2023 Best Off-Road SUV | Ford Everest, Land Rover Defender, Grand Cherokee | Drive.com.au

[@markscott2215]

When the price is not factored in, I've no doubt that the defender is the champion. However, this review should be comparing vehicles in a comparable price bracket, since Ford Everest customers are not Land Rover defenders customers. Better to review the Everest against it's ladder frame, ute based competitors (Apples to Apples)

[@billybob1511]

WRONG! I had new Everest and sold it already and have ordered Defender! New Everest is nothing special where as Defender is 🙂

[@Superior1979]

I was in the market waiting for the defender, but due to it's well known reliability issues, and heavy reliance on mediocre tech like air suspension, and other off putting hipster rubbish accessories, i decided to go for the Everest, which with little modification can be made into an offroad killer.. Once the Grenadier becomes available in Australia, I will probably change over to it.

[@petermills1402]

And why will the 'actual market' simply ignore this award and LR sales will be pathetic. Its called Dealer Network, cost, accessories both genuine and aftermarket, service and reliability. To buy a half reasonable Defender in LWB form its north of $130k and dont bother with bullbars, winch, etc etc (I just test drove one). Until Drive includes what the 'punters' want out of an offroad vehicle these tests will be irrelevant in several ways. Time to include a few 'other' things in your tests (see above). To give this award to a brand that invests sweet stuff all in a Dealer Network in a country the size of Australia is simply pathetic, break down in the Kimberley and its a flatbed tow to Perth quite likely and maybe a long wait for parts to arrive from ""Slovakia"". Why will the Ranger and an outdated Prado kill the LR and Jeep in sales.....

[@duncanlummis7837]

I agree. Not sure where the negative comments below are coming from, or sponsored by. I've driven a Defender 130 for nearly a year now with no problems, both off road and urban. Nothing comes closer in terms of performance across both dimensions. Appreciate there have been many reliability issues previously with LR, but the new Defender, supply and maint issues have improved immensely. The Defender's design and performance is 3 to 4 generations ahead of its competition (across urban and off-road use), which the reviewers here recognise. The Defender wins hands down.

[@Drivecomau]

Thanks for Sharing Duncan

[@EnochPowellsLibrarian]

I think this video was just a paid for advert for the defender, there wasn't any real competition for it, it stands out a mile . There's a lot of these one sided defender reviews on KZbin.

[@jamaicasysbm2580]

These vehicles are not going off road 90% of the time, work, beach, supermarket,

[@karlrushton8514]

I have a D300 110 HSE tows like nothing else and is such a great car. Had it nearly 2 years 0 problems. Had all types of 4x4 but hands down best one out there.

[@PhilShenton]

Why no 300 GR-S? Surely that's comparable in price to the LR at least?

[@markriddoch218]

Landrover is great on paper until the problems start, the quality control is terrible. Never again

[@robertceroli3512]

5 year warranty once warranty expires sell it but a new one and you'll never have a prob

[@youssefhakim1055]

@@robertceroli3512 This is why it is not good.

[@catchawakeup6411]

Where are they assembled? Maybe that is a clue to why quality control is bad😂

[@shawsie5780]

All three of these are warranty pigs

[@paulelledge8977]

The defender is getting better quality than other Land Rovers, probably thanks to their new plant. JD Power gives it a reliability of 80. For reference a 4runner gets 87.

[@raybourne5781]

This review isn’t worth the electrons it was printed on….. where’s the Landcruiser for starters ?, how much did you get paid to put this vid together… just rubbish!

[@Drivecomau]

It's certainly not that the LandCruiser wasn't considered. In the 2022 awards we lined LC300, Patrol, and Defender up and the Land Rover won the segment (then titled best upper large SUV). Under our selection criteria we test new or significantly updated vehicles in the segment, plus the returning champion to duke it out. You can find out more about the results from last year at www.drive.com.au/drive-car-of-the-year/2022/best-upper-large-suv/

[@nickjm8005]

I don't get the comparison. 3 totally different market and price segment cars.

[@philiprogers1626]

The Land Rover is also way more expensive than the Ford even if you select poverty spec. The P400 SE you test is $126391 before on roads compared to the Ford Sport $77771 that's $48620 additional dollars to make the interior and exterior better. Completely stupid comparison you should have used a Suziki Jimny, it would have beaten them all for ability.

