This is where things start to get interesting. The balance between capacity and practicality is often an inverse relationship. The bigger a vehicle, the harder it can be to move down the road. Therefore, what may be good for the family of seven is simply too much for the family of five. Finding the right combination of size, power, comfort and driveability can be a Herculean task, and is what we undertook during this test.
We began our journey in West Hollywood, Calif., and took a long trip to Flagstaff, Ariz., to measure such intangibles as over-the-road comfort, driveability, real-life interior comfort, actual cargo capacity and off-road prowess. Our test took us across the glass smooth tarmac of I-10, the twisty two-lane roads of Oak Creek Canyon, and Class II four-wheel drive trails with a trained four-wheeling guide. We spent hours in the parking lot of the Tempe Mission Palms Hotel loading all of our baggage into each of the five trucks, and then piled the editors in for a trip around town to test backseat comfort. It was a grueling couple of days, with lots of sore butts, splitting headaches, bed bugs, and bad food, but at the end of our journey the decision of who builds the best full-size sport utility was easy to make.
On-Road Performance
After a few minutes behind the wheel of the Toyota Land Cruiser, each of our editors agreed that it offered the best on-road performance of any truck in this segment. The Cruiser's long wheelbase contributes to a supple ride that is well damped at all four corners, and its steering is nicely balanced and weighted for such a heavy vehicle. During our nightly discussions, we often referred to the Land Cruiser as a car, distinctly separating it from the very truck-like competitors in our test. Part of this is due to the Land Cruiser's engine, which is taken from the Lexus LS400 and reworked for duty in this large truck. The overhead-cam engine with Variable Valve Timing with intelligence (VVTi) is a first in the truck segment, and offers the Land Cruiser a definite edge in power delivery, quietness and fuel economy.
One of our drivers proclaimed the Land Cruiser, somewhat derisively, "the Camry of sport-utes," a backhanded compliment that refers to the truck's no-brainer ease of operation, as well as to its somewhat blank personality. Nevertheless, there was nothing else in our test that even came close to offering this truck's level of control and ease of operation on the freeway and two-lane roads.
The big surprise of the day came from the GMC Denali, a truck that none of us expected to like because of its flashy pretension. Truth be told, most of Edmund's editors were guilty of condemning the Denali to also-ran status during our pre-test discussions. Imagine our surprise when we found that the transformation from workaday GMC Yukon into the highbrow GMC Denali brought more with it than a set of embroidered floor mats and chrome wheels.
A well-damped suspension, and, get this, good on-center steering feel vaulted the Denali to second place in our on-road portion of the test. Better placement of the brake pedal and improved brake-pedal feel might have been enough to give the Denali, with its stump-pulling engine, enough gumption to move into first place, but, alas, it was not to be. Too many of us felt that the Denali's mushy brakes were too damn scary to be safe.
The Chevrolet Suburban came in third place during our on-road portion of the test, yet was still a favorite of those on our staff who love trucks for their own sake. Unlike the Denali and Land Cruiser, which offer drivers plush rides and one-handed steering, the Suburban is an old-fashioned truck in every sense.
With a length of more than 18 feet, the Suburban can be a handful. Extra care must be taken when negotiating tight parking lots; a slight miscalculation could result in the demolition of a nearby building. The Suburban's size and horrible rearward blind spots caused by the panel doors required that we also bear some consideration for the little guy when on highways or two-lane roads. It's easy to forget about the smaller vehicles when you are the biggest thing in town, and most of our drivers found it necessary to check twice for stray Accords and Centurys before making a lane change in the Suburban.
That said, many of us were impressed with the Suburban's on-road manners. Despite its size it handled the two-lane portion of our test with little fanfare, negotiating tight corners much better than the similarly sized Ford Expedition. The Suburban also had good legs for running along the Interstate; its monstrous 7.4-liter engine offered up heaping spoonfuls of passing power regardless of incline or altitude. Steering, however, was numb off-center, a characteristic of all of GM's full-size offerings except the Denali and the Cadillac Escalade, and the brakes suffered the same mushiness as the Denali. An impressive effort for such a big truck, but not quite enough to place it higher than mid-pack.
