Compact luxury SUVs make up a crucial segment of the automotive business. Often positioned as entry-level models, their job is to convince buyers to spend a little more money to obtain the prestige of a luxury brand. Get it right, and they’ll attract decades’ worth of profitable repeat business; get it wrong and the buyer goes back to blue-collar brands—or another luxury marque.
We gathered four compact SUVs that represent a wide range of approaches to luxury. Because these are special vehicles, we chose a special destination: Big Bear Lake, a Southern California vacationland 7,000 feet above sea level and accessible only by twisty, challenging roads, a place where you can water ski or snow ski, sometimes on the same day. We thought a road trip to Big Bear was the ideal way to test these aspirational sport-utes: the Acura RDX, Genesis GV70, Lexus NX, and Lincoln Corsair.
Acura redesigned the RDX for 2019 and updated it in 2022, so it enters 2023 with no changes except the addition of three years of AcuraLink services and two years of complimentary maintenance. Acura sent a top-of-the-line A-Spec Advance model with optional all-wheel drive, priced at $55,545 and powered, like all RDXs, by a 272-hp 2.0-liter turbo-four.
The GV70 is the SUV to beat. It was our 2022 SUV of the Year, and our recently departed long-term GV70 left us pleased and impressed. Of course, that was the top-of-the-line V-6-powered Sport Prestige model; for this comparison, Genesis sent an AWD GV70 with the 300-hp 2.5-liter turbocharged I-4 in one-from-the-top Advanced trim. Its $53,500 price tag
