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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. | |
2015 GMC Yukon, 2015 Chevrolet Tahoe First Test
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