When it comes to steamrollering the sales charts you really need an SUV these days, especially as the appeal of their rugged looks and raised ride heights shows no signs of waning. Yet despite their off-roader aping style, these machines are little more than family hatchbacks with some tough tinsellng - drive any further off the beaten track than the odd gravel car park and you'll be left marooned and mired in mud.
Land Rover now offers four-, six-, and eight-cylinder engines for the car, but the P400e plug-in hybrid has become the only four-pot available, while all the diesels are now in-line sixes. The range-topping P525 V8 version certainly has performance and presence to spare, but the D300 diesel is our pick of them all because it combines plenty of torque with respectable fuel economy, drivability and refinement, and needn't cost as much as some of the other versions of the car.
There are now only four-cylinder petrol versions of the Wrangler on official UK sale, with the four-pot diesel having been removed from showrooms, and other options available only through 'grey' import. These include the Dodge Challenger-engined 6.4-litre V8 special-editionAnother icon - one that has historically been the workhorse of choice in the Australian Outback, a place where breaking down simply won't do.
It isn't, however, quite as gritty, grippy or tenacious as some cars when the going gets really tough. That said, few are as easy and stress-free to drive in the rough stuff, the brand's advanced Terrain Response system effectively doing much of the hard work, meaning all you need do is steer the Disco up hill and down dale.
We'll have to wait until we'd had a chance to more fully explore the Ineos on UK roads, but the intial impressions suggest a car high on charm and big on offroading talent.The original Ranger Raptor was something of a mixed bag, its weedy 2.0-litre diesel failing to match the talents of a chassis that fooled you into thinking you could tackle a stage of the Dakar rally.