What do you think could make it further?

[beamer4prez]

Down the gnarliest trails over all types of terrain. Which vehicle straight off the factory floor makes it further/what gets stuck/breaks down first?

The Rubicon

or The Trail Edition

Or would you pick something else?

 

[bertsch911]

i cant go on the jeep. ive been a toyota man since a little kid. toyotas got the best feel and overall reliability when driving thru any terrain IMO

 

[Canadian144]

Well stock for stock, the Rubicon has MUCH better tires, which would fare far better off-road. The Rubicon (I believe) has better angles for offroading. Other than that, I can't imagine too huge of a difference, especially if we are going 4door Rubicon vs 4Runner TE.

 

[1engineer]

If I were going to drive these distances this is what I would pick:
For 5 Miles of trail out off the showroom floor: Jeep
For 500 Miles of trail off the showroom floor: Toyota
For 5,000 Miles of trail off the showroom floor: Land Rover Defender

For 100,000 miles on the road/trail: Toyota hands down

 

[03_4x4Runner]

Here is a comparison of the Jeep with a FJ cruiser from 4wheel and off road magazine. Toyota FJ Cruiser VS Jeep JK Wrangler - Wrangler Rubicon - 4-Wheel & Off-Road Magazine
A 2 door Jeep it would go much farther off road than that long 4 door Jeep or a 4runner.

 

[M1911]

A Wrangler Rubicon has locking front and rear diffs. The 2-door in particular has far better angles than the Trail Edition or FJ Cruiser. There is no question that the Rubicon is better offroad.

Of course, the Wrangler just sucks in every day driving and is not as reliable as a 4Runner or FJ Cruiser. So pick your poison.

 

[scanny]

Or would you pick something else?

I would pick Hummer H1 if I didn't care about price and repairs.

 

[SeattleMike]

Down the gnarliest trails over all types of terrain. Which vehicle straight off the factory floor makes it further/what gets stuck/breaks down first?

The Rubicon
or The Trail Edition
Or would you pick something else?

As others have noted, the Jeep Rubicon wins any "stock" off-road challenge. As a proud Trail Edition owner, even I can recognize that the Jeep is the superior off-road vehicle right off the showroom floor.

The problem with a Rubicon is when you drive it on the road and its shortcomings become obvious. You will spend less money making a TE as capable off-road than you will making a Rubicon as comfortable on the road. Since most people drive their vehicles on the pavement most of the time, and since they both cost about the same fully loaded, the 4Runner is the more economical choice.

 

[gwcpa]

Wranglers are great second vehicles. Hard to beat the top off driving on a nice day too. The V6 in the JKs suck though. Give me a 2005-6 2 door Rubi and I'd be happy...going to look for another one soon.

A Rubi will go further, are cheap/easy to mod, but agree, not as good daily driver IMO.

 

[Will733]

The Rubicon in theory COULD make it further, however, the odds of a Jeep breaking down before it reaches it's potential is pretty high.

So if we did an experiment and sent out 10 trucks (5 Jeeps and 5 T4R's), I'm guessing it will look like this:

3 Jeeps go 200 miles into the forest and run out of gas before reaching the destination.
5 4Runners go 100 miles, lose traction and then find an easier alternate route and go for 200 more miles and all reach the destination.
2 Jeeps break down on the way to the trail and sit in the repair shop instead.

 

[M1911]

The V6 in the JKs suck though.

It does. But for 2012 Jeep is replacing it with their new V6. Also, a diesel is coming within a year or two.

The Jeep will still suck to drive on the road. But maybe it will suck a little less.

 

[I AM SAM]

Here is a Rubi that I wheel with and as much as I LOOOOOVVVVE my 4Runner….his is just plain sick. Just don't tell him I said that!

 

[4RBob]

reminds me of my old Rubi

some people really over-estimate the un-dependability of Jeeps too.

btw - i had my 4Runner in for 2 TSB's the first month I owned it. front diff replaced and software update for transmission shifting.

 

[KCcarguy]

reminds me of my old Rubi

some people really over-estimate the un-dependability of Jeeps too.

You're right. I had a stripped-down 4cylinder YJ in high school and I beat the piss out of that thing. I never had any issues.

But, you can't beat the quality and reliability of a Toyota.