Comparing Sport/Utility Suvs

Roll Playing In my opinion, the result of our Death Valley Torture Test is a real anomaly: The cheapest vehicle is the best. If the point of an SUV is to be good at more than one thing, then the Jeep Grand Cherokee is the champion. I'm already a fan (I own a '94 model that spends a lot of time off-road), but familiarity could just as easily breed contempt. However, the Jeep actually seems to me to be six cars in one. It's very quick, and with a little left-foot-braking racing technique (while staying on the gas), the handling can be pretty good. Off-road, it's nimble, surefooted, and rarely limited by more than its ground clearance. Rear seats down, it swallows as much as a small pickup can, but clean it up and it's acceptable to drive to a swank party. Finally, it's not a bad camper; it's just long enough so you can sleep stretched out in the rear (as I often do during long treks into the desert). Years of refinement have turned the Grand Cherokee into a beautifully honed tool for its intended use. It's an excellent all-purpose vehicle that can also take you far, far away from the civilization that created it.

The only thing I don't like about the Jeep is common to my feelings about virtually all new SUVs: the problems of anti-lock brakes in extreme off-road situations. I find it very disconcerting (read scary) to suddenly need your brakes as you come across a surprise change in the terrain (a hidden washout, for instance) and get little more than the sound of ABS servos clacking underhood. Veteran off-roaders know that the best way to stop quickly in soft terrain is to lock the wheels and build up a wedge of earth underneath. But with the ABS brain working against you in this situation, danger can turn to disaster. Why not a simple switch to turn off the ABS, especially when in low range?-Perry King

Best Of Both Worlds As strange as it may seem to you, I actually look forward to our annual summer torture test trip to Death Valley. Not because I particularly like 110-plus-degree heat-in fact, it's like pretending you're an astronaut who can't get out of his vehicle because the outside environment is too hostile. No, it's because we never know what's going to happen, and it always does. From last year's sighting of the yet-to-be-photographed BMW X5 sport/ute in full camo, to this year's unusual thunder storm and finding the old Manson place, Death Valley was as enigmatic as ever.

What inevitably happens to our group of test vehicles is that each one shows its true nature, strengths and weakness are revealed, and ultimately, we find the story writing itself. Also, the discussion at the end of each day always turns to the subject of which vehicle would we choose if we were buying, or if someone else were paying. I had trouble selecting only one luxo/ute this year because my SUV of choice varied with its pricetag and the terrain. On the highway, I'd have to call it a three-way tie of Jeep, Toyota, and Mercedes-Benz. Granted there's roughly a $30,000 price swing, so who's buying would matter. The off-road choice is equally tough. I have to admit the monster trucklike Hummer with its ability to make molehills out of mountains still makes me laugh out loud. And the Ford, Chevy, and M-B felt like fish out of water, while the Jeep and Range Rover ate up mile after dirty mile. That means the only one on both lists must be the winner, right? Is the Jeep Grand Cherokee the best of both worlds? Yes. Is it the one I'd buy? Probably. Is it the one I'd take if any were given to me? No. That'd be the Range Rover. Call me a snob, I don't care.-Chris Walton