As we've been noting for the past 12-18 months, the luxury sport utility vehicle market has EXPLODED with offerings. Recently, we've seen two particular niches get rich with content AND have booming sales.
The first is the super luxurious and LARGE SUV class. This would include the likes of the Cadillac Escalade, Land Rover Range Rover, soon-to-be-renamed Mercedes-Benz GLS-Class, and upcoming BMW X7 and Audi Q8/Q9.
The second is the compact luxury SUV class. This includes vehicles like the Land Rover Range Rover Evoque, Lexus NX, Mercedes-Benz GLA-Class and Porsche Macan.
Now if that wasn't enough there's been even MORE splintering. That's because some auto manufacturers have been offering highly tuned compact SUVs for those buyers with a hankering for speed. That's where the Macan Turbo and GLA 45 AMG come into play.
But, WHICH of the two tiny, pricey and sporty offerings is BEST?
Check out what Motor Trend's Head 2 Head had to say about it...
On this episode of Head 2 Head, Jonny Lieberman travels out to the wilds of the Anza Borrego desert with the goal of figuring out which small, sporty, pricey, German SUV is best: the Mercedes-Benz GLA45 AMG or the Porsche Macan Turbo. But it’s not the off-road trails that Jonny’s interested in – the AMG may very well be allergic to dirt – but rather the serpentine road that climbs up, and then up some more. These two may look like SUVs, but they’re much closer to sports cars. Packing 400-horsepower, will the Porsche’s 45-horsepower advantage beat out the smaller, lighter, and still plenty powerful, GLA45? Or will the jacked-up red hatchback from Affalterbach put a beat-down on a genuine Porsche Turbo? There’s only one way to find out!