Three Days in the Valley - Dumont Dunes - Off-road SUV Comparison

Day 3: Dumont Dunes

"Dumont Dunes is not a place for revelations," comes Williams' disembodied voice over the radio, "if anything, it'll reinforce what you already believe." That's deep, downright Yoda-esque. Problem is, in terms of pure off-road ability, four in this quintet could walk away as the winner right now.

He's right -- the dunes do reinforce beliefs, and the first one solidified is that the Hummer has a serious weight problem. Even with all tires aired down to 22 psi, the Hummer never seems to float above the dunes like the others, but rather bogs about sluggishly. She never gets stuck -- nobody does -- but never elicits the whoops and hollers of the Rover, either.

"On the sand, the LR2 blew me away. I knew it would be good, but I wasn't prepared for how good it was. Engine and trans seem a perfect match for scaling up the shifting sand walls and diving back down over steep wind-blown cornices. It was like racing in a glass-protected ATV," comments Williams.

These heavy-duty SUVs prove to be like ATVs in more ways than one; though not all emerge without damage after we find a few safe jumps on the dunes. The Jeep Rubicon suffers two damaged rear struts, which are promptly removed -- despite the 200-mile drive mile home -- and the Toyota FJ gets a bent front quarter-panel, which causes some interference when opening the front passenger-side door. Maybe this makes sense, since these are the two fun-buggies on the sand. Still, Xterra and LR2 run with the wolves and come out unscathed.

Late in the day, winds pick up and send forth a sandstorm the likes of which even veteran off-roader Williams has never seen. It looks like the sand monster sequence in "The Mummy." Despite being saddled in the windowless, strutless Jeep and facing a 100-mile drive to dinner, I can't get enough.