We are blessed in this country with a large assortment of efficient environmentally friendly vehicles.

No, the hydrogen fuel cell has not yet arrived to the general public.

And the totally electric car is still awaiting revolutionary battery technology.

But gas-stingy cars have been arriving in growing numbers the past two to three years giving families an attractive shopping list.

Choices of 30-miles-to-the-gallon-or-better transportation has never been so good, and those small to mid-sized fuel sippers have never been so good.

As gas prices steadily escalate toward the once-unthinkable $4 a gallon, this is a good thing. We are indeed blessed.

The problem is that people have to begin thinking smaller to count these blessings and keep dollars in their pockets and out of the hands of the oil industry. They have to be willing to give up guzzlers in favor of sippers.

This all came to mind again last week while behind the wheel of yet another new edition to the growing collection of gas misers, the Kia Rondo.

Well, actually, the Rondo is on the fringe of fuel sipper territory, rated at 20 city/27 highway in V-6 guise and 21/29 with a 4-cylinder. But the Rondo is a rare vehicle, one that will carry four adults in stretch-out comfort with almost 32 cubic feet of cargo space behind the second row.

So exactly what is this strangely named new Kia? It’s more a small minivan with conventional doors than a small car, closer to a Mazda5 than a Honda Fit. Based on the Kia Optima sedan — it stretches out 179 inches and weighs in at 3,443 pounds — can be purchased with a 2.4-liter 162-horsepower inline 4-cylinder engine mated to a four-speed automatic or a 2.7-liter V-6 making 182 horsepower mated to a five-speed automatic. A manual transmission is not offered, but both automatics come with a shift-it-yourself feature.

The Rondo can be purchased with a third-row seat — a $500 option — that will accommodate children. As you might expect in a vehicle this size, storage is all but eliminated with the third row in use.

Prices range from $16,995 including destination charge for the base LX 4-cylinder model to $20,795 for a decently equipped V-6 EX model.

Leather seating, sunroof, a 350-watt Infiniti sound system and a few other extras can take the price into 23 grand territory.

But here’s the good part. The base LX four-banger comes well equipped with full power accessories, height-adjustable driver’s seat, 16-inch alloy wheels, stereo with single CD player and a nice compliment of safety features including four-wheel ABS with electronic brake-force distribution, front side airbags, front and rear side curtain airbags, stability control, driver and front passenger head restraint whiplash protection and tire pressure monitoring.

The only thing missing for a well-equipped livable vehicle is air conditioning. That can be added for $900 bringing the bottom line to just under 18 grand.

The Rondo is perhaps a perfect compromise for many people in today’s market — a low-cost fuel-efficient compact vehicle that can more than adequately serve as the family car whether on a long vacation trip or commuting to and from school.

Our 200-mile week-long experience came in a six-cylinder EX version that arrived with premium stereo, sunroof and third row seating for $22,495.

We found the V-6 sprightly in around-town driving. It has plenty of punch for merging and passing and it seemed to have a mind of its own on the open road, wanting to run with the big dogs. Several times we were astonished to find we had edged up to 80 miles per hour in an area we normally drive 70 to avoid a ticket.

We didn’t drive the 4-cylinder, but we think it will be an adequate performer especially with light loads of just two or three passengers.

The cost of a V-6 compared to a 4-cylinder is negligible, but you will lose between one-to-two miles to the gallon.

A base 4-cylinder comes in at around 17 grand. Add air conditioning, a necessity if for nothing else its resale value, and you are looking at $18,000. The base V-6 sells for $19,500 with air conditioning and a few other features not found on the base 4.

And here is a statistic that may excite the family guy with a fishing boat — the V-6-equipped Rondo has a rather healthy towing capacity of 5,000 pounds. That’s 1,500 pounds more than many small SUVs including the Ford Escape V-6, Toyota RAV4 V-6 and the Chevrolet Equinox V-6.

The Rondo handled surprisingly well on our favorite back-road twisties keeping its composure at speeds we usually reserve for more planted vehicles. And the car was generally quiet at highway speeds, but with some wind noise coming from around the mirrors. In this price range, we’d give the Rondo four stars for interior solitude.

Maybe more important to mom is parking lot maneuverability. The Rondo shines in this area, too, with a small 36-foot turning circle.

The driver’s seat offers a decent seating position and visibility from that perch is Honda-like. In other words, you won’t find many vehicles at any price range with a better view in all directions.

Our usual back-seat passenger proclaimed her seating position comfortable with scads of leg room.

And she praised how easy it was to enter and exit. Basically, just open the door and sit.

The interior in our test car was well done and the standard cloth seats attractive and accommodating. The gauges are clear and the switchgear is straight forward and easy to use.

Storage cubbies abound including a bin with a power-point large enough to hold any size cellphone. One neat idea is a shallow tray above the glovebox that will hold such thing as sunglasses and other small objects. A center bin that doubles as an arm rest will swallow bigger items.

The front cupholders are big enough to handle 20-ounce plastic bottles. Kia says its five-passenger version has eight cupholders and its seven-passenger edition comes with 10.

Add in Kia's now famous 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty and the Rondo is one of the big surprises of the 2007 model year.

Jim Meachen can be contacted at meachen@mac.com.

The latest Hyundai television advertising campaign has probably caught your attention by now.

One ad compares the mid-sized Hyundai Sonata to a BMW 325. The audacity of the South Korean automaker to compare the 20-grand Sonata family hauler with the 35-grand German sports sedan. The ad suggests the Sonata has more room and horsepower, a better warranty and equal amenities at almost half the price.

It’s a bit tongue-in-cheek. No one looking for a BMW is going to switch to a Hyundai. And really, once you get past a few numbers, there’s no comparison. The ad is aimed at people looking for a family sedan who can say, hey, if we buy the Sonata we’ll have everything the BMW offers.

Well, not quite.

Perhaps less laughable is the comparison, made in a companion ad, between the new mid-sized Veracruz crossover and the decidedly more expensive Lexus RX350, the gold standard of the segment.

You could make a case for the Veracruz against the Lexus.

The Veracruz features an energetic but refined 260-horsepower V-6 engine, a six-speed automatic transmission with manual shift feature, a stylish cabin outfitted with quality materials including wood and metallic accents, room for seven passengers, a full array of safety equipment and the now-famous long-term Hyundai warranty.

Prices start at $26,305 and climb to $34,000 for the top-of-the-line Limited with all-wheel drive.

Perhaps not many Lexus buyers will swing over to the new Veracruz. Hyundai, however, may gain conquests of Toyota Highlander, Honda Pilot and Chrysler Pacifica owners.

But when you figure a RX350, outfitted about like the Veracruz Limited, comes in at over 40 grand it might behoove money-conscious buyers to take back-to-back test drives.

It isn’t that much of a stretch.

We ran into an old friend, a retired car dealer, in a business supply store the first week the Veracruz reached showrooms. Our conversation quickly steered toward the current new-car market. He asked what we thought of Hyundai and invited us out to look at his new Veracruz in the parking lot.

The upshot is this knowledgeable car man picked the Veracruz over an RX350.

“I just couldn't see that much difference,” he said. “I saved thousands of dollars, got a great warranty and, damn, I’m happy with this Hyundai.”

At one event this spring, Hyundai offered up several RX350 models to journalists. “Drive these,” they said. “And then drive the Veracruz.”

The mere fact Hyundai officials had no fear of back-to-back comparisons says something about their confidence in the new crossover. The fact that many journalists walked away amazed at the similarities speaks volumes for the new Hyundai.

But more to the point, let’s talk comparisons with the Pilot, Highlander, Pacifica, the Subaru Tribeca and the Mazda CX-9. Those vehicles are more likely the conquests if the Veracruz is to be successful.

Three things really stand out with the Veracruz — passenger space, an upscale interior, and performance — when comparing the Hyundai to the aforementioned products.

Passenger space is important and the Highlander and Pilot, for instance, have cramped third-seat accommodations. Adults need not apply for those seats. The Veracruz, on the other hand, offers an adult-friendly third row that is easily accessible by fold-out-of-the-way second-row seats. You might not enjoy a long trip back there, but it’s an acceptable place for a short jaunt to the restaurant.

With the third-row seat in use, storage is limited to a meager 6.5 cubic feet. But remember, this is a mid-sized vehicle.

The middle seat is comfortable and adjustable by up to five inches fore and aft. If cargo space behind the seat is not paramount the middle offers scads of legroom. We pushed the seats as far forward as they would go and still found adequate space for legs and feet. Sacrificing a bit in the middle gives third-row passengers more room.

The Veracruz has 87 cubic feet of storage space with all seats folded flat and a generous 40 cubic feet behind the second row. The Pilot, by comparison, has 88 total cubic feet of storage and 47 behind the second-row. The Highlander has 81 and 40.

Hyundai has addressed the performance hot button with an energetic 3.8-liter V-6 generating 260 horsepower mated to its first-ever six-speed automatic transmission with a manual shift feature.

The powertrain gives the two-ton crossover solid if not spectacular performance that should satisfy its constituents in all circumstances including merging and passing. It has been measured in a 0-to-60 time of around 8 seconds.

It’s a good compromise between performance and gas mileage. The new Hyundai is rated at 18 city and 25 highway in two-wheel drive and 17/24 in all-wheel drive.

And the Veracruz has an adequate towing capacity of 3,500 pounds, important to people who pull small boats or other recreational equipment.

We found the well-appointed interior hushed, perhaps as quiet as the Lexus although we haven't done a back-to-back comparison. Suffice it to say the Veracruz, with exceptional torsional and bending rigidity and scads of sound-deadening materials, stacks up well in solitude against the Honda, Toyota, Subaru and Chrysler.

Hyundai has been over the years an unabashed copycat taking the best designs of its competitors and incorporating them into its vehicles. So it is no surprise that the dashboard layout mimics Lexus. Wood and metallic accents are well done and set off the interior, particularly when the leather package is part of the equation.