[@farzana6676]

Lol, no Jimny would not beat them on ability.

[@MercOne]

I really like all three of these. Rugged and good looking all the way around. We don't get this Ford in the U.S. It would be hard to pick one.

[@farzana6676]

But America gets the Bronco

[@MercOne]

@@farzana6676 Yes I know.

[@adrianlowe1873]

Everest is $60-70k, ranger rovers START from $82k and jeep is about the same as the LR

[@farzana6676]

It needs Prado, Fortuner, Land Crusier, Patrol.

[@than3761]

Prado was car of year 2009.

[@edgarchieng2130]

"The judges are well aware when you speak to people who spends a lot of time offroad touring..." and the judges came back with rear seats comfort 😂😂😂 Come on, if you're serious about who you're speaking too, real touring & offroad owners cares about payloads, GVM upgrade option, aftermarket mods support for real off grid camping and real offroad driving situation, not your backyard little dirt patch testing.

[@IbrahemAlassiri-dp1mw]

Defender competes with the wrangler .. Range Rover vogue or sport competes with the summit ..unfair run

[@samartz]

I wouldn’t buy a landrover but gotta admit their interior is very plush and unique

[@dulithasameera3870]

y62? LC300?

[@johannesschaller5510]

See last (2022) year's Drive car of the year...

[@healthyamerican]

defender is normally paired against wrangler. so then why use defender against family wagons and take them off-road? seems childish and staged. a discovery would have seemed more honest, and probably still would have won your "verses" video

[@BandulaPriyadarshana]

Baseless comparison and poor vehicle selection. You should select the vehicles on the same price range if you are comparing. Would like to know the basis of the vehicle selection and the comparison. Based on this selection we could have included Mercedes G Wagen into the compariosn as well. Looks like a Land Rover funded advertisement

[@ENDWOKEDEGENERACY]

Everest drives like a truck and looks like a rental truck on the inside. It’s actually as over priced as the others!

[@shazzs9804]

How can you get this so wrong 😢! That Everest is 2nd from top model not the base model! Come on guys!!

[@dannymignott2375]

People who actually believe the LandCruiser can actually compete with the Defender off-road (or on-road) 🤣

[@abymathew295]

Yeahh you are right..Defender will get you anywhere, but not out from there..😂🤣

[@raghavshankara5601]

​@@abymathew295 Yeah land cruiser is not even go there and forget about coming back 😁

[@abymathew295]

@@raghavshankara5601 . Did I say it will..🙄🙄

[@patrickmaher4909]

Australian dust and LR electronic, no thanks.

[@justinkennedy5405]

The Landcruiser has a legendary name for reliability, the LR has a legendary name for…not being reliable.

[@seamusmcshizweak]

“The best overpriced bloated tech mall crawler is”

[@Johnny-lt5ib]

Where’s Australia’s favourite Landcruiser?

[@Drivecomau]

Part of Drive Car of the Year criteria sees us pit new vehicles in the segment against the returning champion from the previous year. In the 2022 awards we lined LC300, Patrol, and Defender up and the Land Rover won the segment (then titled best upper large SUV). With the LandCruiser finishing second in 2022, it's not represented here this year. You can find out more about the results from last year at www.drive.com.au/drive-car-of-the-year/2022/best-upper-large-suv/

[@titanx04]

Just don’t try to add any accessories to it like winch amd bullbar, might cut with wire and stop the discovery in its tracks. Add in what accessories are available.

[@HughSmith]

Nonsense, it a Defender not Discovery and I have bullbar, Winch, brushes. No issues with any of this

[@Joe-cl1qg]

You should know more about vehicles you are testing rather than your biased assumptions from old news (it's not based on the stelvio as you state). From motor trend: This is also the best-riding and best-handling Grand Cherokee ever. We were initially excited at the prospect of the fifth-generation using the Giorgio platform that underpins the delightful-to-drive Alfa Romeo Stelvio and now the Maserati Grecale crossovers. But Jeep engineers reckoned that although Giorgio had a lot to offer on paved roads, it would compromise the off-road ability a Jeep demanded. In the end, the WL ended up on a new platform designed to accommodate internal combustion engines, plug-in hybrids, and pure EVs in the future. The new platform retains Jeep off-road capability, but Alfa engineers helped tune the SUV for a livelier on-road experience.

