2006 & 2007 Nissan, Toyota & Hummer 4x4s

Rock Garden
Boulders aren't strewn around Hollister Hills so much as carefully placed to inflict maximum pain, so we crept each truck through a rocky section and attempted the dusty concrete stairstep for crawling agility.

No surprise, we liked the H1 here. It's nearly impossible to hurt anything underneath-thanks to the H1's on-board air, you frequently adjust tire pressure to match the conditions, and even with the minimal windows it's easy to see the corners. That didn't stop us from scraping the paint off one, but we could see exactly how much we were taking off.

Dropped to 20 psi, the H1 laughed off or crushed anything in its way, without requiring the winch that decreases approach angle by 25 degrees-more than some 4x4s have to begin with. Even before it gets full boost the Duramax/Allison combo has plenty of grunt and lockers at both ends route power to the ground, but the silly exhaust pipe is pointed straight down, which blows up a dust storm. The H1 waltzed up the stairstep in less time than it took to maneuver around the tight turn on the exit, just one of many situations where the steering assist felt beaten, and we wondered if the pulley was properly sized for the slow-turning diesel engine. The front locker had repeatedly disengaged on its own schedule, without us selecting "Park," switching off the key, or any other common denominator we could identify.

Without airing down the rest of the other trucks, the Titan was the only other vehicle to top the stairstep and with no rear locker did so because of big-edge tires and a lot of wheelbase. It also fared reasonably well in the rocks, with no rear anti-roll bar countering the limitations of IFS, and had power to spare. The quiet and lack of body groans and squeaks surprised us, as it equaled the Xterra and FJ in that regard; then again, there was no noticeable frame twist between cab and bed to cause any problems.

The FJ and Xterra have locking rear differentials that work only in low range and defeat ABS. They both feature electronic traction control all around, but you can't use it with the locker engaged-eventually, you'll know which devices match terrain. The physically larger FJ has the advantage in suspension flexibility with a coil/link rear, yet the Xterra's more aggressive tire tread and greater sidewall enables it to match the Titan or go even further. The Xterra also is much easier to see out of in close quarters, as you almost need to climb out of the seat to see the FJ's left front tire and have only a vague idea where the ends are.