When you get to smaller roads with twists and curves, you have to slow the big Trooper down more than what makes us happy. There simply isn't enough grip to whip through tight roads like you would in a sedan, or even in some grippier SUVs such as Jeep's Grand Cherokee and Isuzu's smaller Rodeo.

The ride is steady and luxurious, and even on the most pockmarked road surfaces, the live rear axle doesn't bounce around. Suspension damping is excellent, and approaches that of an independent rear setup like you'll find in the Mercedes-Benz ML320.

The smooth-revving V6 is quiet and responsive, but its power seems to get lost in the behavior of its four-speed automatic transmission. The automatic downshifts abruptly when you open the throttle, and it feels like there's a delay between the time you press the accelerator pedal to the time the Trooper takes off. A Power Mode switch on the console allows the engine to rev higher between upshifts, but we found it didn't appreciably improve acceleration performance. There's also a Winter Mode, which lets the Trooper start out in third gear to preserve traction on slick surfaces. Lack of traction is not a problem in the Trooper, however. We've driven Troopers with five-speed manual transmissions, which shift quickly and surely, and prefer this setup to extract maximum power from the 3.5-liter engine.

The brakes work smoothly with little wasted motion in the pedal. They also provide enough feel of the road surface that you can modulate the amount of braking easily. This is handy off-road, especially when you are left-foot braking on slick surfaces. Anti-lock brakes are standard, which you expect in a wagon in this price range.

One curious feature is a switch that folds both side-view mirrors against the doors, with the effect of making the wagon a few inches narrower. A holdover feature from Japan, the power flapping mirrors are useful for tight parking lots or for waving at your friends.

The optional four-wheel-drive system -- called TOD for Torque On Demand -- comes on all models with automatic transmissions. Torque On Demand consists of an electromagnetic-operated clutch that progressively engages the front driveshaft and axles based on signals received from electronic sensors that detect amounts of wheel slip and acceleration.

That means you can leave it in four-wheel drive on dry pavement and the axles won't bind up when you make tight turns in a parking lot. Even with this full-time system, the transfer case lever allows you to engage rear-drive only, the same as the Mitsubishi Montero's full-time system. In rear-drive mode the front hubs disconnect from the front axles, allowing the front tires to spin more freely, saving fuel and wear. A low-range in the Trooper's transfer case locks the clutch, providing the part-time four-wheel-drive preferred by hard-core off-roaders.