Reports of the death of fancy and very large sport-utility vehicles have been greatly exaggerated. It is, in fact, one of the largest categories in this year's AJAC competition. Big, powerful trucks with fancy interiors and quite the array of high-tech doodads are not dinosaurs, after all.
But this category is quite a mix. It includes frame-based sport-utes vying against car-based models from Asia and Europe. In the end, for me, the Mercedes-Benz GL450 edges out the Audi Q7 by a nose.
Acura MDX Elite
Down the back stretch at the makeshift race track, the speedometer is tickling 100 km/h-plus as we approach the tight right-left-right-left-right-left-right-left slalom section that leads into a very nasty right-hander.
It's not the sort of stretch you'd normally roar down behind the wheel of an SUV. But the MDX is a tall sports car of a seven-passenger SUV, with brakes that respond firmly, but smoothly. As I ease the wheel right, then left, the truck responds surprisingly well. No wallow here.
The representatives of Honda's luxury brand claim the MDX is racetrack capable, that it handles better on the track than some well-known and highly regarded European SUVs. And they are right. The fancy all-wheel-drive system, what Honda calls Super Handling All-Wheel Drive, puts power where it should be and smoothes out the twisties.
I like that. I don't like the MDX's busy ride on everyday roads. The tight steering is great on the track, but requires little inputs constantly on the QEW. Not fun.
So here's the deal. Most moms and dads will never load up little hockey players and hammer around curving asphalt roads at triple-digit speeds. So while I like the build quality a lot, the comfort of the seats, the modern look of all the instruments and controls and the strong and responsive power train, a lot of kids will get carsick in the back of an MDX.
Audi Q7 4.2 Premium
Audi's first true SUV -- the less-than-lumpy Q7 built in Bratislava, Slovakia (in the same factory as the Volkswagen Touareg) and designed by a Canadian from Montreal -- is big. Very big.
Photographs do not do justice to its enormity. Even in person, the Q7's curving, coupe-like roofline gives the impression of a much smaller truck.
Yet the Q7 has three rows of seats with room for seven. Tug various releases and the bleachers collapse into a flat carpeted floor. So it's completely practical, right down to the excellent Quattro AWD system.
Then there is the 350-hp V-8 engine. It is as smooth as an electric motor, trotting to 100 km/h in less than eight seconds -- about mid-pack for its class. The all-wheel drive is always engaged, though it does not offer the low-range gear selection that many truck-based SUVs do. The six-speed automatic transmission shifts imperceptibly.
Meanwhile, the adaptive air-suspension makes for a smooth ride and gives this serious SUV a range of ground clearance heights. Ah, gadgets. There seems no end to them here -- including radar beams on either side to scan the blind spots.
This Audi is very good, but the Mercedes GL seems just a little lighter, a little less imposing from behind the wheel. But they're close.
Cadillac Escalade
The Escalade is the richest of GM's new line of big SUVs. It is loosely based on the Chevrolet Tahoe, but is bigger, has a more powerful engine and a six-speed automatic transmission instead of a four-speed.
The Escalade is lavishly appointed. The 403-hp V-8 sounds wonderful and delivers best-in-class acceleration. But here's the rub: The basic rear suspension design is carried over from the '06 model and that means it does not allow enough room for the third row to fold underneath the floor -- as in the Ford Expedition and others of its ilk.
Instead, the third row tumbles forward and against the back of the second row. It's removable if you want to maximize cargo space, but that's a pain.
Redesigning the rear suspension might also have made the Escalade ride, handle and steer a little better. This, instead, feels very much like a truck. The Escalade is a winner on image, acceleration and towing, but others in this group are much more entertaining to drive.
