Carolina Auto Program
Four current vehicles parked in a curving row on the Carova 4x4 beach at dusk, headlights on: a white 2027 Chevrolet Silverado Trail Boss, a red Ram 1500 Rebel, a dark gray Jeep Gladiator and a bright blue Jeep Wrangler Willys, with three wild horses far down the beach and beach houses on the dunes.
Wrangler, Gladiator, Rebel and 2027 Trail Boss on the Carova beach

Compare · The Carolina Auto Program

Which trim, and then which one? Read how they feel. Then drive them.

Spec sheets tell you what a vehicle has. The beach tells you how it feels: on 45 minutes of North Carolina Highway 12, the two-lane road up the Outer Banks, then through the ramp, in the soft sand, with the top open or the back window down. Start with each model against itself: the base, the off-road sweet spot and the one above it. Then put two head to head. The two matchups with vehicles on our lineup are here; the rest live on our beach driving site, and every page ends the same way: drive it.

Which one? Head to head

The experience is how it makes you feel.

Nobody rides along. Nobody steers you toward one. If neither is right, you found out on the sand.

2Matchups here, for the 2027 lineup
10More on our beach driving site
3Hours on the sand, about
$325A vehicle, all in

Each comparison links a published video test by Edmunds or TFL Studios; their video, their opinions.

Which one? On our beach driving site

First, each one against itself: the base, the off-road sweet spot, and the one above it

Every model has a trim that was built for this kind of sand and a trim that was built for somewhere else. These seven pages live on outerbanksbeachdriving.com, our guide to driving the Outer Banks beaches, next to its pages on tires, wheels and lifts.

A green four-door Ford Bronco parked on the Carova beach, wild horses grazing far behind it.
Which one?$42,990 to $50,885

Which Bronco?

The Badlands has everything a Bronco can do that you’d use here; the Outer Banks is the comfort trim named after this place.

The base
Big Bend
The sweet spot
Badlands
The comfort one
Outer Banks
Base, sweet spot, top
A teal Jeep Wrangler Willys with a black soft top on the Carova 4x4 beach, the surf behind it.
Which one?$39,040 to $50,535

Which Wrangler?

The Willys is finished for the sand as it comes; the Rubicon’s extras are for rocks. Every version and package in one checklist.

The base
Sport
The sweet spot
Willys
The rock crawler
Rubicon
Base, sweet spot, top
A gray Jeep Gladiator Rubicon on the Carova 4x4 beach, with two wild horses far down the sand by the surf.
Which one?$44,095 to $66,990

Which Gladiator?

The Willys is the sweet spot; the Mojave is the one Jeep built for sand, if the budget stretches.

The base
Sport S
The sweet spot
Willys
The finished one
Rubicon X
Base, sweet spot, top
A white 2027 Chevrolet Silverado Trail Boss parked on the Carova beach, wild horses grazing behind it by the dunes.
Which one?$43,600 to $77,200

Which Silverado?

The Custom Trail Boss has the lift and the 34s for $6,800 less than the Trail Boss. The ZR2 is built for speed.

The base
Custom
The sweet spot
Custom Trail Boss
The desert one
ZR2
Base, sweet spot, top
A red Ram 1500 Rebel parked on the Carova beach, wild horses grazing far behind it by the dunes.
Which one?$45,170 to $64,475

Which Ram 1500?

Coil springs on all ten. The Rebel adds the lift and the Bilsteins, and a rear locker is on its option list.

The base
Tradesman
The sweet spot
Rebel
The nice one
Laramie
Base, sweet spot, top
A gray-green Toyota 4Runner TRD Pro parked on the Carova beach, wild horses grazing far behind it by the dunes.
Which one?$45,065 to $69,395

Which 4Runner?

The TRD Off-Road has the locker, the Sand mode and the Bilsteins. Above it: hybrid, leather, snorkel, racing shocks.

The base
SR5
The sweet spot
TRD Off-Road
The fast one
TRD Pro
Base, sweet spot, top
A red Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro parked on the Carova beach, wild horses grazing far behind it.
Which one?$34,190 to $66,395

Which Tacoma?

The TRD Off-Road is the pickup on this beach every morning. Two of the cheaper trims can’t come down the ramp.