The Trooper came in fourth place; our drivers thought it felt very top heavy and found that it rolled way too much in moderate turns. In spite of this, there was nothing to lead us to believe that we were less safe in the Trooper than in the Suburban, Denali or Land Cruiser. We pushed the Trooper as hard as we think anyone should try to push a sport-ute, and never felt like we were going to end up on our heads. Nevertheless, the continuous side-to-side motion of the Trooper on twisty roads is unsettling after more than a few minutes.
On the plus side of the ledger, the entire staff liked the Trooper's large side mirrors that made its rearward visibility among the best in the test. Furthermore, Wardlaw liked the Trooper's intelligent automatic transmission that didn't try to shift into overdrive when climbing steep hills. A more powerful engine, tighter steering, and more controlled body motions would have undoubtedly improved the Trooper's showing in the on-road portion of the test.
The Ford Expedition finished last in our on-road-driving test because it is simply too much work to drive. The Expedition's overly sensitive steering required constant correction and its body roll was the worst of the bunch. The Expedition wasn't just spooky on the two-lane portion of our test; it required two-handed steering on portions of the Interstate. A 5200-pound vehicle should feel more solid than did our Expedition.
On the upside, the Expedition had excellent visibility, extra-large outside mirrors with cool integrated turn signals, and a powerful engine. Unfortunately, the Expedition's transmission couldn't seem to maximize the engine's power because the truck was constantly hunting between third gear and overdrive on the uphill portions of our test.
Off-Road Performance
The fact that our Land Cruiser proved to be the best off-road vehicle came as no surprise to our guide from Arizona Adventures, Drew Tedeschi. Tedeschi has guided off-roaders for nearly two decades, and has tackled some of the toughest terrain in North and South America, Europe, Africa and Asia. He thinks that nothing compares to Land Cruisers when the road ends.
Helping us navigate Class I and II trails was probably no big deal for Tedeschi, but it proved to be more than enough for us to gauge the off-road abilities of our assembled troop of vehicles. When the dust settled, it was clear that there was one vehicle in the group, and only one, that was purpose built for serious off-roading: the Toyota Land Cruiser.
The Land Cruiser was able to tackle the hardest terrain of the day without breaking a sweat. The Cruiser's suspension smoothed out bumps and its precise steering made it easy to pick a line and stick to it. Heck, it even offered a remote radio antenna controller that allowed our drivers to adjust the height of the antenna from inside the vehicle; perfect for making sure that the thing wouldn't get snapped off by an errant branch.
Brauer commented that the Land Cruiser was the only sport-ute in our test that could be driven over the more difficult sections of our route one-handed. Palmer agreed, stating that the Land Cruiser was so good that it was almost boring on the relatively easy trails we traversed. I found the Land Cruiser to be the most forgiving of our novice four-wheeler mistakes. The Land Cruiser refused to punish us for stupid approaches and departures, literally gliding across boulder-strewn terrain. Anderson made the point that despite its high price tag, he was least afraid of damaging the Land Cruiser. He found that it lived up to its name by turning the nastiest terrain into a veritable pleasure cruise.
The only complaint registered about the Land Cruiser's off-road experience was its tendency to lurch into second gear when creeping along, sometimes disrupting a careful ascent over steep terrain.
The second place finisher in the off-road portion of the test was the nimble Isuzu Trooper. Easily the smallest vehicle in the test, the Trooper had the uncanny ability to squeeze through narrow openings on the trail that the other trucks had to lumber awkwardly through. The Trooper's short hood length also made it simple to line up an approach for the trickier aspects of the terrain, prompting Palmer to state that she felt most confident in this truck.
Clor found that the Trooper's smaller engine was not the penalty he expected on the tough river-bottom trails, commenting on the fact that the Trooper always had more than enough grunt to clamber over steep outcroppings and large boulders. All was not perfect in Trooperville, however, and things like inadequate ground clearance and a slow steering ratio kept it from taking the top off-road honors. Nevertheless, the Trooper proved to be the little engine that could off road, surprising all of our editors with its natural rock-climbing ability.
The battle for third place proved to be a vicious one, as the Denali barely managed to edge out the Expedition for the bronze medal. Again, the Green Machine managed to surprise us with its abilities, climbing over rocks and negotiating tight trails better than the hulking Suburban and wallowy Expedition.
