Toyota Land Cruiser

If you live in the desert, the Land Cruiser is as good as it gets. But seeing as we don't, the Discovery is a much better bet.

• Comfort

  Accept that you're moving at a slow pace and the Land Cruiser's comfort is just fine, thanks to big seats and long-travel suspension. But if you're prone to car sickness, beware the oitching of the short-wheelbase three-door. And the five-door's third-row seats are pretty cramped.

  

• Performance

  This latest generation of Toyota's long-running SUV has just one engine - a three-litre, four-cylinder diesel. It may have 171bhp and 320lb ft, but in nearly 2.5 tonnes of car, it's not powerful enough for most driving. It's OK once you're up to speed on the motorway, but overtaking anything is tedious and if you so much as breathe on teh accelerator it sets up a racket you just wouldn't hera in a Land Rover Discovery.

  

• Cool

  Yes, if you live in Kalgoorlie or Kinshasa, where the Land Cruiser is revered for its robustness. Otherwise no.

  

• Quality

  Built to Toyota's high standards but some of the plastics don't feel worthy of the carss £40k price. They're fine in a £20k Avensis, but not here.

  

• Handling

  The ladder chassis is the real weak point - over a bumpy back road the Land Cruiser is constantly fidgeting and doesn't iron out any of the surface imperfections. One positive is that the Land Cruiser doesn't roll very much through a corner. This is down to a clever anti-roll device that uses hydraulic chambers on the front and rear anti-roll bars to keep the suspension in check. It's not involving though. But when you're off-road the Land Cruiser takes on a whole new personality - all of a sudden you're at the heart of the action.

  

• Practicality

  The Land Cruiser comes with seven seats and the rear-most ones fold electrically on top-spec cars. These are totally automatic to fold or raise - even the headrest stows itself at the touch of a button. You could get a pair of adults in there for a short journey without having to amputate, but the boot is pretty tiny with the seats up.

  

• Running costs

  Running costs are actually quite good for an SUV of this size. The 3.0 diesel's official combined fuel economy figure is 3mpg, while 214g/km of CO2 puts it in VED Band K, attracting road tax of £245. By comparison the Discovery 3.0 TDV6 returns 30mpg and is in VED Band L (£245).