Best Dual-Cab 4x4 Ute 2022: Off-road performance
There’s a reason these utes are called 4x4s, but are they truly bush-capable go-anywhere vehicles?We are becoming a more urbanised country yet many of us look for reasons to escape the city, and what better reason than to go bush in a 4x4 ute? Dual-cabs have not always been the best out-of-the-box choice to take off-road, but they are becoming more capable with better clearance, water fording and traction than their forebears. That the recreational 4x4 ute market wants a vehicle that can climb into the steep, slippery High Country as well as traverse the soft sand of the Simpson Desert requires a diverse skillset that some of these utes enjoy, others not quite so much. While on paper the contenders for carsales’ Best Dual-Cab 4x4 Ute 2022 are similar, there are significant differences in these seven when the bush becomes your playground.
Testing the off-road capability of our contenders for carsales’ Best Dual-Cab 4x4 Ute 2022 brings a number of factors into play, including ground clearance, wading depth, approach, ramp-over and departure angles, electronic traction control calibration and off-road ride and performance.
Of course, not one of these utes will easily cope with gnarly mud-caked tracks or remote expedition work right out of the box.
For starters, none of them have the appropriate tyres. Though the Ford Ranger XLT 2.0 and the Nissan Navara PRO-4X were factory equipped with all-terrain tyres, their tread patterns told a more road-oriented story.
Shopping in the aftermarket for not only decent off-road tyres but also a snorkel and raised suspension will be just the start if you are serious about bush touring. We could talk about bull bars, driving lights, UHF radio, recovery kits and the rest, but best to read our separate advice stories if you’re serious about bush travel in a ute.
Although the seven utes on test are going to be markedly improved off-roaders with some money spent at your local 4x4 accessory store, our job is to evaluate whether they have the right blend of off-road skills in standard form.
All of them have low-range gearing so that you can crawl along on rough and/or steep terrain with the necessary torque and engine braking you need to pick your way. Most have a part-time 4WD system, meaning you can drive on dry, hard surfaces in the 2WD setting only, with 4WD only useable if it’s slippery.
The two exceptions are the GWM Ute Cannon-X and the Mitsubishi Triton GSR. The GWM has a torque-on-demand centre diff, which engages 4WD automatically at up to 100km/h. The Mitsubishi has the most sophisticated system here, with its Super Select full-time/part-time centre diff providing everything a part-time system does plus a full-time high-range 4WD setting for the assurance of all-wheel grip on any road surface.
All have a selectable rear diff lock, giving better traction in some off-road circumstances.
The official wading depths are in the specs below, with the GWM Ute offering the least at 500mm and the Ford Ranger, Isuzu D-MAX and Mazda BT-50 offering the most at 800mm.
However, the air intake designs suggest there’s more to it than that. Only the GWM, Triton and the Toyota HiLux have inner-guard air intakes.
The rest have an intake that sources air from the upper grille area. This is better for driving efficiency with its ram-air effect but riskier when descending a steep track into deep water, where there’s a good chance water will enter the air intake and then the engine.
That’s not what you want for a high-compression diesel engine, but then if you’re planning such off-road work an aftermarket or optional accessory snorkel is a good idea for all of the utes you see here.
The HiLux is the best all-round off-roader out of the box, with very good rear axle articulation, good off-road gearing and traction control that works so well that the rear diff lock is basically redundant.
In fact, in some instances on test the HiLux struggled more with the rear diff locked as the traction control didn’t continue to work on the front wheels.
The new Ford Ranger has big shoes to fill and doesn’t disappoint when the road turns to gnarly track. A slightly longer wheelbase than the previous Ranger (and between 40mm and 270mm longer than everything else here) does mean the side steps get very close to scraping where others don’t.
Excellent rear axle articulation and good ground clearance are positives, and the Ranger’s traction control with the rear diff lock engaged is an excellent traction aid on the front wheels.
However, with the locker disengaged the traction control struggled on our steep, slow, hollowed-out set-piece climb. Power was a bit difficult to feed in smoothly as well in slow-going technical conditions.
