AutoThink’s Top 4 Luxury SUVs
Best All-Round SUV
Porsche Cayenne: Starting at 68,000
The 2020 Porsche Cayenne
Luxury
The Porsche Cayenne may have a hefty price tag compared to some other SUVs, but it is irrefutably justified. The Cayenne sports comfortable luxury seats, and an overall beautiful interior. There is more than a sufficient amount of legroom and headroom in the rear seats, making the back comfortable for children and adults alike. There are also many luxury touches the car has that make it feel like a high-end vehicle, such as the smooth wood trims on the door panels and the glass touchscreen display on the dashboard that allows you to control your heated seats and many other features. Moreover, it likely has the best infotainment an SUV can offer. This luxury SUV has a 9.1-inch touchscreen display with software that allows for Apple Carplay. A heads-up display is optional, however.
2020 Porsche Cayenne’s Interior
Performance
The Porsche Cayenne is also a sports car at heart. The base model has a 3.0 liter V6, with a power output of 355 horsepower. The manufacturer claims that it can hit 60 miles an hour from a standstill in 5.9 seconds and has a top speed of 152 mph, which is impressive for a 4800-pound luxury SUV, though it this time could potentially be modest, like most other Porsche specifications. However, for a little less than double the price, you can get a Cayenne with 541 horsepower. However, if the price is a significant factor, the best buy would be the Cayenne GTS, which starts at around 108,000. This SUV has a 453 horsepower V8 and is capable of hitting 60 in 4.2 seconds. Again, that time may be conservative, as the Panamera GTS, which has the same V8, hit 60 in 3.1 seconds.
Practicality
The Cayenne supplies 27 cubic feet of cargo space, with 60.3 cubic feet with the rear seats folded down. These numbers are significantly smaller on the Cayenne coupe. Below are the Cayenne's fuel economy specs for the base model:
City: 15-19 MPG
Highway: 19-23 MPG
Safety
The Cayenne has 3 vital safety features. These are the Adaptive Cruise control, Blind spot monitoring, and lane departure and lane keeping assist. However, features on the Cayenne are sometimes only options, which cost a large sum of money.
Best 3-Row SUV
Lincoln Aviator Black Label: Starting at 88,00
The 2020 Lincoln Aviator Black Label
Luxury
Lincoln is known for making some of the most comfortable cars on the planet, and the new 2020 Aviator is one of them. With beautiful interior themes with vibrant colors, sitting in a Lincoln is comparable to the experience one might have in a Rolls Royce. The seats are large and cushy and can be adjusted in several different ways to suit your needs. The Aviator also comes standard with a 10.1-inch touchscreen infotainment display, which has both Android Auto and Apple Carplay. The Lincoln also comes with a 28 speaker revel audio system, which is considered one of the best fitted to a car.
The 2020 Lincoln Aviator Black Label’s Interior (Chalet Theme)
Performance
Though the Lincoln is not built for the track, unlike the Lamborghini Urus and some Porsche Cayenne variants, the Lincoln Aviator Black Label is still pretty sporty. The car has a 3.0 V6 engine which produced 494 horsepower. This propels the car to 60 miles per hour in 5.4 seconds. This is significantly faster than the 2020 Cadillac XT6 but slower than some other competitors, like the BMW X7 X-drive x40i.
Practicality
The Lincoln Aviator offers 18.3 cubic feet of space with the 3rd-row seats upright. However, when they are lowered, that space increases drastically to 41.8 cubic feet. With all but the front seats down, the cargo space becomes 77.7 cubic feet, which is more than enough for a grocery run.The following are the Aviator's MPG stats:
City: 17-18 mpg
Highway: 24-26 mpg
Safety
Safety Features: The following features are standard on the 2020 Lincoln Aviator Black Label:
Lincoln Co-Pilot 360 Plus
Lincoln Adaptive Cruise Control with Traffic Jam Assist
Best Performance SUV
Lamborghini Urus: Starting at 200,000
The 2020 Lamborghini Urus
Luxury
Lamborghini Urus has one of the best interiors I have ever sat in. The leather seats are embroidered with a diamond pattern, that can be outlined in a contrasting color to the general hue of the interior, making the cabin of a Urus a lovely place to both look at and sit in. The rear seats are spacious have are both heated and ventilated which is another great feature that the car has. The Urus also features 3 drive settings: Comfort, Sport, and Corsa(Track mode). While most of my drive inside a Urus was in Corsa mode, there is a significant difference in the ambient noise when you switch to comfort mode. In Corsa, not only can you hear the throaty growl of the twin-turbo, 4.0 V8, but you can also hear much of the noise around you. However, once you switch to comfort mode, you feel like your sitting in a spa; you can hear nothing but the quiet hum of the air conditioning.
