25 best family SUVs

Renault Koleos SUV

The Renault Koleos is closely related to the Nissan X-Trail and that’s no bad thing. It’s a large SUV with interior and boot space on its side – the lack of a seven-seat option means an impressive 565-litre capacity that expands to nearly 1,800 litres with the rear seats folded. There are a few diesel engines to choose from, but no petrols; our pick is the 128bhp 1.6-litre, which returns 58mpg and offers strong performance. It’s worth noting that only the 2.0-litre diesel comes with four-wheel drive as standard, although this model delivers the stability, grip and towing performance you’d expect from a large SUV. If you simply need SUV space and height but are comfortable without all-wheel drive, front-drive models are considerably cheaper to run.