Jeep vs. Smart Car, Which Is Better Off-Road?

Hoonigan has a popular series on YouTube in which they race two cars that absolutely should not be racing against each other. They’ve raced Civics against Dodge Vipers, rat rods against Audi R8s, and even Honda Groms against Ford Broncos. It’s one of the coolest series on YouTube, and this new video takes it a step further. For this race, Hoonigan took a built Jeep XJ and put it up against a lifted Smart car.

The impressive thing about the Smart car is that it doesn’t have any extra wheel travel from stock, it’s still 4 inches of travel in the front and back. It has a body lift to fit Can-Am Maverick wheels and Dynapro MT2 tires, plus Bilstein shocks for a stiffer ride. Other than that, the suspension hasn’t been touched. But even with beefy tires and upgraded shocks, it can’t beat an XJ in an off-road race, can it?

The XJ is a part of Duane Davis’ off-road recovery fleet, and it turns out that it isn’t even his best rig. “I have several rigs, this is the backup-backup rig,” Davis says. But even though it’s third in line to the throne, it still has some serious modifications. Starting underneath, the stock axles have been replaced with one-ton Dana 60s. Attached to the axles are Humvee eight-bolt wheels to put extra weight on the ground. Inside is a full roll cage to keep passengers safe if something goes wrong, which is a must on any recovery rig.

While both of the vehicles are built for off-roading, they’re still two completely different cars. One was an off-roader from the day it rolled off the assembly line, the other was supposed to be a commuter car. So which will win in an off-road race? Check out the video below to see for yourself.

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