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It doesn’t take more than a drive downtown to notice that SUVs have surpassed cars as the vehicle of choice for U.S. families, and a closer look will offer evidence that the giant SUVs and even the full-size models are being bypassed effectively by the midsize or compact SUVs.

Up North around Duluth, one of the rites of autumn is a weekend drive to Bayfield, Wis., for the Apple Festival, a weekend where all the area’s apple growers come into town and put up tables and displays to captivate the thousands of visitors to Bayfield who have come by ritual to sample the wonderful and different apples and maybe enjoy treats such as caramel apples, or a dish with sliced apples on some ice cream with a little caramel sauce on top, along with the usual apple pies, fritters, apple bratwursts, and even imaginable variation — and then you take a sack of your choice of apples home with you to last a couple of weeks deeper into frost.

It was such a trip to Bayfield that we were able to put to good use the new 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe, a midsize SUV that has been considerably upgraded toward the luxury end of the scale, but still retaining a modest price.

Parking adjacent to Bayfield Harbor gives you the chance to enjoy the scenery while seeking a place to park for the walk back and forth through town. That timing also allows us to check out a trio of impressive SUVs at the same time — not competitors, really, but each answering different needs for customers.

The Santa Fe ranks as a compromise between the Range Rover Sport — which is in its third generation and moves onto the new MLA-Flex platform that will underpin the newest Range Rover and Jaguar vehicles — and the Infiniti QX50, which is the smallest and sportiest of the various SUV sizes built by Nissan’s high-end Infiniti brand.

These three may never be considered by the same buyer, but they indicate the choices facing consumers these days. If you aren’t worried about your family budget, the Range Rover is at the top of the class of SUVs, looking the least changed for 2023, but surprising you with its advancements in technology.

It starts out with a sticker price of about $130,000 for the top of the line, and scales down to $69,500, which is still a stiff price. The test vehicle I drove was the Sport, which was a compact two-door, with seating for four or five. You might also choose the longer version with its optional third-row bench seat to house seven.

As you work the option list to get above $100,000, you could make the case that the Range Rover Sport earns its sticker with the understated elegance and class Range Rover is known for, and the Sport came with the new Inline 6-cylinder engine that is both supercharged for low-end thrust and turbocharged to keep making peak power as the revs climb.

As usual, the Range Rover Sport is designed and built to take on the most absurd off-road challenges, for those inclined to take their six-figure family hauler up the cliffs of Moab. But it also rides with smooth and comfortable precision in every on-road circumstance, and i sure to draw oohs and ahhhs whenever you arrive at the country club.

The Hyundai Santa Fe has been a reliable and durable performer for the South Korean company as it has ascended to the upper reaches of the JD Power customer satisfaction and initial quality surveys. The interior leather and wood trim on the seats, console and dashboard outline the big information screens that report all the necessary emergency elements of modern high-end motoring.

Hyundai has been at the forefront of developing useful things such as lane-keeping alert and warning and lane-centering assist, which gently nudges you to continue in the center of your driving lane even around curves.

A fantastic feature is the instrument panel, with its big tachometer on one side and speedometer on the other in round housings. When you signal a lane change, either left or right, exterior cameras in either outside mirror is displayed on one of those gauges, giving the driver an immediate alert to oncoming cars. It is welcome every time you want to turn or change lanes, and can help avoid accidents.

Hyundai also was a leader in the rear door alert, and has perfected it now so that when you stop at a parking place, any rear seat occupant who wants to throw open the door to exit will be alerted and prevented from doing so.

The Santa Fe we drove listed for about $42,000, but they are scaled from $27,200 to $45,360 depending on powertrain and options. We drove my favorite, with the 1.6-liter 4-cylinder turbo hybrid, which is quick, comfortable and smooth operating, or you can opt for a 2.5-liter 4, and a 3.3 V6 is also on the chart. The 1.6 hybrid, however, performs like a V6 and can get more than 30 miles per gallon on the highway, and encourages the use of the steering wheel paddles to hold downshifts on hilly descents.

It fits in below the Palisade, and above the Kona and Tucson in Hyundai’s stable, and you can find a way to add a third-row jump seat for kids or to be folded down for stowage. My choice of any vehicle category always has been the smallest vehicle that’s big enough, because less heart and size invariably means better agility and handling and a better sporty feel that makes driving fun.

At Infiniti, you can choose a large, boxy but roomy model at the top, or continue down the list of “QX” SUVs until you get to the midsize QX60, and on down to my favorite, which is the QX50. It is a perfect example of why SUVs are replacing sedans because it handles like a sedan, and Infiniti has packed a lot of luxury and refinement into it — not the least of which is under the hood.

Our test vehicle came with Nissan’s fantastic 2.0-liter variable-compression 4-cylinder, which can run on basically any grade of gasoline with the obvious plan that you get the best mileage with premium fuel but it will run just fine on regular, with a commensurate decrease in performance.

Not that you’d notice. Stepping on the gas and using the paddles with the mode set to sport brings the QX50 to life as you accelerate onto a freeway, and the paddles are such a treat that you can almost forget that the vehicle has a CVT — continuously variable transmission.

I prefer the crisp shifting of something like Hyundail’s dual-clutch 8-speed transmission, but while you’re clicking the paddles and accelerating, you can pretend you’re really shifting. The seats were a bright red-orange and black — perfect for Halloween — and surprising for a luxury vehicle, even a sporty luxury vehicle. I would have preferred a more subdued color scheme, but the leather was fine and smooth and it was just an added dose of sportiness.

The sticker price on the QX50 was $56,950, which may seem like a lot, but that variable-combustion engine is a fine piece of technology — with changing power demands causing the crankshaft to alter the actual combustion ratio with every RPM change.

If one of these three such different SUVs appeals to you, it would be worth a test drive, and you can fit the features — and the price tag — into what works for you.