Last updated May 19, 2025 by
Neil Briscoe
Most luxurious SUVs of 2025
Once it was just Range Rover, but now everyone makes a big, luxurious, and often fast SUV. Here we pick Carwow’s ten best.
Traditionally, luxury cars were all three-box saloons — Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow, Mercedes S-Class, BMW 7 Series — but that started to change in the 1980s with the arrival of the first luxury models of the Range Rover, and really accelerated in the 1990s and 2000s with the likes of the first generations of BMW X5 and Porsche Cayenne. Now, there’s hardly a car maker in the world that doesn’t have a big, fast, luxurious SUV in its model lineup. Morgan is possibly the only one. McLaren too, but that’s unlikely to last.
SUVs make for ideal luxury cars, as it happens. The extra ride height allows you add in softer, longer-travel suspension, while the extra roof height makes for — in theory, anyway — acres of space in the cabin, especially in the back seats, but still with plenty of space left over in the boot for suitcases, golf clubs, or dogs with diamond studded collars. Here, we’ve put together a list of the best luxury SUVs on sale today.
Carwow intensively tests every new car on sale, whether they’re powered by diesel, petrol, electricity, or any combination thereof, so that we can give our expert recommendations. We drive cars on the road and on the test track, and we look at the individual strengths of each model — from how soft the leather on the seats is, to how well they clamber over actual rocks.
What's good
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Best for: luxurious adventuring
The Range Rover is king. Oh sure, there are plenty of pretenders to the throne, plenty looking to snatch that crown, but the Range Rover still rises above them all. Literally, when the tarmac turns to mud and stones. Back in 1970, when the first Range Rover was created, that wasn’t quite the case — it was more of a traditional Land Rover that scrubbed up OK for using in town. Since the first Vogue versions were made back in the 1980s, though, the Range Rover has gone for full-on luxury, and now it’s closer to being an S-Class with a loft conversion than it is a mucky and stone-scraped Landie. Not that it can’t do the off-road thing. In fact, the Range Rover, in spite of its bulk and weight, can scamper up hills and ford rivers better than almost anything else on this list, and do it all while you sit in leather-lined comfort and quiet, the wild world kept at bay beyond the glass.
You can still buy a V8 petrol-engined Range Rover, using a magnificent turbocharged engine borrowed from BMW, but the best versions are the plug-in hybrids, which combine smooth six-cylinder petrol power with usefully long-range electric grunt (75 miles claimed, a healthy 60 miles in real-world driving). There is still a straight-six diesel option too, for those traditionalists among you.
Air suspension not only smooths out the rougher edges of the tarmac, but it also allows the Range Rover to perform amazing off-road tricks thanks to a variable ride height. Long-wheelbase versions come with seven seats, and the tailgate still splits in two so you’ve something to sit on while having a picnic. 55 years on from the original, in spite of the brains of BMW, Porsche, Bentley, and even Rolls-Royce trying to topple it, and in spite of constant worries about its reliability and build quality, the Range Rover holds the crown. All hail.
The Range Rover is king. Oh sure, there are plenty of pretenders to the throne, plenty looking to snatch that crown, but the Range Rover still rises above them all. Literally, when the tarmac turns to mud and stones. Back in 1970, when the first Range Rover was created, that wasn’t quite the case — it was more of a traditional Land Rover that scrubbed up OK for using in town. Since the first Vogue versions were made back in the 1980s, though, the Range Rover has gone for full-on luxury, and now it’s closer to being an S-Class with a loft conversion than it is a mucky and stone-scraped Landie. Not that it can’t do the off-road thing. In fact, the Range Rover, in spite of its bulk and weight, can scamper up hills and ford rivers better than almost anything else on this list, and do it all while you sit in leather-lined comfort and quiet, the wild world kept at bay beyond the glass.
