I got a bone to pick wiht the staff of 4WOR. For the 2004 4x4 of the year you picked the VW Touareg V-8. Its starts at $40,700 US and has independant suspension both ends with 14/18 gas mileage. You said in the "Highs"  that it had a gorgeous interior and a sports car handling. Who gives a damn about the sports car handling when you f'roading it. You also said that it had not enough low end power. That was a mistake to pick it as the 4x4 of the road! You could have picked the Ford F-150 Fx4 Supercab. It has a live axle in the back with IFS with long travel. It gets 15/19 and it excels on the fast bump strewn washes that you test them on every year! All this for only a base price of $22,010!! Wow  only a 1/2 of the price of the winner ! Or you could have picked the Nissan Titan, a awsome effort on part of the Nissan. Starts at $28,200 and has a spaciouse interior, lots of power a good feeling and handling with 14/18 mileage.That all the hate mail from me for today. I will now just stick to Truck Trend for the truck of the year. Just wait, did the Lexus  win last years 4x4 against a Dodge? I didnt read that issue. All the Info was taken from the 4x4 article that 4WOR put out

Harris

yes we know

expect this year to be different, cause interior, and fancy pants stuff won't rank for dirt if the truck can't wheel

The VW was a blast to wheel, and compared to a lot of the other stuff it did great, but expect to see the test place considerably more emphasis on off road ability, and less on how the leather seat feels on our dirty carhartts.

Plus we already know that some of the rigs coming this year will be impressive and more off road ready.

You should also rate them on how customizable they are.

Harris

i said that a couple of months ago, its about how the STOCK vehicle performs and not how you can alter it to perform. 
But are we still hung up on this?? Man this is serious old news, but since nothing else is appearently happening on the forums I might as well chime in.
The VW had some hot sHizzle out the box, locking rear diff, air ajustable suspension (though i thought the porche suv had a better 4x4) the fact that all the lux and it could wheel (though I'm sure that for 50K you're not going to want to scratch that paint on tree branches ) made it the sure choice.  But that lux really gave it an advantage going from heated leather seats to the cloth bench seat, dvd navigation to the digital clock and radio ect ect.  Lets all be happy that the Honda Element, or the Pontiac Aztec didnt win. 
Unfortunately trucks are being made to be further and further from the dirt, hell for 30K plus i better get a truck with Dana 70's front and back, already has 12 inches of lift and is running tires of atleast 39".  But no, that gets me the stock Dodge Turbo Deisle.  When the car comanies get a clue that an offroad edition of a truck or suv, actually needs to be wheelable and not just a lux ridden cage with 4 wheel drive, then 4x4 of the year will really mean something