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Finest performing 4WD SUV revealed: MU-X vs LandCruiser vs Patrol vs Defender vs Everest vs LX600 vs Fortuner vs Pajero Sport vs Prado vs Grand Cherokee L vs Rexton


Large, seven-seat four-wheel drives with low-range aren’t traditionally thought of as performance cars, but how well they accelerate and brake is critical.

After all, a few metres can be the difference between your family emerging unscathed from an emergency stop, and an expensive repair bill.

Along with a round-robin drag race, we subjected the vehicles on our test to a series of performance tests – both unladen, and with our 3kN dyne trailer attached.

On the back of those tests, we’ve awarded the best-performing 4WD SUV overall, and the best-performing four-cylinder model. Those awards are based on all the tests conducted – and are revealed at the end of this story.

To stay across everything that’s happening with the 4WD SUV Mega Test, check out our dedicated page. Our next video to go live will be the towing test on Monday, June 12.

Unladen performance testing

We used the high-speed bowl at the VinFast (nee Holden) Proving Ground in Lang Lang, Victoria, for our testing.

We measured their 0-100km/h sprint time, and their 100km/h-0 braking distance. Overtaking ability was tested, as was the standing quarter mile.

The results are laid out in a series of tables below:

Vehicle 0-100km/h 100-0km/h 1/4 mile
Ford Everest Platinum V6 9.39s 3.16s @ 44.74m 16.80s @ 135.44km/h
Ford Everest Trend Bi-Turbo 10.78s 3.4s @ 46.07m 17.65s @ 125.84km/h
Isuzu MU-X 11.27s 3.04s @ 42.63m 17.63s @ 124.14km/h
Nissan Patrol 7.49s 3.19s @ 44.99m 15.43s @145.64km/h
Jeep Grand Cherokee L 10.19s 2.99s @ 40.19m 17.25s @ 131.72km/h
Land Rover Defender 110 D300 8.10s 3.21s @ 42.39m 15.91s @ 141.35km/h
Land Rover Defender 110 P525 V8 5.43s 2.96s @ 40.92m 13.63s @ 169.02km/h
Lexus LX600 7.09s 2.95s @ 41.76m 15.05s @ 152.22km/h
Mitsubishi Pajero Sport 12.61s 3.54s @ 45.81m 18.63s @ 120.01km/h
SsangYong Rexton 11.09s 3.30s @ 41.56m 17.78s @ 126.18km/h
Toyota Fortuner 10.97s 3.38s @ 43.9m 17.66s @ 129.76km/h
Toyota LandCruiser 300 8.11s 3.35s @ 42.84m 15.85s @ 143.20km/h
Toyota LandCruiser Prado 11.38s 2.93s @ 39.03m 17.89s @ 126.03km/h

Vehicle 60-100km/h 80-120km/h
Ford Everest Platinum V6 5.26s 7.04s
Ford Everest Trend Bi-Turbo 6.16s 8.40s
Isuzu MU-X 7.00s 9.03s
Nissan Patrol 4.11s 5.18s
Jeep Grand Cherokee L 5.66s 7.18s
Land Rover Defender 110 D300 4.48s 5.87s
Land Rover Defender 110 P525 V8 2.76s 3.40s
Lexus LX600 3.71s 4.57s
Mitsubishi Pajero Sport 7.26s 10.17s
SsangYong Rexton 6.30s 8.55s
Toyota Fortuner 6.19s 7.57s
Toyota LandCruiser 300 4.43s 5.53s
Toyota LandCruiser Prado 6.61s 8.28s

Laden tests

We got our hands on a state-of-the-art trailer dynamometer with a variable load retarder that allowed us to impart up to 10kN of resistive load to the tow vehicle.

What does this mean in real terms? Think of the trailer dynamometer as an anchor. Varying the dynamometer load allows us to change the weight of that anchor.

This weighted anchor allows us to simulate a long steep climb for the tow vehicle, which ultimately puts immense load on the engine.

This 1600kg trailer dynamometer is wirelessly linked up to a computer that lets the operator adjust the degree of resistance force as measured in kilonewtons (kN) – in our tests we set it to 3kN, which simulates a fairly steep ascent, but one that should be within each vehicle’s abilities.

With this trailer attached we measured the 0-100km/h time, as well as the 0-90km/h time, because as you’ll see not all of the competitors made it to three digits.

Vehicle 0-90km/h 0-100km/h 60-100km/h
Ford Everest Platinum V6 13.30s 17.18s 10.54s
Ford Everest Trend Bi-Turbo 16.01s FAIL FAIL
Isuzu MU-X 19.05s FAIL FAIL
Nissan Patrol 10.08s 12.47s 7.11s
Jeep Grand Cherokee L 15.40s FAIL FAIL
Land Rover Defender 110 D300 10.31s 12.66s 7.32s
Lexus LX600 9.62s 11.36s 7.01s
Mitsubishi Pajero Sport 23.24s FAIL FAIL
SsangYong Rexton 18.79s FAIL FAIL
Toyota Fortuner 17.58s FAIL FAIL
Toyota LandCruiser 300 11.65s 14.13s 7.83s
Toyota LandCruiser Prado 18.58s FAIL FAIL
Note: The Defender 110 V8 wasn’t available for tow testing

Then we did another two fuel economy laps to see how hard the engine was working with the load active. Fuel economy is a key consideration for anyone who’s towing a big, heavy trailer a long way.

