Ignored in the past, compact SUVs are now some of the hottest-selling vehicles around. Though our Best Buys, the Honda CR-V, Ford Escape, and Mazda Tribute don't offer true off-road ability, they do mix ride comfort, cargo capacity, and versatility with all-weather traction. The V6 Tribute/Escape offers more power, comfort, and space than any in its class.

Another car-based mini-SUV, the Subaru Forester, is our Recommended choice. Like the CR-V it doesn't have a low range for serious off-road use, but it blends excellent on-road manners with SUV styling.

The SUV market's center of gravity seems to be shifting to smaller models these days, which partly explains why Tracker sales are up. On a calendar-year basis, Chevy's smallest SUV rose 20 percent in 2000, reaching just over 48,000. That compares with about 41,000 for the Suzuki Vitara/Grand Vitara. Tracker has continued gaining in 2001, with orders rising 6.9 percent through the end of the third quarter.

Tracker should see little further change through the 2004 model run. At that point, this truck-based SUV will reportedly be replaced by a car-based design on the new General Motors "Theta" platform that bows with Saturn's 2003 Vue. The Tracker name will likely be replaced too. Despite the more user-friendly underpinnings, styling is said to be inspired by the Tranverse concept of a few years ago, which looked rather more aggressive than Tracker. Like Vue, Chevy's new small SUV should offer a base 4-cyl front-drive model with manual or optional continuously variable automatic transmission, and an uplevel AWD V6 version with conventional automatic only.