FIFTY SENT

GOT $50K TO BURN ON A FAMILY SUV? YOU COULD DO WORSE THAN ANY OF THESE THREE-EVEN IF ONE'S A BIT BETTER THAN THE OTHERS 

- DYLAN CAMPBELL

FIFTY GRAND is not what it used to be. Once upon a time, it bought you a top-of-the-line sports car. Even earlier than that, it's probably what your parents spent on their house. Their four-bedroom one, we mean. In inner Sydney.

These days, it gets you an SUV for hauling around spouse and spawn, and not even a top-spec one.

Of course, while the best salary your parents could ever aspire to would be considered unliveable in 2023, cars have come a long way. The standard equipment list of a car from yesteryear would be lucky to fill a page of A4, whereas today's run-of-the-mill SUVS pack more equipment and technology than the most advanced vehicles of a generation ago. And we know which one we'd rather have a crash in.

To demonstrate our point, we've assembled the best of the sub-$50K bunch if you're in the market for a new SUV. And while that sum won't afford you a three-bedder in an Australian city anytime soon, it'll get you quite a lot of car.

The new Honda CR-V is the latest release of our trio - and it looks it. At 4.7 metres long, it makes the original 1997 CR-V look almost toy-like, and blurs the line between mid-size and large SUVS. And not just its first-generation forebear - it also eclipses the previous CR-V at 69mm longer, 11mm wider and riding on a 40mm-longer wheelbase.

With its handsomely long bonnet and sculpted styling, the CR-V we have today is the VTi L7 - the variant with a pair of seats in the boot. A dinky 1.5-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder supplies 140kW and 240Nm to the front wheels, while a CVT auto groans away somewhere in there, too. While its $53,000 price-tag exceeds our $50K ceiling, that's a drive-away price.