The base
SR
The sweet spot
TRD Off-Road
The fast one
TRD Pro
Base, sweet spot, top
Carolina Auto Program$325 a drive

Another model?

Tell us which one you’re pricing out. If enough people ask, we walk its ladder too.

Email Bret

Head to head

Six pairings people actually argue about

Each one leads with how the two feel on the road and on the sand, keeps the spec sheet to the few numbers that matter here, and embeds the best comparison video we could find. Bronco vs. Wrangler and the four-truck battle are here, because those vehicles are on our lineup; the other four pairings are on our beach driving site.

A green four-door Ford Bronco parked on the Carova beach, wild horses grazing far behind it. A teal Jeep Wrangler Willys with a black soft top on the Carova 4x4 beach, the surf behind it.
CompareDrive both · $325 each

Bronco or Wrangler?

Both open up to the sky. One rides like an SUV on Highway 12; the other flexes like a Jeep on the sand.

How they feel
A sand-colored Toyota Land Cruiser parked on the Carova beach, wild horses grazing far behind it. A gray-green Toyota 4Runner TRD Pro parked on the Carova beach, wild horses grazing far behind it by the dunes.
CompareBuying guide · drive it here when it’s on the lineup

Land Cruiser or 4Runner?

Same frame, same hybrid. One never asks you to think about four-wheel drive; the other rolls its back window down.

How they feel
A green four-door Ford Bronco parked on the Carova beach, wild horses grazing far behind it. A gray-green Toyota 4Runner TRD Pro parked on the Carova beach, wild horses grazing far behind it by the dunes.
CompareBuying guide · drive it here when it’s on the lineup

Bronco or 4Runner?

The open-air one against the one on every beach ramp from Corolla to Carova.

How they feel
A gray-green Toyota 4Runner TRD Pro parked on the Carova beach, wild horses grazing far behind it by the dunes. A red Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro parked on the Carova beach, wild horses grazing far behind it.
CompareBuying guide · drive it here when it’s on the lineup

4Runner or Tacoma?

Same truck underneath. Does the sandy gear ride in a bed, or inside with the window down?

How they feel
A red Ram 1500 Rebel parked on the Carova beach, wild horses grazing far behind it by the dunes. A white 2027 Chevrolet Silverado Trail Boss parked on the Carova beach, wild horses grazing behind it by the dunes. A blue-gray Ford F-150 Tremor parked on the Carova beach, wild horses grazing far behind it.
CompareBuying guide · drive it here when it’s on the lineup

Rebel, Trail Boss or Tremor?

Coil springs against leaf springs, one inch of lift against two, and what each sounds like with the window down.

How they feel
Carolina Auto ProgramDrive both · $325 each

Another pairing?

Tell us the two you’re torn between. If enough people ask, we write it up and put both on the sand.

Email Bret

The method

How we compare them

  1. Step 1

    Feel first

    How each one rides on Highway 12, how it floats in the soft sand, what the back seat is like, and who tends to fall for it. Drawn from the published reviews and from six years of running four-wheel drives on this beach.

  2. Step 2

    The spec sheet, kept short

    Suspension, four-wheel drive, tires, lockers, seats, what opens and what rolls down. Current model year, from the factory.

  3. Step 3

    Then drive both

    Same day, same beach. Bring a second driver, 25 or older, swap at the Virginia line, and you each drive both. $325 a vehicle.

Questions

Straight answers

Which one is better on the sand?

Both will do this beach, aired down and in four-wheel drive. The difference is how each one feels doing it, and that is what the experience is for.

Can we drive both the same day?

Yes. Book both, bring a second driver who is 25 or older, and swap at the Virginia line so you each drive both. $325 a vehicle, five and a half hours each.

Do you take sides?

No. Nobody rides along and nobody steers you toward one. The reviews and the video we link are theirs, not ours. If neither one is right, you found out on the sand, not after you bought one.

The Carolina Auto Program · Open all year

Torn between two? Drive both.

Book your drive
Pick your date

$325 a vehicle for the full five and a half hours, any month of the year. Request a date on the main page and we confirm by email the same day, with the booking link and the online license and insurance check. Questions? Call or text (252) 564-4218.

Same day, same beach
$325 a vehicle

Half a day each. Bring a second driver, 25 or older, and swap at the Virginia line, so you each drive both. Nobody rides along.