You can still buy a V8 petrol-engined Range Rover, using a magnificent turbocharged engine borrowed from BMW, but the best versions are the plug-in hybrids, which combine smooth six-cylinder petrol power with usefully long-range electric grunt (75 miles claimed, a healthy 60 miles in real-world driving). There is still a straight-six diesel option too, for those traditionalists among you.
Air suspension not only smooths out the rougher edges of the tarmac, but it also allows the Range Rover to perform amazing off-road tricks thanks to a variable ride height. Long-wheelbase versions come with seven seats, and the tailgate still splits in two so you’ve something to sit on while having a picnic. 55 years on from the original, in spite of the brains of BMW, Porsche, Bentley, and even Rolls-Royce trying to topple it, and in spite of constant worries about its reliability and build quality, the Range Rover holds the crown. All hail.
2025
Adventurer's Choice Award
Battery range up to 45 miles
What's good
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Best for: SUV practicality with BMW dynamics
Spend any time on the roads in Britain, and eventually you’ll be moved out of the way by the flashing blue lights and wailing siren of a BMW X5. Constabularies up and down the country love the X5 for its space, speed, poise, and the grunt of that straight-six diesel engine. That diesel-engined X5 remains one of the best big SUVs you can buy, combining excellent refinement with 40mpg and rapid 0-60mph sprinting ability. It corners and steers like a proper BMW, more or less, and yet has comfortable space for four big adults and room for their luggage. There’s even the option of having extra seats in the boot. As an all-round combo, that’s hard to beat.
It helps that the X5 has become considerably more luxurious over the years. It started out as a taller 5 Series, but now it’s a proper luxury car, with beautifully made interiors and the kind of comfort and refinement — even on the stiff M-Sport springs — that makes even the Range Rover start to sweat.
Of course, we’re supposed to be moving on from diesel power these days, and the X5 obliges with the plug-in hybrid xDrive50e version that combines a 3.0-litre straight-six turbo petrol engine with a powerful electric motor and enough battery capacity to cover a claimed 62 miles on electric power alone. Combined, the two motors produce 489hp, which would not so long ago have been enough to give the X5 M-car status, and this hybrid is properly quick — 0-62mph in 4.7 seconds.
If you need more than that, there is the mighty M60i version, with its 530hp turbo V8 engine that makes all of the right noises, and which is fast enough to make even the hybrid look slow. Good luck with the fuel bills, mind.
Spend any time on the roads in Britain, and eventually you’ll be moved out of the way by the flashing blue lights and wailing siren of a BMW X5. Constabularies up and down the country love the X5 for its space, speed, poise, and the grunt of that straight-six diesel engine. That diesel-engined X5 remains one of the best big SUVs you can buy, combining excellent refinement with 40mpg and rapid 0-60mph sprinting ability. It corners and steers like a proper BMW, more or less, and yet has comfortable space for four big adults and room for their luggage. There’s even the option of having extra seats in the boot. As an all-round combo, that’s hard to beat.
It helps that the X5 has become considerably more luxurious over the years. It started out as a taller 5 Series, but now it’s a proper luxury car, with beautifully made interiors and the kind of comfort and refinement — even on the stiff M-Sport springs — that makes even the Range Rover start to sweat.
Of course, we’re supposed to be moving on from diesel power these days, and the X5 obliges with the plug-in hybrid xDrive50e version that combines a 3.0-litre straight-six turbo petrol engine with a powerful electric motor and enough battery capacity to cover a claimed 62 miles on electric power alone. Combined, the two motors produce 489hp, which would not so long ago have been enough to give the X5 M-car status, and this hybrid is properly quick — 0-62mph in 4.7 seconds.
If you need more than that, there is the mighty M60i version, with its 530hp turbo V8 engine that makes all of the right noises, and which is fast enough to make even the hybrid look slow. Good luck with the fuel bills, mind.
