FEATURE: The Year of the luxury crossover

by Damien Sharkov
With the season for new car releases still a long way away, and rumours in full swing, CaravanTimes looks at the five SUVs fronting the trend of luxury crossovers. There was a time when you wouldn’t consider towing with a Chelsea tractor. Perhaps these five cars can help you make up your mind
There is a sense of irony when a carmaker announces its foray into the manufacture of utility vehicles, yet introduces the car almost always exclusively with reference to its slick look, its luxurious interior and not so much on the bread and butter of its practicality.
Kurb weight is rarely announced, genuine off road ability seems to come as no priority and prices, including running costs are all too often inflated by a plethora of unnecessary knick-knacks.
Regardless of the oxymorons put on the market under the banner of SUVs by luxury brands, more seem to be on the way. While some are barely past the concept stage, we decided it was time to look at the five, most exciting cars in the segment and put them through their paces.
Porsche Macan
The Porsche Macan’s release earlier this month turned enough heads to make it worth looking at, despite being a more compact version of the Cayenne. Its kerbweight is in the range of 1,865kg and 2, 105kg. This is a slightly higher minimum kerbweight than the the rumoured specs for the toe-ready Nissan X-Trail, due for release this July and a maximum kerbweight that well exceeds the Porsche Macan’s direct competitor – the BM3 X3.
The real standout word when it comes to the Macan, however, is ‘handling’. Its maximum torque of 1,450 rpm makes the new Porsche essentially immune to harsh cornering and dodgier roads, as its ride remains impressively smooth.
The pleasure of owning one will set you back between £43,300 and £59,000.
While the Macan is by no means without its faults, it looks like a very promising crossover vehicle for towing and regular road use in the city.

Lamborghini Urus
The Italian sports car giant has been developing its SUV, the Urus, for close to two years now. After its concept was unveiled at the 2012 Beijing Auto Show, it took the company until September 2013 to confirm the Urus will go into production.
In as far as possible, Lamborghini have kept the Urus as sporty as an SUV can be. Measuring in at 1.70m in height and boasting a top speed of 205mph the Lamborghini Urus may be an SUV, but it is a Lamborghini SUV.
Its use of the Audi Q7 platform means it is likely to share some of the German tow car’s measurements, however the extensive use of carbon fibre in the Urus’s body means it is likely to be some way lighter. Estimates show it is likely the Urus will boast a kerb weight of about 2,245 kg, though this is yet unconfirmed.

Audi Q8
When it comes to competition between luxury manufacturers Audi and BMW have a history of competing across many segments. As far as SUVs go, Audi’s Q7 has long been seen as an alternative to BMW’s X5. BMW’s X6 model, however, has so far gone unchallenged from the company’s Inglostadt neighbours. With the rumoured Q8 model, Audi hopes to change that.
The Audi Q8 is likely to be heavier than the current Q7 which weighs in at 3, 125kg, but not by much as unlike its junior model the Q8’s body will consist of approximately 40-50% light materials.
The new Q8 will be based on the new generation MLB (modular longitudinal architecture) platform and is due for a 2017 release, though we expect more details to be confirmed soon as the car looks to become a landmark model in Audi’s current line-up.

Jaguar CX17
Imagine towing your caravan with a Jaguar! Wouldn’t that be a sight? Does it sound too good to be true? It is.
Let us clarify! The Jaguar CX17 has impressive statistics. The CX17 will keep close to the blueprint of the Audi Q5 and BMW X3 and consequently to the two’s kerb weight.
Jaguar may make an effort towards keeping the car lighter as most of its architecture is made from aluminium, but the fact it is slightly more spacious than its counterparts may foil such attempts.
This is a pretty car and one that may be able to hold its own with your small home away from home in tow. However its main market is not caravanners or really anybody looking for anything but a very pricey city car.

Citroen C – XR
If the Citroen Cactus ever wished for a luxurious, more conventional sister car in the crossover segment, 2015 should see those wishes answered. The Citroen CXR has been developed with that intention in mind.
The new SUV, if developed, is planned as front wheel drive only and in terms of size, it is slightly smaller than the Nissan Qashqai. Citroen have boasted that their new grip control will eliminate the need for all wheel drive.
The CXR will be considerably heavier than the Citroen DS4 (1,360-1,496 kg kerb weight range) with bigger ground clearance from its 17-inch aluminium wheels. There is yet no word on how much the CXR will cost, but we would be quietly excited to see it on the UK market.