Safety has not been overlooked and the Veracruz has already earned top five-star crash ratings for driver and front-passenger protection and a four-star rollover rating.

The Veracruz comes in three trim levels starting at $27,685 including destination charge for a two-wheel-drive GLS. Base price for all-wheel drive is $29,385. The mid-level SE begins at $29,385 and the up-level Limited starts at $33,685.

All models get the V-6 engine and a generous amount of equipment including a full range of power accessories, air conditioning, stereo with CD player and MP3 capability, cruise control, keyless entry, antilock brakes and stability control.

Features such as 18-inch alloy wheels, sunroof, upgraded audio system, power liftgate dual-zone climate control, leather seating and rear parking sensors come either as options or standard equipment on higher trim levels.

Unfortunately the Veracruz does not yet have a navigation system available. Seems like a major oversight since everything the Veracruz competes against, including the Lexus, has navigation available. Hyundai officials said the option is coming soon.

The competition in this segment is fierce including the highly-regarded and slightly larger General Motors trio — the GMC Acadia, Saturn Outlook and Buick Enclave — so it’s hard to predict the immediate success of the Veracruz.

But it seems Hyundai has done all the right things — including keeping its long-term warranty — to give the Veracruz the opportunity to succeed.

We were impressed and we feel many potential buyers will be too.

Jim Meachen can be contacted at meachen@mac.com.

Over the years Ford has a penchant for getting a head start on the competition.

For example, the company started shipping the 2005 Escape in the winter of 2004. Going back a decade, Ford introduced the all-new 1997 F-150 pickup in January of 1996.

Mercury Mariner, a compact sport utility based on the Ford Escape, gets the jump start this year. The 2008 Mariner started showing up in showrooms this past winter.

We’re not sure why Ford markets some of its products this way, but we can see an advantage for the dealer who doesn’t have to clear the decks of current-year models in September and October to make way for the new stuff. In the case of the Mariner, the newest stuff is already sitting on the lot.

Because the 2008 Mariner has arrived six-to-ten months early, you may jump to the conclusion that it’s an all-new vehicle.

But if you are looking for a new generation of crossover in the 2008 Mariner, you won’t find it. What you will find is a revised version of the five-passenger high-rider that Mercury has been selling since the 2005 model year. The underpinnings of the Mariner including the transmission and V-6 engine go back to the start of the decade when the first Escape was introduced, but it’s still a viable choice against the new crop of small sport utilities and crossovers.

What helps make the updated Mariner an interesting alternative in a segment bristling with new and attractive products is price.

Mercury has reduced the price of the Mariner by an average $1,300 while adding more standard features. For example, a well-outfitted Premier with V-6 and all-wheel drive previously started at $27,515. The 2008 edition begins at $26,045 including a $665 destination charge. Our research shows that the starting price of the 2005 Premier was nearly identical to the new vehicle.

The base Mariner with a 153-horsepower 4-cylinder now begins at $21,395, a decrease of $410.

We recommend the 200-horsepower V-6. and the base six-cylinder model now begins at an economical $22,395, a $1,295 decrease from 2007.

The value is even greater when standard safety equipment — some of which was optional on all but the top trim level in 2007 — is figured into the equation.

In fact, nearly everything that the Mariner offers in terms of safety is now standard across the lineup including canopy side air curtains, side-impact air bags, ABS, tire pressure monitor system and Ford’s AdvanceTrac anti-skid system. Rear parking sensors are available on the Primer trim level.

Factor in the Mariner’s top crash ratings from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and Mercury has a strong selling point. The Mariner has earned a top five stars from NHTSA for both front and rear-seat passengers in side-impact crash tests when equipped with the now-standard curtain airbags, and the second highest rating from IIHS in offset frontal impact tests.

Price and safety will help sell the Mariner, but how it feels behind the wheel may be the ultimate factor. We’ve always liked the seating position in the Escape/Mariner. The driver sits up high, a desirable trait in a sport utility, and visibility is good in all directions.

Mercury has done a good job quieting the interior, but we feel not enough effort has been put into eliminating road and wind noise.

The Mariner drives as small as you would expect it would. While the turning circle is a longish 39 feet, the small Mercury is still maneuverable in the mall parking lot.

Rear seating is comfortable for two people who will find very adequate legroom and ample head room. And rear storage measures 29 cubic feet, very generous for a small SUV. With the second row folded, maximum cargo capacity is a decent 62 cubic feet.

The Mariner for the most part has a pleasing upscale interior. The stylists created a more Lincoln-like cockpit look for 2008. Satin-aluminum and chrome accent the center stack and console. Chrome-ringed gauges, redesigned for 2008, are attractive. Leather seats with contrasting suede insets have been a pleasing styling cue for the Mariner since its inception.

We were not happy, however, with the new small and incomprehensible controls that come with the automatic climate control system. For the sake of styling, Mercury has taken a step backward. The center stack, made up of more than a dozen unattractive flat black audio and climate control buttons and knobs, is an exercise in bad design.

What may be the Achilles Heel to some shoppers is the aging drivetrain. That being said, the 200 horsepower and 193 pound-feet of torque emanating from the 3.0-liter V-6 mated to a four-speed automatic is adequate to motivate the Mariner in an acceptable manner. The SUV feels sprightly in around-town stoplight-to-stoplight driving, but it’s in the merging and passing aspects of daily driving that the engine may be a letdown on occasion.

When this engine/transmission combination hit the market in 2000, it was near the head of the class. But the competition has caught up with five-and six-speed transmissions and engines approaching 250 horsepower.

Gas mileage, as measured using the new 2008 standards, is an acceptable 17 city and 21 mpg highway with the all-wheel drive version and 18/23 front-wheel drive. Note that the EPA is changing the way it determines mileage starting with 2008 models. In most cases mileage numbers will fall from 10-to-20 percent. For 2007, the V-6 was rated at 19/23 with all-wheel drive and 20/24 with front-wheel drive.

If you can afford the $1,000 difference between the base engine and the V-6, we highly recommend purchasing the V-6. It will yield more satisfying and quieter performance. Both engines operate on regular 87 octane gas.

In addition to the aforementioned safety equipment, standard amenities on all Mariners include power windows and locks, stereo with CD player and MP3 capability, keyless entry, leather-wrapped steering wheel, cruise control and air conditioning.

DVD-based navigation and Sirius satellite radio are available for the first time as options. A rear entertainment system is still not on the options list, however.

Our well-outfitted Premier edition, which included navigation, carried a sticker price of $28,540.

A hybrid version of the Mariner is also available starting at $26,430.

The 2008 Mariner has a lot to offer in safety, comfort and practicality particularly at Mercury’s new price point.

Jim Meachen can be contacted at meachen@mac.com.

Small cars have much to offer.

Most obvious, of course, is their fuel economy. Using less gas is a good thing. Frugality is a good thing for the pocketbook — and the environment.

A low purchase price is another advantage.

A small car’s ability to zip in and out of traffic and make use of the slimmest parking spots is yet another.

But small cars are, well, small.

In many cases that’s not a good thing and in many cases that’s what keeps families from purchasing small. People in many circumstances are forced to buy bigger — gas mileage, purchase price and maneuverability aside.

But if you can somehow squeeze into small, you might be willing to sacrifice the luxury of space to drive economically and more environmentally friendly.

That’s where the sub-compact Nissan Versa shines.

Its passenger compartment is amazingly roomy for a car that stretches only 169 inches from bumper to bumper with a miniscule width of less than 67 inches.

Packaging is one of its strong suits.

If you’re looking for something more fuel efficient for the car pool, but worry that your passengers will quickly complain about new-found but unwanted intimacy, check out the Versa.

There’s ample room for four adults. And we’re talking about enough head room and leg room for two 6-footers in the second row.

We were amazed at the rear-seat space in our Versa hatchback test car.

The Versa makes car-pooling at 35 miles to the gallon on regular gas a smart choice.

There are numerous small cars now on the market that come highly recommended. Competition in the so-called B segment is getting fierce. But few come with the passenger space offered by the Versa, particularly the 43 cubic feet available for second-row passengers. Rear-seat legroom is 38 inches, more than any vehicle in its class. And when cargo hauling is the order of the day, the Versa delivers a class-leading 50 cubic feet of space with the rear seatbacks folded. Conversely, cargo area is on the small side at 17.8 cubic feet with the second-row in use.

While space is the most significant attribute of the new-for-2007 Versa, it has other desirable qualities including solid performance from a 1.8-liter 4-cylinder engine especially at lower speeds, a rich-looking and quiet interior and a relatively compliant ride befitting a bigger car with a longer wheelbase.

Although the Versa hatch has the rather ungainly tall-roof look of many of its competitors, it has better proportions than, for instance, the Honda Fit. It comes with the signature Nissan grille flanked by large headlight enclosures.

Excellent use of plastic and cloth give the interior a satisfying look, and that’s where you will live. So a well done cockpit is important. Even our base 1.8 S trim level test car had rich-looking and nice-feeling black suede upholstery. The dashboard area was adorned with a well-done faux carbon-fiber giving an upscale appearance.

The driver’s seat was comfortable and sat its occupant up high for a commanding view of the road.

If you are a fan of automotive cockpits that look as if they’ve been transplanted from an F-15 jet fighter, forget it. The Versa has a straight up no-nonsense layout that’s easy to use.

We were a bit put off by the Versa’s lack of storage cubbies, however. There is no center bin and no storage area left of the steering wheel. A small covered storage compartment above the radio and a large glovebox are about it for your car collectables. The up-front cupholders can also be used for stuff if they are not in use for drinks.

There is a small slender tray next to the emergency brake handle designed to hold a modern cellphone. And it’s located next to a powerpoint. Nice touch.

But not such a nice touch — there was no mirror on the driver’s sun visor in our test car. Nissan needs to fix this immediately. Women drivers demand a mirror. This is the wrong place for Nissan to save a dime.

We found the 1.8-liter engine, which generates 122 horsepower, satisfying in stop-and-go traffic. Although it satisfactorily completed higher-speed merges and passing chores, it loses steam and is a bit noisy under higher rpms.

