The 2015 SUV of the Year Is

2015 SUV of the Year | Audi S3 Chevy Colorado | Porsche Cayman GTS      NEW CARS USED CARS ROAD TESTS AUTO SHOWS FUTURE PHOTOS VIDEOS FEATURES BLOGS FORUMS WOT

The 2015 Motor Trend SUV of the Year Is... Champ comes from a crowded, competitive field It may not be as large in scale or as steeped in tradition as our Car of the Year contest, but more than a few of our editors would argue that Sport/Utility of the Year is the most interesting. In neither Car nor Truck of the Year will you find such a variety of vehicles and technologies all attempting to achieve the same fundamental goal. Here is this year's field: BMW X4 | BMW X5 | Cadillac Escalade | Chevrolet Suburban Chevrolet Traverse | Ford Expedition | GMC Yukon | GMC Yukon XL Honda CR-V | Lincoln MKC | Nissan Rogue | Lexus NX Mercedes-Benz GLA | Volvo XC60 | Subaru Outback | Porsche Macan Though we don't have every SUV currently on the market in this contest (all our Of The Year competitions are limited to all-new or significantly revised vehicles), we have just about every type and interpretation represented here. SUVs, crossovers, even "Sport Activity Vehicles." Body-on-frame and unibody construction.Transverse and longitudinal drivetrains. Front-, rear-, all-, and four-wheel drive. Gasoline, diesel, and hybrid. As in previous years, the competition began with a road loop to weed out the weaker contenders. Each judge drove all 30 vehicles before sitting down to debate and then vote on the finalists -- vehicles we thought had a shot at taking the title. The nine finalists were then driven on longer road loops as well as a 5-mile light off-road course featuring loose, chalky dirt; tight turns; a steep descent; and two challenging hill climbs. At the end, the judges argued for hours over which model best met our six key criteria in its class. The final vote was, as it often is, as close as can be. CLICK HERE TO SEE THE CONTENDERS, FINALISTS 2015 Lincoln MKC 2.0, 2.3 EcoBoost First Test 2015 GMC Yukon, 2015 Chevrolet Tahoe First Test What Won Motor Trend SUV of the Year for 2014? 2015 Audi S3 First Test: Could've Used a V-8? Nah 2015 Chevrolet Colorado First Drive 2015 Cayman, Boxster GTS Track Drive In Beverly Hills: 60 Ferraris for 60 Years 2014 Infiniti Q50S Update: Apps, At Last Check Out Our YouTube Channel Subscribe to Motor Trend GREATEST HITS AT MOTORTREND.COM PLEASE BUILD THIS Toyota's Next Supracar First Look at the FT-1 Concept FIND YOURS Our 2015-2016 Guide To New Trucks and SUVs 'OF THE YEAR' COMPETITIONS 2013 Car of the Year: Tesla Model S America Still Makes Great Things TO OUR E-MAIL SUBSCRIBERS: YOUR PRIVACY IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO US. IF YOU BELIEVE YOU HAVE RECEIVED THIS EMAIL IN ERROR OR WISH TO UNSUBSCRIBE, PLEASE CLICK HERE. Write to us at: Motor Trend Digital Newsletter 831 S. Douglas Street El Segundo, CA 90245 Privacy Policy (c) 2013 Source Interlink Media, Inc. All rights reserved.