The Denali's main off-road assets over the fourth- and fifth-place finishers were its steering and somewhat shorter wheelbase, both of which made it easier to maneuver on the admittedly narrow trail better than the largest competitors. The Denali's suspension, ostensibly geared towards an on-road bias, also seemed better at preserving our drivers' backsides, bouncing occupants much less than we expected.
The Denali did suffer on the trail, however; its integrated running boards were snagged enough times that we were afraid we might lose them. It also ended up with the worst paint scratches in the group, which was a real heartbreaker for those of us who came to love its emerald-green glow. Despite its four-wheel-drive competency, the worry that all of our drivers felt about scratching the Denali's paint and wrecking its running boards compelled Wardlaw to muse whether it was worth taking such a pretty, high-buck sport utility off road. We doubt that many owners will say yes to that question.
The fourth-place winner was the Ford Expedition, a competent trail buster that may have suffered somewhat because of the nature of our chosen route. Too long to negotiate the constricted jogs in the road, drivers of the Expedition often found it necessary to back up and try again.
Like the Denali, the Expedition's running boards also took a beating on the trail, serving as expensive rock-homing devices for some of our less-experienced off-roader drivers. Bruises notwithstanding, the Expedition faired well over the trail, giving the Denali a hard run for third place. I found that the brakes and steering, which felt overly responsive on the road, were perfectly suited for creeping over boulders. Minor corrections to the steering wheel and brake pedal allowed me to slither slowly over obstructions that other trucks in the group just could not finesse. This was truly a surprising accomplishment in an eight-passenger vehicle.
Unfortunately, the Expedition exhibited a great many creaks and groans when traveling over the rougher portions of the trail, prompting Wardlaw to wonder whether or not it would be able to stand up to the routine abuse of off-roading for any extended period of time. This, beyond anything else, kept us from naming the Expedition the third-place winner.
In its defense, we must acknowledge that river washes are not really the kind of places where Suburban drivers are likely to spend a lot of time. Nevertheless, the most technical portion of our off-road adventure took place in a river wash, and the Suburban didn't do well there.
Several of our drivers found the Suburban's heavy-duty suspension much too harsh for boulder bashing, punishing our drivers' heads and necks with every bounce over the trail. As one of our editors said of the Suburban, "When you mess up in this truck, it hits back."
The Suburban's 18-foot length was also not a benefit on the steep trail; Wardlaw caught himself banging the rear differential on obstacles he had thought were long past him. This long wheelbase also contributed to our editors' tendency to high center the Suburban on uneven ground and large boulders.
The Suburban's long hood forced drivers to set up approaches from too far away, and many of us found that we had forgotten what we were driving over by the time it was under the Suburban's tires. Likewise, the Suburban's towering height gave some of our drivers a false sense of security regarding the vehicle's ground clearance; security that quickly evaporated as rocks bashed against the truck's undercarriage, sounding like toddlers in a room full of pots and wooden spoons.
Interior Observations
With such a monster test, it would be easy to ramble on forever about which vehicle had the most cupholders, seating adjustments and interior doo-dads. All of these vehicles land in the high-zoot spectrum of the truck market and none of them would be truly disappointing from an interior standpoint. There are combinations that some of us prefer; the soft luxury of the supple hides in both the Land Cruiser and Denali was a particular favorite. We also liked the seating position and dash layout in the Expedition, which won accolades from everyone except the quixotic Wardlaw, who thought the Expedition's ovoid and protruding dash looked like a mass of melting Jell-O. There were also some interior features that weren't appreciated, like the Suburban and Denali's exposed screw heads on the door panels and the Trooper's small-buttoned stereo head unit, but none of the vehicles qualified as an ergonomic or design nightmare.
Amazingly, we were able to fit all of our drivers and their luggage into each of the assembled vehicles. This included multiple suitcases, laptop computers, camera bags, early Christmas gifts, stray shoes, and countless duffel bags. Some handled the load easier than others did (the Denali and the Suburban didn't even require concentrated packing), but all could be loaded to the max and driven around town with without anyone suffering. Nevertheless, if people moving is your thing, the Suburban (with max seating for nine) or the Expedition (with max seating for eight) would have to top your list.
