Ignored in the past, compact SUVs are now some of the hottest-selling vehicles around. The two current Best Buys are the Honda CR-V and Subaru Forester. Though they don't offer true off-road ability, they mix the best ride, cargo, and comfort characteristics with all-weather traction.

Toyota's RAV4 , which used to be a Best Buy, falls to Recommended based on its noisy engine and cramped rear seating area. Toyota hopes that will change when an all-new RAV arrives in 2001.

As immovable as Mt. Rushmore, the Jeep Wrangler continues as our Budget Buy in this segment. Though it has become a status symbol of late, it's most at home crawling over rocks and fording river beds.

This popular compact sport-utility was introduced for the 1997 model year based on the platform of the outgoing Honda Civic. The new 2001 Civic will soon spawn a new CR-V, currently scheduled as a 2002 debut. Exterior size should be little changed, but the new model may have slightly more interior room. We also think it likely that Honda will find a way to squeeze its Accord/Acura TL 3.0-liter V6 into the CR-V to correct the existing model's lack of power. A 4-cylinder engine will remain standard, but may be larger than today's 2.0-liter and perhaps lower in emissions as well.

Honda sells a smaller SUV in Europe and Japan called the HR-V. It, too, is Civic-based and uses a 2.0-liter engine, but has more angular styling and comes in 2-door form as well as as a longer-wheelbase 4-door. Honda has no plans to bring the current HR-V to America, but the model will be redesigned in a couple of years and that one might come here to rival entry-level compact SUVs like the Kia Sportage and Chevrolet Tracker/Suzuki Vitara.