Top 5 best luxury cars 2022

Luxury cars are not just defined by their cosseting ride, extensive levels of technology and refinement, but the level of prestige they bring. But which one has the most class to top our best ten list?

Luxury cars – a class comprised in significant proportion of large traditional limousine saloons with one or two oversized hatchbacks and demure SUVs included – are the cars in which high-end executives choose either to drive or to be driven in.

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That means they must provide exceptional comfort in both the front and rear seats, a silky smooth ride, fantastic drivability and refinement, and plenty of performance — and they must also function as better status symbols than most four-wheeled vehicles. High levels of in-car technology and infotainment are required, as are communication systems that will allow such machines to function as mobile offices.

This list includes cars that are really comfortable, enjoyable to drive and to be driven in, and the top of our ranks are capable of much more. Meanwhile, in our super-luxury top ten, you'll find the world's most expensive Rolls-Royces, Bentleys, and Mercedes-Maybachs.

10 best luxury cars currently on sale

1. Range Rover

The current, fourth-generation Range Rover is as revolutionary as any in the car’s history, with an aluminium monocoque chassis and an unashamedly luxurious agenda. Its imperious driving position, superlative luxuriousness and enduringly special cabin make it our top pick in this sub-£100,000 luxury car category.

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However, just because it's a luxury car first and a 4x4 second doesn't mean it can't go offroad. The large cabin radiates quality and luxury, the seats are fantastic, and the driving position is excellent, making it a breeze to drive for a vehicle of this size. While it lacks the driving engagement of a Porsche Cayenne, the thick bodyshell provides great isolation from uneven terrain, and it's easy to make brisk movement delightful should the necessity arise; after all, in a Range Rover, just about any rate of progress feels exceptional.

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Land Rover's engine lineup still comprises six- and eight-cylinder petrol and diesel engines, with none of them seeming weak or underpowered. Private motorists will be drawn to Solihull's recently introduced straight-six diesel engines, but fleet operators will be interested in the plug-in hybrid P400e (77g/km, 25 miles EV range), which qualifies for company car tax at just 19 percent BIK.

The Range Rover is enormous and hefty, but that's a modest price to pay for a car with such a wide range of capabilities. Few vehicles make you feel as special to ride in, none have better visibility or a more commanding or assured driving posture, and few brighten your day.

2. Mercedes-Benz S-Class

When Mercedes-Benz sets out to create a new S-Class, the goal is simple: to create the best car in the world. It has done so on every occasion this iconic 'big Benz' has been redesigned over the decades, and Stuttgart is quite likely to do so again in 2020, in a more tough and fast-changing luxury automobile market than the car has ever faced.

Mercedes, on the other hand, didn't quite hit the bullseye this time. What may be considered the tenth-generation S-Class took a lot of risks in order to preserve its recognizable high-quality feel, luxurious luxury and cabin quality, and uncompromising comfort and refinement while keeping up with the digital technology of a Tesla.

It came close to working. The S-Class is still one of the world's most comfortable, enveloping, and refined automobiles. However, while its new in-car technologies are numerous and impressive in some ways (among them, an infotainment screen large enough to fit in the cockpit of an A380), they aren't all easy to use, don't all seamlessly integrate into the driving experience, and some feel like gimmicks rather than enhancements.While the Mercedes-Maybach S-Class comes with a choice of V8 and V12 engines, the ordinary limousine comes with a -350d or -400d diesel engine, or a -500 petrol engine with light hybrid assistance. The diesels are pleasingly frugal and smooth in real-world driving, and the S400d has all the performance that a car of this type would ever want; but, the S500 offers a faster (but still quiet and smooth) 400bhp+ option if you want it.

The Mercedes-Benz S-Class is designed to run quietly and comfortably at all times. It rides in solitary comfort and with plenty of distinctive flair on both city roads and highways, though the current cars' biggish alloy wheels make them a little prone to banging over elevated ironwork and broken Tarmac.

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Mercedes' latest rear-seat entertainment systems and sleeping-seat interior arrangements will most certainly make their way to the ordinary S-Class after they've been introduced to the more expensive Maybach variant. Even without those frills, this is still a formidable luxury vehicle.

3. Audi E-tron Quattro

For the luxury electric car, we're currently in rather well-established times. There have been fast ones, extremely fast ones, big ones, small ones, costly ones, cheap ones, and even some that try to be four-wheel driven.

But no electric car has ever done onboard luxury quite like Audi's initial foray into zero-emissions territory, the E-tron Quattro. This vehicle combines four-wheel drive and a high level of overall performance with SUV-like size, convenience, and use, as well as Audi brand desirability.

But it's the great calm, cozy, and elegant atmosphere that really sets it apart. When we road tested one, the cabin noise level was closer to that of a Rolls-Royce Phantom than that of a Tesla Model X at 70 mph.

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Of course, Audi-branded modern luxury comes with cutting-edge onboard technology, and the E-150kW tron's public rapid charging capability, along with an everyday range of between 200 and 250 miles on a charge, makes it a more useful electric car than some of its contemporaries. There is currently no more luxurious electric vehicle on the market than this one.

4. Audi A8

The 2018 Audi A8 boasts some of the most advanced chassis, powertrain, and in-car technologies in the premium segment, including what claims to be the world's most advanced autonomous driving capability when it's ultimately turned on. The car exemplifies Audi's commitment to the original 'vorsprung durch technik' strategy.

There are two turbocharged engines to choose from: a 282bhp diesel or a 335bhp petrol, all with four-wheel drive as standard and a 48V electrical system that makes it a mild hybrid. The tax-saving six-cylinder petrol 60 TFSIe, as well as the range-topping V8-powered S8 executive express, are found higher up the model range, and their refinement and seamless responsiveness greatly add to the attraction of the car's driving experience.

Although it lacks the sense of occasion that the class-leading Range Rover has, the A8's exquisite cabin feels like it was meant to outlast civilization itself. Although the ride is smooth and the car is easy to drive, it isn't quite as pillowy and plush as its primary German rival, and it isn't quite equal to the Mercedes in the most important respects.

5. Mercedes CLS

It's debatable whether Mercedes, with the fifth-generation Quattroporte, established the current hybrid vehicle that was amusingly termed the 'coupon' (a four-door saloon crossbred with a more tapered shape and a sweeping coupé-like roofline), or Maserati. In any case, it's worth noting that the original Mercedes CLS from 2004 was one of the forerunners of what still appears to be a relatively new vehicle type; that that vehicle type has grown to be an important part of the modern luxury-car landscape; and that Mercedes has likely done more to popularize it than any other car maker.

The CLS, now in its third generation, has always outperformed most 2+2s in terms of practicality, reaching a pinnacle with the Shooting Brake version — a popular CLS variant at Autocar Towers that Mercedes sadly decided to retire with the current third-generation version of the car.

The CLS has never looked better than it did in its initial trend-setting model generation, but the car's technology-packed, leather-bound inside has never been more inviting than it is today.

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The engine lineup includes four- and six-cylinder turbocharged petrol engines, as well as a couple of six-cylinder turbo diesels, with the four-wheel-drive CLS 53 performance hybrid replacing the V8-powered former CLS 63 at the top of the line and adding an attractive new flavor to the AMG arsenal. The chassis does a good job of balancing engagement and seclusion, while larger-rimmed versions with run-flat tyres can have shaky rolling finesse and are well worth a test drive before buying.

The CLS doesn't quite have limo-like rear seat capacity, but it's a luxury car worth considering in every other way.

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