But we feel we had the worst of the three transmission choices — a four-speed automatic — for both performance and fuel economy. In addition to the four-speed, the Versa can be purchased with a six-speed manual in either the base 1.8 S trim level or the up-level 1.8 SL and with a CVT (continuously variable transmission) in the 1.8 SL.

Gas mileage with the four-speed is rated at 28 city, 35 highway. Move to the CVT and mileage goes to 30/36. The manual is rated at 30/34.

Not only do you get less gas mileage with the four-speed, but less performance as well. Performance with the CVT, our transmission of choice, has been measured at about 9.5 seconds from 0 to 60.

So here’s the tricky part. Do you settle for an otherwise well-equipped base model for around 15 grand or do you opt for the up-level model that comes with the CVT for about 16 grand?

We say figure out a way to finance a few extra dollars and get the CVT.

Our test vehicle carried a base price of $13,855. Add on antilock brakes ($250), a power package including windows, mirrors and locks ($700) and splash guards and floor mats and it took the bottom line to $15,065 including destination charge.

Going with the manual transmission will save $800. The deal breaker for us might be cruise control, which is standard on the SL, but unavailable at any price on the S. Also a problem for us is the unavailability of satellite radio on the S. A choice of XM or Sirius is a $300 option on the SL.

One thing that is standard across the lineup is solid safety. The Versa, which comes with front seat-mounted side airbags and side-curtain airbags for all passengers, has earned top scores in both frontal and side-impact collisions.

If you have a hang up on hatchbacks, the Versa is also available as a sedan. Note that fold-down rear seatbacks are only available on the SL trim level.

The Versa is far from a small sports sedan. What it is is a comfortable cruiser with scads of passenger space that is capable of obtaining more than 30 miles to the gallon. Is this the right car for the times? You better believe it.

Jim Meachen can be contacted at meachen@mac.com.

Luxury sport utilities have proliferated in recent years. So perhaps it’s a bit strange that with the multitude of these high-dollar high-riders available to people with healthy disposable incomes that there’s only a couple of pickup trucks built for luxury vehicle buyers.

It’s not easy to make a statement with a Ford, Chevrolet or Toyota emblem residing on the grille no matter how optioned out they might be.

Don’t despair, however, if you must own one. If you’ve got a burning desire to have a luxury name attached to the front of your truck, Cadillac has something for you. And it’s like nothing else on the road, a crew cab pickup that can be converted into a big hauler.

You’ve probably heard of the Escalade EXT. It’s been in showrooms since the 2002 model year and it has been completely revised for 2007

Cadillac upgraded the truck in several areas, but the unusual features are still intact.

The EXT has a 5-foot-8-inch truck bed enclosed by a sturdy composite cover that is impervious to dents and scratches. The bed can be extended to nearly nine feet through General Motors’ innovative Convert-A-Cab system, its main feature called a midgate.

Convert-A-Cab, introduced by GM five years ago, allows the cargo bed to be opened up into the cabin.

The midgate is a moveable partition between the cab and bed that can be folded flat with the turn of a latch. The rear window is removable as is the bed cover allowing for open-air storage up to the back of the front seats.

We question how many people who plunk down 60 big ones for an EXT with all the luxury reserved for “the standard of the world” will ever tumble the rear seats, fold down the midgate, remove the rear window and haul motorcycles or riding lawn mowers.

If this process could be accomplished by the push of a power button it might be an interesting diversion for the man who has everything. Unfortunately, much like its workhorse brother the Chevrolet Avalanche, the process takes crawling and twisting.

But just to have the capability to haul big stuff in a vehicle that will take you to the opera in luxurious surroundings has to be worth something.

Cadillac has been selling between 7,000 and 8,000 copies a year, enough to keep the truck in showrooms

And sales may grow this year with an upgraded EXT that includes an all-new fully boxed frame, a bigger and more powerful V-8 engine, a new six-speed automatic transmission and a more stylish and luxury-appointed interior.

Also new is a sleeker exterior with a more in-your-face Cadillac-style egg-crate grille flanked by huge headlamp enclosures. The overall big-truck look definitely remains.

A 6.2-liter V-8 with variable valve timing generating a massive 403 horsepower and 417 pound-feet of torque replaces a 6.0-liter V-8 that made 345 horsepower. Mated to a slick-shifting six-speed automatic, the V-8 can propel the nearly three-ton truck from a standstill to 60 miles per hour in under eight seconds.

Best to modulate your right-foot impulses, however, as gas mileage — not required to be published on a truck this size — has been estimated at 13 mpg city and 19 highway on premium gas. Cadillac advises that premium gas is recommended, but not required.

The new boxed frame yields a 49-percent increase in torsional stiffness compared to the 2006 model. And this translates into a smoother ride and more responsive handling. Also adding to a more point-and-shoot feel on the highway is a new rack and pinion steering system replacing the old recirculating ball setup.

The EXT is loaded with safety and convenience features for rainy and cold-weather driving. The seamless standard all-wheel drive system is complemented by a computer-controlled road-sensing suspension called Stabilitrak.

Also adding to the confidence factor are all-season 18-inch tires, large disc brakes with an all-new Bosch ABS system on all four corners and ultrasonic park assist.

Other standard safety features include full-length side-curtain airbags and a tire-pressure monitoring system.

While the Escalade truck is equipped to accomplish many chores while providing a comfortable ride and considerable safety, it’s the living area that impresses the most.

You might think a truck with a fold-down gate that leaves the passenger compartment open to the outside elements would not completely seal off the interior from outside noises and would be conducive to squeaks and rattles. The EXT was luxury-car quiet and squeaks and rattles are not part of the program, however.

The interior is lavished in wood and leather with chrome-ringed instruments. Particularly impressive is the instrumentation with blue needles on white LED backlighting. They are very readable in bright sunlight and offer a warm glow at night.

The leather-clad seats — they can be purchased in either black or cashmere — are large and wonderfully supportive. The center console and door trim is also leather covered.

During our test week we gravitated to the Cadillac when we had a choice of other, smaller and easier-to-maneuver vehicles in the driveway because of the comfortable and quiet cabin, more than anything.

One downside, legroom is not as plentiful in the second row as we felt it should be in a vehicle this size. The Ford F-150 crew and the new Toyota Tundra both have considerably more stretch-out room than the Escalade.

The Escalade EXT is loaded with standard equipment for a base price of $54,605, but some mouth-watering options are available with the prospect of running the bottom line toward 70 grand.

For instance, our test truck came with optional 22-inch aluminum wheels, a navigation system that included a six-disc changer with MP3 capability and a rearview camera, rear-seat entertainment system, power retractable assist steps, power sliding sunroof and a climate package that included heated and cooled front seats and a heated steering wheel. The bottom line including destination was $64,305.

If you need more flexibility in your big luxury sport utility, the Escalade EXT may be the answer. And it will provide you a topic of conversation at your next cocktail party.

Jim Meachen can be contacted at meachen@mac.com.

Lincoln found unexpected success last year with the entry-level mid-sized Zephyr sedan.

It accounted for 33,114 sales in 2006, its first full year in showrooms, representing about 40 percent of Lincoln’s car volume.

So, did officials break out the champagne to toast these encouraging statistics? No, they instead changed the name of the car to MKZ.

Let’s chew that one over. Lincoln puts an historic name — a really great name — on a new product that strikes a winning chord with younger buyers and then retires the name after one model year for some letters. The party line is that the change was necessary to get the sedan in line with the new letter naming structure at Lincoln.

We don’t pretend to be knowledgeable in marketing, but we do carry around a little common sense and this just strikes us as a lack of it. Lincoln surely knew last year that letters were coming when they made the stop-gap Zephyr decision.

However, that being said, the new MKZ — pronounced M-K-Z, not Mark Z — is actually improved in several ways even though it’s the same car.

We discovered that more than just a name separates the 2006 Zephyr from the 2007 MKZ.

The Zephyr — and now the MKZ — is built on the Ford Fusion platform with a front-drive chassis setup. The Mercury Milan also shares the underpinnings. The Zephyr — as well as the 2007 Fusion and Milan — is propelled by a 3.0-liter Duratec V-6 generating 221 horsepower mated to a six-speed automatic. It rides on a rather soft suspension, tuned more toward a Town Car than a BMW 3-Series.

That setup resonated with a lot of people.

So this year the MKZ should be even more successful with a new engine, a new suspension setup and available all-wheel drive.

Most noticeable to the casual observer are a new Lincoln-style grille and front fascia and updated 17-inch aluminum wheels.

But a new and more refined 3.5-liter V-6 generating 263 horsepower and 249 pound-feet of torque is the big story. That represents a gain of 42 horsepower and 44 pound-feet of torque.

Hit the accelerator and the power builds quickly, smoothly and consistently through the slick six-speed automatic. The MKZ feels like an entry-level luxury car with 0-to-60 performance under 7 seconds. By the way, the power infusion has resulted in the loss of only about a mile to the gallon. The new MKZ is rated at 17 city, 24 highway with all-wheel drive and 18/25 in front-wheel drive. And unlike many of its competitors, it runs in full performance mode on 87 octane regular.

Lincoln engineers firmed up the suspension to match the extra power. We discovered this first hand driving the sedan on the infamous “Tail of the Dragon,” a stretch of U.S. 129 at Deal’s Gap near the Tennessee-North Carolina border that features 318 curves in 11 miles. Lincoln displayed confidence in the MKZ’s suspension set up by putting journalists on this challenging stretch of mountain road at the car’s press introduction last fall.

And last winter we were given a demonstration of the car’s all-wheel drive capability coming down the 88-mile stretch of West Virginia Turnpike in a mountain blizzard that left the roadway treacherous in places. The Lincoln was as sure footed as a mountain goat.

That trip included nearly 1,800 highway miles over a two-day period with three adults onboard, and we found that the Lincoln has more going for it than a good engine and confident driving dynamics.