[@MrPeterrichardson]

Can’t believe you did not include the Landcruiser? Also all of these cars you would never take around Australia or seriously get lost with them. So unreliable, hard to get parts ( and in the Jeep you will need heaps of them and often) .. The fact this comparison was done like this has weakened in my opinion your credibility??? Poor

[@robertceroli3512]

Trent didn't want to wait 2 years for delivery

[@zapher007]

@@robertceroli3512but happy to wait 3 years for the Defender?

[@TerribleTezza]

Mate, I would happily take a ford Everest or Defender around Australia. Are you saying you cannot get parts for a ford Everest in Australia? Toyota Landcruiser are very very expensive and oh my gosh. they have breakdown issues as well. Read reviews.

[@payoneer88]

Although this is a very good off road comparison, I would add the Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk short version and the Range Rover Sport to be equally as long, off road ready and have nearly similar ground clearance as possible.

[@antonywoodward8997]

we wont get the everest in the UK - gutted!

[@DMEU77]

High tech , electronics full LR is a winner in a overlanding/off road wilderness competition! Are you kiding? Air suspension is a ticking bomb, electronics is absolutly a great minus in wilderness, lack of at least live rear axle is NO go for off raod / overlanding. Defender is good for taking posting photos on a social media and every good off raod / overland driver knows that. Reliability / durability is not important. How many new Defenders you see in wilderness? Is it good / nice to drive , of course.

[@mrbaaghi1189]

Not everyone drives to wilderness every day, and not everyone has the time to, but these cars can be used for occasional recreational use. If you're looking for wilderness car, then maybe look at a troopy or something made for commercial use. If the air suspension fails, the car can still be driven without any issues. All modern cars have high technology, so don't dismiss the defender on that basis because I doubt you will be able to repair the hot v configure 300 series in the Bush. It's got the same amount of sensors as the defender.

[@raghavshankara5601]

​@@mrbaaghi1189 You can't educate a Toyota fan boy

[@DMEU77]

@@mrbaaghi1189 Did you read "the cover"? 2023 Best Off-Road SUV !!!! Off road, NOT every day SUV! Air suspension WILL FAIL, it has FAILLED always, then it has no more best approach / Break / departure angle, best clearence , wading depth. LC300 has gone soft, but has : mechamical steering wheel, mechanical gerbox, way less electronics, rear live axle. I am pretty sure that Defender is a nice drive on/off, but untill it brokes, by now we have seen, it brokes very often ( see TFL ). Take a look at Andrew st Piere video about Defender. Look I jave a brend new LC150, full tech, upgraded, it is two leveles under LR defender regarding looks, interior, tech, how it drives, etc. BUT, it will take you where you wanna go & bring you back. All the best ..

[@mrbaaghi1189]

@Dejvid Markovic mate, if I were you, I wouldn't be too sure about your Prado, it's gotten toyota under the rug with a law suit, got dpf failure and a very very poor 2.8 liter engine. I am surprised how that engine is still around. You can watch multiple videos on its performances and failures online. Meanwhile, you need to be open to the fact that Landrovers' target audience is different from what you are trying to compare it with. For that audience group, this car is perfect, not just locally, worldwide. Off-road doesn't mean overlanding or driving to dingo piss creek, it's can also mean having a capable 4x4 system that can perform really well, so no doubt landrover will Landover does really well. I personally would pick the ineos over my defender and landcrusier.

[@patrickmaher4909]

You see a few in outback locations, mainly on the back of tilt tray trucks.

[@ИгорьСоколов-ы8э]

Я по такому оф-роуду на фиат панда проеду😁

[@Superior1979]

On paper the everest has better ground clearance then the defender, 229mm vs 228mm.

[@romeoguitar]

How would you rate Kia sorento and new Pathfinder when comparing with Everest Sport off and on road

[@johannesschaller5510]

But which of these (if any) would you load up to the max and take along the Gibb River Road or the Canning Stock Route? Many of these comparisons only involve a load of two people and a small amount of gear.

[@HughSmith]

Well I did the canning stock route in my 2020 defender, I saw G wagons do this route.

[@mariusklokie8478]

The Ford Everest against these 2 independent rear suspension vehicles is not a fair comparison.

