Best cars with a high driving position

Whether it’s climbing mountains or paying extra for a penthouse apartment, we humans have a thing for being up high. If you need any more proof, then just look at the nation’s roads: over the last 25 years or so, crossovers and SUVs have grown to occupy a huge proportion of the market - partly because people love their high driving positions.

While the idea of chunky, off-road inspired styling without old-school 4x4 fuel bills has played its part in their popularity, a lot of drivers also simply like to sit up high. The raised seating position of a crossover or SUV generally affords better visibility (though the ability to look over other vehicles has mostly disappeared given that so many other drivers are also piloting tall cars) and gives drivers a feeling of security. It makes getting in and out a little easier, too – important whether you’re older and less spry than you used to be, or younger and trying to load kids into car seats.

If the idea of a high driving position appeals, we’ve picked three vehicles in four different categories – large SUVs, mid-size SUVs, small SUVs, and MPVs – that put you a little higher up than the norm.

Large SUVs with a high driving position

If you want that commanding driving position, big SUVs do it better than any other type of car, but you’ll pay for the privilege.

Range Rover

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• Prices from £104,000

The full-size Range Rover is the king of commanding driving positions. You sit up high in all Range Rovers, even the Evoque, but the biggest model really lets you know you’re in something special, and is one of few large SUVs that still puts you high enough to see over other traffic in a world where everything’s a crossover. Naturally, the cabin is a fabulous place to sit even ignoring the lofty view – with this much luxury sitting this high up, it’s more like a private jet than a car. It’s priced like it, too: £104k is your opening bid.

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Land Rover Defender

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• Prices from £60,500

Sitting up high has been a Land Rover benefit since the postwar Series I models, and when the new model debuted in 2020, Land Rover made sure to carry over that characteristic, despite the far more luxurious environs. If there’s a downside, it’s that the Defender is actually tall enough (and wide enough) that some multi-storey car parks can be a problem, but on the open road you’ll enjoy being able to see over hedges and other cars. It puts you at Range Rover level without the price, too, since a Defender 90 starts at under £60,000.

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Toyota Land Cruiser

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• Prices from £75,000

The high seating position in a lot of “proper” off-roaders started as a natural side-effect of how these cars were packaged: plenty of ground clearance, a chunky ladder chassis above that, and then a body perched on top. The Toyota Land Cruiser is still built this way and still seats you up high, and flat sizes and expansive glass give you a great view of the wilderness you’re probably forging through (or the Tesco car park, take your pick). The order books are closed as of early 2025 though; it turns out the only thing higher than the driving position is demand for these legendary off-roaders.

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Mid-size SUVs

The middle of the SUV market is where most of the best-known family friendly models reside. They may not sit you as high as larger models but they give a great view out and are easier to maneuver in town.

BMW X3

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• Prices from £49,500

BMW offers an SUV in just about every market segment, but the X3 is one of its longer-running nameplates and in common with other models in the last few decades, has grown a little larger each time. 

Compared to the equivalently-sized 3 Series Touring estate, you’ll notice the X3’s raised seating position immediately, and great though the Touring is to drive, the X3’s the one that makes lighter work of loading kids, dogs, and the detritus of family life into the back. These days there’s no compromise on quality or performance either – the X3 still feels like a proper BMW to drive.

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Nissan Qashqai

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• Prices from £30,200

Nissan arguably kicked off the trend for raised family cars with its original Qashqai in 2006, and the latest model still offers all the same characteristics. This is a thoroughly sensible family car, being practical and refined, decent enough to drive, and giving you that all-important raised seating position. We’re not talking Range Rover-style “head above the clouds” views out here, but it’s usefully taller than the Volkswagen Golfs and Vauxhall Astras of the world, for that feeling of security that made the original so appealing, and. tThe kids get a decent view out too from the back seats, too.

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Kia Sportage

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• Prices from £29,000

The Kia Sportage is another mid-size SUV that got in there early, and while the first Sportage was more of a traditional 4x4 (albeit a compact one), the latest is aimed squarely at cars like the Qashqai. Prices start at just under £30,000, and it sits somewhere in the middle of the Kia range – taller than the Stonic and Niro, but not quite as large as the Sorento or the electric EV9. It does more than just talk the talk too, since Kia still offers an all-wheel drive variant; if not for true off-road performance, then at least all-weather on-road ability to go with the taller seating position.