It has comfortable seats that stayed enjoyably receptive for hours. We never found ourselves squirming for a better fit in the driver’s seat. Finding a desirable driving position was never a problem. Steering wheel cruise control is easy to operate, and audio, climate and navigation controls are intuitive and easy to use while under way.

Adding to the comfort level was a quiet interior. Lincoln officials say it’s quieter than the Lexus ES 350, a serious bragging point.

Adding to the enjoyment of driving was Sirius Satellite Radio played through the optional 14-speaker 600-watt THX-II audio system. If you love your music as much as we do, it’s worth the price of admission — $995 as a stand-alone option or $2,495 bundled with one of the better navigation systems on the market. We were impressed with the sound as well as the ease-of-use of the Nav system.

Adding to the sedan’s road trip demeanor was 16 cubic feet of storage space in the trunk and rear-seating accommodations that proved comfortable in the area of head and leg room for an adult passenger. The trunk swallowed up four bags and other assorted items without much configuring.

As you would expect from a premium car, standard safety and convenience equipment abounds for a base price of $29,895 in two-wheel drive mode. That’s only $235 more than the 2006 Zephyr. We give Lincoln credit for holding the line on the price for an obviously upgraded product. The all-wheel drive model starts at $31,765 including destination.

Standard features on the MKZ include real wood trim, leather seating, 10-way power driver and passenger seats, dual-zone climate control, audio system with six-disc CD and MP3 changer and 17-inch alloy wheels.

Standard safety includes four-wheel disc brakes with ABS, traction control and side and side-curtain airbags. Strangely, stability control is not available, but Lincoln says it is coming.

In addition to all-wheel drive, our test car came with navigation and the wonderful THX II audio system with Sirius, and heated and cooled front seats for $34,950.

By the way, if you aren’t enamored of the wood accents, satin nickel aluminum trim can be substituted for $195.

We have some issues with the discontinuance of a great name after just one year.

We have no issues with what Lincoln has done to upgrade the car, turning it into one of the premier entry-level luxury sedans in America.

The company’s goal is to sell 30,000 units in 2007, about the same number sold in 2006. We think that’s conservative. When shoppers discover the new Lincoln they may become owners.

Jim Meachen can be contacted at meachen@mac.com.

All-wheel drive is becoming increasingly popular, now found on many vehicles including sedans and sports cars. New, sophisticated systems that drive all four wheels are better than two-wheel drive in nearly all applications.

But if you want all-wheel drive you’ll probably have to pay extra even in big, high-end sport utility vehicles and the new breed of crossover utilities.

Standard-equipment all-wheel drive is rare, usually reserved for high-dollar models.

Subaru is an exception. It has featured all-wheel drive for years, but all of its vehicles now carry prices north of 20 grand. Audi has made all-wheel drive its business as well, but the German company’s prices start north of 30 grand.

This makes Suzuki Motor Corporation unique because in 2007 it’s manufacturing a sub-compact station wagon — the SX4 — with standard Intelligent All-Wheel Drive (i-AWD) starting at $14,999.

And it’s backing up its system with a seven-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty.

The i-AWD system is rather sophisticated when factoring in the vehicle’s low price. It operates in three modes via a console-mounted switch – two-wheel drive for maximum fuel economy on dry pavement; automatic all-wheel drive, which transfers as much as 50 percent of the torque to the rear wheels depending on available traction; and all-wheel drive Lock, which is designed to offer maximum traction in case of snow or mud. When in Lock mode, a minimum of 30 percent up to a maximum of 50 percent of the power is distributed to the rear wheels. When the vehicle reaches 36 mph in lock mode, the system automatically switches to auto mode.

The SX4 competes in the new so-called B segment of small boxes which includes the Nissan Versa, Honda Fit, Toyota Yaris and Scion xB.

The Suzuki’s advantages in this growing segment include class-leading space for cargo and passengers, an impressive array of standard safety features including all-wheel drive, and a long-term warranty.

Interior space in the SX4 is just a notch below amazing considering its 162.8-inch length and 98-inch wheelbase. Luggage capacity is a gargantuan 38.1 cubic feet. By comparison, the Fit has 21.3 cubic feet and the Versa 17.8. With the rear seats folded, cargo capacity is 54 cubic feet compared to 42 for the Fit and 50 for the Versa.

Passenger space has not been sacrificed to gain cargo capacity. Front legroom is a generous 41.4 inches and rear leg room mimics that of many mid-sized sedans. The tall roof gives the interior the feeling of spaciousness.

We found the dashboard layout to our liking with intuitive switchgear. The interior materials are of decent quality for the segment, and fit and finish is excellent.

You won’t have to pony up an extra $600 for side-curtain airbags like in the Yaris, and you will get standard four-wheel disc brakes, something not even available on the larger and more upscale Nissan Sentra.

Other standard safety includes side-impact air-bags, antilock brakes and a tire pressure monitoring system. Stability control, something not usually offered in this segment, comes standard in the Sport trim level.

The SX4 comes with a high level of standard equipment including power windows and doorlocks, power mirrors, air conditioning, XM Satellite-ready audio with CD/MP3 player, outside temperature readout, tilt steering wheel, keyless entry and roof rails.

If we are making this little Suzuki sound like a home run, it’s not. It’s more like a stand-up double.

And the reason is weight, which affects gas mileage and performance. The engine, one of the biggest in its segment when measured by horsepower and torque, is strained to keep up. The SX4 comes in at nearly 3,000 pounds making the 2.0-liter 4-cylinder huff and puff despite a generous 143 horsepower and 136 pound-feet of torque.

By comparison, the Versa weighs in at 2,700 pounds, the Fit comes in at a lean 2,432 pounds and the Yaris sedan at 2,293 pounds.

While the SX4 achieves about the same performance numbers as the Yaris and Versa, it uses about 20 percent more fuel. Those numbers include 10 seconds from 0 to 60 with the five-speed manual and 11 seconds with the four-speed automatic.

Around-town driving — up to about 40 miles per hour — can be accomplished in a sprightly fashion. The fall off in performance comes at the higher speeds in merging and passing.

We could live with the performance and we could live with the gas mileage as long as our neighbor who owns a Fit doesn’t continually remind us of his 35 mpg.

The SX4 is EPA rated at 23 city and 28 highway with the five-speed and 24/30 with the automatic.

Figure the ample room for four passengers and the best-in-class cargo space, not to mention the standard all-wheel drive, and the SX4 should overcome its mileage and performance deficiencies in the minds of many people, especially those who live in the cold-weather climates.

The SX4 comes in just two trim levels, base and Sport. Adding the automatic transmission to the base car brings the price to $15,999.

The Sport manual is $16,399 and the Sport automatic is $17,399. For the extra cash outlay you get SmartPass keyless entry, automatic climate control, cruise control, premium audio system with six-CD changer and steering-wheel mounted audio controls. An iPod interface is available at Suzuki dealers.

We liked the generous array of standard features in the base package, but we were at first dismayed that cruise control was not offered. It’s a “must have” in our driving life. Then we discovered that we didn’t have to move up to the Sport trim level just to get cruise. Suzuki offers a $300 Convenience Package on the base model that includes cruise, a leather-wrapped steering wheel and steering wheel audio controls.

We think the all-new SX4 fills the bill for the family who doesn’t want to bust the budget on a new car, but needs decent cargo space, desires safety and all-weather capability, and can live happily with the Suzuki’s standard equipment without the need of expensive options.

Jim Meachen can be contacted at meachen@mac.com.

The dictionary defines mega as “large.”

The Dodge Ram Mega Cab has been aptly named. The Mega Cab is akin to a limousine with a six-foot bed attached. It takes the increasingly popular crew cab pickup truck to a new level of spaciousness. If you were so inclined you could camp out in the rear seat and watch your favorite video on the optional rear entertainment system before dropping off to sleep.

Wake up and stretch out.

The rear seat has a gigantic 44-inches of legroom and space to seat three adults a-cross without the necessity of be-coming intimately acquainted.

Wake up and discover scads of space to change into a fresh shirt and jeans for a new day’s travel. There’s 134 cubic feet of interior space including more than 70 cubic feet in the rear-seating area. It can be turned into cargo space by folding the seats flat. There’s another 7.7 cubic feet of cargo space behind the seat.

Dodge introduced the Mega Cab in 2006 in part, we suspect, to blunt criticism that its standard Quad Cab, introduced in 2002, does not have enough rear-seat leg room.

Dodge has gone from one extreme to the other.

With this enormous interior comes an enormous truck that is hard to park in a standard parking place and impossible to get into a standard garage.

But when it comes time to transport adult passengers, the huge dimensions — 247 inches long and 80 inches wide riding on a 160-inch wheelbase — are welcome.

We can attest. On the weekend we were in possession of the Mega Cab, we were asked to help move a big desk from an office supply store. And it wasn’t just a moving chore, it was also a shopping trip for five people. We didn’t come close to taxing the Mega Cab with five passengers and a big desk secured in the cargo bed.

It turned out to be a live demonstration of the usefulness and practicality of the Mega Cab in certain situations.

Probably more to the point, the truck fits the family that needs passenger space for several people, space to store stuff in the 6-foot-4 cargo bed and the towing capability to pull a big boat to the beach or a big travel trailer through the mountains.

The Mega Cab 1500, built on a heavy duty chassis, has a maximum tow rating of 8,700 pounds with a 2,400 pound payload. This is not best in class, but when you combine those numbers with the vehicle’s massive passenger compartment you get a very desirable vehicle.

Power to move the three-ton pickup is not a problem.

The standard engine is a 5.7-liter 345-horsepower Hemi V-8 making 375 pound-feet of torque mated to a five-speed automatic transmission. Even partially loaded there’s no problem moving sharply from a stoplight or merging on a busy highway. The big truck will finish off a 0-to-60 run in about 9 seconds, although you might get more then a few stares with the big rig under full throttle.

