2001 Mitsubishi Montero

The business end of the new Montero is its 3.5-liter 24-valve V6 engine. Typical of Mitsubishi powerplants, this 200-horsepower unit is vibration-free and glass-smooth. And because the Montero purports to be a truck, the V6 delivers a full 235 foot-pounds of torque at 3500 rpm. The Sportronic manual/auto transmission, which comes on the Limited model, is a five-speed that allows you to manually select which gear you want. But like most of these Sportmatic-like systems, selection is not linear and direct. In other words, it makes a decision about just how soon it will downshift after youve asked it to. Also, because it operates with a torque converter, you dont have the solid geartooth-to-geartooth control you would have with stick. But since there is no stick Montero, this is an okay compromise, especially since it doubles as a full-time automatic when youre stranded in drive-time bumper-to-bumper traffic.