Click to see the contenders: Audi RS Q3 | Audi SQ5 | BMW X5 M | Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT | Lexus NX200t F-Sport | Mercedes-Benz GLA45 AMG | Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG |
Check out the test summary here (click). Find the drag results here (click). The final verdict is here (click).
The verdicts
“This one is angry! For sure, the most fun I’ve had today. I like the fact that the traction control stays off, which allows you to control the car with the throttle. It’s unbelievably sporty.” – Hannes Grobler.
“This BMW wipes every single car here off the map!” – Daniel Barbosa.
“Very fast, very powerful and it handles very well. Quite a big car, but a fantastic package.” – Duncan Vos.
Gerhard Horn’s wish list
Choosing my top three from these magnificent machines was probably the toughest thing I’ve had to do as a motor journalist. I spent and entire weekend changing my mind countless times, but this is the verdict I’ve come up with.
If driving pleasure hadn’t been the sole consideration, I’d have the Audi SQ5 in a heartbeat. It does everything perfectly and it’s frugal. After the testing, every one of the cars was close to drained, but the SQ5 still had more than three-quarters of its tank left. The SQ5 is, quite simply, a staggering achievement.
As for choosing a top three based on driving pleasure, I’d put the Jeep Cherokee SRT third, the X5 M second and the G63 in first place.
It sounds strange, given the comments of the professional drivers, but my definition of driving pleasure differs from theirs. They commented on handling, acceleration and driving, but I derive most pleasure from how I feel behind the wheel.
The SRT remains one of my favourite cars and the X5M is a laugh-out-loud kind of fast, but the G63 made me feel great every time I drove it. The combination of the tank-like looks and that glorious V8 burble won me over completely. I couldn’t care less that it handles like a drunken elephant. It won my heart, and at the end of the day that’s all that really matters to me.
GG van Rooyen’s wish list
I would give the bronze medal to the Mercedes-Benz G63. It is as aerodynamic as a brick outhouse, it isn’t terribly fast in a straight line and it corners about as well as a three-legged buffalo. But the G63 is the only “proper” 4×4 in this company. With low-range gearing and three diff locks, it would trounce any other performance SUV when it came to the rough stuff. Add to this a glorious soundtrack and a timeless design that turns heads wherever it goes, and I think the G63 deserves a place in the medals. No other performance SUV out there is quite like it.
The silver medal goes to the Audi SQ5. It isn’t the fastest 4×4 but it is, I think, probably the easiest to live with. It is certainly the least showy and shouty of the bunch. It doesn’t advertise its abilities – no silly stripes, badges or paint options here.
And it is even powered by an oilburner! But don’t let all of this fool you. The SQ5 is a wolf in sheep’s clothing – a true driver’s car masquerading as a family SUV.
Gold goes to the X5M. It is more than an SUV. It is proof of what humanity is capable of as a species. It doesn’t just provide thrills, it offers hope for the future. If we can build an SUV that weighs close to 2500kg yet rockets from 0-100 m/h in 4,2 seconds, why can’t we also turn this whole “global warming” thing around, colonise Mars and build the hoverboard from Back to the Future?
The X5M makes a mockery of the laws of physics. Here is a hulking SUV that handles and accelerates like a sportscar. It is more dynamic than it has any right to be. The X5M makes all the other performance SUVs seem just a little bit tame.
Danie Botha’s wish list
A performance car is about more than just pure speed, mega kilowatts, or how much cornering Gs can be achieved. Sure, one can probably never have quite enough kilowatts (although the X5 M seems like a reasonable cut-off point!), but it’s also about the sound effects, the steering feedback, the way the front seat fits, the gearbox or paddle shift action, and so on.
So it’s more of a visceral, emotional experience. And for me the three SUVs that managed to stir my soul were the BMW X5 M, the Audi RS Q3 and the Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG.
Okay, so the G63 AMG with its 400 kW is about pretty silly, but “silly” has never been as good as those four AMG pipes bellowing thunder, scaring old people and children alike. It really is a thing of automotive bliss. Never mind the rest of the G63 – it is dynamically flawed in many ways. But this is the best that “silly” has ever sounded.
Like the G63, the Audi RS Q3 stirred me mostly because of its sound track. That unmistakable five-cylinder banshee wail led me to look up some old Audi quattro rally videos on the internet – it’s the stuff of goosebumps.
Other highlights included the steering wheel – a nifty little flat-bottomed three-spoke number that felt just right. The front seats were also pretty cool, and the optional alloy wheels certainly looked good, too. Still, it lacked a certain… something.
Ahem, the BMW X5 M. Clearly it was super fast. Clearly it handled well. And I resisted driving it until the performance shoot-out was done.
Within a few hundred metres I knew exactly why it had won this contest. It’s the sum of the X5 that is so impressive. Yes, it rewrites the power and speed rulebook for SUVs, but it is also a driver’s car par excellence. It just fits. It sounds right. It handles brilliantly. It feels substantial, and momentous.
It is the real deal.