Top 5 Luxury SUVs for 2018

5. Jaguar F-Pace

The F-Pace is Jaguar’s first crossover but it shouldn’t be a big surprise that the company has entered this class. Jaguar and Range Rover have the same owner. The easiest way for Jaguar to get into the hot crossover market would have been to take a Range Rover and slap a Jaguar badge on it like Rolls did with Bentley for so many years. But they didn’t. They built the F-Pace from the ground up and produced an agile, fun to drive ride that’s expensive, but definitely packs some value.

Jaguar doesn’t like to call the F-Pace a crossover. They like to think of it as a practical sports car that is also an everyday commuter. With three engine choices, including a supercharged, 380 hp V6, the F-Pace can live up to that “sports car” image with a zero to 60 time of 5.1 seconds. The interior is typical Jaguar luxury with plenty of soft-touch material, an 8” touchscreen, and plenty of leg and headroom. But this is a crossover. What’s the cargo capacity? With the seats up the backspace holds 33.5 cu ft and with the seats down the capacity of 63.5 cu ft. Toss in all-wheel drive, torque vectoring, and Adaptive Surface Response you get a Jag that is also capable of light off-road trailblazing.

3. Maserati Levante

That’s right, the Trident badge is now on a midsize SUV, but it can’t shake off all of its sports car habits. This thing sounds like a Maserati and with the Ferrari built twin-turbocharged V6 tuned to 425 hp it can go zero to 60 in 5 seconds flat. Speed is not the only sports car-like characteristic of the Levante. It doesn’t look like a crossover. It looks like an Italian race car with a slight bump in the back. Adaptive suspension lets the ride behave civilly but it also lets the adventurous driver carve up a corner like they were making a turn at Lemans.

Not even Porsche has a more luxurious interior. You have to like the smell of leather to really enjoy this car. When you design a crossover to look like a race car there is a price to pay. In this instance, it’s cargo space. The Levante will seat 5 but only has 19.1 cu ft of cargo space with the seats up. However, if you’ve got a lot of stuff to haul you can put it on a trailer and tow it with the Levante. Properly equipped, this Maserati can tow 5,900 pounds.

1. Tesla Model X

When he’s not busy planning a trip to Mars or building solar power plants, Elon Musk makes all electric cars. The Tesla Model X is the SUV entrant in the Tesla lineup. This SUV has attracted a lot of attention and mostly positive reviews. All electric is still a novelty, and nobody can do it better than Tesla. The exterior is beautiful and the panoramic windshield, Falcon Wing rear doors, and muscular stance give the ride a unique look. Of course, it is packed with near autonomous technology including SUV self-park, navigating turns, changing lanes, and maintaining a set following distance. Then there is the 17” touchscreen that dominates the dash.

We’re talking SUVs here and the Model X is the closest in this class to resemble the looks and characteristics of a traditional SUV…even though it is a highly unconventional vehicle. This ride has plenty of space for people and stuff. There are actually two “trunks,” one in the front (remember there is no engine) and one in the rear. Combined they offer 88.1 cu ft of cargo space. Then there is awesome acceleration. In the top of the line P100D trim, you’ll be slammed into your seat as you go zero to sixty in 2.9 seconds on your way to 155 mph top speed.

The downside, of course, is if you slam down the road at that speed you will use up a lot of juice. The specs say the Model X has a range of 238 miles but that’s under normal conditions. Refueling can take a while. At home, it’s estimated you’ll get 30 miles of range for every hour the vehicle is plugged in. At a Tesla Supercharger, you can get 160 miles in 30 minutes. The Model X is an interesting, highly advanced ride that comes with an astronomical price tag.