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 new little Land Rover is just getting started in America, so we'll have to get back to you on sales. For what it's worth, though, Freelander comes here after five years as Europe's best-selling SUV and is projected to boost Land Rover's total U.S. sales by 50 percent, which would mean around 30,000 a year based on calendar-2000 figures.

Freelander may be important to Land Rover's U.S. future, but it wasn't originally designed for U.S. safety and emissions standards. That plus North America's differing tastes and driving conditions prompted a major upgrading of the original design, one factor in Freelander's belated U.S. launch. (Another was Land Rover's change of ownership from BMW to Ford.) The rework was also prompted by complaints from early Freelander owners in Europe about inadequate performance (from 4-cyl engines not offered here), sub-par structural rigidity, indifferent fit and finish, and inferior materials. Land Rover claims the revamped model is 70 percent new.

Still, Freelander arrives more than halfway through its planned design cycle. Indeed, a redesign is already underway for a 2004 debut, probably as a 2005 model for the U.S. Logically enough, sources expect "Freelander II" to be a somewhat beefier version of the next-generation Ford Escape/Mazda Tribute, scheduled for the same timeframe. Basic structure, powertrains and other key features will be shared, but Freelander will have a signature Land Rover look, plus a more off-road-oriented 4-wheel-drive system per "Landie" tradition. Size shouldn't change much, and U.S.-market models should still be sourced from Britain instead of being combined with Escape/Tribute production here.