THE PREMISE
Compact SUV is one of the hottest segments on the Australian market – and why not; these vehicles are 'right sized' and deliver an "I'm outdoors and proud of it" message that's attractive – even to couch potatoes. Thus, following hot on the heels of our Light Hatch and Small Hatch mega-tests, motoring.com.au has matched the most popular mid-size SUVs to decide which gets the nod.
With fuel prices an ever-present concern, and packaging and performance considerations critical to the family buyer, our all-wheel drive oilers will be tested inside and out. The evaluation will critique our six foes as if on a family weekend away, sampling on and offroad driving, load carrying capabilities and, of course, comfort and fuel economy.
To ensure a fair fight, the SUVs will be measured not only against each another, but to a set of criteria devised by our testers. The criteria are:
Chris Fincham has been in the game for more than a decade; Feann Torr can drive the wheels off just about anything; Tim Britten has seen more cars come and go than he cares to remember, and Tony O’Kane brings fresh perspective from independent site, TMR.
With the opinion of our panel, yours truly and the data from our tests, we’ll bring the whole shebang together to decide which SUV comes up trumps. Let the games begin.
See how each of the six went in the Mid-sized SUV test:
motoring.com.au's Mid-sized SUV comparison:
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