Here’s how each car’s indicated fuel economy changed with the dyne trailer attached on the high-speed bowl.

Vehicle Fuel economy Laden fuel economy
Ford Everest Platinum V6 9.0L/100km 32.2L/100km
Ford Everest Trend Bi-Turbo 7.6L/100km 28.4L/100km
Isuzu MU-X 8.2L/100km 27.4L/100km
Nissan Patrol 10.9L/100km 35.7L/100km
Jeep Grand Cherokee L 8.4L/100km 39.8L/100km
Land Rover Defender 110 D300 7.2L/100km 29.2L/100km
Lexus LX600 9.6L/100km 37.2L/100km
Mitsubishi Pajero Sport 9.2L/100km 32.3L/100km
SsangYong Rexton* 8.1L/100km 25.0L/100km*
Toyota Fortuner 9.2L/100km 28.9L/100km
Toyota LandCruiser 300 9.0L/100km 31.4L/100km
Toyota LandCruiser Prado 8.4L/100km 30.4L/100km
Note: The Defender 110 V8 wasn’t available for tow testing

As explained in our towing test, the SsangYong Rexton’s cruise control wouldn’t hold the vehicle at 100km/h and kept slowing down to around 70km/h before changing down a gear. As a result, this laden fuel economy result is worth discounting.

But wait, there’s more data!

Along with the data above, we recorded a few extra figures that may be useful to potential owners.

Using our GPS performance logger, we tracked how fast each SUV was actually going at an indicated 100km/h.

Vehicle GPS speed at indicated 100km/h
Ford Everest Platinum V6 97km/h
Ford Everest Trend Bi-Turbo 96km/h
Isuzu MU-X 95km/h
Nissan Patrol 92km/h
Jeep Grand Cherokee L 96km/h
Land Rover Defender 110 D300 96km/h
Lexus LX600 97km/h
Mitsubishi Pajero Sport 95km/h
SsangYong Rexton 93km/h
Toyota Fortuner 98km/h
Toyota LandCruiser 300 97km/h
Toyota LandCruiser Prado 97km/h
Note: The Defender 110 V8 wasn’t available

Finally, we used our calibrated sound meter to measure how loud each car was at 80km/h and 100km/h on smooth and coarse road surfaces.

Vehicle Smooth 80km/h Smooth 100km/h Coarse 80km/h Coarse 100km/h
Ford Everest Platinum V6 57.8dB 62.5dB 63.3dB 67.0dB
Ford Everest Trend Bi-Turbo 60.6dB 62.5dB 62.6dB 65.6dB
Isuzu MU-X 62.2dB 65.8dB 66.0dB 68.1dB
Nissan Patrol 58.4dB 62.1dB 63.6dB 66.3dB
Jeep Grand Cherokee L 60.3dB 62.9dB 67.8dB 69.0dB
Land Rover Defender 110 D300 59.2dB 63.0dB 66.1dB 67.8dB
Lexus LX600 57.7dB 61.2dB 62.1dB 65.0dB
Mitsubishi Pajero Sport 61.2dB 63.5dB 65.7dB 68.5dB
SsangYong Rexton 58.3dB 61.9dB 63.9dB 66.2dB
Toyota Fortuner 62.7dB 66.3dB 66.2dB 70.0dB
Toyota LandCruiser 300 60.3dB 62.7dB 64.4dB 66.2dB
Toyota LandCruiser Prado 58.5dB 64.1dB 64.2dB 67.2dB
Note: The Defender 110 V8 wasn’t available

And the winners are…

The best performance 4WD SUV is the Lexus LX600.

Not only is it quicker in a straight line than all its rivals barring the slightly unhinged Defender 110 V8, was the quietest on every road surface at every speed, and didn’t lose its breath with our 3kN trailer attached.

Throw in an impressive performance in the braking test, and there was no real doubt as to our winner.

The best-performing four-cylinder is the Ford Everest Bi-Turbo.

It’s lived sightly in the shadow of its V6 sibling since launch, but the difference between the pair was impressively narrow in our testing – and the Everest was a more capable, comfortable performer than the MU-X, Fortuner, Prado, Rexton, and Pajero Sport in the majority of our unladen tests.

Throw a trailer on the back and it really shines, as the data collected with our 10kN trailer hooked up shows.

The impact of its all-terrain tyres shows in the braking test, however. There’s still room for improvement, even if the Everest represents the summit of four-cylinder performance in our testing.

To stay across everything that’s happening with the 4WD SUV Mega Test, check out our dedicated page. Our next video to go live will be the towing test on Monday, June 12.



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