when we got to

47:13 our logs but I thought when it was on the offset Moguls did a really good job of progressing

47:17 through without any problems.

47:19 It basically just did everything it needed to do with its traction control that allowed

47:23 it to just pulse all the way through and Bob's your uncle it got through the Mogul without

47:27 any dramas at all.

47:28 Perhaps a slightly more robust all-wheel drive system will help with things like the logs

47:31 in the future.

47:32 Now let's get on to our disappointments and look I'm going to bundle all the cars that

47:37 had overheating all-wheel drive systems.

47:40 I genuinely think it's unacceptable because that log climb was pretty basic and we weren't

47:45 on the throttle all that long.

47:47 It really should have been a case of them being able to cope with that kind of load

47:50 on the all-wheel drive system for slightly longer.

47:52 We really weren't putting them under too much stress.

47:54 So I don't know whether it was just an artificial limit that said hey something's not working

47:58 with the all-wheel drive system go back or whether we were actually overheating it and

48:01 it needed to stop so that it could have another shot.

48:04 So it's pretty disappointing there were quite a few cars in that box.

48:07 The Honda CR-V as well I mean it just got absolutely nowhere.

48:10 It didn't even have enough power to rotate any of its wheels while it was sitting on

48:14 the logs.

48:15 Obviously this stuff is very much light off-roading but I think Honda probably needs to work on

48:20 that for the next generation of the CR-V.

48:22 And the other one I want to call out as well is the RAV4.

48:25 In theory that should have been the best performer here but it really was inconsistent when it

48:29 came to the moguls and also the logs.

48:31 It just spun up the front wheels for some bizarre reason.

48:33 It wasn't really doing anything with the rear axle.

48:36 It's a vehicle that can use its electric motor at the rear axle to just do what it

48:40 needs to do instantly without having to worry about the driveline and delays between shuffling

48:45 torque.

48:46 So I think Toyota really needs to work on trail mode in the RAV4 to just give it that

48:50 edge part of the pun over the rest of the competitors.

48:53 But I think undoubtedly the biggest disappointment here was the Jeep Compass.

48:58 I mean this carries a trail rated badge and while it did great during the offset mogul

49:03 section it performed incredibly poorly with the door flex.

49:06 So we weren't able to shut the door, well we could shut the door but we had to slam

49:10 it and it was really just pushing metal on metal.

49:12 So the body isn't quite rigid enough for that basic off-roading.

49:16 Then in addition to that, of all the cars I would expect this to not have all-wheel

49:21 drive system issues when it's trying to climb pretty basic terrain like the logs there.

49:26 So yeah I think the trail rated badge on the Jeep Compass, I don't know how much testing

49:30 they actually did on it but it really didn't cope all that well with our very basic off-road

49:35 course.

49:36 And that brings us to the winner.

49:38 This one probably surprised me a bit.

49:40 The Subaru Forester has a heritage as an off-road vehicle.

49:43 Earlier versions of the Forester were very much so off-road capable but this new Forester

49:49 really just does everything very well when it comes to light off-roading.

49:53 So the all-wheel drive system is permanently active.

49:55 When it came to the moguls it was able to get through there without any fuss at all.

49:59 The X-Mode settings feel like they actually make a difference.

50:02 There was no issue with the flex test.

50:04 And then when we got to the logs I just leaned on the throttle and it got up there without

50:07 any problems at all.

50:08 So the Subaru Forester is ultimately the best choice in this segment if you need a family

50:12 car to do your family duties day to day but also a car that's capable of doing very light

50:18 off-roading in that scenario that we threw at it.

50:21 So congratulations to Subaru with the Forester.

50:23 It really is a fantastic light off-road vehicle.

50:27 Now this test was all about basic off-roading.

50:30 Did we miss anything?

50:31 Is there anything that we could have done better?

50:33 Let me know in the comments section below.

50:35 If you did enjoy the video please make sure you like it and share it with your mates.

50:39 We're currently planning future versions of this type of content and I want to be led

50:43 by you in terms of what we produce.

50:46 So do you want to see dual cab utes?

50:47 Do you want to see bigger SUVs go through our light off-road course?

50:51 Let me know in the comments section below.

50:53 If you haven't done so already subscribe to our channel and press the bell icon.

50:57 But until next time, take it easy.

Best SUVs off-road: Top 12 medium SUVs compared - some fail to make it!

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