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Small SUVs

You still get a high seating position with many small SUVs and these vehicles are brilliantly easy to pilot (and park) in urban areas as a result. The roomiest options have decent space in the back as well. 

Dacia Duster

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• Prices from £18,900

The Dacia Duster is among the larger cars in the small SUV class, so it’s not surprising it offers one of the better vantage points, too. Despite the Duster taking up relatively little space on the road, it feels like driving an actual off-roader, rather than just a gently raised family car, all the more appropriate in a car that in its latest form has the chunky, industrial looks to match. But a high seating position doesn’t mean a high price: the Duster still starts at under £19,000, or about £23,500 if you need four-wheel drive.

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Ford Puma

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• Prices from £26,400

Before the Ford Fiesta went off sale, the Puma overtook it in the sales charts, and it remains one of the UK’s best-selling cars. We’d be surprised if a big part of that wasn’t customers’ desire to sit a little higher than the Fiesta could offer could offer. The Puma doesn’t drive much differently from its now-departed supermini sibling, but everyone inside gets a slightly higher perch, and the cabin feels a touch more spacious than conventional small cars too, despite the sub-4.2-metre length. Prices start around £26,000, but you can now order the Puma in £30k Gen-E electric form, too.

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Toyota Yaris Cross

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• Prices from £26,200

The Toyota Yaris Cross seems like an appropriate addition to the Yaris range. The regular Yaris was among the first small cars to offer a raised seating position, one reason it’s always been popular with older buyers, and the Yaris Cross takes that a few inches further. The Cross is 95mm taller overall than the regular Yaris and Toyota has used some of that space to sit you a little higher. Hybrid power helps it to 64mpg economy (only around 5mpg shy of the regular Yaris Hybrid), and while it’s not really an SUV, there’s an all-wheel drive version available too.

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MPVs

MPV sales have declined in recent years as family buyers have switched to SUVs but that’s meant that the majority of models on today’s market are now based on vans with huge interior space and higher driving positions than the old purpose-designed or car-based MPV models.

Volkswagen ID.Buzz

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• Prices from £59,000

If choosing a raised seating position is about the view out, then few modern cars give you a better view than the Volkswagen ID.Buzz. You climb up into it in much the way you do with Volkswagen’s long-running Transporter (and Multivan) vans, but with brightly coloured trim, split A-pillars to help with visibility, and an upright but comfortable driving position, it certainly feels more special than most MPVs. With a starting price of nearly £60,000 you pay handsomely for this kind of view, and the Buzz has only five seats, but what price can you put on one of the best vantage points on the market?

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Citroen Berlingo

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• Prices from £25,000

Being van-based has its advantages. Maximum interior space, relatively low pricing (a supermini-sized £23,000 in the case of the Citroen Berlingo), and last but not least, a raised seating position. In a van, this helps when you’re getting in and out all day making deliveries, and reduces the chances of you clouting stuff as you buzz around the city. 

In a van-based MPV, it just makes for a pleasant view out, and since the rear seats (accessed through sliding doors) are a little higher too, the kids will also appreciate it. The Peugeot Rifter, Toyota Proace City, and Vauxhall Combo Life offer similar benefits as rebadged versions of the same van.

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Ford Tourneo Custom

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• Prices from £56,600

It might be called a Tourneo Custom, but what you’re looking at here is a Ford Transit Custom with some extra windows. And anyone who has ever hired a Transit to move house or cart some stuff around will know the joy of sitting up on the same level as big SUVs like the Range Rover. It also helps the Tourneo Custom feel more wieldy than you’d expect for something that’s getting on for two metres wide (without its mirrors) and five metres long. The upright driving position is comfortable for long stints at the wheel too, and you’ll never be short of cubby holes again. The £56k entry price isn’t cheap, however.

Best cars with a high driving position: prices and ratings table

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