Top 10 best sports SUVs 2023

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2. Jaguar F-Pace SVR

When Jaguar started making SUVs, it became a pretty bankable probability that it would one day make a performance SUV. And the day it did, it showed so many of its faster-moving German rivals where they'd been going wrong by launching a fast 4x4 brimming with pace and sporting sense of occasion, but also more laid back in its dynamic character than many.

The F-Pace SVR is the sports car for someone who wants a car to use on the office commute and school run, and for weekend errands - and not one so stiffly suspended that it feels like a gigantic, rolling vehicular contradiction. Its snarling 5.0-litre supercharged V8 gives it all the speed and drama a car of this size ever needed, and its purposeful handling is exciting, but its practical cabin and boot, and its pragmatic chassis tuning, also make it well suited to the real world.

A facelift in 2021 helped nudge the fantastic F-Pace SVR into first place here. Its body is now ever so slightly more aerodynamic. A new torque-converter automatic gearbox lifted straight from the Project 8 can now handle the V8's full 516lb ft in all gears. Suspension tweaks have made the model more rounded and usable, but without compromising its dynamism. The interior and infotainment have been updated, too. Make no mistake: this is a seriously impressive piece of kit.

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3. Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio

Alfa Romeo's first performance SUV needs little introduction. It's the car whose chassis was signed off by the man who brought you the handling of the celebrated Ferrari 458 Speciale. It also has a turbo V6 engine derived from a V8 from Maranello, and itself is from a maker of some of Europe's most revered sports saloons and coupés, one that is back on form after something of a hiatus.

For the past few years, these elements have combined to stunning effect. Put simply, the Stelvio Quadrifoglio is one of the sharpest, most engaging performance SUVs currently on sale, driving with fine vertical body control and rapier steering response that belies its mass and body profile.

A mid-life update in 2020 helped to lift some issues with perceived quality in the cabin, but even so, this still isn't the plushest fast SUV that a fairly hefty sum of money can buy. As before, it's also one of the more uncompromising members of its class when it comes to ride refinement and daily usability.

That said, if you care about driving thrills over and above anything else, this is probably the sports SUV for you.

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4. Range Rover Sport P530

The all-new Range Rover Sport isn’t the most dedicated driving machine in this line-up, but its blend of abilities is totally unrivalled. Yes there’s enough pace and poise to keep keen drivers interested, but the Rangie’s real talent is to combine these with incredible luxury, comfort and refinement. Oh, and of course the ability to reach the parts other SUVs can’t reach when the going gets tough.

For now there’s no rabble-rousing SVR variant, which means the top of the performance tree is occupied by the P530. It packs a lightly modded version of the older car’s supercharged 5.0-litre V8, but here it develops 523bhp for a 4.5 second 0-62mph time, which is hardly shabby when you consider it tips the scales at just shy of 2500kg.

Speaking of mass, there’s a lot of clever suspension trickery to help mitigate the worst effects of the Sport’s hefty kerbweight. Dual chamber air springs, 48V active anti-roll bars, a limited slip rear differential and four-wheel steering all help the big Brit handle with surprising quick wittedness. 

Slacken the suspension off, however, and the Range Rover wafts along in near silence with a sense of luxury that’s matched by its beautifully wrought and richly finished interior. And then there’s the Sport’s party trick, which is to clamber over the roughest of rough terrain with the ease and agility of a Himalayen sherpa.

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5. Porsche Cayenne Turbo

This is the quickest, in the real-world sense, SUV you can get. Thanks to its excellent visibility and a supremely effective chassis, a Cayenne Turbo can cover ground, from point to point and in any weather, faster than most cars.

However, in third-generation guise, the Cayenne has lost a degree of the incisiveness and rear-driven poise that made its predecessors such impressive performance SUVs. Make no mistake: the energy with which this 2.3-tonne SUV changes direction is still pretty phenomenal, but the Cayenne Turbo's previously fervid temperament feels as though it has been dialled back a notch in order to make it a more liveable, broadly appealing fast SUV than it was before. 

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6. Audi SQ7

The SQ7 initially rose to prominence because it went about the business of being a fast, effective and impressively usable SUV in a slightly different fashion from the majority of its rivals. Central to this was its 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged diesel V8, a powerplant that lent the SQ7 not only fairly phenomenal pace but also reasonable fuel efficiency - at least in the context of the other cars on this list.

