Rocked by a Hurriquake: Behind the Scenes of 2024 MotorTrend SUV of the Year

The day before SUV of the Year testing started, tropical storm Hilary dumped a year's worth of rain on Southern California in just 18 hours. The storm didn't care about the eight months of planning it took us to get here, or the dozens of calls to coordinate logistics placed in the week prior to our program. Our new plan was to stay safe and avoid being stranded—or worse—by the mudslides or flash floods occurring near the Honda Proving Center, our base for the week.

We made the decision to send our photo, video, test, and editorial teams to a hotel in Palmdale, instead of our usual spot in Tehachapi. It proved wise; later that day a mudslide blocked the east- and westbound lanes of California Highway 58, which connects Tehachapi with California City, where the proving grounds lie. Meanwhile, Detroiters Eric Tingwall and Matt Chudzinski altered plans to avoid being trapped at the airport. Tingwall took the long road via Las Vegas, spending the night in Barstow, California, while Chudzinski arrived in Los Angeles a day after his original flight. We spent the weekend glued to the TV, watching local news and The Weather Channel, plus tracking updates from Caltrans and the National Hurricane Center on social media.

See All 27 Photos27

If the downpour weren't enough, Southern California also experienced a 5.1-magnitude earthquake the same day Hilary touched down, this unusual coincidence earning an equally unusual moniker: the "Hurriquake."

While Hondas facilities suffered no damage from either natural disaster, wet ground closed the powersports and gravel courses the first couple of days. (The sand course remained off-limits during the entire test, as water had saturated and clumped the particles.)

Adding to the drama, the Kia EV9 on hand was disqualified from SUVOTY contention the same day Hilary hit the region, when we were informed by the company that non-Kia personnel were barred from driving the preproduction unit on public roads. We were able to evaluate the EV9 at Honda's private facility, but the finalist portion of our test involves back-to-back drives on public roads—no exceptions. It's too bad for Kia: The EV9 was among the strongest contenders for the Golden Calipers based on our time at the proving grounds. Both the two-motor Rivian R1S and the Fisker Ocean were also pulled from contention by their manufacturers within days of our program. We'll have to wait until next year to see them in the field.

Despite losing three hot nameplates, the field remained strong: Encompassing 31 models represented by 40 total variants, the sheer volume provided testament to the enduring popularity of SUVs in America. Of those 40, nine were fully electric, while six were plug-in hybrids. Some, such as the Nissan Ariya and Cadillac Lyriq, made follow-up appearances with newly available powertrains—remember, the field is limited to all-new or significantly updated vehicles—after being named finalists last year.

With our team safely and finally gathered to evaluate the vehicles, we got to work alongside two guest judges. New guest judge Hau Thai-Tang, who recently retired as Ford's chief industrial platform officer, offered invaluable insights on EV development and manufacturing, plus a fresh perspective on the SUVOTY program itself. Equally indispensable were the opinions of Gordon Dickie, a frequent guest judge who has worked with several automakers as an engineering advisor.

See All 27 Photos27

Having an entire proving ground and a huge pile of all-new or updated vehicles to ourselves sounds like Disneyland for car enthusiasts. But after a whirlwind two and a half days of evaluation in temperatures that reached 104 degrees—and higher when you're on asphalt—the fatigue was real. Still, we had a job to do.

Choosing the models that pass from contender to the finalist stage is sometimes easy and quick, but this year's discussion was anything but. It took nearly four hours to determine which SUVs should move forward from the excellent field, with 10 ultimately tapped as having performed the best against our six criteria—each with a strong chance to secure the Calipers. The group was diverse, as well, spanning from the six-figure Range Rover Sport PHEV to the $20,000 Chevrolet Trax.

With that settled, we moved to the public roads surrounding Tehachapi, focusing now on how each SUV performs in everyday driving conditions, including but not limited to infotainment operation, interior flexibility and livability, broken-road ride quality, and the accuracy and performance of driver assist technologies. The 28.5-mile loop encompasses railroad crossings, city streets, highways, and canyon roads, and is intimately familiar to our judging panel—but we didn't anticipate coming across a couple of semis hauling a squadron of Tesla Cybertrucks. They'd clearly been testing recently, too, judging by the dirt and smudges on their stainless-steel body panels.

Our stay in Tehachapi marked the reopening of the Lizard Lounge, the pop-up bar that somehow always appears in the evening for theMotorTrendteam at Of The Year events, usually in the hotel's lobby or patio.MTstaffers were still having nightmares about the banana bourbon from last year's SUVOTY, so the focus turned to sensational homemade margaritas. While we didn't stay too late, epic stories flowed as easily as the tequila.

See All 27 Photos27

On our final day, we wrapped up driving loops and headed directly into determining the winner. Technical director Frank Markus suggested we cast a first—and secret—vote prior to the deliberations to see how they affected sentiment. Our multi-hour debate did indeed persuade some judges to change their votes, and the winner claimed the prize by only one vote. Another nameplate that wasn't even on the pre-discussion tally soared to the top of the ledger, finishing in second place. Of the 10 finalists for the Golden Calipers, four received first-place votes. "Oh, wow," someone said. Indeed.

With our SUV of the Year chosen, attention turned to Car of the Year, which would start in just two short weeks under the same blazing desert sun. This time, we hoped, without a "hurriquake."

More 2024 SUV of the YearIntroduction|Criteria Explained

Finalists|Contenders

Behind the Scenes