What's good
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Best for: splitting the difference
You want the luxury and comfort of the big Range Rover, but you also fancy the sporty poise of the BMW X5. What to do, what to do? Well, you could try the Range Rover Sport. It takes all of the same mechanical bits and pieces of the bigger Range Rover, and packages it into a slightly smaller body, with sportier suspension which means it should nicely split the difference between the top two cars here.
In practice that’s pretty much exactly what the RR Sport does. You can have the same plug-in hybrid engines as in the bigger Range Rover, with the same 75 mile electric range (60-odd miles in the real world) which are surprisingly frugal all-round. There’s also a mild hybrid diesel option, and of course a mighty turbo V8 petrol for the ultimate in performance, and to really hammer home the Sport badge.
The cabin is basically the same as that of the Range Rover, just slightly smaller. More of a luxury apartment than a sprawling country estate, but we still can’t understand the decision to take away the old Range Rover Sport’s seven-seat option, which was always popular with owners.
The Sport’s suspension is different to that of the bigger Range Rover, with twin-chamber air springs and slightly stiffer settings. It is definitely sharper to drive than the bigger car, stays flatter in corners, has more engaging steering, and definitely feels a little tighter and tauter on a twisty road. Is that really what you want from a Range Rover, though? Personally, we’d always worry that if you bought the Range Rover Sport you’d always feel like you should have gone for the ‘proper’ Range Rover. The Range Rover Sport is a really good, truly accomplished car, and can off-road with the best of them, but it does have a slight image problem these days.
You want the luxury and comfort of the big Range Rover, but you also fancy the sporty poise of the BMW X5. What to do, what to do? Well, you could try the Range Rover Sport. It takes all of the same mechanical bits and pieces of the bigger Range Rover, and packages it into a slightly smaller body, with sportier suspension which means it should nicely split the difference between the top two cars here.
In practice that’s pretty much exactly what the RR Sport does. You can have the same plug-in hybrid engines as in the bigger Range Rover, with the same 75 mile electric range (60-odd miles in the real world) which are surprisingly frugal all-round. There’s also a mild hybrid diesel option, and of course a mighty turbo V8 petrol for the ultimate in performance, and to really hammer home the Sport badge.
The cabin is basically the same as that of the Range Rover, just slightly smaller. More of a luxury apartment than a sprawling country estate, but we still can’t understand the decision to take away the old Range Rover Sport’s seven-seat option, which was always popular with owners.
The Sport’s suspension is different to that of the bigger Range Rover, with twin-chamber air springs and slightly stiffer settings. It is definitely sharper to drive than the bigger car, stays flatter in corners, has more engaging steering, and definitely feels a little tighter and tauter on a twisty road. Is that really what you want from a Range Rover, though? Personally, we’d always worry that if you bought the Range Rover Sport you’d always feel like you should have gone for the ‘proper’ Range Rover. The Range Rover Sport is a really good, truly accomplished car, and can off-road with the best of them, but it does have a slight image problem these days.
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Best for: Having beauty on the inside
So, the BMW X5 has been a big success over the years, but it’s always had one small issue — it’s not the biggest car inside, and while there is a seven-seat option for the X5, it’s a bit of a squeeze for six or seven adults. The solution? Embiggen the X5! Take the same basic structure and engines, and add extra length and height. Which sounds like a great idea, but BMW also decided to make the big X7 about a million per cent uglier than the X5, initially with a massive radiator grille and little piggy-eyed lights, and latterly with a face pinched from the hardly-beautiful i7 electric saloon.
Ah well, if it’s ugly on the outside, at least it’s gorgeous on the inside. The quality level of the X7 is simply superlative, and the big sweeping digital touchscreen setup is good to use, even if it looks a bit familiar from lesser BMW models. Front seat comfort is outrageously good, and there’s lots of space for even very tall people in the back. Go all the way to the third row, and while space is a bit tighter, it’s still grown-up friendly, especially if you go for the six-seat option, which gives you step-through access to the back. The X7 is incredibly refined and comfortable, but you can’t have it with the plug-in hybrid engine, which is a shame.
