Luxury Loggerheads

It’s time for an epic battle between Britain and Germany with luxury SUVs as their weapons to bag TG’s Luxury SUV of the Year award.

- Agasti Kaulgi

It’s not very often that we have such battles for the TopGear Awards. In regular situations, the jury drives, tests and evaluates the participating cars and a cumulative call decides the winner. But in situations like this, where both the competitors are as fierce as the other, only a shakedown could decide the winner.

First of the two competitors is a British SUV, and before you come up with some names, no, it isn’t from the house of Land Rover, but from its sister brand, Jaguar. It’s the first time that Jag has built an SUV and it’s got it right in the first attempt. It’s not just a sedan on stilettos, but a SUV like how an SUV should be. It’s got the styling working for it, and it’s got the right amount of road presence to go with.

To face the British SUV is Merc’s latest offering in the SUV space, the GLC. It’s based on the C-class, but don’t sweat, it’s got adequate amount of clearance and looks and drives like a proper SUV. It’s got the perfect dimensions to break away from the crossover tag, and just like the British SUV, a smart all-wheel-drive system to aid things when the tarmac runs out or when loads of traction is required.

To begin with, both these SUVs don’t come with a low-range transfer case, but having tested their soft-road abilities, we can say that both of them can manage some amount of off-roading without much fuss. What gives the GLC an edge is an off-road mode that sets up the car in a certain manner to handle the roughs.