Speedy Haulers

Bring the cash and these cars will bring the speed. Nothing gets you faster to your destination – and in more comfort – than these three sporty SUVs.

GRACE, pace, space.

That’s what our contenders in this roundup have to offer in spades, should you have the cash to spare.

Even if you’re just gawking and not shopping, the sheer visual spectacle of the trio here shows just how accomplished modern sporty SUVs have become.

The Maserati Levante S is easily the most stylish of the lot. The brand with a trident certainly knows how to dress sharply, and the Levante S in black is as rakish and menacing as a mafia don with a fedora. With its barking exhaust the loudest in the trio, it certainly knows how to make an entrance too.

No one knows speed like the autobahn-pounding Germans, and the new third-generation Porsche Cayenne delivers that with single-minded precision. The original performance SUV, Porsche has sharpened its Cayenne recipe with the spicier S version – a comfortable, lightning-quick speed demon which eats up the miles, and the yardstick by which other SUVs are measured against.

Elegant brutishness is what you get should you cast your eyes over the Jaguar F-Pace, livened up here in R-Sport trim. It’s Jaguar’s first SUV but it has lost none of the sporting abilities that Jags are known for. It’s quiet, comfortable and with the lowest asking price of the three, a bit of a bargain.

Open your wallets, flip the pages and let’s see which one of the three proves the most compelling.

CAYENNE S

ENGINE & GEARBOX

Porsche’s 440hp, twin-turbocharged 2.9-litre V6 revs willingly and exhibits infinitesimal turbo lag when pulling from rest. The pinsharp engine is mated to an 8-speed automatic, which changes gears seamlessly and instantaneously when you manually shift.

LEVANTE S

ENGINE & GEARBOX