TMW - The 2014 large SUV/Crossover winner is............................

LARGE CROSSOVER/SUV - For Families or those that like to Lord it over the rest of us

DISCOVERY 4 - getting extremely old now, but still one of the class leaders, its look has been tweaked over the years, but time is not a great friend to car design, and the Discovery is now well past it's sell by date.

RANGE ROVER - The daddy of all 4x4's, this is the car that started it all off way back in the early 1970's, the classic Ranger was a stunning car that's been improved and moved up market with each variation, its now in the uber car category, along with Bentley, Rolls, Maserati and the like.

JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE - The SRT version of this car is a stunning, storming piece of automotive excellence, Jeep continue to improve month after month, and the Grand Cherokee has helped to push the parent company into high sales and improved market share.

MAZDA CX-5 - the CX-5 was one we tested a while ago, now, it was a great looking car, but a car in this sort of price category needs to be better than great, it needs to be exceptional, the new face lifted version was previewed here, recently as a leaked picture or two appeared, will it beat the daddy or the brash US cousin, well see.

AUDI Q7 - The Q7 is one of those vehicles that does everything nicely, as you would expect from supposed German precision, but the Q7 does not really stand out, apart from it's size, that is, cars in the bracket need to stand out, and i feel this does not, but over all, its a great package.

VOLVO XC-90 - Well, after years and years of waiting we at long last have the new XC-90, and wow, was that wait worth it, with the worries of whether the brand would suffer under Chinese ownership, this new SUV, as well as the complete refresh of the rest of the range, has shown the Chinese are happy to let Volvo do it right, and the sales, and profits show that this is working extremely well.

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Like the small SUV nominations, the large sector also has two from Land Rover, the first being the evergreen Discovery 4 (LR4), this has been around now for a long long LONG time, with virtually no visual changes from the '3', and its latest changes have given it a much needed boost to life, will it be enough to see it through to the replacement Discovery 5, or whatever LR decides to name this all new car, for the existing model, you can tell your in the LR4 as it looks very dated, and not like any of the Range Rover models, which brings us nicely onto the next one.

The daddy of the off roaders is of course the Range Rover, its been around now for over 40 years, and with each new model, it notches it's self up a gear, becoming more luxurious and more expensive, yet it is still more than capable off road, which is evident when LR states quite clearly that all its cars will be built for off road ability as well as on road comfort and speed, the high up stance of the RR gives the driver that air of grandeur, that not many other cars can.

The US version, the Grand Cherokee, is a better bet, its cheaper, as well screwed together, in SRT trim is a storming car, and its interior is of a better quality than ever before, but when your spending money in the numbers you need to, to buy these cars, could you be tempted to buy a Jeep, over a Range Rover, personally, yes i could, but could i stomach the depreciation, the answer to that is a resounding NO.

The Mazda CX-5 could be placed in the small SUV section, but it is quite big, and very well put together, like all modern Mazda's, the KODO-Soul of motion and Skyactive technology has breathed over the CX-5 to make this a very capable car, it is extremely comfortable, and quiet, it has loads of toys, especially the further up the range you go, fuel consumption is better than average in this group of cars, and the residuals are not to shabby either, but like the Jeep, is it a choice that could draw people out of their Range Rovers, yes, it could, more so than the Jeep, but will it, only time and surveys can answer that.

Now we have the one car that can beat the Range Rover at its own game, and that's the AUDI Q7, a massive car, and that's an understatement, the Q7 is huge all over, and is very imposing when standing next to one, but like the RR, it is very well put together, very quiet and capable off road, not quite as good as the RR, but not far off, the AUDI, is nothing to look at either, its like the rest of the Audi range, and that's where it falls down, it needs to have some sort of difference, once it has that, it will definitely fight for outright wins.

And lastly we have the Volvo XC-90, at long last Volvo has replaced the large Sports utility vehicle, the car that was once its best seller, and the car that kept Volvo from going into a downward spiral, but time has passed, and with each year the XC-90 never got replaced, but here we are today, the all new XC-90, the start of a mass resurgence of the brand under new Chinese ownership, it's looks are subjective, but it has be said that this car is probably the most important car for any manufacturer, it will either make or break Volvo, especially in the USA, where sales have dropped year on year for many years.

THE 2014 LARGE SUV/CROSSOVER OF THE YEAR AWARD

Goes to.......................

Another easy choice, the Land Rover duo have been around for too long to really make an impact on the winner here, and the Mazda is just not there yet, the Audi Q7, is as near as you can get to beating the Volvo, it is a very capable car, but again, not quite there yet to beat the Volvo, not the Grand Cherokee, especially in SRT trim, is a very capable car, and like the Audi, is nearly enough to win, but the interior lets it down, which is why our choice goes to the Volvo XC-90.

Jon Mower

TMW