At the end of the year, we can also be quite subjective again. Here are the respective SUV Top 3 of our colleagues from auto motor und sport.Picture show: The favorite SUV 2018 >>
Patrick Lang: Jimny, i-pace and Borgward BX7
In first place is clearly the little Suzuki Jimny. With a new look and old talents, the off-road Japanese is confident in many hearts. In the latest generation, the manufacturer donates some useful technology updates such as LED headlights, traffic sign recognition, touchscreen infotainment with smartphone integration and a lane departure warning. The Jimny is not flooded with gadgets and remains clear. As far as the performance in the field is concerned, he does not lose any of his reputation. Hardly any obstacle can stop the agile Suzuki with switchable four-wheel drive and off-road gear reduction. He does not just look like something, he can do something.
The second placement scores Jaguar’s i-pace. As the first manufacturer to send the British a serious Tesla opponent on the road with a real range of about 370 kilometers. You do not have to do without anything as a driver. Clever four-wheel drive, air suspension and modern sensors ensure that an exit does not end on loose ground. The rich 400-horsepower punch when you start there’s on top. As an electric car scores the i-pace also with a few energy-saving tricks. For example, if the car notices that nobody but the driver is in the car, the air conditioning for the vacant seats is switched off. At a constant speed of 105 km / h, the Jag also drops independently to cut aerodynamically more favorable through the air.
My number three is the BX7 from Borgward . Alone, because the concept is so cool. The car is built in China , in a dealership in Germany , however, he is not seen. How do you get your BX7? You just order it on the internet. And who will do the service? For this Borgwardcooperates with the ATU chain and thus uses resource-saving existing structures to establish itself on the German market. Qualitatively and driving dynamic one receives a good package, if one likes it comfortably. An electric version is to be added later, other model families also follow. Sounds like they’re at Borgward a plan.
Thomas Harloff: GLE, E-Pace and RAV4
My SUV winner is the new Mercedes GLE. That also has optical reasons. Finally, the car has a harmonious design again and does not look as plugged together as the two previous generations. It also has space, plenty of space. And even more technology, for example, a 48-volt mild hybrid system with integrated body swing suppression. Of course, the new GLE gets the MBUX infotainment with two 12.3-inch screens, supplemented with some new features such as the gesture control. Particularly praiseworthy I find the improved off-road competence, whose most extreme form is the free-ride mode, in which the body raises and lowers so many times until the carhas rocked. You have to come up with such an idea as an engineer!
Silver goes to the Jaguar E-Pace for me. Why? Because he is not perfect, that does not want to be. The space available? Squeezed. The trunk? Smaller than the competition. The overview? Which overview! The ride comfort? Well, go like that. But that’s okay – a Jaguar is not there to please everyone. But he is a real driver’s car, which not only illustrates the driver-oriented cockpit. He has on request four-wheel drive, is agile to curves and has powerful engines. And the hefty prices are pretty Jaguar-like.
In third place is the new RAV4, which in my view exemplifies what is currently going right at Toyota . First, the styling is finally back. The RAV4 does not throw any design trends together like many Toyotas before, but shows a character-strong, timeless and independent line that also looks modern. And secondly: I really do not belong to the Diesel Verteuflern and still find it good that the RAV4 comes without diesel on the market. Toyota has now committed to the hybrid as the drive of choice and pulls through the iron. That’s the kind of consistency I like – that’s why the podium position of the RAV4 is well deserved.
Andreas Of: Mercedes G, Volvo XC40, Suzuki Jimny
1st place: Mercedes G
This is what a new Mercedes G has to look like: just like a Mercedes G. To distinguish the exterior from the predecessor on the second view, completely modernized inside. No compromises in the interior design, the driving dynamics now no longer corresponds to that of a vastly over-motorized truck. I would buy if it did not cost as much as a medium-sized cottage in the country.
2nd place: Volvo XC40
This is what a modern compact SUV must look like: independent, functional and robust. Volvo has managed to subtly change the face of the family so that the XC40 fits right into the line with the XC60 and XC90, without being weighty-important. If you like, get the paint two-tone or orange felt in the door racks, plus assistance and infotainment from the higher classes. Could be mine if a compact SUV was part of my life plan.
3rd place: Suzuki Jimny
This is what a new Suzuki Jimny must look like: a Mercedes G washed too hot. That he does not drive so much different from his predecessor is because he is technically basically the same as the old one. Does not matter, but the Jimny is cheap and all-terrain. A combination that has a long tradition at Suzuki and makes me wonder if I really do not need something all-terrain to finally have a decent purchase reason for a Jimny.