And perhaps just as important, emergency stops can be made relatively quickly. The brakes bring the three tons of truck down from 60 miles per hour in 149 feet.

A new 6.7-liter Cummins diesel became optional on the 2500 version the first of the year for about $5,600 replacing a 5.9-liter diesel . It makes 350 horsepower and 650 pound-feet of torque.

Amazingly, we discovered the big truck is an easy driver. A new independent front suspension and steering system make the Ram a snap to herd down the road. While point and shoot might be overstating it, the steering feel is excellent.

It was also delightful to luxuriate in the quiet interior and the smooth ride engineered into the truck. You don’t have to sacrifice the solitude expected from a luxury car or the ride that comes with a more refined sedan. It’s part of the Dodge package.

There’s no disappointment with interior appointments, either.

The front seats are comfortable, controls are easy to use and storage in the center bin is enormous. Readouts display outside temperature, instant fuel mileage and other tidbits of information you might find interesting.

Everything you expect from a luxury sedan or SUV can be purchased in the big Ram including DVD-based navigation, satellite radio and rear-seat entertainment.

The Mega Cab comes in two trim levels, SLT and Laramie, with the SLT starting at $32,270. The Laramie begins at $37,290. For 32 grand, the SLT comes with power windows and doorlocks, air conditioning, cruise control, stereo with CD player and ABS with electronic brakeforce distribution. Move up to the Laramie and power seats, leather upholstery, steering wheel audio controls, dual zone climate control and an upgraded audio system with MP3 playback and Sirius satellite radio become standard equipment.

While ABS is standard across the lineup, we were disappointed that Dodge has not made other safety features such as full-length side curtain airbags standard equipment. That feature can be picked up for $490.

Our Laramie test truck came with such extras as navigation and rear entertainment taking the bottom line to $40,185.

Of course, there are obvious downsides to the big rig. But we figure people will purchase the Mega Cab for specific reasons that only a big truck will satisfy, trumping the negative aspects.

Parking a vehicle that stretches out nearly 21 feet with a gargantuan 52-foot turning circle is one of those negatives. It’s no easy task on a busy street or in the shopping center parking lot where slots are narrow for even mid-sized vehicles.

If you’ve got to do chores in your Mega Cab, just park it in the far reaches and hike. Or unabashedly take up two spaces.

The other big downside, of course, is the Mega Cab’s mega appetite. Keeping the 35-gallon tank filled will take mega cash. Fuel economy ratings are not required for heavy duty trucks, but from our observation figure about 10 miles per gallon in city driving and 13-to-14 on the highway. One good thing — the big Hemi will run just fine on regular gas.

If you need a truck not only for towing, but for carrying four or five passengers on a regular basis, the Ram Mega Cab should definitely be on your shopping list.

Just keep in mind there’s a price to pay for this type of convenience.

Jim Meachen can be contacted at meachen@mac.com.

Hyundai no longer surprises us with its continued march up the mountain of improvement.

The South Korean automaker has been so consistent over the past few years in raising the bar with each new vehicle that it’s now expected.

So the surprise would have been an all-new Elantra sedan not measurably better than the car it replaced.

We were not surprised again. The 2007 model is a giant step forward from the previous Elantra — just as we had expected.

We have no problem recommending the new Elantra over the Toyota Corolla, Nissan Sentra, Chevrolet Cobalt or even the vaunted Honda Civic.

It has more standard equipment at a better price, a longer warranty and more standard safety features than the aforementioned competition.

And quality has ceased to be an issue with Hyundai. Simply read some recent J.D. Power and Associates reports for verification. Or ask your neighbor who owns a late-model Hyundai.

Hyundai is now designing cars in America for Americans. This latest styling rendition came out of the company’s southern California design studio, and it features contemporary uncluttered lines that are pleasing to the eye. Hyundai is not shy about borrowing the best from the competition, and in the case of the Elantra you can see a bit of Toyota Corolla in the face and the rear.

Like the exterior, the interior layout looks like something we’ve seen before. But that’s not a bad thing because switchgear is attractive and intuitive. Round climate controls have a nice feel.

Some of the ugly things about economy cars of the past, including several Hyundai products, were interior shortcomings such as misaligned pieces, poor-quality material and bad-looking plastic. It’s hard to look at those things every day and take pride in your car.

Forget those days and those cheap South Korean products of the late ’80s and early ’90s. Living inside the 2007 Elantra is a pleasant experience. Materials are of high quality and alignment is close to perfect.

The new Elantra not only looks good, it feels good.

It offers the feeling of a more upscale mid-sized sedan with a quiet interior and ample space for four adults. In fact, interior accommodations are so generous that the compact Elantra falls into the mid-sized category in the government’s rating system.

The Elantra’s interior volume has grown to 112.1 cubic feet without increasing the exterior dimensions of the car. That’s more than the all-new Nissan Sentra, which grew like a weed from the previous iteration. The Elantra now boosts class-leading front-seat legroom of 43.5 inches (the Civic has 42.2 inches) and a half-inch more legroom in the rear than the Honda at 35 inches.

Finding foot room in the back is made even better because of generous space under the front seats.

Hyundai managed to create this passenger-friendly cabin without sacrificing trunk space. In fact, the new Elantra with 14.2 cubic feet has a cubic foot more space than the previous car, a foot more than the Sentra and two cubic feet more than the current Civic.

If there is weak spot in this well-thought-out sedan, it’s with the powertrain, a carryover from the 2006 model. But even there we hesitate to call it a weak spot. It’s just more average than the rest of the car. Carried over is a 2.0-liter inline 4-cylinder generating 138 horsepower and 136 foot-pounds of torque. It can be equipped with a five-speed manual or a four-speed automatic transmission.

Low-end torque is the best feature of the engine. Response is good off the line, but tends to suffer at higher speeds. The engine runs smooth and quiet at low rpm, but becomes rather raucous above 4,000 rpm.

Performance and fuel economy are pretty much mid-pack at about 8.5 seconds from 0-to-60 and 83 miles per hour in the quarter mile, with an EPA rating of 28 mpg city and 36 highway with both the manual and automatic. The Corolla and the Civic boost better mileage, while the Volkswagen Rabbit and Mazda3 slightly less.

Even though we wouldn’t classify the Elantra as sporting, it possesses a smooth and stable feel and can be entertaining on the back-road curves.

Hyundai excels in three areas with all its vehicles — standard safety, price and warranty.

And those things put the new Elantra near the head of the class.

It comes with:

•A five-year/60,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty and a 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty;

•Standard safety that includes front-side impact and side-curtain airbags, standard four-wheel disc brakes with ABS and Electronic Brakeforce Distribution, and standard active head restraints;

•A starting price of $13,995 including destination charge.

In fairness the starting price is just that — a starting price. It won’t be the final price in most sales because the base GLS trim level comes without an air conditioner or an audio system.

The mid-level SE, such as our test car, is the smart vehicle of choice. For $17,380 most things people desire in a car are standard including the aforementioned safety features. Other standard amenities include automatic transmission, air conditioning, 16-inch alloy wheels, power windows and side mirrors, remote keyless entry, an audio system with CD player, cruise control and tilt and telescoping steering wheel.

If you enjoy shifting for yourself, the SE can be purchased with manual transmission for $16,295.

Move to the top Limited trim level and leather seating, heated seats, sunroof and a 220-watt audio system are added. Bottom line of the limited is $18,295.

The Elantra stands out as a credible family sedan for those who wish to keep their automotive purchase under $20,000, but who want a well-made, stylish and fuel-efficient vehicle that just happens to have an incredibly long warranty.

For those desiring the space and flexibility of a hatchback, Hyundai says it will introduce a hatchback model in the future.

Jim Meachen can be contacted at meachen@mac.com.

The 2008 Dodge Avenger brings a swagger to the popular mid-sized sedan segment dominated by the mainstream Honda Accord and Toyota Camry.

While the best-selling Camry is the quintessential mom and pop family hauler, the new Avenger, which replaces the Stratus in the Dodge lineup, is the John Wayne flag waving all-American addition to a rather conservative and staid segment. It might be considered by some a little rough around the edges, but it has an outgoing personality that may appeal to the buyer who is ready to step away from the neighborhood sameness of the Japanese brands.

Add on 18-inch chrome-clad wheels as found on our test car and you have a sedan that will upstage your neighbor’s Camry in the driveway wars.

We think styling sells cars and this is the most adventurously penned mid-sized sedan in recent times. Its Charger profile hits the mid-sized nail on the head.

Never mind that the muscular looks aren’t backed up by a Hemi. This is a family sedan that offers choices — a 173-horsepower 4-cylinder, a 2.7-liter V-6 generating 189 horsepower and a 3.5-liter V-6 making a satisfying 235 horsepower.

We haven’t been wowed by the 2.4-liter 4-banger, which is noisy and not particularly energetic. We have driven versions of the engine in the Dodge Caliber and Jeep Compass and we weren’t enthralled.

We recommend test driving the smaller V-6, which starts at $21,145 in mid-level SXT trim, and best of all the bigger engine mated to a six-speed automatic starting at $23,545 in R/T trim.

Granted, the 235-horsepower V-6 is not a Hemi. And it doesn’t match Toyota, Nissan and Honda in power numbers. But it feels good, hustling off the line with a throaty growl reminiscent of the more famous V-8. And it leaps from the stoplight with virtually no evidence of front-wheel-drive torque steer.

Once underway, the R/T has cat-like reflexes, quick and responsive to throttle imputes. The suspension has been tuned for aggressive driving, and while we won’t proclaim the R/T a sports sedan, we give it high marks for making the twists and turns of backroad America an entertaining weekend experience.

The problem with the Avenger is that its two cars in one. One is the aggressive and pleasing R/T. The other is the more dowdy and mediocre base SE and mid-level SXT. Both of those trim levels are saddled with a four-speed automatic and softer suspension.

