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Most luxurious SUVs of 2022

Luxury and SUV go together like cheese and burger — a big SUV’s roomy shape and long-travel suspension meld perfectly with the sort of comfort and refinement that luxury buyers crave. To that, car makers also add high performance and proper cornering prowess, to create the ultimate in luxury SUVs. Here are ten of the best premium SUV choices…

porsche Macan

1. Porsche Macan

9/10
carwow price from
£637* / month
The Macan is just so much better than it should be, considering that it’s quite heavy and it’s based on two-generation-old Audi Q5 hardware. Porsche has simplified the Macan lineup a little of late, excising diesel engines, but adding an extra-sporty GTS version with 440hp. All are properly entertaining to drive, though.
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land-rover Defender

2. Land Rover Defender

9/10
carwow price from
£710* / month (£60,705)
A Defender? Luxury? Well, yes — alien though the concept might be to owners of original Defenders. The new model combines about 90 per cent of the comfort and refinement of a Discovery with about 10 per cent more off-road prowess. The cabin looks utilitarian but is actually hugely comfortable and, well, just huge (in 110 and 130 models at any rate). Soft air springs give it terrific ride comfort.
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rolls-royce

3. Rolls Royce Cullinan

Unlike the rival Bentley Bentayga, the Cullinan doesn’t share its chassis with a plebian Volkswagen Touareg. Instead, under the skin, it’s basically a Phantom saloon with a loft conversion. The 6.75-litre turbo V12 is glassy-smooth and electric quiet, and the relatively understated interior is incredibly comfortable. It has an oddly firm ride at times, though, which is hardly befitting.
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mercedes GLC SUV

4. Mercedes GLC

8/10
Battery range up to 30 miles
carwow price from
£504* / month (£42,985)
Available either as a ‘proper’ SUV or as a slope-backed ‘coupe’, the GLC may be compact in this class, but it’s a worthy foil to the likes of the Porsche Macan. Yes, you can have it in ‘pauper-spec’ with a 2.0-litre diesel, or even a choice of petrol or diesel plug-in hybrids, but there’s also the mighty AMG 43 and 63 models, which offer up to 510hp and enough acceleration to turn your eyelids inside-out. The cabin design might be ageing, but it’s all beautifully built.
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land-rover Range Rover Sport

5. Range Rover Sport

8/10
Battery range up to 24 miles
An all-new Range Rover Sport gets a pair of plug-in hybrid versions with electric ranges of up to 70-miles (and a new 4.4-litre V8 shared with BMW), plus the very pared-back, but still luxurious cabin from the new ‘full-fat’ Range Rover. However, if you were to grab yourself one of the last of the outgoing models, especially one with either the mild-hybrid straight-six diesel, or the mighty 5.0-litre supercharged V8, you couldn’t go too wrong.
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mercedes G-Class

6. Mercedes G-Class

8/10
carwow price from
£123,500
Old school? Well, if by that you mean a design that has barely changed since the late seventies, off-road prowess that you’d need a Land Rover Defender to match, and optional AMG V8 power to turn this into the world’s fastest garden shed, then we would sign our kids up for that old school in a heartbeat. Believe it or not, a fully-electric version of the ‘Geländewagen’ is coming…
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porsche Cayenne

7. Porsche Cayenne

8/10
carwow price from
£815* / month
Along with the BMW X5, the Cayenne took the original Range Rover recipe of an off-roader with posh on-road manners and added to that performance and true driver appeal. Two decades on, little has changed. Well, little aside from the addition of active aerodynamics, full-digital cockpits, and a 680hp plug-in hybrid version.
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audi SQ8

8. Audi SQ8

7/10
carwow price from
£1,001* / month (£83,744)
Up against a Rolls Royce or a Porsche, the Audi SQ8 might feel a bit outgunned, but it’s actually one of the four-ring brand’s best efforts. Those menacing, scowling looks lead you through to a gorgeous cabin, and for something this big and bulky, it has deft handling. 507hp and 770Nm of torque seem sufficient, too.
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aston-martin

9. Aston Martin DBX

The best-looking big SUV? We wouldn’t argue with that, and the Aston-in-platforms is pretty lovely inside, too, with a cabin that take inspiration from the lower, lither DB11. It’s a very high-quality cabin too, although some of the old-school Mercedes cast-off buttons and displays do detract a little. There’s limo-like space in the back, but the front seats are a touch pinchy. You’ll forgive it that for the way it goes around corners, though.
bentley Bentayga

10. Bentley Bentayga

8/10
Big and ugly the Bentayga may be, but… well, there’s no but. It really is big and ugly. It is also exceptionally good to drive, though, belying its weight and height in the corners, and yet offering the sort of refinement and relaxation that you’d expect from a Bentley. Mighty W12 engine is glorious, but the more ‘sensible’ V8 or hybrid are just as soothing to drive.
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Luxury SUVs FAQs

Previously, this came down to a pretty straight fight between the BMW X7 or the Mercedes-Benz GLS (which also has a super-luxury Maybach version). However, the newly-arrived Range Rover has put the British cat amongst these German pigeons, thanks to the addition of extra seats in the boot, not to mention plug-in hybrid versions which can go for 70 miles on electric power alone.

This probably comes down to a straight fight between the Mercedes-Benz GLE 350de plug-in hybrid (which is based around a diesel engine) or the new Range Rover P440e plug-in hybrid (which uses petrol power). 

Both get long-range electric-only power (the Merc claims a 62-mile range, the Range Rover a 70-mile range) and both claim up to 353mpg(!) on the official WLTP fuel economy test. However, the Mercedes is more likely to be more economical in the real world, on long journeys, thanks to its diesel engine.

You’d be very hard-pressed to look past the Porsche Macan if you want the best small luxury SUV, certainly in driving terms. While it might not be as up-to-date mechanically as some rivals (it’s based on the same chassis as the original 2009 Audi Q5) it is seriously impressive to drive, and has the usual Porsche high-quality cabin inside. 

If anything gets close, it’s the Mercedes-Benz GLC, which is also not the youngest car around, but which impresses with its refinement and smart cabin. If you want to go a bit smaller and more affordable, check out the Range Rover Evoque, which manages to feel more luxurious inside than some SUVs which cost rather a lot more.

Porsche’s build quality and technical expertise are second-to-none, so we’d expect both the Cayenne and the Macan to provide solid long-term reliability. That goes equally for anything from Audi, Mercedes, or BMW. 

However, if you want the ultimate in engineering quality, look at Lexus’ RX450h hybrid. The all0-new one launches late in 2022, but will continue to be beautifully built, with an expectation of the sort of reliability that turns Swiss watch manufacturers green with envy.

It might come as a bit of a surprise, but the Range Rover Evoque is actually cracking good value. The cheapest D165 diesel version, in front-wheel drive with a 163hp engine, costs just £32,620 — barely any more expensive than the cheapest Skoda Kodiaq. OK, so the Evoque isn’t as roomy nor as practical as the Skoda, but then the Skoda doesn’t have a Range Rover badge on the bonnet…

This is, obviously, a very subjective thing, but we’d say there are two winners here. First up is the Rolls-Royce Cullinan, which manages to mix ludicrous levels of luxury with a sense of decorum and tastefulness that others seem to miss. It’s luxurious, of course, but it doesn’t seem to show off about being luxurious. 

At a rather more affordable level, the Land Rover Defender has a fantastic cabin design that looks rugged (exposed bolts, powder-coated metal, open shelves) but which feels so right, so fit-for-purpose, and which is so comfortable on a long journey, that it ends up being more satisfying by far than rival interiors which are more obviously opulent.

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