Cars most likely to have major powertrain problemsMcALLISTER, Mont. – Not far from Montana’s Ramshorn Peak is a beautiful body of water known as South Meadow Creek Lake.
At its core, AT4X isn’t groundbreaking. Superficially, the package includes a unique front fascia, skid plates and a Baja drive mode for higher-speed desert running, but the fundamentals of a good 4x4 haven’t changed despite the broader trends. Front and rear locking differentials? Check. Beefier springs and a frame lift for more ground clearance? Yep. But its real party trick is a set of Multimatic DSSV dampers.
Naturally, our route back out of “town” took us up the side of another pointy rock. This time, we were pointed at the lake. We aired down and set off, working our way back down the road surface hierarchy from asphalt to loose gravel and then finally ungroomed dirt and stone as thetrees gave way and the pines closed in around us.
While the standard AT4X rides on 33s; the AEV sits on 35s. In part due to that difference, the AEV Edition gains 1.5 inches of ground clearance for a class-leading total of 12.2 inches. That translates to 38.2-degree approach, 26.0-degree departure, and 26.9-degree breakover angles.