THREE-ROW SPEED DEMONS

Hot rod Euro SUVs are great fun and all, but what if A) you’re looking to spend about half the average base price of our five super-utes (say, mid-$60Ks) or B) you need three rows of seats?

That kind of cash will only get you one of the smaller two-row Euro utes, like an Audi SQ5, BMW X3 M, or Mercedes-AMG GLC SUV. Audi’s three-row SQ7 starts at $85,795, BMW’s X7 M50i commands $100,595, and the 2021 Mercedes-AMG GLS 63 surely won’t be cheaper than the outgoing 2019 ($126,150).

So you’ll be buying American. May we suggest one of these two hi-po utes—the Dodge Durango 4 SRT 392 or the Ford Explorer ST?

Note: A Ford Explorer ST with all the boxes ticked just tops $65,000, while the Durango 4 SRT 392 starts at $64,490 and can top out over $80K with enthusiastic box-ticking. So their prices barely overlap. It’s also worth mentioning here that the new-for-2020 sixth-generation Explorer is slightly shorter in length, height, and wheelbase but larger inside (in all but third-row hip room) than the third-gen