Everyone wants the everything machine. It’s not enough for an SUV to be big, practical, stylish, and luxurious these days. No, we want it to blow the doors off a Porsche 911 and outmaneuver a Mustang, too. It’s a ridiculous ask for a 5,000-pound behemoth.
Having driven all of the best-yet attempts, from the Lamborghini Urus and the Mercedes-AMG GLE 63 S to the Bentley Bentayga and Porsche Cayenne, I can firmly say that none of them accomplishes this impossible task.
But the Polestar 3 comes pretty damned close. Closer, really, than any attempt before. It’s engaging enough to drive that I didn’t miss super-sedans like the BMW M5 or Porsche Taycan, and comfortable enough that I didn’t feel like scheduling spine surgery after hitting a pothole. It’s the best all-around super-SUV on sale, and a lot cheaper than the next-best options, too.
Less Drama, More Fun
The German automakers who dominate this segment know that an SUV will never drive as well as a sedan. Conservation of momentum and gravity dictate that a larger, heavier, taller object will have a much more difficult time changing direction than a lower-slung, lighter one. If an automobile is, at its core, a huge hunk of metal suspended by four springs, then the height of those springs and the weight of that metal are the fundamental factors of success. So SUVs are sloppier to drive by nature.
Most “super-SUVs” distract you from this with bombastic engines, ultra-flashy styling, and a variety of clever drive modes and adjustments. But at their core, they are brutish things, dragged around by heavy twin-turbo V-8s in their noses, beset by awkward weight distribution, and too tippy to corner flat. The only solutions to this tall-spring problem are to either make the springs ultra-stiff or to incorporate trick suspension wizardry to get the best of both worlds.
SUVs like the Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio use the former strategy. The result is a predictable and fun-to-drive SUV that cracks your teeth over bumpy roads. Chasing a more luxurious experience, options like the Lamborghini Urus and Porsche Cayenne use clever 48-volt active anti-roll bars, which actively resist body lean during corners, making them feel flatter. But this is also disconnecting. You can no longer easily predict how the car will respond to a flick of the steering wheel, because you’re depending on a constantly-variable system.
An EV platform doesn’t need as much trickery to feel good on a twisty road. Despite weighing more than their gas-powered alternatives, electric super-SUVs don’t have all of their weight up high and placed above the front axle. Instead it lives beneath the floor and between both axles, making EVs inherently balanced.
The result is that the Polestar 3 is just more composed than gas-powered super SUVs. The gas-powered options have more theatrics, but a screaming Lamborghini V-8 still can’t provide the sort of consistent, immediate torque of the Polestar’s dual-motor powertrain.
And while other performance SUVs chase excess as their main benchmark, the Polestar is surprisingly tame, at least by EV or super-SUV standards. With 517 horsepower and 671 pound-feet of torque, the Polestar 3 with the Performance Pack isn’t going to out-drag a Cayenne Turbo or BMW X5 M. But for me, that’s a pro, not a con.
The vast majority of ultra-performance SUVs have more power than poise. They can rip your eyelids off from a start, but come to a corner and you realize they don’t actually have the agility to handle their own speed. They are savages, not athletes, defined by the way they beat their speed into the pavement, not by how they flow through it.
Balance Is Best
The Polestar 3 has something none of them do: balance. If you want a BMW SUV with all the good driving characteristics, you need to step into the ultra-hot M models, which are too stiff and shouty to function as good commuters. The same is true for the fire-breathing Audis and Benzes. The simple desire for a high-revving, full-throated V-8 necessitates compromise around town, and around corners.
With the Polestar, you don’t need to make those tradeoffs. It has big power everywhere, at all speeds, with none of the chest-beating. Combined with its expertly tuned two-chamber air suspension and torque-vectoring rear-axle, the Polestar is as eager to careen into turns as it is to rip out of them.
Its powerband is smooth and momentous—as all electric powertrains are—but the right-sized power figure leaves you performing a delicate dance, rather than an all-out slug-fest. It is a car that revels in momentum, with an eager front end that’s pushed through by a meaty, torque-vectoring rear. It’s not just that it has the right amount of power; it’s that the power is shuffled to the right place, far quicker and far more seamlessly than in any gas-powered SUV.
So while any of the super-SUVs are a blast for a quick on-ramp acceleration, and the V-8 options more so than this, the Polestar is the one I want when I’m flowing through a canyon road. It doesn’t show off for you, it shows up for you, with predictable dynamics, excellent steering, smooth power delivery, and absurd speed.
The same could be said of the larger Lucid Gravity, which is also incredibly precise on a backroad. But that car lack’s the Polestar’s playfulness, pushing more into corners, and feels less predictable due to its four-wheel steering system. The Polestar is the perfect blend of simplicity and silliness. When you find a dirt patch or a closed course, it’s more than happy to do big, beautiful slides, making it a grin-inducing drift machine in the snow or rain.
No Real Compromise
But the real a-ha moment comes when you return from the twisty roads. While the competition may be tight between an X5 M or an AMG GLE 63 and a Polestar 3 when you’re driving hard and going fast, around town the Polestar walks away with it. It’s not just that it has a smoother, quieter powertrain. It also rides far, far better, with real grace over bumps.
It’s an utterly lovely thing to ride in or drive in traffic, something that can’t be said for any of its big-power competitors. A Bentley Bentayga beats it here, to be sure, but gets absolutely creamed out on a mountain road. And while a Porsche Cayenne comes close in both regards, it isn’t half as charming.
Nor does it look this good. The X5 M, GLE 63, and Urus are all extremely shouty, just begging for attention with their absurd scoops and creases. The Cayenne is a bore. And the Bentayga is just plain ugly. The Polestar, on the other hand, is something to behold. It is simpler than the lot of them and somehow more interesting all the same. It looks excellent attacking a corner, and perfectly in place at a fancy hotel’s valet.
Despite all of these advantages, it’s far cheaper than the alternatives, too. My loaded-up tester cost $93,000, which ain’t exactly small potatoes. But show up to a BMW or Mercedes dealer looking for an equivalent car for equivalent money and you’ll be laughed out. The X5 M and Mercedes-AMG GLE 63 both start around $130,000. Considering a Polestar 3 with the Performance Pack goes for $80,000 before options, you’re paying $50,000 more for SUVs that aren’t as fun to drive or as good around town.
The Urus and Bentayga are on another planet, and a Cayenne with as much power and similar options is deep into six-figure territory.
That should make the Polestar 3 a slam-dunk buy. Despite the fact that I love driving it, however, I don’t think I’d actually recommend getting one. Why? Well that story has nothing to do with the driving experience, and everything to do with the user experience. I’ll save it for later this week.
Contact the author: Mack.Hogan@insideevs.com
Gallery: Test Driving The 2025 Polestar 3
