Ever drive the highway and wonder to yourself if any of the SUVs blocking your forward view have ever ventured off the pavement? The answer is, probably not. It’s commonly reported that less than 10 percent ever go off roading. In the cobwebs of my memory I recall a Ford executive telling me that some ridiculous amount of sport utility vehicles never see a dirt road. I believe the figure was 70 percent.

NWCN

But someone needs to find out of these rigs can really perform as advertised. Here in the Northwest that would be the fine members of NWAPA or Northwest Auto Press Association. The event is called Mudfest. Held in mid October at Portland International Raceway, 18 automotive journalists arrive to assess 24 new SUVs during a two-day competition.

These aren’t just folks looking to drive trucks in the muck for fun. These are professional journalists who drive trucks in the muck for such outlets as The Associated Press, AutoWeek, The New York Times, The Car Connection, MSN Autos, and NBC. In short, these folks know their stuff. Sure, I’ll admit it can be a lot of fun. Just don’t tell my boss.

Rather than have you go through this whole article to get to the winners, let’s get to the right away. But you’re cheating yourself if you don’t continue on to find out why they won.

Under $25,000: Honda CR-V

$25,000 - $34,999: Toyota FJ Cruiser

$35,000 - $45,000: Volvo XC70

Over $45,000: Volvo XC90

Overall category winners

Best Value: Nissan Xterra

Best Off-Road: Land Rover LR3

SUV of the Year: Toyota FJ Cruiser

Congrats to all the winners. Prices are based on manufacturer’s suggested retail price.

The eligibility process is simple. The vehicle must be new or significantly updated to compete. Past winners are invited back to defend their titles. If we invited all the competitive sport utes there would simply be too many to test. So for those wondering why the Ford Explorer or Toyota 4Runner aren’t here, that’s why.

The most interesting and visual part of Mudfest is the PIR motocross track used to test the off-road prowess of these trucks and crossovers.  But if you click on the streaming video, you’ll also see that we flog them in slalom runs, sweeping turns and emergency breaking situations.

Another section of testing calls for driving them on a suburban route to simulate day to day drivability. Packaging, versatility and bang-for-the-buck are determined through a comprehensive scoring procedure. The winners are then selected based on the scores earned from all the journalists in attendance.

As you might guess, truck based rigs like the FJ Cruiser, Xterra and the new Jeep Wrangler breeze through the off-road test without so much as breaking a sweat or scraping an undercarriage. While this route is a good challenge, it’s hardly the Rubicon trail.

Car-based crossovers such as the Honda CR-V, Mazda CX-7, Acura RDX and MDX and Hyundai Santa Fe are certainly able to maneuver the course but many of them rub front or rear ends every so often. Also, their tires tend to be optimized for pavement. So while none of them get stuck in the slop, they aren’t the first choice for those tackling the rough stuff. If this gives you pause, go back and read my first paragraph again.

Crossovers are all the SUV most Americans need. They tend to be more comfortable on a day to day basis as well.

One of the best things about the Mudfest scoring is that it tends to soften personal opinion since it’s the sum of 18 different score sheets. As Perry Stern from MSN Autos puts it “all journalists have different backgrounds so it’s good to get a bunch together and get an amalgamation of what everybody thinks of these vehicles. It gives you more of a baseline of what to expect”. True enough.

This is where I admit that my personal picks don’t completely match up with the eventual winners. The all new Jeep Wrangler 4-door was high on my list for Best Off-Road. While there is no category, it should get the Most Improved award.

 In value segment, the Hyundai Santa Fe makes my list but does not come out a group winner. And as much as I like Volvo’s graceful XC90, you’d think the 92K Land Rover Range Rover with all it’s leather loveliness would kill in the Over $45,00 category. Apparently we’re a practical bunch.

Here’s a few snippets form my notebook about some of the players-

Mitsubishi Outlander- Killer stereo! Much bigger than the last generation. Good utility.

Audi Q7- A great cruiser. This would great to drive to Vail in. Prefers on-road activity.

Suzuki XL-7- Big upgrade in style. Good value. Unusual grain pattern on dash.

Acura RDX- Great fun in slaloms!! Can actually feel the Super Handling feature when really pushing it hard. My fav in the handling loop.

Hyundai Santa Fe- A good all around family vehicle. Much improved over the last version.

GMC Yukon- Very comfortable for a large truck. Drives smaller than it is.

Toyota FJ Cruiser- Great road warrior looks. Nice ride quality. Big blind spot.

Mazda CX-7- Cool style. Interior appears almost German. Good handling, a little turbo lag.

Land Rover Range Rover Supercharged- I feel guilty driving a rig this expensive through the mud. Oh well, if I have to…

Mercedes ML320 CDI- This is a diesel? Very quiet, very smooth. Lots of torque.

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This is just a taste of this two-day event. These NWAPA auto members work hard at making this the most thorough and comprehensive SUV test in the nation. At dinner, we all remark at how far all these rigs have evolved in the last 10 years. Electronic stability control, anti-lock brakes and vastly improved quality make the eventual choices difficult. While I don’t have access to the final scoring totals, I’ll wager the voting was very close in many of the categories.

I hope you enjoy the video featuring Duane Elliott, who made sure that we had lots of mud despite the fact it hadn’t rained in over three weeks. Rock on Dr. Mud!

Also, thanks to the manufacturers for bringing their trucks to Portland for our evaluation process. We couldn’t do it without your cooperation. A final shout out to the hard working support crews of Specialty Transport and Page One. These folks do a great job of prepping and maintaining these vehicles while we beat the tar out of them. Hopefully we can all do it again next year.

The Participants

Acura RDX

Acura MDX

Audi Q7

Cadillac Escalade

Chevrolet Tahoe

Chrysler Aspen

Honda CR-V

Hyundai Santa Fe

Jeep Compass

Jeep Wrangler 4-door

Kia Sorrento

GMC Yukon

Land Rover LR3

Land Rover Range Rover Supercharged

Mazda CX-7

Mercedes ML320 CDI

Mitsubishi Outlander

Nissan Xterra

Subaru Forrester

Suzuki XL-7

Toyota FJ Cruiser

Volkswagen Touareg

Volvo XC70

Volvo XC90