On a snowy hillside in Russia, a group of SUV enthusiasts gathered to see which SUV can make it up the hill the fastest. This diverse group of SUVs makes this video particularly interesting as we can see a wide range of vehicles compete on the same hillside for off-road dominance. Although the video and subtitles are entirely in Russian, I found this to be one of the most entertaining videos of the year.
The video focuses on other SUVs attempting to beat out the legendary Toyota Land Cruiser Prado 150. The Prado is one of the smaller SUVs in Toyota’s global Land Cruiser range and is sold as the Lexus GX in America. This competent off-road SUV can handle some of the toughest terrain on earth thanks to decades of engineering development and Toyota’s dedication to reliability. The Land Cruiser Prado 150 is powered by a 2.8-liter Diesel engine that produces 200 horsepower (150 kW) and 369 lb-ft (500 Nm) of torque.
To compete with the almighty Land Cruiser, a brand-new Mercedes G500 was on the scene. This all-new G-Wagon keeps the original SUV’s off-road capabilities but modernizes the interior and body for greater performance. The G500 is powered by a twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 that produces 416 horsepower (310 kW) and 450 lb-ft (610 Nm) of torque. Even with this extra power, the G500 struggles due to its massive wheels with skinny road specific tires.
Besides the competition from Mercedes, SUVs from Land Rover, Subaru, Jeep, Great Wall, Niva, and Oise are on site. This massive gathering of SUVs we know along with others you can only find in Russia makes for an interesting competition where you don’t know the specs of every SUV on screen. So can any of these SUVs dethrone the Toyota Land Cruiser? Well, we have an hour of footage to enjoy and find out.