Tom's Hardware spent two days at DirtFish Rally School testing 23 different SUVs and crossovers with 30 other automotive journalists. At the end of the event, we helped crown one contender the Northwest Outdoor Activity Vehicle of the Year.
Every year, the Northwest Automotive Press Association (NWAPA) hosts Mudfest, a gathering of regional journalists and manufacturer reps to evaluate more than 20 off-road-capable vehicles on pavement and dirt courses. For 2013, the event was held at DirtFish Rally School in Snoqualmie, Washington. The 310-acre playground with three specially-designed courses simulated extreme driving conditions the entrants might be expected to encounter out in the wild.
I was inducted into the NWAPA shortly before the event, garnering a spot amongst 30 other automotive journalists present for the two-day event. There were 23 vehicles present for Mudfest, broken down into five different classes: compact, luxury compact, family, luxury, and off-road.
Testing was spread across two days. The first day included on-pavement testing. DirtFish put together an autocross course on their skid pad and kept it wet on a rare beautiful sunny day in Washington, allowing everyone to test performance with common weather conditions in the Pacific Northwest. Drivers were required to leave the DirtFish grounds and test their vehicles on the street to get a feel for them on the road.
The second day was filled with off-road testing on a dirt course put together by DirtFish. It included plenty of mud, ruts, and gravel. There were actually two off-road courses. One simulated the worst of dirt service roads, trails, or a leisurely camping trip. The harder course required real piloting skill to take advantage of locking differentials, great axle articulation capabilities, and approach angles. Only three vehicles qualified for the more difficult setup.
All of the journalists were required to drive every vehicle in both scenarios. As there were only 23 vehicles and 31 journalists, it was a game of musical cars. Each member of the press spent about 20 minutes in each car per day.
Because our time was limited, the automotive testing we'd normally do for Tom's Hardware had to be brief. We did, however, bring along a fourth-gen iPad to test compatibility with the Lightning connector and an HTC Droid DNA for Bluetooth pairing and Bluetooth MAP compatibility testing.
Our autocross playground at DirtFish Rally School
The vehicles entered are listed below and organized by class.
Compact Class
- 2013 Ford Escape Titanium 4WD
- 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport AWD 2.0T
- 2014 Mazda CX5 Grand Touring AWD
- 2013 Mini Cooper S Paceman ALL4
- 2013 Subaru XV Crosstrek 2.0i Premium
Luxury Compact Class
- 2013 Acura RDX AWD Tech
- 2013 BMW X1 xDrive35i
- 2013 Land Rover LR2
Family Class
- 2013 Honda Crosstour 4WD EX-L Navigation V6
- 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe Limited AWD
- 2014 Kia Sorento SX AWD
- 2014 Mitsubishi Outlander SE
- 2013 Nissan Pathfinder SL FWD
- 2014 Subaru Forester 2.0XT Premium
- 2013 Volkswagen Touareg TDI Executive
Luxury Class
- 2013 BMW X3 xDrive28i
- 2013 Buick Enclave AWD Premium
- 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland 4x4
- 2013 Mercedes GL450 4Matic
- 2012 Volkswagen Touareg Hybrid
Off-road Class
- 2013 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon 10th Anniversary 4x4
- 2013 Land Rover Range Rover Supercharged
- 2013 Mercedes G550
- Tom's Hardware At The NWAPA Mudfest
- Ford Escape
- Hyundai Santa Fe Sport
- Mazda CX5
- Mini Cooper S Paceman
- Subaru XV CrossTrek
- Acura RDX
- BMW X1
- Land Rover LR2
- Honda Crosstour
- Hyundai Santa Fe
- Kia Sorento
- Mitsubishi Outlander
- Nissan Pathfinder
- Subaru Forester
- Volkswagen Touareg TDI
- BMW X3
- Buick Enclave
- Jeep Grand Cherokee
- Mercedes GL450
- VW Touareg Hybrid
- Jeep Wrangler Unlimited
- Land Rover Range Rover Supercharged
- Mercedes Geländewagen
- And The Winners Are...

Its a great offroad vehicle for the price. The other two are capable vehicles, but the buyer demographic will never take them offroad.
Mechanical technology has its uses but the WWII Era vehicles are awful for comfort and driving feel. Not going to lie though, the G-wagen is one sexy beast IMO. The Wrangler is only a 6-speed auto iirc, but there's a company that offers HEMI conversions
Toyota didn't submit any vehicles, disappointingly. Was hoping the 5th Gen 4Runner and new RAV4 would be there
Seriously the WRX transmission is quite nice, how the hell did all of their others end up to be so godawful?
Guess I'm stuck with my 1999 Isuzu Rodeo until I can win the lottery...oil burning, gas guzzling eyesore it may be but hey the money I saved will buy me a decades worth of gas.
Seriously the WRX transmission is quite nice, how the hell did all of their others end up to be so godawful?
Guess I'm stuck with my 1999 Isuzu Rodeo until I can win the lottery...oil burning, gas guzzling eyesore it may be but hey the money I saved will buy me a decades worth of gas.
Nothing wrong with an old Isuzu, before GM raped and pillaged them
My Wrangler has a 6 speed manual and AEV can only do engine swaps on 2011 and older Jeeps. Not that there were many takers. 20 grand, an extra 500 lbs. in an already porky vehicle, and a peaky engine that doesn't really have the grunt an off roader needs. Even on road a 392 hemi Wrangler is less than a second quicker to 60 than a stock Pentastar due to aerodynamics and that heavy duty drive train. Waste of money.
CPU=Engine
Cores=cylinders
Hyperthreading=DOHC
OC=Turbo
SLI/CF=4WD/AWD
Motherboard tech=Gearbox tech
see it's more related than you think.
CPU=Engine
Cores=cylinders
Hyperthreading=DOHC
OC=Turbo
SLI/CF=4WD/AWD
Motherboard tech=Gearbox tech
see it's more related than you think.
I'll stick to Car & Driver
I was told they changed PR agencies to one that has never done a car company before and don't quite understand what they should do with the auto press.
Note to Author: Why in the h?!? was the GC Overland not rated for the hard off-road course? With the terrain select, 2-speed gear box and air suspension, it will go everywhere the Range Rover will go. I've done the "Land Rover Experience" at Quail Lodge in a new 2013 Range Rover, and I honestly feel like my GC can go anywhere that car can go, and for half the price!!!
Comment to those missing the Toyota 4Runner: Have you stepped into one of those lately? That SUV feels incredibly dated! Toyota is long overdue for a complete refresh of that car...
Note to Author: Why in the h?!? was the GC Overland not rated for the hard off-road course? With the terrain select, 2-speed gear box and air suspension, it will go everywhere the Range Rover will go. I've done the "Land Rover Experience" at Quail Lodge in a new 2013 Range Rover, and I honestly feel like my GC can go anywhere that car can go, and for half the price!!!
Because Jeep already had enough firepower to embarass the uber expensive ones with the Wrangler
Its ok though, I took the Jeep for a week and had some fun with it. Impressive car. Here's a preview of what we did with it.
P1040212 by tuanies, on Flickr
That's my buddy's lifted WK with beefy off-road tires. I made it just as far up the remnant snow that he was comfortable going up (it was mostly packed snow and ice). This is with a bone stock 2014 GC with stock tires. I am in love with the air suspension.