Dozens of new models competed for the crown of SUV of the Year—but there was a lot more to it than simply another automotive shootout.
It's a title growing in importance. Car of the Year is arguably still our flagship award, but SUVs now make up more than half of new vehicle sales in the U.S., a figure reflected in the sheer number of SUVOTY contenders: 33 models, several represented by multiple entrants with different powertrains or trim levels, for a total of 45 vehicles.
Happily, Honda Proving Center provides everything we need for thorough evaluations: an undulating road course to assess dynamics, ride roads of varying surfaces that reveal chassis and suspension faults, a vast asphalt lake for at-the-limit handling, gravel roads and dirt tracks to assess off-road ability, and—because there's no snow in the Mojave Desert—loose sand courses to emulate low-traction driving.We have two guest judges: Moray Callum, Ford's recently retired VP of design, and Gordon Dickie, adviser to car companies worldwide on engineering and R&D. It's a privilege to work with them both. Callum gives a detailed talk on design principles and highlights, a genuine thrill and a rare opportunity. Dickie has a virtuoso's insight into why cars do bad things, and his test-drive notes are a master class in assessing automotive minutiae. We refer to this engaging duo as the Happy Scotsman and the Angry Scotsman; subpar execution and quality are the victims of Dickie's heavily accented ire. Of our 45 test vehicles, 14 are purely battery-powered, which poses a challenge, as there are few charging stations in the Mojave. Our friends at General Motors' Hydrotec division have come to the rescue with trailer-mounted hydrogen fuel cell power stations. Intended to replace diesel-powered generators for on-site backup power, these machines easily deliver enough juice to fast-charge an EV. So our two-day free-for-all begins, with clouds of dust from sand courses and clouds of tire smoke from the asphalt lake. Each judge is well versed in our six OTY criteria , and each evaluates the vehicles in their own way. As usual, we have no shortage of problems. We flatten four tires, each requiring a 20-mile round trip to the closest tire shop. Seabaugh gets an all-wheel-drive Kia EV6 bogged down in the sand—not just stuck butstuck. It takes an hour to get it free. To Seabaugh, this is a compelling reason why the EV6 is not a proper SUV. To us, it's a compelling reason not to ride with him.Desert-specific hazards include a postmortem sighting of the largest scorpion we've ever seen outside of a National Geographic documentary. It was on its way inside to kill us and might have succeeded had one of the photographers not inadvertently closed a garage door on it. But relentless heat is our biggest problem. Temps hover around 108, and it's a short journey from dehydration to heat stroke. We don our sun hats and wrap our necks in wet towels. Even so, one staffer forgets to hydrate and comes perilously close to a ride in another sort of vehicle—the kind with flashing red lights on top. Two days fly by in a haze of steering wheels and searing heat, and somehow everyone manages to drive everything. Tired, dusty, and hot, we gather to pick the finalists. Judges take turns nominating vehicles for elimination, with arguments ensuing as to whether it should stay or go. This is the toughest part of the process: There are SUVs here that tickle every enthusiast synapse but aren't well-rounded enough to go the distance in all six criteria. There is serious lament for some of the vehicles we have to cut, but we emerge from our deliberations with 11 strong finalists. That night, we find ourselves facing unexpected peril when we let Callum choose our post-deliberation libation. We figure letting a Scot shop for alcohol is a no-brainer, but he selects a banana bourbon. We'd have been better off letting the dead scorpion pick the booze.Next morning we gather to drive our finalists on our OTY finalist loop. Each judge gets one hour with each SUV, a tight schedule for the next day and a half, and then we meet to deliberate once more. We're tired and irritable. After one SUV garners praise from our Detroit contingent, Dickie the Angry Scotsman loudly dismisses it as a"fookin' desgrayce." None of us speaks Scots Gaelic, but we're pretty sure we know exactly what that means. Finally, the vote: secret ballot, with every judge selecting a first, second, and third choice. Our fearless leader Ed Loh tallies the scores, stares deadpan at the results, and says,"Wow." Loh has 17 ways of saying"Wow." We know them all, and this isn't one of the good ones. We brace for bad news—mass layoffs? We've been bought by Consumer Reports?—but it turns out he is wowing about the diversity: Of our 11 final competitors, six have earned first-place votes, and nine are on top-three lists. Wow, indeed. Still, amid this variety there is consensus: One vehicle has garnered significantly more first- and second-place votes than any other. It's an SUV we are all quite fond of and one we all agree is a worthy SUV of the Year.
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