In 2020, however, Audi ditched that oil-burner and replaced it with the 4.0-litre twin-turbo petrol V8 that appears in everything from Audi's own RS models to Bentleys and Porsches. Here, it develops 500bhp and 568lb ft - all of which is deployed to stunning effect.

It's an impressive car, this - fast, refined and immensely comfortable with enough cabin space for seven people. Given its size, it handles well, too - although it can't quite match the likes of Porsche, Alfa Romeo or Jaguar for outright driver engagement. And while that new petrol V8 might be a phenomenal engine in its own right, it's not quite as characterful as the old diesel.

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7. Mercedes-AMG GLC 63 S 4Matic+ Coupé

The GLC 63 Coupe’s biggest enemy is its five-door sibling, because that car offers the same performance from the same intoxicating V8 engine.

But if you're smitten by the swoopy, divisive styling of the coupé, the car's desirability will be almost unmatchable. It's packed with the luxurious perceived cabin quality you'd expect from Mercedes-AMG and it also beats the Porsche Macan Turbo to 62mph by half a second - although it can't match that car's dynamic abilities.

Its firm, noisy ride will limit its appeal to less enthusiastic drivers. However, the retention of an emotive petrol V8 in a mid-sized performance SUV, when some rivals have turned to six-pots, will be enough to draw some people to the GLC 63 Coupe’.

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8. BMW X3 M Competition & X4 M Competition

BMW is a fairly recent addition to the ranks of manufacturers making hot SUVs at the smaller end of the market. While there has been an X5 M and an X6 M for several years, this is the first time those cars have had smaller counterparts.

They're oddly serious, buttoned-down counterparts, too. Using fixed-height steel coil suspension rather than air, and seeking to carve out dynamic identities as higher-rising versions of the M3 and M4 rather than any-occasion luxury SUVs with a performance flavour, the X3 M and X4 M are firm-riding, keen-revving, six-cylinder options that seem desperate to recover some sporting credibility in what many would consider a doomed attempt.

The two cars have identical axles and chassis tuning and use the same M5-derived four-wheel drive system, which combine to make for surprisingly high grip levels and keen cornering balance. Even so, they're not the easiest cars to handle on the limit - and neither do they offer the broadest dynamic playbook in the class.

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9. Maserati Grecale Trofeo

There’s a sense of rejuvenation in the air at Maserati, with the once proud Italian marque starting to regain some of its swagger. The incredible MC20 supercar is the most obvious example of the new-found confidence, but there’s also an all-new GranTurismo, which is even available in all-electric guise. Yet arguably the most important new addition, in sales terms at least, is the Grecale, a Porsche Macan-baiting mid-size SUV.

In its top Trofeo form it certainly has the raw ingredients to go after the ultra successful Zuffenhausen SUV. Under its bonnet is a modified version of the MC20’s Nettuno twin-turbocharged 3.0-litre V6, which gives a useful 523bhp and a claimed 0-62mph of just 3.8 seconds. It’s not the most tuneful unit (although in Sport or Corsa modes there is some extra exhaust crackle), but it delivers effortless pace. 

The suspension has been uprated to cope as well, and while not as sharp, controlled or engaging as a Macan, the Grecale can be driven with real brio, its rear-biased four-wheel drive system even allowing for some throttle adjustability out of slower turns.

A real highlight is the interior, which beats most for space and has a luxurious look and feel. And with the dampers in their softest setting, the Maserati delivers a smooth and refined drive that allows it to slip easily into your life.

10. Land Rover Defender 90 V8

The V8-engined Defender just breaks our self-imposed budget, but it’s so packed with character we had to include it in this list. The supercharged 5.0-litre engine found elsewhere in other JLR products, and while it’s not the height of sophistication there’s no denying it's effective, its throbbing back-beat and supercharged whine adding real character.

It's not engineered by the Special Vehicle Operations division, but the Defender does have many of the hallmarks of those cars: 22in wheels, more than 500bhp and a suitably fruity exhaust note. The engineering team were also keen to ensure this was a fun car to drive and that the big-old engine shouldn’t dominate. Speak to those behind the V8 and they claim they wanted to create a bit of a rally car feel, especially on the loose where the car feels surprisingly well balanced and biddable.