The standard V6 delivers good performance, and you're not likely to need the optional V8 unless you tow or live at high altitude. You can hear and feel the V6 under full throttle acceleration. The 4.0-liter V6 with overhead cams and aluminum heads is rated at 210 horsepower at 5100 rpm, and 254 pound-feet of torque at 3700 rpm.

The 4.6-liter V8 has a lovely intake roar at full throttle, yet is supremely smooth and quiet. It works well with the five-speed automatic transmission to move this 4500-pound machine effortlessly over flat territory. As the transmission settles into fifth-gear overdrive at highway cruising speed, the tachometer drops well below 2000 rpm, and the engine is just there, in the background, working noiselessly until you downshift with the tip of your toe. Throttle response lacks some verve in hilly terrain. Here it's best to lock out the overdrive fifth, and let the engine rev a little higher in fourth on the way up a long hill. Hook up a trailer and you'll know it's back there when you head up a long grade.

The Mountaineer is very stable and inspires confidence. Its rack-and-pinion steering minimizes wandering on the highway. Body roll, or lean, is controlled well in fast corners. Its rigid, boxed frame lets its fully independent suspension soak up bumps, potholes and tar strips.

All-wheel drive adds a significant level of safety and confidence in snow, rain, mud, wet leaves, ice, and gravel. It dramatically improves handling balance whenever it's slippery. All-wheel drive eliminates wheelspin by splitting the power to the front and rear tires as needed. In normal driving, the system biases torque 35 percent to the front and 65 percent to the rear to minimize understeer. (Understeer is when the front tires slip before the rear tires, causing the vehicle to push toward the outside of a turn.) The system relies on an open differential with a viscous coupling; a clutch pack distributes power between the front and rear wheels based on traction needs. But you don't need to understand any of that. There are no switches or levers for the driver to operate. There's no low range for the steepest kinds of unpaved trail driving either.