As far as car testing goes (and by testing, I mean renting with full damage insurance), my favorite was the Mecedes C-class SportWagen cdi. 6-speed manual of course. It took on the rock crawl challenge without much sweat, once I got a hang of the hill-start feature (holds brakes momentarily). The undertray, which is intended to increase stability at high speeds, also allows you to glide over large boulders. (This "rock-crawl" course was actually a blue run at a ski area). It also managed the creek crossing with ease. While both of those challenges could easily be done in an SMB, the C-class could also cruise at 135 MPH for hours on end. However, at that speed it did get a very van-like 9.8 MPG.