The 2020 Lamborghini Urus’s Interior
Performance
This car is AutoThink's number 1 performance SUV for a reason, and that is the fact that the Lamborghini Urus is a track-ready beast that you can use for your Whole-Foods runs. It can also brave the unforgiving outdoors, using some of its off-road modes, making it one of the only two Lamborghini models ever made that can (Lamborghini LM002), and it can obliterate the quarter-mile. 0-60 to happens in about 3 seconds, and top speed is on supercar levels: 190 mph, which is as fast as a 911 Carrera S. It also has 626 lb-ft of torque. All of these numbers result in a quarter-mile time of around 11.3 seconds with a trap speed of 121 mph, making the Urus about as quick as an Aston Martin DBS Superleggera. If that's not an amazing performance, I have no idea what is.
Practicality
Lamborghini's first performance SUV is the most practical Lambo ever built, although those aren't very high standards It has 22 cubic feet of cargo space with the rear seats upright. With the seats, down this number increases to 56 cubic feet, making the car quite practical. The MPG statistics are as follows:
City MPG: 12
Highway MPG: 17
These numbers are lower than the other SUVs on this list, and what's more, this car will require premium fuel, making it somewhat impractical .
Safety
Safety Features Include
Front, side, and overhead impact airbags
Pretensioners
Vehicle intrusion security system
Anti-lock brakes
Stability control
If you have the time, the money, and a few children, this is your ideal performance car.
Best Family SUV
Mercedes GLE53: Starting at 72,000
The 2020 Mercedes GLE53
Luxury
The cabin of any Mercedes vehicle far outclasses the like of its competitors; the Mercedes E class is way nicer than that of the BMW 4-series and Audi S4 and the Mercedes S-class is conceivably one of the most luxurious cars ever built. This is even the case for the AMG performance models. For example, the Mercedes AMG GT63s can is way nicer to sit in than the Audi RS7 and the BMW M8 gran coupe. It is a very similar case with the Mercedes GLE. It is superior to the BMW X5 and the Audi q8. The Mercedes features beautiful leather and Alcantara seats that give the car a very sporty feel. However, there are seat options that have luxury written all over them. The infotainment on this car is a massive two-screen, touchscreen display, similar to the one you find on a Mercedes S-class or E- class.
The 2020 GLE53
Practicality
Where the GLE lacks in performance, it makes up in practicality. The amount of cargo space in the trunk is 38.2 cubic feet with all seats upright, which is the most you will see on any other car in this list. However, its MPG stats are average.
City: 18
Highway: 22
Safety
Some safety features include:
ESP w/Crosswind Assist Electronic Stability Control (ESC) And Roll Stability Control (RSC)
ABS And Driveline Traction Control
Side Impact Beams
Dual Stage Driver And Passenger Seat-Mounted Side Airbags
Blind Spot Assist Blind Spot
PRE-SAFE
PARKTRONIC w/Advanced Parking Assist Automated Parking Sensors
Tire Specific Low Tire Pressure Warning
Dual Stage Driver And Passenger Front Airbags
Curtain 1st And 2nd Row Airbags
Airbag Occupancy Sensor
Driver Knee Airbag
Rear Child Safety Locks
First Aid Kit
Outboard Front Lap And Shoulder Safety Belts -inc: Rear Center 3 Point, Height Adjusters and Pretensioners
Back-Up Camera
Honorable Mentions (Amazing SUVs that did not make the cut):
Land Rover Range Rover (Will be mentioned in graph)
Mercedes GLS
Audi Q8/SQ8/RSQ8
Jaguar F-type SVR/Lister Stealth( UK only)
Aston Martin DBX
SUVs that I wish were better:
Maserati Levante
Cons:
Overpriced for what it offers
Interior feels cheap
Not nearly as practical as competitors.
Acura RDX
Cons:
Frustrating infotainment system
Average interior