Marcel Sommer: Rolls-Royce Cullinan, Bentley Bentayga Hybrid, Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk
Rank one: If big, then right. And not only really long, but also really expensive. As I also like to go higher, I’m just the most expensive SUV in the world called Rolls-RoyceCullinan. Add to that an inimitably quiet but still brute acceleration, pure luxury and the evil glances of the Prius drivers, which I can already see from 600 meters distance thanks to laser light technology. With the 5.34 meter giants, in case of doubt, it is also great to park in the second row, as no towing contractor will dare to pay the at least 315,000 euros (in my individualized “bespoke” optional equipment, well over 500,000 euros). To take Tonner on the hook. And the nodules? Come into the private RR scrapbook.
Second place: understatement is a bit important to me privately. Especially because it increases the chance to look at the next traffic light in completely deranged, because surprised faces of sprint opponents. This is possible with a at first glance quite normal SUV from Jeep. Well, experts are likely to recognize the 710-hp Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk right off the bat. For most people, however, it just looks like a slightly pimped soccer mom car.
Third place: In my top 3, of course, is also a hybrid. Since offers the Bentley Bentayga but smooth! With a low underpowered 462 hp, the British promise a fuel consumption of 3.2 liters! Whether they are really burned only after 100 or even after 50 or 10 kilometers, it does not matter. And no, I will not recalculate after the first refueling, if that’s really true. After all, other hybrid riders at the regulars ‘table still only chatter about the setpoint and not the actual values of their environmental rescue mobile – and the earth is finally’ a slice! But I have incredible eco-fun with 700 Newton meters – ätsch bätsch.
Gregor Hebermehl: VW T-Cross, Audi e-tron, BMW X7
First place: He is quite big and offers a lot of space for being the Polo SUV: the VW T-Cross. The occupants enjoy a better-than-average all-round view and thanks to a similarly good equipment, more space for their luggage and a bit more power makes the new T-Cross in the basic equipment the aged Golf life difficult. In addition, the SUV in the base is slightly cheaper than the entry level golf – the compact will only increase the distance in the eighth generation (2019 will be introduced).
Second Place: On the road and always with the propensity to regain as much energy as possible, the Audi e-tron should create a range suitable for everyday use. It’s not just time for a German manufacturer to give a concrete model to the Tesla Model X. The e-tron also pleases with its generously sized rear and its brake. Thanks to its brake-by-wire and drag simulator, it feels like a conventional combustion engine, eliminating the typical disruptive transition between recuperative and hydraulic braking. Boat, caravan and horse owners should also fall the maximum trailer load of 1,800 kilograms.
Third: Whoever wanted to have the BMW 7 Series as an SUV, is well served with the new X7. The huge SUV makes the two most expensive single seats in row two the most fun, because these seats are inferior to those in row one in almost nothing (almost because there is the massage function only for the front seats). In addition, the stylish modern interior design sets standards – Competitors such as the Mercedes GLS can currently not keep up. Driving should be really fun with the X7 thanks to powerful engines, four-wheel drive, adaptive dampers and optional rear-axle steering.
Holger Wittich: Audi Q8, Porsche Cayenne Turbo, VWTouareg
First place: Audi has finally done what Mercedes with the GLE Coupe and BMW have already done with the X6 years ago: An SUV coupe brought to market. 2018. In times of CO2 and NOx and the general demonization of heavyweight SUVs. Seis drum. Audi has done well. The form classic, the styling evil, the message clear: “I’m here!” And the Q8 can do that too. Despite its 2.271 kilos, it is surprisingly handy, depending on the suspension even comfortable – and in terms of multimedia as modern as its two competitors together.
Second place: I would like to put an SUV coupe on the podium. But the Cayenne as a coupe comes only in 2019. He is then already marked. So the second Porsche Cayenne Turbo stays in second place. Why? I count up: Looks like a Porsche, drives like a Porsche; V8, 286 km / h, 3.9 seconds to 100 km, tungsten carbide brake discs, “Air Brake”, 21 inch wheels. That would have to be enough and it does not matter to me that you only bring this elemental force onto the ROAD and not on the dirt road.
Third place: Yes, and another model from the VW Group. “With such a thing you do not drive into the vegetables,” writes my colleague Torsten Seibt. And he is right. Volkswagen has not made the Touareg what it is now in the third generation, no, the customers wanted it that way. And they do not want a noisy off-roader, no tangible off-road technique, who want to sit high, travel comfortably and sometimes take a curbside. Inasmuch as everything is done right, especially since the Touareg makes quite a good figure in the not too off-road terrain.