Large SUVs continue to remain popular in the UK regardless of whether they’re powered by petrol, diesel, or electricity. While some are designed purely to stay on tarmac and rarely go off road, others are slightly more hardcore with the outdoors adventure in mind.
With that in mind, a group of journalists from renowned motoring publication Autocar have put together a list of the best 4x4s on sale in the UK. Coming in first was the Land Rover Defender Octa, a special off road edition of the already very capable Land Rover Defender.
The journalists praised the Octor for making “serious off-roading easy” for having great ride comfort and a “spacious and well-finished cabin with loads of storage space”.
However, the Octa lost marks for being “large and heavy” and also being very expensive. According to the Land Rover website, a Defender Octa can start from as much as £148,245.
Describing the Octa, Autocar said: “Its capabilities are beyond question, and the way in which it sets about its work off road makes it seem like a car built for people who don't even like off-roading.”
Coming in second behind the Octa was the must cheaper Jeep Wrangler that was praised for being “unstoppable” once it was off road. They also praised it for having a decent sized interior and for being “well equipped as standard”. The car has an RRP (Recommended Retail Price) of around £63,465 according to Jeep's website.
Meanwhile, the car lost marks for feeling compromised on the road, being “quite expensive” and the fact it will soon be discontinued. Summarising the car, the reviewers said: “If there's one name that can trump Land Rover for off road cred, it's Jeep - and the Wrangler its most roughty-toughty offering.
“If you want a new Wrangler, you will need to act quickly: Jeep is calling time on this iconic machine in Europe, with the last cars slated for sale in 2026.”
Completing the podium behind the Jeep and the Octa was a famous automotive sparring partner of both those cars, the Toyota Land Cruiser. According to the Toyota UK website, the starting price for a Land Cruiser is just over £80,945.
Autocar praised the Toyota for its aesthetics, for its reputation for being good off road and for having “light and fairly precise” steering. In fact, they also said of the 4x4s they tested that it was the best for reliability.
However, the Land Cruiser lost marks for not feeling very refined on the road, not having a six cylinder engine that they said would have been “smoother”, and for being expensive. They concluded: “On the road this means it's less sophisticated, with a slightly more energetic ride and lower levels of refinement.
“Yet it handles accurately and its electrified 2.8-litre four-cylinder diesel engine makes up for what it lacks in polished manners with grunt.”