[@joerisimmanuel9156]

They doesnt just independer front and rear suspenison, they both air suspension too

[@adnanmural2583]

Where is the land cruiser or nissan petrol

[@muneshnaidu8579]

I would rather choose Ford then Land rover....Your comparison didn't talk about maintenance costs etc...and what would make the best bang for buck if long term owners can independently give some information....

[@michaeljomon]

Ford is not tayota mate

[@sventitus4616]

The v6 in the Ford is a land rover engine...

[@muneshnaidu8579]

​@@michaeljomon The issue is how come DRIVE forgot to include New land cruiser or so prado or fortuner..as in this bunch which is in this video...I would chose ford that to in general terms...but I would rather be happy with my LC79 V8...

[@Booyakashi7]

Why Grand Cherokee L, what about Trailhawk with old lockers and pneumatic?🤦‍♂️ Defender is a gold for services🐔

[@taidewet7070]

Bit of a strange test in my opinion

[@masadasif]

Where are toyotas?

[@abymathew295]

Is Ineos Grenadier available in the Australian market..🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔

[@smuy3782]

Was this shot at Lithgow? Looks nice.

[@larryproud4541]

Why not use the Jeep GC Trailhawk??

[@ballfire99]

there is no trailhawk version for the new grand cherokee, no diesel, only 2268kg towing in summit reserve spec, lower models can do 2813kg

[@peterbullen3347]

Good review, wonder why you chose the defender and not Discovery to compare?

[@Drivecomau]

Because we think the Defender is a better buy than the Discovery. - Sam

[@peterbullen3347]

@@Drivecomau interesting, I will probably buy one of them in the next year or 2, hard decision though so watching these reviews.. keep them coming

[@healthyamerican]

i know, video makers usually choose the defender to go against the wrangler, so then why use the defender to go against family designated vehicles. its like lets use the defender at all times no matter which level vehicle it goes against. probably will use the defender against honda civic and toyota corolla

[@A15689]

I would take an LC, Patrol or a Prado over any of these three!

[@michaeljomon]

Have you driven a Defender ?

[@sergefil744]

Old mentality..

[@raghavshankara5601]

Yeah why not if u really keen drive a damn donkey for the next 20 yrs. None u mentioned drive like a defender on or off road. You just choose them for so called better reliably.

[@peterbullen3347]

The Prado is a great 4x4 but it has a lower tow limit, but I still see loads towing large vans, but they are very good.

[@cooperization]

100% correct in your verdict.

[@martintin5496]

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[@SuperAlmighty]

the issues with Defender are the much higher price and reliability.

[@HughSmith]

Been very reliable , do you have one?

[@mahmud25]

Land rover is a good vehicles

[@mariusklokie8478]

😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@fabulousoffroaddesigns5080]

I wouldn't spend my own money on a Defender 110 if my life depended on it! I would simply buy the second place Ford. I can't wait to see it compared to the Grenadier next year, and too bad you don't get the Toyota Sequoia TRD-Pro in Australia. You really have sfa to choose from if this is your top pick.

[@raghavshankara5601]

How u trust grenediar?? It has BMW strait 6 engine. Which is all most same in defender

[@fabulousoffroaddesigns5080]

@@raghavshankara5601 well it's not the same as the Defender motor, that is a hybrid. This is the same as the Toyota Supra. Also like the Supra it is engineered and built* by Magna Steyr with the highest trained French/German employees. The Defender is engineered by India and built by rookies/noobs in Slovakia like an old school Skoda.

[@youssefhakim1055]

From looking at Defenders, it seems that the lower part of the rear suspension is a bit too low for a medium-sized stone on the road. Other off-road cars such as Pajeros, Patrols, Land Cruisers, Wranglers... seem to have higher ground clearance below the suspensions, especially the rear suspension .

[@HughSmith]

Defender 2020 had the highest clearance in its class

[@youssefhakim1055]

@Hugh Smith Hello. Yes, for the car in general. But i was talking about the clearance just below the suspension (mainly the round bases of the air suspensions). I looked at cars around me. The Defender seems lower in that particular area.

[@k-d321]

Compare the land Rover to Jeep Grand Cherokee trailhawk V8 then you will see who's the winner....

[@raghavshankara5601]

FYI defender has V8 option too. And it smoke out of jeep

[@k-d321]

@@raghavshankara5601 only in dreams... Not only is the trailhawk cheaper it is more reliable & capable... Had both of them and off-road both and didn't like either of them.