The Irish Farmers Journal Farmers’ 4x4 awards were announced at the National Ploughing Championships this week with the Toyota Land Cruiser taking top honours in the 4x4 category for 2016 and the Ford Ranger named best pickup. The awards were created to give readers the benefit of the experience and testing skills of the Journal’s machinery team.

We were asked by readers to evaluate the 4x4s and pickups on the market, and give farmers guidance on the options available for farming operations. We responded and took the popular 4x4s and pickups used on Irish farms for a detailed testing programme.

Testing procedure

Over a period of three days, 11 different 4x4s were tested on the Lett farm and across local roads at Hollyfort, Enniscorthy, Co Wexford. There were five 4x4s tested and six 4x4 pickups. They all underwent the same gruelling test.

The 4x4s were tested as part of the three-section programme. Each was driven on the local road empty, on-road with a loaded Ifor Williams livestock trailer and then finally each was tested on the fields at the Lett farm for off-road driving ability and stability.

The trailer used for the test was Westwood Trailers’ most popular twin-axle A5 model, kindly provided to us by Ifor Williams in Naas. We loaded the trailer with a 1,000-litre cube full of water to simulate a one-tonne load. Each of the 4x4s and 4x4 pickups was hitched up and tested for power, driving comfort, stability and fuel economy. The testing programme was recorded and then merged with the specification details of each respective 4x4 to give the panel of judges – James Maloney, Bruce Lett and yours truly – an opportunity to rank each one across a series of measures.

For the 4x4s, there were eight 0 to 10 assessment points: power, towing ability, towing stability, ease of driving, off-road ability, economy, comfort and functionality, and value for money. That gave a potential maximum score of 80 points and some of our finalists came very near to this.

In the end, there was little to separate them – points of note that were recorded by the judges included issues around towing ability and safety. The Toyota Land Cruiser was rated as the overall winner and that was unanimous. It was closely followed by the Mitsubishi Pajero and the Land Rover Discovery.

The Land Cruiser scored highly in areas of power and torque, as well as towing stability. The other close finalists excelled in areas such as better economy in the Mitsubishi Pajero.

The older design and less comfortable Land Rover Defender was included in the comparison; its driving features were noticeably less comfortable and desirable than the other three mentioned.

Lastly, the SsangYong Rexton was included in the comparison, but it is significantly lower in power and stability than the others. It is powered by a smaller 2.0-litre turbo-diesel engine and is priced in terms of value accordingly.

The Toyota Land Cruiser came out with the highest scoring 72 out of a total of 80 points and achieved a consistent high ranking on almost all areas to be the first recipient of the Irish Farmers Journal Farmers’ 4x4 award.

Ford Ranger secures the 4x4 Pickup Award

There were six 4x4 pickups tested. These included the Ford Ranger, Great Wall Steed, Isuzu D-Max, Mitsubishi L200, Toyota Hilux and Volkswagen Amarok. All six were put through the same testing programme as the 4x4s, including pulling the same weighted Ifor Williams livestock trailer over the gruelling road testing programme.

The scoring on the 4x4 pickups included some additional measures such as being farm family friendly and suitable for fitting an Isofix child seat, as well as a rating for the load area. Many farmers are also minding their young children and it is important that a 4x4 pickup has a safety rating to take account of this practical need.

The load area examination is also important in terms of size to carry the largest load. It is also important that where the load area is covered, as it on many farmer-owned 4x4 pickups, that it can be securely locked.

Towing ability is key, along with towing stability. We also put a high ranking on comfort, taking account of the fact that they are fitted with leaf spring rear-axle suspensions.

At the end of the testing, there were three frontrunners, with the Ford Ranger marginally ahead of the Toyota Hilux, while this was separated by a mere point in the scoring programme from the Mitsubishi L200 and Volkswagen Amarok. The Isuzu D-Max was also impressive – and the top five models were only marginally separated. While the Volkswagen Amarok came out on top in terms of power, and the Mitsubishi L200 was best in terms of economy. The Ford Ranger came out on top in more sections of the rankings. This gave it the marginal lead to be the overall winner.

The Ford Ranger came out with the highest scoring 86 out of a total of 100 points and achieved a consistent high ranking on almost all areas of the test.

Thanks

We would like to thank the 4x4 suppliers – Ford, IM Automotive, Isuzu, Land Rover, Mitsubishi, Toyota and Volkswagen – for supplying us with vehicles for the testing and appraisal programme. We also thank Westwood Trailers for the loan of the Ifor Williams Livestock trailer, Rotech for the use of a diesel tank and measuring system and the Lett family for the use of their farm. CL