So, the BMW X5 has been a big success over the years, but it’s always had one small issue — it’s not the biggest car inside, and while there is a seven-seat option for the X5, it’s a bit of a squeeze for six or seven adults. The solution? Embiggen the X5! Take the same basic structure and engines, and add extra length and height. Which sounds like a great idea, but BMW also decided to make the big X7 about a million per cent uglier than the X5, initially with a massive radiator grille and little piggy-eyed lights, and latterly with a face pinched from the hardly-beautiful i7 electric saloon.
Ah well, if it’s ugly on the outside, at least it’s gorgeous on the inside. The quality level of the X7 is simply superlative, and the big sweeping digital touchscreen setup is good to use, even if it looks a bit familiar from lesser BMW models. Front seat comfort is outrageously good, and there’s lots of space for even very tall people in the back. Go all the way to the third row, and while space is a bit tighter, it’s still grown-up friendly, especially if you go for the six-seat option, which gives you step-through access to the back. The X7 is incredibly refined and comfortable, but you can’t have it with the plug-in hybrid engine, which is a shame.
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Best for: getting peasants out of your way
It was inevitable that Rolls-Royce would make a tall SUV. After all, of all the big luxury brands, it’s the one with the towering chrome radiator grille that transitions so easily from saloon to SUV. The Cullinan, named for the world’s largest diamond which gives you some idea of its price tag, shares its basic structure with the Phantom and Ghost saloons, and also shares their wonderfully turbocharged 6.75-litre engine. You think electric cars are refined? Try one of these — full acceleration like being carried forward on a tide of liquid silk.
The front is full of the usual Rolls-Royce touches — leather, chrome, and wood instead of plastics — while the back seats are enormously roomy and comfortable. There’s no seven-seat option, but there is a pair of rear facing fold-out seats in the boot that make a perfect picnic perch. If the performance of the standard version isn’t enough for you, there’s a slightly more powerful, sportier, Black Badge edition, but we’d be perfectly happy with a basic Cullinan. If such a thing exists.
It’s huge, so don’t expect it to be wieldy in town, but it’s more fun on the open road than you might expect, and incredibly refined even if it doesn’t ride as comfortably as a Ghost.
It was inevitable that Rolls-Royce would make a tall SUV. After all, of all the big luxury brands, it’s the one with the towering chrome radiator grille that transitions so easily from saloon to SUV. The Cullinan, named for the world’s largest diamond which gives you some idea of its price tag, shares its basic structure with the Phantom and Ghost saloons, and also shares their wonderfully turbocharged 6.75-litre engine. You think electric cars are refined? Try one of these — full acceleration like being carried forward on a tide of liquid silk.
The front is full of the usual Rolls-Royce touches — leather, chrome, and wood instead of plastics — while the back seats are enormously roomy and comfortable. There’s no seven-seat option, but there is a pair of rear facing fold-out seats in the boot that make a perfect picnic perch. If the performance of the standard version isn’t enough for you, there’s a slightly more powerful, sportier, Black Badge edition, but we’d be perfectly happy with a basic Cullinan. If such a thing exists.
It’s huge, so don’t expect it to be wieldy in town, but it’s more fun on the open road than you might expect, and incredibly refined even if it doesn’t ride as comfortably as a Ghost.
Battery range up to 43 miles
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Best for: being properly sporty
The Cayenne is actually a Volkswagen Touareg under the skin, and it always has been. That’s something that may shock a few Porsche owners, but then it’s also true of the Lamborghini Urus and the Bentley Bantayga. As ever with such things, it’s not the basic bits, it’s what you do with them.
What Porsche does with the oily bits under the Cayenne is to take them and create a big, tall, and heavy SUV that drives as much like a proper Porsche as such a thing possibly could. The steering is responsive and talkative, the body balances nicely in corners, there’s tremendous traction and grip. It will off-road, but it’s best on a fast tarmac-covered series of corners. It’s also considerably less ugly than it used to be, and the Coupe version is there if you fancy the practicality of a Cayenne but with a little more sleekness to the styling.
