The styling is pulled almost whole from the “ix-onic” concept truck…or perhaps vice versa, as Hyundai often uses concept vehicles to tease upcoming production cars.

Around town, the SRX fears neither pothole nor rippled pavement.

What’s perhaps most impressive of all about the Q5 isn’t that it would blow the minds of the average car buyer of fifty years ago, of course, but that it’s an outstanding product even for today.

We ended up driving the Buick Rendezvous Ultra back-to-back with the Lincoln LS, and were surprised to find a comparison between the two.  These disparate vehicles share similar levels of luxury and refinement, and we found ourselves choosing the multi-tasking over the sporty LS more than once.  Sure, the Rendezvous is about as sexy as a hamster, and similarly proportioned to boot, but it’s so darn useful that the handsome LS wound up parked more often than not.

The Rendezvous was a significant departure for Buick when it debuted in 2002, …

Introduced in 2002, Saturn’s first SUV has been keeping up nicely with the times.  The VUE sport-ute is a pavement-oriented compact trucklet with Saturn’s signature plastic body panels and a continuously variable transmission that help to separate it from the “soft-roader” herd.

The big news for 2004?  More power, refinement and a hot-rod version.  Saturn’s installed a 250-horsepower V6 in the VUE, for a 69-horse power boost.  Materials inside the VUE have been improved to combat complaints of cheap-feeling interior parts.  Saturn’s Red Line performance series will also debut on the …

So there we were, cutting a swath down our favorite curvy, hilly four-lane, with an athletic car obeying our every move.  Big 20″ wheels and low-profile tires held fast to the road.   A responsive 315-hp V8 pulled us up the hills with ease and confidence, even at super-legal speeds.  Cradled in well-bolstered, luxurious leather chairs, with a GPS and 6-disc changer along for the ride, we could have had three passengers, too, and they’d have enjoyed surfing through traffic and feeling the g-forces through the turns thanks to the comfortable …

At speeds below 10mph, the XC60 will come to a stop before impact. It’s a spooky way to keep you and your passengers safe; the XC60 simply stops itself.

All new for 2003, the Pontiac Vibe and its twin, the Toyota Matrix, herald a new era in small cars.  Their tall bodies and multi-configurable interiors make them friendly, economical people-and-stuff movers, and with optional all-wheel drive they’re a good alternative to a small or even a mid-sized sport utility vehicle.

But did you know they could run, too?  Perched at the top of the Vibe lineup is the hot-rod Vibe GT, which chucks the standard Vibe’s 130-horse powerplant for a double overhead-cam screamer churning out fifty more horses–an engine similar …

With the number of Chevrolet TrailBlazer/GMC Envoy variants out there—seven at last count, not counting powertrain options–you’d be forgiven for stifling a yawn when we tell you there’s another one.  But pay attention; those big chrome hockey sticks on the D-pillar of this SUV mean that this is a very special Envoy indeed.

The 2004 Envoy XUV is a sport-ute with a retractable rear roof section for carrying pickup truck-sized loads.  It’s not fair to call it the first vehicle of its kind; Studebaker got there first with its Wagonaire in …

Ironically, the decidedly square Honda Element looks the way it does because a group of young engineers was encouraged to “think outside the box.”  The vehicle you see here is the result of their zeal to design a do-all for any active lifestyle, a melding of car and sport-utility that can haul gear, serve as a camping home-base, and still function as a commuter when necessary.  If that’s too complex, then think of the Element as a very small, very cool van.  That’s really what it is, at heart.

Slotting into …