3 of the Best Luxury Midsize SUVs to Buy According to MotorTrend
The SUV segment is rising as automakers abandon sedans in favor of making SUVs and pickup trucks. This trend has been happening for a few years now, affecting almost every market segment, including luxury cars. Here’s a look at three of the best luxury midsize SUVs car shoppers should buy.
3. Genesis GV80
The 2022 Genesis GV80 is the third-best luxury midsize SUV, according to MotorTrend. Many luxury car shoppers don’t consider pricing a selling point. However, some do, and Genesis delivered to them by giving the GV80 a competitive starting price tag of $50,000. This makes it roughly $10,000 cheaper than other options in the segment, especially from German luxury automakers like BMW and Porsche.
In addition to being relatively affordable, the GV80 is a solid luxury car in terms of its interior. The South Korean automaker gave the midsize SUV a well-designed interior that’s “awash in gorgeous materials.” Every GV80 also comes with a 14.5-inch touchscreen and an 8-inch digital gauge cluster display.
That said, the GV80’s weak points primarily concern its driving experience. It starts with a 2.5-liter turbo four-cylinder engine that gets 300 hp and is underpowered compared to what its rivals get. Its ride quality also isn’t as luxurious as its interior, but overall, the GV80 is a solid and affordable midsize luxury SUV.
2. Porsche Cayenne
The second-best midsize luxury SUV is the 2022 Porsche Cayenne. However, it makes some tradeoffs compared to the Genesis. The Cayenne starts at $69,000, which makes it one of the most expensive options in the segment. Despite being a midsize SUV, owners only get a max cargo capacity of 60 cu-ft, which is below average compared to its rivals.
Where this Porsche excels, however, is inside the cabin and on the roads. It has a 12.3-inch display, and drivers and passengers should feel comfortable sitting inside its luxurious cabin. The most fun part about the Porsche is how it drives. It not only handles well, but the German automaker gave drivers a long list of engine options.
The standard engine is a 3.0-liter turbo V6 that gets 335 hp, and there are a handful of options, including two hybrids. The most powerful non-hybrid option is a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 that gets 541 hp, while the most powerful option overall takes that twin-turbo V8 and pairs it with a plug-in hybrid powertrain. That configuration gets 670 hp, and it’ll also get the Cayenne 42 MPGe.
1. Lincoln Nautilus
The best midsize luxury SUV right now is the 2023 Lincoln Nautilus. It won for similar reasons as to why the GV80 got into the top three. Like the Genesis, the Nautilus undercuts the competition by being relatively affordable. It starts at about $45,000, which makes it about $5,000 cheaper than the Genesis SUV.
Lincoln also gave the Nautilus a luxurious and comfortable interior like the GV80. Similarly, one of the Nautilus’ weak spots has to do with its performance, as Lincoln gave the SUV a 2.0-liter turbo four-cylinder as standard, and it only gets 250 hp. However, unlike the GV80, the Lincoln SUV has a pleasant ride quality that helped it be the best option overall in the segment.
While the Nautilus won, it won’t last forever. In fact, it’s slated to die after the 2023 model year. That’s a bittersweet ending to the Lincoln SUV, but at the very least, there are many good options in the segment shoppers can choose from.