Basic V6 versions feel a bit weedy, but the GTS V8 is a thing of joy, and the Turbo E-Hybrid is astonishingly fast, with 739hp and blistering acceleration. The Cayenne Coupe even comes with a Turbo E-Hybrid GT Package, which is sort of a hybrid Cayenne answer to the 911 GT3.
The Cayenne is actually a Volkswagen Touareg under the skin, and it always has been. That’s something that may shock a few Porsche owners, but then it’s also true of the Lamborghini Urus and the Bentley Bantayga. As ever with such things, it’s not the basic bits, it’s what you do with them.
What Porsche does with the oily bits under the Cayenne is to take them and create a big, tall, and heavy SUV that drives as much like a proper Porsche as such a thing possibly could. The steering is responsive and talkative, the body balances nicely in corners, there’s tremendous traction and grip. It will off-road, but it’s best on a fast tarmac-covered series of corners. It’s also considerably less ugly than it used to be, and the Coupe version is there if you fancy the practicality of a Cayenne but with a little more sleekness to the styling.
Basic V6 versions feel a bit weedy, but the GTS V8 is a thing of joy, and the Turbo E-Hybrid is astonishingly fast, with 739hp and blistering acceleration. The Cayenne Coupe even comes with a Turbo E-Hybrid GT Package, which is sort of a hybrid Cayenne answer to the 911 GT3.
Best for: electric performance
How can a 2.5-tonne SUV, with electric power and a genuinely luxurious interior, be a true Lotus? Aren’t Lotuses supposed to be low-slung Formula One cars, or sports cars that get driven into the sea by Roger Moore? Well, yes, but this is 2025, and Lotus has to compete with other luxury and sports car makers, and so a big SUV is what it needs. The Eletre — which comes from the Chinese side of Lotus, not the bit in Norfolk that makes the Emira sports car — is all of the wrong things for a Lotus; big, heavy, and electric. And yet it manages to just cling on to enough Lotus-ness to make a case for it.
It’s incredibly fast and powerful — up to 905hp for the R version — and yet has a long range, thanks to a big battery and sleek bodywork, so you can potentially put 373 miles between charges.
Inside, there’s something that has been absent from many previous Lotuses — quality. The Eletre feels really well built, and it’s taking a different path to luxury, leaning away from leather and wood, and towards suede and carbon-fibre. The big screens in the cabin work well, and there’s serious comfort to be had in the back seats. Which again, is not something you can usually say about any Lotus.
It’s as expensive as it is heavy, and the styling is a bit anonymous, but this big, battery Lotus is still a proper driver’s car.
How can a 2.5-tonne SUV, with electric power and a genuinely luxurious interior, be a true Lotus? Aren’t Lotuses supposed to be low-slung Formula One cars, or sports cars that get driven into the sea by Roger Moore? Well, yes, but this is 2025, and Lotus has to compete with other luxury and sports car makers, and so a big SUV is what it needs. The Eletre — which comes from the Chinese side of Lotus, not the bit in Norfolk that makes the Emira sports car — is all of the wrong things for a Lotus; big, heavy, and electric. And yet it manages to just cling on to enough Lotus-ness to make a case for it.
It’s incredibly fast and powerful — up to 905hp for the R version — and yet has a long range, thanks to a big battery and sleek bodywork, so you can potentially put 373 miles between charges.
Inside, there’s something that has been absent from many previous Lotuses — quality. The Eletre feels really well built, and it’s taking a different path to luxury, leaning away from leather and wood, and towards suede and carbon-fibre. The big screens in the cabin work well, and there’s serious comfort to be had in the back seats. Which again, is not something you can usually say about any Lotus.
