By Philip Ruth–
Credentials can take a long time to develop. In the case of developing a crossover that could do some serious off-roading, the brands we’ll check out this time have spent years honing them.
Jeep is on top, with an image developed during wartime that is indelible and elemental to the identities of its fans and admirers. Alternately, Toyota’s TRD (Toyota Racing Development) sprang up in the 1970s and has amassed impressive wins, both on and off the blacktop.
So, both brands have a pretext for the extreme four-wheeling versions of the Cherokee and RAV4 I recently sampled. By contrast, Hyundai sticks primarily with grades of luxury for its comparably-sized Tucson.