The Nissan Navara makes light work of off-roading, with its traction control a touch more subtle in engagement than the HiLux and therefore in some circumstances slightly more effective. Even with the rear diff lock engaged, the front traction control continues to do its thing, while gearing and the easy-to-feed-in power makes slow off-roading simple.
The Navara could do with a touch more ground clearance but otherwise performs well in the bush.
The Isuzu D-MAX and Mazda BT-50 place equal fourth for off-road performance as they share helpful gearing and easy throttle modulation which resulted in no issues on our set-piece climb. But both needed the rear diff lock engaged (and thus no front-wheel traction control).
With the shortest wheelbase here, the Triton has an excellent ramp-over angle and turning circle for tight tracks. Feeding in power in low-range is smooth, and with the diff lock engaged our set-piece climb was a cinch in the Mitsubishi.
Like a few here, when engaging the rear diff lock, traction control is disengaged on both axles.
The GWM Ute’s rear axle articulation is very good, while gearing is promising for off-road work and ground clearance is good too. However, engaging low-range doesn’t automatically disengage the auto-hold feature so if you’re attempting slow, technical off-roading, the combination of this and the lack of off-idle response makes slow-going difficult.
The GWM Ute’s traction control system isn’t very intuitive, taking a while to kick in.
Meanwhile, the on-demand 4WD system does not appear to always be 50:50 locked in low-range as you come to a stop. If you happen to do this on a tight turn the transfer case lets out an enormous bang as it presumably releases the clutch pack (and drive to the front axle) to eliminate axle wind-up or binding in the transfer case. It’s a crude application.
While our testing precluded such terrain, we’ll be looking to assess how the GWM Ute fares in soft sand where the on-demand centre diff might be working hard as it reactively engages and disengages 4WD.
Ford Ranger XLT 2.0
Driveline: Dual-range part-time 4WD, locking rear diff
Ground clearance: 234mm
Approach angle: 30 degrees
Ramp-over angle: 21 degrees
Departure angle: 23 degrees
Wading depth: 800mm
GWM Ute Cannon-X
Driveline: Dual-range torque-on-demand 4WD, locking rear diff
Ground clearance: 232mm
Approach angle: 27 degrees
Ramp-over angle: 21.1 degrees
Departure angle: 25 degrees
Wading depth: 500mm
Isuzu D-MAX LS-U+
Driveline: Dual-range part-time 4WD, locking rear diff
Ground clearance: 240mm
Approach angle: 30.5 degrees
Ramp-over angle: 23.8 degrees
Departure angle: 19 degrees
Wading depth: 800mm
Mazda BT-50 SP
Driveline: Dual-range part-time 4WD, locking rear diff
Ground clearance: 240mm
Approach angle: 27 degrees
Ramp-over angle: 23.8 degrees
Departure angle: 24.2 degrees
Wading depth: 800mm
Mitsubishi Triton GSR
Driveline: Dual-range full/part-time 4WD, locking rear diff
Ground clearance: 220mm
Approach angle: 31 degrees
Ramp-over angle: 26 degrees
Departure angle: 23 degrees
Wading depth: 600mm
Nissan Navara PRO-4X
Driveline: Dual-range part-time 4WD, locking rear diff
Ground clearance: 220mm
Approach angle: 32.7 degrees
Ramp-over angle: 22.9 degrees
Departure angle: 19.8 degrees
Wading depth: 600mm
Toyota HiLux SR5
Driveline: Dual-range part-time 4WD, locking rear diff
Ground clearance: 251mm
Approach angle: 28 degrees
Ramp-over angle: 23 degrees
Departure angle: 24 degrees
Wading depth: TBC
Best Dual-Cab 4x4 Ute 2022: Intro
Best Dual-Cab 4x4 Ute 2022: Safety
Best Dual-Cab 4x4 Ute 2022: Technology
Best Dual-Cab 4x4 Ute 2022: Comfort and convenience
Best Dual-Cab 4x4 Ute 2022: On-road performance
Best Dual-Cab 4x4 Ute 2022: Towing and payload
Best Dual-Cab 4x4 Ute 2022: Ownership costs
Best Dual-Cab 4x4 Ute 2022: Verdict
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