Coming Soon: The 2019 Four Wheeler Of The Year Competition! What It Is And How You Can Follow Along #FWOTY19
Coming Soon!
Ken BrubakerWriter
The perpetually changing 4x4 landscape means that to keep up requires a lot of research. For those who are in the market for a new 4x4, it translates to a lot of visits to dealerships to inspect and drive these rigs. Dealerships can be accommodating, but almost certainly won’t let you have each 4x4 for a week so you can pile 1,000 miles on them in a variety of on- and off-road terrain. And even if they did, you probably don’t have time for that because you need to work to earn a living.
This is where we come in. Once a year since 1974 we corral 4x4s that are all new or significantly redesigned and put them through an approximately 1,000-mile weeklong battery of on- and off-road testing. We call it Four Wheeler of the Year and it’s comprised of two separate tests: SUV of the Year and Pickup Truck of the Year. During the week of testing we leave no stone unturned, as the saying goes. We begin by measuring each vehicle’s ramp travel index score and then we point the vehicles to a racetrack to measure acceleration and braking. Once all of that is completed we spend the next four days testing in a wide range of specially chosen terrain, including rocks, dirt, snow, hillclimbs, mud, and water. Along the way our team of experienced judges records detailed notes in the official judging books and scores each vehicle in a variety of categories. At the end of the week, the vehicle with the highest score in each test is crowned the winner.
Four Wheeler of the Year judges come from many of the titles within the Four Wheeler Network, includingFour Wheeler,Jp Magazine, and4-Wheel & Off-Road. Judges also include freelance contributors, all of whom have worked for publications in the past. All judges have substantial experience in off-road travel, and most have years of vehicle testing experience.
Four Wheeler of the Year is a closed event, but you can follow along December 3-7 at fourwheeler.com! We’ll be uploading daily updates, stories about vehicle features, and much more. We’ll also be posting on the fly to ourFour Wheeler,Jp Magazine, and4-Wheel & Off-Roadsocial media sites.
We invite you to follow along as we test some of the latest and greatest 2019 4x4 vehicles! In the meantime, check out some photos from Four Wheeler of the Year 2018.