carsales' best off-road SUV for 2022 announced

The Australian automotive website recently judged the best 12 off-road SUVs available in Australia across seven key assessment areas.

These included safety, technology, comfort and convenience, driving performance, off-road performance, payload and towing, and ownership costs.

Large off-road SUVs are among the most practical and popular vehicles in Australia, providing ample, versatile space and seating for all types of families and their cargo, while matching the towing capability of the best dual-cab 4WD utes and bettering many of them for all-terrain capability.

That makes them the perfect fit for a wide variety of automotive consumers including weekend adventure warriors, families and grey nomads heading off on 'the big lap', and those who need up to seven seats and the ability to tow a heavy trailer boat, caravan or horse float.

From 15 candidates, carsales experts whittled the field down to the 12 - two are about to be discontinued (Haval H9 and Mitsubishi Pajero), so they were left out - and one didn't make the cut: the Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series.

"It's an admirable off-roader, but a long way from being a great family all-rounder," carsales said.

The final 12 were then assessed against more than 110 individual criteria to name just one winner.

Up against the likes of the Ford Everest, Isuzu MU-X, Mitsubishi Pajero, Nissan Patrol and LandCruiser Prado and 300 Series, in the end it was the Land Rover Defender that attracted the most points.

That was thanks to its wide breadth of ability including "impeccable" road manners, "outstanding" off-road and towing capability, "top-shelf" safety and technology, strong comfort/convenience features and "generous" after sales provisions.

carsales managing editor Marton Pettendy said more than 70 years in the making, the born-again Land Rover Defender was not just another retro rehash.

"[It's] a ground-up redesign that retains the original's go-anywhere ability while adding on-road refinement and performance to match and better some of the best in its class," Mr Pettendy said.

"Combine this with effortless towing prowess, an outstanding safety and tech armoury, better than average comfort and convenience credentials - even at base level - and surprisingly reasonable ownership costs, and it's easy to see why the Land Rover Defender [won]."

Priced from under $82,000, the Land Rover Defender 110 P300 is powered by a 221kW/400Nm 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine matched to an eight-speed automatic transmission.

It consumes 10.1L/100km and comes with a five-star safety rating under ANCAP's latest testing protocol.

Jaguar Land Rover Australia managing director Scott Maynard said the company was "delighted" to see the Defender awarded.

"[It's] a great honour in a hotly contested category that speaks to Australian drivers' deep passion for the great outdoors," Mr Maynard said.

"Our customers rely on what Australia's best automotive media have to say about our vehicles. We're honoured to see carsales recognise Defender as Australia's best off-road SUV."

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