Top Gear USA - Fifth Season

Ferrara: Now on "Top Gear"...

We race through the rugged terrain of Arizona...

Whoa!

on a trailblazing journey to the Grand Canyon...

Unbelievable!

to find out which of our 4x4s will make it out alive.

We got to stop them, Tanner! We got to get on that plane!

Wood: Oh, my gosh. This is crazy!

Foust: The Sonoran desert,

stretching over 800 miles

across California, Arizona, and Mexico,

home to some of the most challenging

and dangerous terrain in America.

Explorers have spent nearly 500 years

trying to tame this vast area.

With its endless mountains, rivers, and canyons,

many have simply vanished, never to be seen again.

And so "Top Gear" has challenged us

to take our own perilous journey.

We were told to pick the best 4x4s for the task at hand

and meet up 20 miles outside of Sedona.

The goal was simple...

to find the strongest, most capable truck in the land.

Unsurprisingly, Adam hadn't been subtle with his choice.

Ferrara: This is the A.E.V. Brute.

A.E.V. stands for American expedition vehicle.

Basically, they're a company

that takes a standard jeep rubicon,

about 36 grand, and turns it into this monster.

This has just shy of 500 horsepower.

When you're in a position where you can't call anybody,

no one else is gonna come and save you,

it's up to your vehicle to get you to safety,

the brute is what you need.

It ain't cheap.

The one I'm driving... over $132,000.

So far, it's worth every penny.

Ferrara: While I had brought the muscle,

tiny dancer had taken a more refined approach.

This is the 2012 overland journal edition

of the Land Rover LR4.

The Land Rover is known to have

one of the best off-roading pedigrees on the planet,

and this one...

well, it's just a pleasure to be behind the wheel.

Land rover certainly takes the high-tech route

as it approaches off-roading.

It's got five different suspension settings,

airbag suspension.

You can raise and lower this thing several inches.

It works well.

Foust: I had chosen luxury with serious off-road credentials.

However, Rut brought something

that appeared to be a kid's toy.

Oh, my gosh. I match the car again.

This is the 2014 Toyota FJ cruiser

trail teams ultimate edition.

It's the last year of the FJ cruiser,

and they're going out on top.

This is the best and baddest FJ cruiser they've ever made,

and this one is serial number one of 2,500 of this edition.

That's right. I got my hands on the first one.

Wood: But unlike the others, at $39,000,

this one you might actually be able to afford.

Now, the FJ cruiser

may not be the biggest or the baddest S.U.V. out there,

but this thing can get you anywhere you want to go.

And I'm gonna prove it.

Holy crap. Yeah.

Really?

Where'd you come from... a day spa?

This thing's ridiculous! How did you get it?

You can get this... there's about 80 jeep dealers

around the country you can get a brute.

This is a monster... 6.4-liter hemi in it.

It's on 38s.

Look at this ground clearance.

I got a snorkel.

It actually comes with ground support.

You can get a small army for it.

The great thing about jeeps, though, is that they're short,

and they can, like, maneuver and everything.

This is huge!

You can't go anywhere with this.

Are you kidding? I can go anywhere I want with this.

The difference between this off-road vehicle

and those is that this doesn't just on paper look good,

it actually has done it already.

It's already gone around the world.

And what is this?

There's like a party deck on the roof?

This has a bed inside, bridge on the back.

Yes, it's $70,000, but you get what you pay for.

This is full-factory warranty.

That's the cool thing about Land Rover.

Yeah, they back it all 'cause they know it's gonna break.

Can you get a Land Rover service repairman out here?

I love that your shirt matches your car every single time.

I really didn't mean for that to happen.

Come on. You know what's crazy?

That thing... bone stock.

Uh-huh.

It's got a locking rear disk.

It's got traction control.

It's got everything you need for off-road.

And you know what it is?

It's light and it's short...

something that neither of these two

seem to be working with at all.

This is big and monstrous.

If I want light and short, I got him.

You know, you guys pick

some of the most unreliable vehicles in the world.

Like, if you rank the most reliable cars in the world,

Toyota's fourth...

Land Rover, 32nd.

Jeep, 28th.

Jeep won world war ii.

What are we doing here?

We had to drive 200 Miles off-road

through the bleak desert landscape to the grand canyon,

where we were told our 4x4s would be picked up.

First one to touch their wheels in the Colorado river wins.

But we only had two days,

or we would be left stranded to make our own way back.

And to really make things interesting,

we wouldn't be allowed to use any modern devices...

no GPS, no phones... just a good, old-fashioned map.

What could possibly go wrong?

Hey, guys, there's actually no roads on here.

I think this is from the 1800s.

Yep.

Well, probably not much has changed.

I mean, you think?

"Three conspicuous peaks."

Fantastic.

That's really what it's called?

This is great.

Gentlemen, we're just like explorers. We're like Magellan.

Which way is north?

That way. It's got to be that way.

No. Look, the sun goes like... look.

The sun rise in the east, sets in the west.

No, goes like that.

Hey, guys, I was a boy scout for a year.

I can handle this. You know what?

Let's go. I'll take the map.

Just follow me.

I know where we're going.

This isn't gonna end well at all.

We began our search for a big hole in the ground.

There was no direct route to the river,

and with our phones and GPS disabled,

we were sticking together for safety...

at least until we got closer to the finish line.

Although, we were taking our chances

and putting our faith in Tanner...

a man who's made a career out of driving in circles.

Foust: While I may not have the best internal compass,

I definitely trust my own instincts

more than I do those two jackbutts.

Ferrara: Tanner might not have known where we were going,

but he knew how to get there fast.

Now we're talking, fellas.

Ferrara: Yeah! Get some!

How's things going back there, Rut?

Wood: Why don't you put the pedal down

on that 6.4-liter hemi and let me by?

The brute is eating this up!

Wood: Oh, that's a big...

ooh, ooh.

The FJ is definitely the underdog,

but it does a lot of things really well.

260 horsepower out of a 4-liter v-6.

It only weighs 4,300 pounds.

They got more power,

but if you can't use it, it doesn't really matter.

You remember the tortoise and the hare.

Who won that?

Oh, that's right... the tortoise.

Ferrara: Of course!

It's typical!

Tanner picks a Land Rover.

"Oh, it's all kinds of sophistication,

and it's got all kinds of stuff."

Yeah, it's got like 16 computers.

That does a lot of things until it stops doing a lot of things,

and then you're pretty much screwed.

'Cause out here, you're lucky if you find a dirt road.

I'm really inspired by Land Rovers lately.

Yes, they have had some reliability issues.

Sometimes they get a little too techie for their own good,

but, fact is, they're pushing the envelope.

Yeah!

That's what I'm talking about.

Wood: Oh, this is awesome.

Ferrara:

Get up off of that thing!

Ha ha!

Okay, we got a river that is just creeping in on us here.