February 11, 2022 – In the beginning, buying an SUV almost certainly meant you were going to be buying a midsize SUV. Early models are the reason a niche, off-roading vehicle segment morphed into the bread-and-butter family transportation choice and then spawned numerous offshoot segments based on size, capability, performance and luxury.
All those different directions can be easily seen in today’s selection of midsize SUVs (most of which are technically crossovers), including the current versions of those SUV pioneers. There are the three-row family haulers that consumers happily gobble up instead of minivans.
There are two-row, style-oriented choices like the Chevy Blazer, Nissan Murano and Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport that are resolutely intended to stay nice and clean on-road. On the opposite end, there are the old-school, body-on-frame, definitely-not-a-crossover Jeep Wrangler and Toyota 4Runner.
