This is by far the hottest market segment right now. Crowded with more than 20 vehicles, midsize SUVs vary in size and type but nearly all seat five adults and offer V6 or V8 engines. Our Best Buys include the Ford Explorer, the Lexus RX 300, and Mercedes-Benz M-Class. Explorer and M-Class are more traditional SUVs with full off-road capability and V6 and V8 engines. RX 300 is a car-based SUV that lacks a low range in 4WD mode, but is the most carlike to drive.
Our Recommended choices are all traditional SUVs: the Dodge Durango, which offers optional third-row seating; the slightly more expensive Explorer clone Mercury Mountaineer; the utilitarian Nissan Xterra; and the refined but expensive Toyota 4Runner.
If you are on a Budget take a look at the old standby Jeep Cherokee. It is cruder than the rest but offers go-anywhere ability, utility, and a low price.

A new-generation Blazer is on track for 2002, only the badge will read TrailBlazer on all models. They are slated to go on sale in the first quarter of 2001 as early '02 entries. Chevy's midsize SUV will still relate to the Oldsmobile Bravada and GMC's Envoy (the Jimmy name goes away there), but all three versions are redesigned on a new chassis with 113-inch wheelbase (up 6 inches), rear coil springs with 5-link geometry (replacing shackled leaf springs), and a new 4.2-liter inline 6-cylinder engine to replace the familiar 4.3-liter V6. The 4.2 is an all-aluminum twincam design vs. the all-iron overhead-valve V6 and is expected to produce 60 additional horsepower, about 250 in all. Full specifications and other details weren't available for this report, but 4x4s should continue with a choice of on-demand InstaTrac or all-weather AutoTrac drive systems. Style-wise, TrailBlazer should be more sharply differentiated from its corporate cousins than is now the case, with only windshield, front doors, roof and tailgate being shared among the three. Like GMC, Chevy might well drop the 2-door body style owing to sluggish sales, but the mainstay 4-door is said to be slightly longer, wider and taller than the current design for claimed increases in most interior dimensions. Intriguingly, industry snoops say an extended 4-door with a 16-inch longer wheelbase and standard three-row seating will be added by late 2002, giving Chevy a closer match for the Dodge Durango in passenger capacity and overall size. A V8 is also rumored for TrailBlazer, though probably not until mid-2002 at the earliest.
However, TrailBlazer seems certain to parent two "crossover" vehicles by 2003. One is patterned on the Transverse concept unveiled at the 2000 Detroit Show. The name hasn't been decided, but this "truck-based sedan" will reportedly have a 255-horsepower 4.5-liter inline-6, permanent all-wheel drive, and car-like suspension tuning and interior appointments. Despite the truck underpinnings, this Chevy will target car-based SUVs like the popular Lexus RX 300 and Acura's new MDX. TrailBlazer's other spinoff does have a name. Called Warrior, it apes Ford's new Explorer Sport Trac in combining the SUV's front end and passenger compartment with a short pickup box. Powertrains will likely be the same as TrailBlazer's, but it's unclear whether Warrior will get a movable rear-cab bulkhead for extending the load floor as on Chevy's forthcoming Avalanche derived from the big Suburban SUV.