If you need maximum fuel economy and the best price possible to obtain the aggressive Charger look, fine. The 4-cylinder edition starts at $18,895 with a reasonable package of standard equipment. The upgraded SXT with the V-6, a $1,350 option, may be the best compromise at $21,145 including destination charge. It will give you adequate performance from its 189-horsepower V-6. And its got flex-fuel capability, meaning it can burn E85 fuel (85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline).

But don’t expect the bang-for-the-buck R/T package we’ve described above. The R/T can be had for just a couple grand more than the SXT at a base of $23,545. By all means opt for the R/T if you can find a way to stretch the family budget. Our test car, loaded up with a half dozen options, stickered for $28,970.

A note here, especially for people living in cold-weather climates — all-wheel drive will be available in all trim levels later in the model year. The system works on demand, driving only the front wheels until power to the rear wheels is needed. All-wheel drive also comes into play on dry pavement between speeds of 25 and 65 mph to enhance handling during performance driving. No price has been listed for the option.

The Avenger has the Dodge Charger interior look with a simplified gauge layout and comfortable seats. Even though our test car was a pre-production unit, seams fit snugly and all elements were aligned correctly.

That being said, we wonder why Dodge continues to use a lot of hard plastics and switchgear that does not feel soft to the touch. That falls into the “rough around the edges” category. It’s disappointing, but something that we could live with on a daily basis in a sedan that is good in so many other ways.

Rear-seat passengers will enjoy decent legroom and comfortable seats with individual reading lights.

Dodge has been criticized for its smallish trunk that will accommodate 13 cubic feet of cargo. But trunk size is deceiving. We regularly place two sets of golf clubs in a trunk and there have been more than a handful of trunks bigger than the one found on the Avenger unreceptive because of their size configuration. So we were delighted to find that the new Dodge swallowed up the golf sticks without complaint.

The Avenger has some unique touches:

•A cooled storage compartment in the top of the instrument panel that holds up to four standing 12-ounce beverage cans.

•A heated/cooled front cupholder that keeps cold beverages cool and hot beverages warm. The system heats to 140 degrees or cools to 35 degrees. It works. It kept a 20-ounce plastic bottle of Coke chilled for 45 minutes until we took the last gulp.

•Heated cloth seats, a neat feature for people who don’t like leather.

•A DVD rear-seat entertainment system that includes stereo radio with MP3 capable CD/DVD player, six-disc CD/DVD changer and Sirius Satellite radio. The DVD screen folds out of the center bin instead of hanging from the ceiling blocking the driver’s view from the rearview mirror.

•Light-emitting Diode (LED) interior lighting with high-focus white lights that provide directional lighting in both the front and rear seats.

Dodge has given high priority to safety with standard front and side airbags, full-length side-curtain airbags and tire pressure monitoring system. Antilock brakes are standard on all but the base SE model.

The Avenger competes in the toughest segment in the industry against strong competition that has grown even stronger in recent years with new, highly rated models from Ford, Hyundai and others.

But we think there is a place for the Avenger, especially outfitted in R/T trim. It marches to a slightly different beat. And we like the tune.

Jim Meachen can be contacted at meachen@mac.com.

There’s only one reason to put a 500-horsepower Mustang in your garage.

It’s certainly not for fuel efficiency. It comes with an SUV-like gas mileage rating and a $1,300 gas guzzler tax.

And it’s not because we enjoy lining the pockets of insurance companies. But a painful hike in your auto insurance premium will surely follow your purchase.

And it’s definitely not be-cause states have eliminated maximum speed limits on their highways. You know anyone with an abandoned runway?

There’s nothing practical about the 500-horsepower Mustang Shelby GT500. It exists simply for the enjoyment that cutting-edge automotive performance brings.

And this Shelby delivers incredible pleasure at an affordable price of $42,975. If you can buy it at sticker, it delivers more bang for the buck than anything in the automotive world.

What a bargain for entry into the 500-horsepower club. There are only two other 500-horsepower sports cars currently made in America, the Corvette Z06 with a base price of $65,690 and the Dodge Viper with a base price of $86,995.

For us older folks it’s like a time machine taking us back to the muscle-car era of the late ’60s and early ’70s when monstrous V-8-endowed cars could be found on every street corner. A time when 0-to-60 times broke six seconds and quarter-mile runs could be completed in under 14 seconds at more than 100 miles per hour.

That’s pretty tame stuff these days in our technology-driven society where highly sophisticated engines can turn light-weight cars into land-based rocket ships.

But for the most part modern speed is accomplished without the feel of the rumbling V-8s of the past. The GT500, although driven by a modern supercharged eight-cylinder engine mated to a six-speed manual transmission, comes as close to the feel of those old machines as anything on the road. Just pretend the whine of the supercharger isn’t there.

With the new retro Mustang body it also has the look of the late ’60s.

And it delivers excitement. We’ve driven attention-getting machines in the past, but none has created more hoopla than the Shelby GT500.

One example. The only available parking space while visiting a friend was in front of his neighbor’s house. The neighbor came over an hour later and said he appreciated the Shelby out front. He called a couple of his car-loving friends who dropped what they were doing to drive over and see the “purchase” he had just made.

Before the week was over we felt like an attraction at Disneyland. Except we didn’t charge for the rides.

The new Mustang look — Ford’s only real styling success in recent years — still attracts people even as the newest pony car enters its third year of production. So it follows that the Shelby with the menacing-looking Cobra insignia on the sides and on the black mesh grille, the GT500 logo on the side, huge Le Mans racing stripes and special 18-inch machined aluminum wheels attract people like a magnet attracts medal shavings.

The real attention-getter is behind the wheel, foot into the accelerator and hand on the shifter hurtling down the road encased in nice-fitting sport bucket seats.

Oh, what a feeling.

Here’s the guts of this beast — a 5.4-liter V-8 with an Eaton supercharger attached to create 500 horsepower and 480 pound-feet of torque, a heavy-duty six-speed manual transmission, huge 14-inch Brembo cross-drilled rotors with four-piston calipers up front, three-inch diameter exhaust tips and a stiffened race-tuned suspension.

It’s not so much the muscular engine that separates this Shelby GT500 from the famous Cobra’s of 1967 and 1968 as the suspension and braking. Those nostalgic cars were for straight-ahead speed. This new Mustang is for cornering at god-awful speeds and stopping faster than you can say “what the hell,” dropping from 60 miles per hour to a dead stop in a straight line in a breath-taking 112 feet.

While the old Cobra did not have the handling and stopping prowess of this new beast, it can be argued it didn’t have the forward momentum either. The 2007 Shelby GT500 has been measured from 0 to 60 in 4.4 seconds and completing a quarter mile in 12.7 seconds at 114.2 miles per hour.

Achieving near-four-second time is tough, however. It requires a perfect launch, something not easily accomplished without practice. But the power is there, just use it wisely and use it in dry weather. While traction control is standard equipment, there is no stability control available.

The GT500 glues itself to corners, but in return offers a bit of a stiff ride due in part to its solid rear axle. On balance, the ride is just fine, no worse than other sports cars and roadsters.

The driving position is excellent and the manual transmission, complete with a stiffer clutch than you might be used to, is not difficult to operate in routine driving. Crisp and precise shifts are offered.

We love the interior, which is beautifully understated. Black leather seats and a black dashboard scream all business. Wood and large areas of brushed aluminum are not part of this package. Our tester did come with red seat inserts and a splash of red on the door panels, and we think the $595 trim package is worth the price. It gives the interior just the right amount of pizzazz.

Unlike other sports cars such as the Corvette and Viper, getting in and out of the GT500 is nearly as easy as entering and exiting a sedan.

There’s also a rear seat, mostly good for storage — the seatbacks fold down for really useable trunk space — but only inhabitable by full-sized adults for short rides and with the front-seat occupants willing to move their chairs far up on the rails.

The GT500 also comes in a convertible, which delivers the best of all worlds to open-air lovers. The drop top starts at $47,800.

While the Shelby is not as sophisticated and fast as the Corvette Z06 or as race-car oriented (read, hard to drive) or as fast as the Viper, it does a remarkably good job for which it was designed — offer exciting performance and styling at a price that many people can afford.

Is this a great time to be alive, or what?

Jim Meachen can be contacted at meachen@mac.com.

Two hundred and thirty thousand.

That’s a lot of anything whether it’s money or marbles.

And it’s definitely a lot of pickup trucks. That number represents the loss in U.S. sales of full-sized pickups from 2005 to 2006.

Pickup truck woes are perhaps the biggest news coming from the escalation in gas prices. The collapse of the sport utility market, which lost about 12 percent in ’06, was expected. And the sudden influx of small fuel-efficient cars was fairly predictable, too. What caught us by surprise was the nearly quarter-million unit decrease in full-size pickup truck sales, representing about a 10 percent year-to-year decline.

Egad.

Pickups are the country’s automotive lifeblood. They keep American industry going. They keep American weekend recreation alive. They give suburbanites the wherewithal to move fertilizer and grass seed from Lowes to their back yards. Pickups are, as Chevrolet ad people noted many years ago, as American as baseball, apple pie and the Fourth of July.

But now we’ve discovered that full-sized trucks are not immune to changing times and the price of oil. There are alternatives for buyers of large pickups and apparently nearly a quarter million elected to go with an alternative when making a purchase in 2006. Or people simply decided that their aging 1998 truck with 150,000 miles on the odometer could go another year or two.

It’s in this climate that General Motors has introduced it’s all-new Chevrolet Silverado.

It’s as good as we expected it would be. It’s a leap forward, no surprise. And we predict the Silverado and its kissing cousin, the GMC Sierra, will regain the nearly 90,000 sales they lost in 2006. Under normal circumstances we would expect this injection of new technology and styling to take the General Motors duo to new sales heights, not just recapture what was lost the year before.

But in this new world of fuel efficiency, and with Toyota predicting it will sell about 200,000 units of its new Tundra (a gain of 75,000 units over 2006), the new Silverado may be doing well just to stop the bleeding.