It’s as expensive as it is heavy, and the styling is a bit anonymous, but this big, battery Lotus is still a proper driver’s car.
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Best for: power!
As with Lotus, Aston Martin is a company famed for its sports cars and coupes that needs to sell a big SUV to help balance the financial books. The DBX has partially worked in that respect, although Aston’s profits continue to wobble, but perhaps the upgraded, latest version with a whopping 727hp from its Mercedes-AMG-sourced 4.0-litre turbo V8 engine might help. Yes, the electric Lotus is considerably more powerful again, but V8 sound and fury trumps electric efficiency every time.
There’s copious space and comfort inside the DBX, and it now comes with much-upgraded infotainment which also features the most cutting-edge version of Apple CarPlay. The styling is most certainly prettier than most of the other cars on this list too, and the Aston’s relatively light aluminium-and-carbon chassis (it doesn’t use a platform borrowed from another car maker) means that it carves through corners with proper Aston precision. You can mark it down for one or two dodgy cabin materials, some of the borrowed Mercedes bits and pieces in the cabin just don’t look the part, and it’s ludicrously thirsty and has silly emissions figures, but there are few big SUVs that are as good to drive as this.
As with Lotus, Aston Martin is a company famed for its sports cars and coupes that needs to sell a big SUV to help balance the financial books. The DBX has partially worked in that respect, although Aston’s profits continue to wobble, but perhaps the upgraded, latest version with a whopping 727hp from its Mercedes-AMG-sourced 4.0-litre turbo V8 engine might help. Yes, the electric Lotus is considerably more powerful again, but V8 sound and fury trumps electric efficiency every time.
There’s copious space and comfort inside the DBX, and it now comes with much-upgraded infotainment which also features the most cutting-edge version of Apple CarPlay. The styling is most certainly prettier than most of the other cars on this list too, and the Aston’s relatively light aluminium-and-carbon chassis (it doesn’t use a platform borrowed from another car maker) means that it carves through corners with proper Aston precision. You can mark it down for one or two dodgy cabin materials, some of the borrowed Mercedes bits and pieces in the cabin just don’t look the part, and it’s ludicrously thirsty and has silly emissions figures, but there are few big SUVs that are as good to drive as this.
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What’s not so good
Best for: Being like a Cullinan, but less expensive
Bentley got to the luxury SUV market before its great rival, and erstwhile partner, Rolls-Royce. Developed from a controversially ugly concept car, the Bentayga arrived on sale… not much better looking. It has become a little sleeker over the intervening years, but that massive grille, and big-light-small-light combo just continues to look rather inelegant.
You won’t mind so much from the inside, as the Bentayga’s cabin is — mostly — every bit as luxurious and cosseting as you’d expect from a car with the flying B badge. There’s a lovely clock, made by luxury watchmaker Breitling, and the seats are coated with diamond-quilted leather. Everywhere you look there is leather, wood, and chrome but there are also some Volkswagen and Audi bits which are slightly too easy to spot, and which let the side down. Space in the back is huge, and better again if you go for the EWB long wheelbase version. The boot’s a bit on the small side for something this huge, though.
Performance is enormous, though, especially with the new V8 plug-in hybrid which has more than 700hp at its disposal. Even so, we miss the wonderful old 12-cylinder engine, which is sadly no longer on sale. The Bentayga handles surprisingly well for something so large, but comfort is more its game if we’re honest.
Bentley got to the luxury SUV market before its great rival, and erstwhile partner, Rolls-Royce. Developed from a controversially ugly concept car, the Bentayga arrived on sale… not much better looking. It has become a little sleeker over the intervening years, but that massive grille, and big-light-small-light combo just continues to look rather inelegant.
