The best SUVs you can buy

If there's one sector that has changed the shape of the motoring landscape, it's the SUV. Love 'em or loathe 'em, you can't deny the sales phenomenon, and virtually every manufacturer, from budget to the bespoke, has an SUV-shaped iron in the fire.

This feature was originally published in the September 2014 issue of Top Gear magazine

They don't come much cheaper than the Dacia Duster, for instance. Available from just £9,495, the Duster forces you to re-evaluate basic priorities.

Need a robust, functional little SUV with AWD, a high seating position, decent engines, enough room for the kids and the dog and literally nothing else? Then the Duster
is your ideal car.

It's the Lada Niva of its generation. Except better.

And yet the SUV genre is broad, and the Porsche Macan shows how malleable the boundaries of the sector really are.

It isn't particularly spacious and it's on the pricey side, but no other SUV drives quite as well as the Macan. The way it corners shouldn't be possible for such a high-riding, seemingly compromised, sort-of off-roader. If you need a compact sports car that will seat five, see over hedges and cope with a bit of light mud, look no further.

But if ultimate comfort and luxury combined with military-grade off-road ability is your priority, then a well-specced full-fat Range Rover is still king.

Ever since it astounded the world in 1970, the Rangie could be argued as being the best car in the world, let alone SUV. For absolute breadth of talent, nothing comes close. There's an SUV for every budget, and every one's a winner.