The Silverado impresses with its smooth and powerful performance from a selection of four engines, its refined ride quality even in its stiffest suspension setup, its precision handling characteristics thanks in part to a stiffer ladder-frame construction and new rack-and-pinion steering, its sedan-quiet cabin, its upscale interior treatment and its fresh styling that still proclaims this is a Chevrolet.

The Silverado, like the huge Suburban SUV, has retained that wonderful quality of driving much smaller than it is. Simply, it just doesn’t feel as big as other vehicles the same size.

While there are a lot of good things to write about, we are disappointed that all Silverados, regardless of engine configuration, retain the four-speed automatic transmission. The entire industry has moved on to five-and six-speed shifters. That being said, we found the four-speed very effective mated to the giant 6.0-liter V-8 in our test truck.

General Motors has a slick six speed that it uses in its upscale trucks, but officials say it will probably be 2009 before the supply of these more modern transmissions catches up with the enormous production of Silverado and Sierra pickups..

One thing that sets General Motors, Ford and Dodge apart from the Japanese competition, is a myriad of pickup configurations.

And the new Silverado is loaded with choices including three body styles — standard cab, extended cab and crew cab; four engines — a 4.3-liter V-6 generating 195 horsepower, a 4.8-liter V-8 making 295 horsepower, a 5.3-liter V-8 that will burn 85 percent ethanol generating 315 horsepower, and a 6.0-liter V-8 with 367 horsepower; three bed lengths — 5-foot-8, 6-foot-5 and 8-foot; three trim levels — work, LT (including 1LT and 2LT) and LTZ; and numerous packages including Z71 off road, and heavy-duty trailering.

Prices range from the bare bones standard cab work truck at $18,760 including destination to the top-end LTZ crew cab at $38,990.

Standard equipment on all but the work truck is generous and starting with the regular cab LT1 at $24,410 includes the amenities we expect in the 21st Century including air conditioning, power windows and locks, keyless entry, stereo with CD player and four speakers, reading lights and cruise control.

Everything from leather-clad 12-way power heated seats, a Bose audio system, navigation, rear DVD entertainment and a moonroof are available.

But trucks are still about carrying heavy loads and towing big things, even in the half-ton format, and the Silverado is the best in the industry with a maximum tow rating of 10,500 pounds and a payload of 2,160 pounds with the optional 6.0-liter engine.

We think the best engine choice is the 5.3-liter V-8 with the FlexFuel option — allowing it to run on E85 fuel — and displacement on demand that deactivates four cylinders in cruising situations.

The engine offers a great combination of fuel efficiency (EPA rated at 16 mpg city and 20 highway) and performance (0-to-60 in 8.2 seconds in crew cab configuration). And it can tow 8,600 pounds.

Our test truck was outfitted with the big daddy of the bunch, the 367-horsepower 6.0-liter V-8. The big engine is a $1,695 option that gives the Silverado outstanding capability whether in unloaded off-the-line performance (0-to-60 in 7.2 seconds) or in payload and towing.

While the driving dynamics are outstanding, we were equally enthralled by the handsome interior of the new truck where fit and finish should stifle criticism of Silverado interiors. Materials are stylish and of good quality. The full-gauge layout is easy to read and controls are intuitive.

Storage is ample including a double glove box that features the conventional lower box with a covered storage compartment above it.

A new, 40/20/40-split front bench seat, included in our test truck, comes with a large, fold-down console with integrated cupholders and 6.1 liters of storage. A locking under-seat storage bin provides another 9.1 liters of storage. Bucket seats are also offered and come with a large, covered center console and cupholders.

Our crew cab test truck carried a standard vehicle price of $32,515, but with the addition of several options including the bigger engine, off-road suspension, dual-zone climate control and remote start, came to $38,802.

The Silverado has always been a favorite with us, easy to drive with a comfortable and very livable interior. Nothing has changed in that regard, except the new edition is measurably better in virtually all areas.

Jim Meachen can be contacted at meachen@mac.com.

Volvo has become known for its great seats and cutting-edge safety.

Nothing has changed with the all-new 2007 S80 mid-sized luxury sedan.

The seats are heavenly.

And as the competition catches up to Volvo in safety equipment, the Swedish automaker has jumped ahead with a couple of innovations.

Some might consider these new features technology run amok. We disagree, at least on one.

We began to rely on the Blind Spot Information Center so much that near the end of our test week in a V-8 edition, we caught ourselves looking for the door-mounted warning lights while driving another car. Of course they weren’t there and we marveled at how much we had begun to depend on the unique feature.

Cameras under the outside mirrors detect vehicles approaching the car on the left or right, typically a blind spot, and relay this information to the driver through an amber warning light. It worked fine and was especially instructive for vehicles coming up on our right. Looking in the right-hand mirror or over our right shoulder to accurately detect the speed and placement of oncoming traffic has always been a concern.

We recommend the Blind Spot Information Center, a $595 option.

A footnote here — these mechanical devices are designed to aid the driver, not replace him.

Another innovation is a collision warning system that lets the driver know through a red light atop the dash and a warning buzzer when the system thinks the Volvo is closing too fast or is too close to the car in front. It’s part of adaptive cruise control for $1,495.

We also think Volvo’s new Personal Car Communicator should be labeled a safety feature. In addition to providing keyless entry and keyless startup — a feature found on most luxury cars these days — it can determine through two-way radio technology whether the car is locked or unlocked and if the alarm has been activated. It can also determine if someone is in the car through the use of a high-tech heartbeat sensor. That might be a mall parking lot lifesaver for someone on a busy shopping day.

It’s a $495 option.

But the new flagship Volvo is much more than a few newfangled optional safety features. It’s an excellent luxury sedan with two engine choices, road-carving attributes rivaling most European sedans in its price range, all the requisite safety features available, a tastefully appointed interior with clear gauges and intuitive switchgear, and a quiet environment with divine chairs.

Although it’s hard to tell, the exterior has been restyled. Designers did a commendable job updating the S80 with creases and lines but without losing the distinctive Volvo look. In fact, for the casual observer, it’s difficult to determine a 2007 model from a 2006.

The ’07 is more athletic with an extra layer of muscle. It has a more aggressive stance, but no mistaking, it’s still an S80.

The interior styling is exquisite with a beautifully styled dashboard outfitted in upscale materials and assembled with extraordinary care. We’ll have more to say about the living quarters in a few paragraphs.

One of the most obvious changes for 2007 is under the hood where the new S80 now packs the wallop provided by 311 horsepower from a 4.4-liter V-8. It’s the same V-8 that powers the XC90 sport utility and gives the Volvo the performance one expects from a luxury sedan measured in 0-to-60 times of about 6.0 seconds. As a bonus, all V-8 models come with standard all-wheel drive.

We enjoyed the urgency that the V-8 puts into Swedish luxury. But it also adds considerably to price. The base price of $48,045 can be quickly escalated toward 60 grand with the addition of worthwhile but pricey options.

And that brings us to some good news. There’s a lively inline 6-cylinder engine available for a starting price of $39,400. And most of the interesting options available on the V-8 are also available with the front-wheel-drive 6-cylinder edition, although customers will have to opt for the bigger engine to get the all-wheel drive system. Volvo says it may bring a 6-cylinder AWD package to the U.S. as early as the 2008 model year.

The 3.2-liter makes a satisfying 235 horsepower and 236 pound-feet of torque and completes the ubiquitous 0-to-60 run in about 7.5 seconds. Both engines are mated to a six-speed automatic.

The brakes match the urgency created by the V-8, offering solid, consistent feel.

An interesting adaptive suspension system is available in a $2,495 sport package, which also includes speed-sensitive steering, high-performance 18-inch tires and alloy wheels. Damping can be softened or stiffened through three settings — comfort, sport and advanced. It noticeably works, especially between the comfort and advanced settings giving the car a luxurious ride at one end and a sports sedan stance at the other.

Of course we were more attuned to the advanced suspension setting, especially when navigating the two-lane back roads.

The S80 living area is among the best in the business highlighted by perforated leather seats, wonderfully attuned to the human body.

The seats are only part of the interior package. The new dashboard is eye-catching with areas of wood and chrome. Instrumentation is easy to read and lights up like a Christmas tree at night. One of the standout features is the so-called thin floating center console that has been used in other Volvo products including the S40. It’s a modern, sleek look.

Back-seat passengers are rewarded with generous knee and leg room and outboard passengers get reading lights, cupholders and seat pockets.

Trunk space is measured at an average 14.9 cubic feet, but unlike many luxury sedans, the rear seatbacks can be folded forward to dramatically increase the cargo area.

In addition to the aforementioned safety innovations, Volvo still matches all other manufacturers in standard safety features. They include an anti-lock braking system with brakeforce distribution and brake assist, traction control, front side airbags with chest and hip protection, anti-whiplash front head restraints, full-length side-curtain airbags and tire pressure monitoring.

There are numerous tempting options that will inflate the S80 price. One that would get our attention is the 12-speaker premium 750-watt sound system that we found delightful. It’s $1,550 and includes six months of Sirius satellite radio.

Our V-8 edition with options came to $56,025. If you can live with the 6-cylinder model, and we think it’s very livable, you can get into a well-optioned S80 for well under 50 grand.

Volvo continues to offer state-of-the-art safety and wonderful comfort. New for 2007 is a delightful driving experience.

Jim Meachen can be contacted at meachen@mac.com.

The Acura TL is one of our favorite vehicles with its combination of style, performance, impeccable fit and finish and remarkable bang for the hard-earned buck.

More bang has been added this year, the fourth of its current iteration. The Type S edition has been reinstated after a three-year hiatus, which means extra horsepower and a stiffer suspension setup.

It means more driver enthusiast enjoyment in a vehicle already chock full of smile-inducing highway pleasure.

The Type S gets a 286-horsepower version of the flagship RL’s 3.5-liter V-6, and it’s about as much horsepower and torque as a front-wheel driven car can stand. That’s 28 more horses than in the standard 3.2-liter TL.

