• Auto123 presents its annual awards in 22 categories.
• For the Best “Adventure” Vehicle in 2023, here are our finalists and winner!
• In the running are the Ford Bronco Sport, Subaru Outback Wilderness and Ford Maverick.
• The three finalists are all purchases that are recommended by the Auto123 team.
Every year, you our readers are kind enough to await with interest Auto123's verdicts in declaring the winners across various vehicle categories. This year, the battles were once again ferocious, with many of the votes very close. There were arguments and maybe a couple of tears.
Nevertheless, at the end of the day, 22 vehicles were declared winners in their category. If you want to know what are recommended buys in the “adventure” vehicle segment, here’s what happened this year in this category.
The "adventure" category is relatively new to Auto123’s awards. It has become necessary with the proliferation of model versions that emphasize off-road driving. Though here we're not talking about a model like the Jeep Wrangler whose primary mission is head into the wilds (there's a true off-road category reserved for that), but rather more mainstream, everyday transporters that come in a slightly more aggressive form for those who want to explore off-road.
At first, there were only a handful of representatives in this category. Today, there are more than a dozen. Of the lot, three caught our panelists' attention this year: the Subaru Outback Wilderness, Ford Bronco Sport and Ford Maverick.
.JPG?scaledown=450)
In the case of the Subaru Outback, the Wilderness variant is relatively new to the Subaru model range. It's now available on three models (Forester and Crosstrek being the other two). Essentially, Wilderness variants come with higher ground clearance, adapted wheels and gold-themed visual elements that serve to clearly identify the variation.
.JPG?scaledown=450)
The Bronco Sport is an SUV with unique styling, but more importantly, it’s a model that offers a terrain management system that facilitates off-road adventures. With the Badlands variant, for example, it offers additional modes for mud and crevasses, as well as rocks. It's easy to have fun with a Bronco Sport Badlands, in other words.
.jpg?scaledown=450)
Finally, the Maverick. This here is a reasonably sized truck that allows its owners to live the adventure. At the same time, it's designed to be practical and able to carry everything needed for recreational activities. Its hybrid configuration, which makes it quite economical to use, continues to impress.
With three models offering interesting elements, the vote was close. In the end, it was the Subaru Outback Wilderness that won out over the two American models. The reliability problems experienced by those two Ford vehicles certainly weighed in the balance.