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Ranking:
1st Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited 4WD 5.7L
2nd Nissan Pathfinder SE Off-Road
3rd Mitsubishi Montero Limited
4th Volkswagen Touareg V-6
5th Toyota 4Runner 4WD Sport Edition *[shares major bits with the LC120 Prado]
6th Ford Explorer XLT V-8

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Third Place
Mitsubishi Montero Limited


There's something likable about this high-rider that's not decipherable from the test numbers. Close finishes can be inscrutable. Surely the attraction can't be the pug-nose front. Inside there's a perfectly bizarre Tokyo-by-night display for HVAC—it's blue. Nor can the appeal be caused by a tromp on the pedal; acceleration is nip and tuck with the slow-guy VW.

Subjectively, the high driving position is a winner, made even more appealing by the chair-height seats. An incredibly tall windshield gives a tour-bus view. The black leather trim of the test car produced a nicely formal mood as it contrasted with the wood-grain, most of it faux. Out of place, but appealing anyway, is the Jaguar-style wood-and-leather steering-wheel rim. Taken altogether, there's a luxury-excursion mood playing here; one staffer sees it as a "poor man's Land Cruiser."

The four-wheel-drive choices seem more complex than they need to be, probably because of the curious labeling of the lever's four positions. What you actually get is quite sensible. You can have the most-efficient-most-of-the-time rear-wheel drive, or you can send torque forward as well, through a limited-slip center differential, for all-wheel drive. For more serious going, you can also lock the center diff or change down to low range.

Out on the rocks, the Montero took a major ratings hit with its jumpy throttle; there's no easing it over Broken Arrow's boulders. Questions are raised, too, by watching these SUVs perform over obstacles. The Montero spends more time with one or more wheels off the ground than the others, with the Pathfinder a close second. The Grand Cherokee and the 4Runner maintain the best contact with the ground.

From Chicken Point looking west, we had an up-close view of the two-spire formation known locally as "the nuns." Sedona sandstone was deposited in successive layers, clearly visible. The coloring and the bonding happened underground as the soil subsided. Since then, Ranney says, the Sedona area has seen 70 million years of uplift. That makes these red rocks old compared with those at the top of Everest, which were formed by sea-level deposits 40-million years ago.

On the way down, the sound of old rocks scraping against young steel reminded that the Montero's 8.6-inch ground clearance was only 0.1 more than the Explorer's.

*****
Highs: Sensational view forward, highchair seating, big-space mood of the cabin, easy shifting into AWD.

Lows: Overly sensitive throttle off-road, front-end styling doesn't go with the back end, no Reebok space in row three.

The Verdict: Oddly lovable, like the ugly mutt that keeps licking your face.