Jeep Wrangler vs Toyota FJ Cruiser

Even adding the on-road costs to the four-door Wrangler, you're still looking at saving plenty on the FJ Cruiser. You get a hose-out interior with drainage, aircon, power windows, MP3 compatible audio system and underbody protection for the fuel tank and transfer case.

The FJ Cruiser costs at least $10k more than the Wrangler Sport but it gets two extra doors and a bigger boot. It also gets Bluetooth and iPod connectivity, satnav, full-size spare(alloy) and power windows. And it gets a three-year, 100,000km warranty and fixed-price servicing.

From every angle, the Wrangler screams practicality. Jeep's designers have made the interior a touch more sophisticated. Even in the two-door model there's plenty of room, although the boot is tiny. Deft practical touches for the hard-core owner include removable mudguards.

There's no chance of being able to slip quietly home in this. Thanks to the retro-inspired looks you'll get noticed absolutely everywhere. There's decent space front and rear and the boot is capacious. The dash is a homage to the crude panel in the FJ40.

The Wrangler Sport gets a 3.6-litre V6 which makes 209kW/347Nm and is mated, as standard, to a six-speed manual. Fuel use is just a little higher, at 11.4L/100km, than the FJ Cruiser. Ours came with the Command-Trac off -road system, which features part-time 4WD and shift-on-the-fly technology.

Motor-vated by a 4.0-litre petrol V6 making 200kW and 380Nm, the FJ Cruiser's five-speed auto does a decent job of getting all that oomph to the ground. Fuel use is 11.1L/100km. The FJ is a part-time 4WD that comes, as standard, with a rear differential lock.

As with the FJ, it doesn't have an ANCAP crash safety rating but gets the usual active and passive safety items. Standard are driver and passenger airbags, traction and stability control, trailer sway controls, hill-start assist, tyre pressure monitor and engine immobiliser.

It lacks an ANCAP crash safety rating, sure, but it gets a raft of active and passive safety systems. Standard are six airbags, stability and traction controls, active front head restraints, reversing camera, three restraint anchor points plus much more.

Jeep's recently revised Wrangler is quite refined (on-road), given it runs live axles front and rear. The steering lacks feel, the manual transmission is smooth, although the ride off -road (especially in the two-door) becomes choppy.

With a Prado as the starting point, the FJ was always going to be capable. Local engineers have given the suspension a once-over so off -road it's great; on-road it's less so, the steering is a little floaty around centre and there's plenty of body roll.