if you actually do go off road at all

If you actually do go off road frequently, then you can't drive an explorer, expedition, lexus 300, acura mdx, tahoe, or any other pretender. They have computerized "brains" that help apportion torque on slippery/snowy streets, but lack the locking differential and transmission guts for anything more challenging. I surf fish regularly in the Mid Atlantic. One of my previous drives - a 97 Expedition - was ergonomically correct for driving the family to the beach, but unable to actually manuver on the sand unless the tires were deflated to about 10 psi. Its successor - a 2000 Land Rover Discovery 2 - was great on the sand, but too small, noisy, and difficult on the pavement, which was 98% of the driving, of course. I replaced this with a 2002 Mitsubishi Montero LTD (full size, not the "sport"). Although I haven't taken it surf fishing yet, i'm hopeful the locking differential and true offroad transmission will make it unnecessary to depressure and repressure the tires when going on the soft sand. As for the highway manners: superlative. It's roomy, quiet, comfortable, luxurious. I'm getting 20mpg +/- on the highway, on regular gas from the 200hp 3.5 liter V6. No need for a V8 at all. I did replace the lame Yokohama OEM street tires with Goodrich TA KO's ... you get a little more road noise, but a lot more confidence in the rain, snow and (hopefully) sand.