You won’t mind so much from the inside, as the Bentayga’s cabin is — mostly — every bit as luxurious and cosseting as you’d expect from a car with the flying B badge. There’s a lovely clock, made by luxury watchmaker Breitling, and the seats are coated with diamond-quilted leather. Everywhere you look there is leather, wood, and chrome but there are also some Volkswagen and Audi bits which are slightly too easy to spot, and which let the side down. Space in the back is huge, and better again if you go for the EWB long wheelbase version. The boot’s a bit on the small side for something this huge, though.
Performance is enormous, though, especially with the new V8 plug-in hybrid which has more than 700hp at its disposal. Even so, we miss the wonderful old 12-cylinder engine, which is sadly no longer on sale. The Bentayga handles surprisingly well for something so large, but comfort is more its game if we’re honest.
What's good
What’s not so good
Best for: gangster style
The Mercedes G-Class was originally called the G-Wagen, and it was developed for the German Army, not for luxury car buyers. Actually, the German Army turned it down as too expensive, so Mercedes developed a passenger version in 1979, although it was much more like the original Range Rover — a hard-working 4x4 with some on-road comfort.
Since when, the G-Wagen — nowadays G-Class — has evolved, and then some. It has become a true-blue luxury car, although one with more of an urban hip-hop image than the Range Rover’s Elgar concert style. Mercedes gave the G-Class a massive update in 2019, and again in 2022, making it wider and more luxurious, and giving it a massive all-digital dashboard, even if the exterior still has the mobile-garden-shed look of the 1970s original. There’s the option of a big six-cylinder diesel, a titanic AMG V8 turbo, or the G580 all-electric version with a 283 mile range, and four electric motors that allow it to ‘tank turn’ on the spot.
It’s now a true luxury car, although Mercedes has just launched a special edition that brings back the plain plastic grille of the early 1980s, and the chequer-pattern seats too. That’s the one we’d have, to be honest.
The Mercedes G-Class was originally called the G-Wagen, and it was developed for the German Army, not for luxury car buyers. Actually, the German Army turned it down as too expensive, so Mercedes developed a passenger version in 1979, although it was much more like the original Range Rover — a hard-working 4x4 with some on-road comfort.
Since when, the G-Wagen — nowadays G-Class — has evolved, and then some. It has become a true-blue luxury car, although one with more of an urban hip-hop image than the Range Rover’s Elgar concert style. Mercedes gave the G-Class a massive update in 2019, and again in 2022, making it wider and more luxurious, and giving it a massive all-digital dashboard, even if the exterior still has the mobile-garden-shed look of the 1970s original. There’s the option of a big six-cylinder diesel, a titanic AMG V8 turbo, or the G580 all-electric version with a 283 mile range, and four electric motors that allow it to ‘tank turn’ on the spot.
It’s now a true luxury car, although Mercedes has just launched a special edition that brings back the plain plastic grille of the early 1980s, and the chequer-pattern seats too. That’s the one we’d have, to be honest.
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As ever, the first consideration should be cost. Now, you might think that someone shopping for any of the cars above might not be too bothered about cost, and you’d probably be right, but there is an enormous spread of prices across these models. The likes of the X5, Range Rover Sport, and Porsche Cayenne all have relatively sane starting prices of around £80,000. However, the likes of the Bentayga or Aston DBX are vastly more expensive, and the Cullinan is properly crazy-expensive, even before you start adding on the sort of bespoke extras that most customers do. It’s not impossible to spend more than £500,000 on a Cullinan…
Next, you need to decide what you need this luxury SUV for. Do you really, seriously, need to drive off into the countryside, crossing rivers and clambering over rocks? Then go for one of the two Range Rovers or the Mercedes G-Class. These are the proper off-roaders in the group. The others can cope with some off-roading, but those three are made for it.
If you want something that’s comfortable and quick on the road, then go for the Porsche or one of the BMWs. If you want the ultimate in refinement, it’s the Rolls, and if you want sledgehammer performance, choose between the Bentley, the Aston, the Lotus, or the Turbo versions of the Porsche.
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- Small Cars
- Sports Cars
- Superminis