FJ Cruiser chosen Mudfest 2006 SUV of the Year

[rsa]

Not a lot of detail in the article, but the Northwest Auto Press Association has chosen the FJ Cruiser as its "SUV of the Year" and "Best SUV in the $25,000 - $34,999 range".
Link (subscription may be required, but I got in without signing up). There's video included, but it didna work with my OS/browser.

Summary:

•Held during October at Portland International Raceway.
•18 automotive journalists (including reps from AP, AutoWeek, NY Times, etc.) assess 24 new SUVs in a two-day competition.
•Includes light off-road course.
•Others winning awards:

•Under $25,000: Honda CR-V
•$35,000 - $45,000: Volvo XC70
•Over $45,000: Volvo XC90
•Best Value: Nissan Xterra
•Best Off-Road: Land Rover LR3

Darn. That pesky Xterra's pokin' its head up again Seriously, I suppose they really didn't want to hand a third category win to the FJ Cruiser!

Stu

[MoSun]

Mudfest ... hey! Nice video and thanks for sharing it with us.

[shtarka1]

Cool Vid! Yes We Are The # 1 Mudder F' ers!

[Cred]

Great video. Its nice to see some of my favorite SUVs in the winner catergory.

[Noisycow]

A Landrover LR3 picked best off road? Really that good?

[Damageinc]

Noisycow previously said:

A Landrover LR3 picked best off road? Really that good?

No Way...
I smell something wrong here...

[akwagon]

Yep, the stock LR3 is that good. Of course, I don't think any more then 1% of them see a dirt road in the US. However they are horrible at reliablity, and I am not to sure who would want to take a $50K SUV off road.

[brcruiser]

akwagon previously said:

Yep, the stock LR3 is that good. Of course, I don't think any more then 1% of them see a dirt road in the US. However they are horrible at reliablity, and I am not to sure who would want to take a $50K SUV off road.

They are very sluggish vehicles too. I originally wanted to buy the LR3, but after test driving it, and comparing it to FJ's ride, It was a no brainer.

[cruiseaway]

love how they say "Great Road Warrior looks" in the article.

Thanks for posting the link for the video.

[Ultramusique]

ha! that's awesome