2021 SUV OF THE YEAR Enter the battleground
It’s that time of year again; time to crown our 2021 Four Wheeler SUV of the Year. The journey that embarks on the following pages is the culmination of hundreds of hours of hard work that encompasses several months of pre-event planning. The days spent testing are long and the nights often seem longer. We are up before sunrise and work until the last light leaves us. Our team is tasked to work tirelessly, oftentimes in the harshest conditions Mother Nature can dish out. Nothing can weaken our resolve.
Our judging panel is comprised of some of the most knowledgeable minds in the off-road industry. They come to us with backgrounds in off-road, diesel, lifted, new, and classic off-road vehicles. This ensures that our judging staff is just as diverse as the vehicles that we’re testing. We all eat, sleep, and breathe off-road.
This year’s test was unlike that of any year prior, held in a time where the world has been plunged into the darkness of a global pandemic. To keep everyone safe and healthy, we kept our staff to the bare minimum, avoided unnecessary ventures into public spaces, invested heavily in personal protective equipment, and constantly sanitized vehicles and equipment. And while mask wearing was mandatory during testing, you can be assured that if someone is spotted in photos without, they were physically distanced from others.
For our 2021 SUV of the Year competition, we invited all models that were either all-new or significantly updated for the 2021 model year and available to us at the time of testing. Four manufacturers accepted the invitation, sending a total of four SUVs for testing.
Each of these vehicles brought with it a unique skill set, and they were all impressive to our staff in one area or another. However, in the end, only one could take home the coveted trophy. The winner showed exceptional performance in each of the tested criteria, and never left our panel of judges disappointed. What’s new with these SUVs? How did the SUVs perform on- and off-road? Which SUV scored the highest? Read on to find out.
Fourth Place: Land Rover Defender 110
BIG POWER AND OFF-ROAD PROWESS.
After a decades-long hiatus, Land Rover has finally returned the Defender nameplate to the U.S. market with the all-new ’20 Land Rover Defender 110. Because of the vehicle’s late introduction, although it qualified for our 2020 SUV of the Year test, none were available at test time. Because of this, the Defender remained eligible in 2021.
It was no secret that going into the 2021 SUV of the Year test, the Defender was the clear front runner. Read on to see how it fared.
Ramp and Track
The Land Rover Defender came to us equipped with the company’s 3.0L I-6 gasoline engine. This engine, equipped with a twin-scroll turbocharger and 48V electric supercharger, pumps out an impressive 395 hp and 406 lb-ft of torque. Despite being the vehicle with the smallest engine displacement, and the only one without a V-8, the Defender made the most horsepower and torque. The Defender also had the lowest curb weight at just 5,035 pounds. As such, the Defender smoked the competition on the track by racing from 0-60 mph in just 6.49 seconds and running through the quarter-mile in 14.95 seconds at 95.9 mph. The Defender was able to rein in all of that speed going from 60 mph to a standstill in just 124.23 feet.
On the 22-degree RTI ramp, the four-wheel independently suspended Defender climbed 57.75 inches before losing traction, for a score of 443.08 with the air suspension in normal ride height. Pumped up to off-road height, 2 inches above normal, the Defender climbed to 57.50 inches, an ever so slight decrease. This resulted in an RTI score of 441.16.
Interior and Exterior
Our judges were all over the map when it came to judging the interior and exterior of
