2023 Best Large SUV: Ford Everest

Is there a category that offers more variety and choice for Aussie buyers than the Large SUV segment?

If you’re looking for a family vehicle, this segment offers up a dizzying array of flavours, shapes, and sizes for you to consider.

Whether you’re chasing luxury, performance, hybridised efficiency, off-road ability, or just have a particular budget in mind, there’s nary a question or requirement the Large SUV segment doesn’t have an answer for.

85

Of course, being crammed with so many options means it can be tricky to choose the right SUV for you, which is where our individual category winners come in. They really are the cream of the current crop; our Oscar nominees if you will.

But what if you don’t have a particular requirement in mind? What if you want your Large SUV to make a decent fist of everything? That’s where our overall winner comes in.

Unlike our individual category victors, which focus on a particular variant within a model range, our overall winner takes the entire model range into account.

85

A focus on value, inherently good driving dynamics, and a broad skill set are what we look for. And, impressively, there were a number of strong contenders that offer exactly that.

Honda’s box-fresh CR-V is one such candidate. As an SUV that won two categories (Best Hybrid and Best Under $50K), the fifth-generation CR-V impresses with its tidy dynamics, broad model range, miserly hybrid option, and well appointed cabin that includes the flexibility of seven seats in some variants.

But as one of the smaller contenders in the Large SUV class (some may still consider the CR-V a mid-sizer), the Honda is more of a 5+2 than a genuine seven-seater, which is what ultimately scuppered its chances of our overall win.

85

The Kia Sorento stakes a claim in that regard, however. With its roomy cabin and cleverly packaged third row, the Sorento offers the kind of seating flexibility big families demand.

It’s also fantastically light on its feet to drive and its sharp steering, keen front end and well-sorted ride combine to make it the kind of family bus that tempts you to take the twisty way home.

To really shine, though, the Sorento needs the extra glitz and glamour of its top-spec GT-Line model grade. And while it might be great to drive on tarmac, it’s not the kind of SUV you’ll hook a camper trailer up to for a weekend away in the bush…

85

Which is where the Ford Everest comes to the fore.

While it mightn’t offer the same level of luxury, cabin refinement or resolved ride quality as road-biased monocoques like the CR-V, Sorento and Volvo XC90 (the winner of our Luxury category), the Everest has a string to its bow that they don’t: the ability to tow 3500kg and to conquer properly gnarly terrain off-road.

It means that if you’re looking for a genuine seven-seat SUV that offers a roomy and comfortable third row with dedicated air vents and is equally skilled at school drops-off and long-distance cruising as it as at bush bashing and towing your boat or jet ski for a weekend away, then the Aussie-developed Everest is a clear winner.

85

Whether you opt for the $55K 2.0-litre bi-turbo four-cylinder or the $80K 3.0 V6 Platinum, the Everest has a trim level and performance package to suit.

It’s not only miles ahead of its direct rivals – and significantly cheaper than a Land Rover Defender or Discovery – but it’s also impressively capable to drive for what is, essentially, a ladderframe commercial vehicle underneath.

Its cabin also doesn’t put a foot wrong when it comes to space, storage and connectivity (admittedly some of the cabin materials do feel more hardwearing than premium) and there really isn’t a dud in the line-up.

Whether you opt for the $55K 2.0-litre bi-turbo four-cylinder or the $80K 3.0 V6 Platinum, the Everest has a trim level and performance package to suit.

Of course, we’re not naive enough to think the Everest will suit everyone’s particular tastes and needs (in that case check out our broader Large SUV coverage) but simply by virtue of its broad skillset, the big Ford grabs gold.

85