Drive Car of the Year 2025 – Best Luxury Off-Road SUV Under $150K contenders announced
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Here is every new or updated model eligible for the Drive Car of the Year 2025 – Best Luxury Off-Road SUV under $150,000.
Drive Car of the Year 2025
Now in its 20th year, the annual Drive Car of the Year awards program continues to be the Australian new car buyer's most-trusted advisor.
At Drive, we test drive more than 200 new cars every year, evaluating each against its innate promise to sort the best from the rest. We divide the 400-plus new passenger cars, SUVs, 4WDs and utes into 19 price-banded categories focused on the end-user. Then we analyse the strengths and weaknesses of every car to find the cream of the automotive crop.
Drive Car of the Year 2025 is a go!
Drive Car of the Year 2025 – Best Luxury off-road SUV under $150K
It’s a segment that has been dominated by the all-round excellent Land Rover Defender for a few years, and continues to be a popular choice among consumers.
But there’s a new competitor on the block, and it has a real shot at unseating the British-born champion.
Since it first arrived on the scene in 2020, the combination of off-road prowess, packaging, refinement and comfort makes the Defender a compelling overall offering.
It’s a package that uses the complex combinations of height-adjustable air suspension, electronically-controlled driveline components and an aluminium-heavy monocoque chassis to provide high levels of comfort and capability at the same time, which are historically mutually exclusive.
It was enough to defeat the Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series and Nissan Patrol for overall honours – even though the LandCruiser is the leader in overall sales volume.
COVID-era fears of no international travel might have spurned this category onto great heights (and long waiting lists) once upon a time, but it has since remained a popular choice for those who want something that will fit in the family, but also tow, tour and traverse to your heart’s content.
Budgets are healthy for this kind of do-it-all statement vehicle, but so are expectations.
And it’s the Lexus GX550 that is taking on the Defender for Drive Car of the Year honours in 2025. It’s a luxury spin-off of the Toyota LandCruiser Prado, and something that Australia is getting for the first time. In the United States, this is a third-generation offering.
Utilising the same common platform as the LandCruiser 300 Series, this Lexus GX550 arrives in Australia with twin-turbo petrol V6 power, making a wholesome 260kW/650Nm, running through a 10-speed automatic gearbox and gear-based full-time four-wheel drive system.
There’s also an Overtrail specification for the off-roaders, which throws in all-terrain tyres on 18-inch wheels, adaptive damping, and e-KDSS for active swaybars.
The Prado doesn’t wade into battle on it’s own though, facing off against the closely related Toyota LandCruiser Prado in its high-spec trims.
Unlike the GX550, the Prado sticks with a known four-cylinder turbo-diesel four-cylinder engine, now mated to an eight-speed automatic and with full-time four-wheel drive.
Huge upgrades to the Prado’s technology, both inside the cabin, and as part of the driver assistance suite, move the new-generation model up a notch in its standing as a true luxury off-road rival.
FAQs
Which cars are eligible for this category?
Drive's rules require that, for a car to be eligible, it must:
- Be all-new or significantly updated.
- Be on sale with customer deliveries commenced by 31 December 2024.
- Retail examples be made available for Drive to road test before that cut-off date.
- Pricing cut-offs exclude discounts and limited-time offers.
| Contenders | Not here in time |
| – Cars that are all-new or significantly updated since they last contested Drive Car of the Year. – New categories are open to all cars that fit category requirements. – Last year's winner is an automatic inclusion. | – These cars meet category requirements, but are not due to arrive in time for Drive Car of the Year 2025 judging. |
| Land Rover Defender (defending) Lexus GX550 Toyota LandCruiser Prado | None |
What are the next steps?
The winner of the 2025 Drive Car of the Year – Best Luxury Off-Road SUV under $150,000 will be announced in February 2025.
Before then, we will dig into the details of these two finalist four-wheel drives.
Read more:
Drive Car of the Year 2025 is a go!
Drive Car of the Year Overview
Drive Car of the Year 2024 winners
The post Drive Car of the Year 2025 – Best Luxury Off-Road SUV Under $150K contenders announced appeared first on Drive.
