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 Buy is the car-based Lexus RX 300. Though it lacks a low range in 4WD mode, it's the most carlike to drive and offers all of the versatility of a truck-based model.

Our Recommended choices are all traditional SUVs: the Dodge Durango, which offers optional third-row seating; the best-selling Ford Explorer clone Mercury Mountaineer; the Teutonic Mercedes-Benz M-Class; the utilitarian Nissan Xterra; and the refined but expensive Toyota 4Runner.

Acura's first SUV has been an instant hit, scoring nearly 10,000 sales in its early months of late 2000. Demand continued strong into 2001, which is why discounts have been nil. Sales got a further boost in January when MDX was chosen by a panel of journalists as North American Truck of the Year.

Being freshly minted, the MDX should see no major change until model-year 2003, when Acura will reportedly install a larger 3.8-liter V6 with perhaps 280-290 hp. The upsized engine is intended to distance MDX from a new derivative Honda-brand SUV that arrives that season with the Acura's current 3.5 engine.