Acura has not eliminated torque steer, particularly in the six-speed manual version, but it has made it non-existent except for extreme throttle-to-the-floor launches by using a limited-slip differential that helps divide the large gobs of torque evenly between the front wheels.

We tested the manual six-speed and it’s as good as it gets in a do-it-yourself transmission. But for a daily driver we would probably opt for the five-speed automatic with paddle shifters.

The manual is a slick-shifting devise with short and extremely accurate throws.

The hardest part of the 6-speed is learning the correct modulation between clutch and accelerator on start up. This difficulty, particularly with sedate starts, is created by a lack of torque at low rpm forcing you to give it more gas than you might think necessary.

It’s the front-wheel drive architecture that separates the new twin-turbo BMW 335i and the Lexus IS 350 from the the TL Type S, giving the Lexus and the Bimmer an edge in overall handling and performance. But it’s a slim edge and once charging through the rolling twists and turns of backroad America, it’s difficult to say the BMW is even slightly better than the Acura. The TL, front wheel drive and all, is so precise in its handling characteristics and its road-sticking abilities that differences are at most minimal.

That being said, we wish Acura would endow the TL Type S with an all-wheel drive system.

Maybe that will come with the next iteration.

For now, the TL Type S will complete a 0-to-60 run in 5.7 seconds and a quarter mile in 14 seconds at 100 miles per hour. For comparison, the new BMW 335i has been measured at 5 seconds and 13.5 seconds at 104.5, and the Lexus does 4.9 seconds and 13.5 seconds at 103 in the quarter.

The TL Type S has enough attributes beyond just performance such as interior amenities and passenger room to make it a winner.

And it has great looks. Even in its fourth year it hasn’t lost its luster in our eyes when compared to the new stuff. We fell in love with the wedge-shaped look the first time we saw it in 2003.

The TL has a distinctive character line running through the door handles from behind the front wheel to the back corner giving it a hunkered down look that is gorgeous from any angle. The new Type S gets a few exterior enhancements including a front fascia with a deeper airdam, black chrome trim, quad exhaust tips and a deck-lid spoiler. The slightly revised interior layout is trimmed in aluminum and fake carbon fiber and the pedals are finished in aluminum.

The interior is spacious and beautiful. Fit and finish on this car is what you would expect from a sedan with a nearly 40 grand pricetag. The controls are pleasing to the touch. The dashboard gauges are delightfully lighted with a sparkling blue.

A myriad of same-looking buttons can be confusing the first couple of times behind the wheel, but they are logically arranged and easily learned.

The well-bolstered front seats feel good. The driver’s seat comes with eight-way power and power lumbar with two-position memory. Rear-seat passengers are also treated to excellent seats and adequate leg and hip room.

One downside, the back seat does not fold forward, a handy feature when hauling long objects. There is a center pass-through, however.

The Acura navigation with real-time traffic information, standard equipment in the Type S, is the best in the business and it’s made even more useable in the TL with a large eight-inch screen. If we were going to invest in a navigation system, it would be in an Acura/Honda product or perhaps in a Toyota/Lexus product.

The coup de grace of the interior package is the sound system. The TL was the first production car in 2004 to install an eight-speaker DVD-based audio system as standard equipment. The DVD system — designed by multi-Grammy winning music producer Elliott Scheiner — utilizes six distinct channels, compared to two on the typical premium sound system, to deliver sound resolution 500 times greater than CD.

By the way, the new system does not make your vast CD collection obsolete. Standard CDs can be played very effectively.

In addition, Acura offers XM satellite radio as standard equipment.

Acura was also the first car to offer a Bluetooth hands-free phone system as standard equipment. It allows hands-free calls to be made and received using TL’s voice recognition and audio interfaces.

The showroom process is easy with the new TL. Buy a TL or a TL Type S and you buy everything offered as standard equipment.

The TL Type S comes with everything in the Acura inventory for $38,325 with either the manual or automatic transmission. This undercuts comparably equipped BMW 335i or Lexus IS 350 models by from $5,000 to $7,000.

Good stuff in the Type S includes the DVD-based audio system, navigation with backup camera, performance tires, a full compliment of airbags as well as a driver head restraint whiplash protection system, leather upholstery and two-memory heated front seats.

If you want the TL experience, but don't want to spring for the Type S, the very-well appointed and performance-oriented TL can be purchased for $33,625 without navigation and $36,125 with navigation. The manual transmission is not available in the standard TL.

For our money it would be the Type S.

It offers not only exciting performance, but an incredible array of cutting-edge equipment for a price that undercuts the competition in a very competitive segment.

Jim Meachen can be contacted at meachen@mac.com.

The all-new MKX crossover sport utility is the right vehicle at the right time for Lincoln. And Lincoln needs an infusion of right vehicles.

We predict the MKX and the new MKZ sedan will have respectable sales in 2007 giving Lincoln a significant increase in year-over-year numbers.

A bold prediction? You won't think so once you’ve driven the MKX or the MKZ.

Perhaps the biggest initial roadblock for consumers is the new alphabet soup names Lincoln has decided to use mimicking many of the other luxury brands that have gone the “ABC” route while forsaking names that used to be household words like DeVille and Riviera and Imperial.

Traditional Lincoln buyers are familiar with such monikers as Town Car, Navigator and Continental, not to mention the Mark series.

But Lincoln is looking for new buyers while banking that its loyal over-60 customers continue purchasing Town Cars.

For those who want to shop Lincoln, here’s a couple of pointers before entering the showroom — the MKX is pronounced simply M-K-X, not Mark X or Mark 10. Similarly, the sedan is properly called the M-K-Z.

But today we will comment on the new crossover and leave discussion of the MKZ for another day.

A crossover vehicle is basically a high-riding station wagon, a version of the sport utility vehicle built on a car platform for better ride and fuel economy while retaining bad-weather all-wheel drive capability, but without the off-road prowess of a truck-based SUV.

Give Lexus credit for starting the luxury crossover segment nearly a decade ago with its RX 300. Today there are a myriad of examples, which means the new Lincoln is entering a crowded segment chock full of good vehicles.

We think the MKX has the goods to successfully wade into the competition, but that’s not to say that there’s no room for improvements. The MKX is not a perfect example of the genre, but it’s a good first attempt from Lincoln.

Although the MKX is spun off the all-new mid-sized Ford Edge crossover, we discovered that the MKX has a more upscale personality. It’s more refined than the Edge and is a more desirable product.

That translates into about $6,000 difference in comparably equipped vehicles. We think the MKX is worth the extra bucks.

Outside, the MKX gets an unmistakably Lincoln grille — a retro Continental look — and unique lamp clusters, and different rear lamp, tailgate and rear fascia treatments. Both the Edge and the MKX have a solid and substantial look with a wide stance, standard 18-inch wheels and a high beltline.

Inside is where the Lincoln definitely shines with a unique and stylish instrument cluster, center stack and door panels. It’s a dual cockpit look reminiscent of Lincolns of the 1960s and early ’70s. And unlike many luxury brands, Lincoln has kept the switchgear user friendly.

We can’t prove it, but the Lincoln seems quieter inside than the Edge. Perhaps it’s the feeling of refinement.

One of our frequent riders, who has developed a critical eye for things we sometimes miss, was lukewarm to the Edge, but offered up kudos for the MKX. “This is what I was looking for in the Edge, but it wasn’t there,” he noted.

It didn't hurt, too, that we had the excellent optional 600-watt THX audio system cranked to the rafters. Our frequent rider is a dyed-in-the-wool audiophile and he was duly impressed with the sound emanating from 14 speakers including two sub-woofers.

The MKX has the same 3.5-liter engine generating 265 horsepower mated to a six-speed transmission as found in the Edge. The new setup gives the crossover vehicles respectable acceleration (0-to-60 has been measured at around 7.6 seconds) and with ample power for passing and merging.

But here is where we think the Ford people could have done a better job differentiating the Lincoln from the Ford. A slight modification of the new V-6 bumping up horsepower a modest 10-to-15 ponies would have really set the MDX apart. To us this would have been a terrific selling point for Lincoln sales people. Furthermore, they could have made all-wheel drive standard on the Lincoln.

What you don't get in either the Edge or the MDX is a third-row seat. It’s amusing to us how many members of the automotive press wring their hands in anguish every time a new SUV or CUV arrives without a third-row seat. It seems they demand an extra seat be crammed into every vehicle regardless of size.

We haven’t jumped on that bandwagon. Most of the far-back seats in mid-sized vehicles are uninhabitable by adults and are too close to the rear gate making them hazardous in rear-end collisions.

Ford says if you must have seating for seven or eight, it sells bigger vehicles with a third row and, furthermore, a larger crossover with a third row is in the works.

Speaking of seats, we found the front buckets comfortable and easily configured to our driving peculiarities. Back support is good. The optional heated and cooled front seats are a nice touch. A short journey nestled in a rear seat left a good impression. They recline, but don’t slide fore or aft as in some vehicles.

Lincoln has included a convenient one-touch remote seat release that folds the seatbacks into a flat load floor.

The MKX comes well equipped in just one trim level starting at $34,120 for two-wheel drive and $35,770 for all-wheel drive.

Standard features include leather seating, eight-way power front seats, dual-zone climate control, 18-inch wheels, traction and stability control, antilock brakes, side-impact and side-curtain airbags and tire-pressure monitor.

Lincoln has bundled its most popular options in two packages, the Elite Package for $4,795 and the Ultimate Package for $1,995.

The Elite includes the huge Vista Roof, which pairs a large front power sunroof with a fixed rear skylight for a truly open-air feel; the THX audio system; and voice-activated navigation system. The Ultimate Package adds 10-way power heated and cooled seats, reverse sensing system and the remote second-row seat release.

Most of the bundled items can be purchased as stand-alone options.

Our test vehicle with all-wheel drive and the two bundled options stickered for $42,560.

We think the price is right. We think the MKX will be the right vehicle for many people. And we think Lincoln will hit its 2007 goal of 30,000 sales.

Jim Meachen can be contacted at meachen@mac.com.