Despite our belief that almost everything that SUVs can do wagons and hatchbacks can do better, we have to recognize that the crossover trend is growing enormously and that certain people really love them. A high driving position gives people a feeling of safety and the big interiors of these cars offer ample space and cargo room. There are many, many crossovers/SUVs/whatever they are called on the market today. But which ones should you seriously consider purchasing? Here are our favorite five.
The Jaguar F-Pace is almost too good to believe. If we wrote a letter asking Jaguar to turn the F-Type sports car into an SUV, this is exactly what the result would look like. The F-Pace even comes with the same 3.0-liter supercharged V6 as the F-Type in 340-hp and 380-hp tunes. That means that not only will it be one of the best looking SUVs on the road, it will also sound like a Jaguar sports car. The F-Pace is also reasonably priced with a base model costing $40,990. The base F-Pace comes with a 2.0-liter diesel engine with 180 horsepower and 318 lb-ft of torque. The diesel model may not be blisteringly fast, but it is affordable and capable of getting 40 mpg combined.
The Mercedes GLC is the replacement for the GLK. It's based on the C-Class, which we absolutely love. That means it packs the same wonderful Mercedes interior that has plenty in common with the S-Class. The GLC is also available as a "four-door coupe" which we think looks better than its rivals from BMW. The base GLC300 comes with a 2.0-liter turbo-four rated at 241 hp and 273 lb-ft of torque and the AMG GLC43 comes with a 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6 with 362 horsepower and 384 lb-ft of torque. Mercedes is even working on a full AMG GLC63 with a 4.0-liter V8 with over 500 hp. The US doesn't get the C-Class wagon, so the GLC is the next best thing.
The new XC90 is the most important car to come from Volvo this century. The XC90 is based on a modular architecture that will underpin future models. It also utilizes a new 2.0-liter twin-charged (turbocharged and supercharged) four-cylinder that is the company's new go-to engine. It's available in three versions, the T5, T6, and T8. Even the base T5 packs 250 hp and 258 lb-ft of torque. Stepping up to the T6 adds hybridization for a total of 316 hp and 295-lb of torque. That is more than many six-cylinder engines. The crown jewel of the lineup is the T8 which gets an unbelievable 400 horsepower out of a four-cylinder engine. There are even rumors of a 600-hp Polestar version. Drool.
The Lexus RX is definitely not a sporty car. You can order an RX in F-Sport trim, but we think that's a bit unnecessary. People who buy crossovers are generally aware that they are not buying a sports car, and sports car buyers probably won't be looking at crossovers. We love the idea of a sporty crossover, but why try to combine two contrasting ideas? With the RX, Lexus decided to focus on supreme comfort and not on trying to create a jacked-up sports car. The RX drives as smooth as butter and comes with tons of luxury features that people love. There are less expensive luxury crossovers on the market, but the RX is a nice size and wears a reasonable price tag.
The Audi Q7 shows that wagons can still be cool. The redesigned, 2017 Q7 debuted with a lower roofline that looked much more wagon-like than its predecessor. Power comes from a 333-hp 3.0-liter supercharged V6. We especially love the Europe-only SQ7 which packs an all-new 4.0-liter diesel V8 with three turbos. The SQ7 pumps out 435 hp and 664 lb-ft of torque and shows how awesome diesel engines can be. We really hope that Audi brings it stateside. The Q7 is full of advanced technology like Audi's Virtual Cockpit. We absolutely love it.
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