It's not often that Toyota finds itself chasing the competition in a class that it invented. Such is the case, however, with the RAV4, the original small sport utility built on a car chassis. It's not that there has been anything fundamentally wrong with the vehicle. It's just that one or two others have raised the bar, most notably with a V6 engine, while the RAV4 has continued with a four cylinder. Other SUVs also offer a third row of seats, boosting passenger capacity from five to seven.

No longer, in either regard. With the 2006 RAV4, Toyota has caught up. There's a new, 269-horsepower, 3.5-liter V6 engine coupled to a new, five-speed automatic. And there's an optional third row of seats that, by the way, folds into the floor, leaving a flat cargo space that holds almost five more cubic feet of stuff than the '05 model. The RAV4 is also available with the tried and true four cylinder that powered the '05, but with an added five horses under the hood. Buyers also have the choice of front-wheel drive and four-wheel drive, just as before.

The RAV has been completely restyled for 2006, inside and out, although functionality has been maintained. The RAV4 has been a standard-setter virtually from its inception. And the exterior is fresh, less flashy, with fewer styling gimmicks. But the same can't be said for the interior, where some of the updating appears not to have been so much an improvement as a change to something different, while still just as good as before.

The 2006 RAV4 is a mix, then, of best, better and good, but with one reservation: the V6 seems almost too much for the package, as if in catching up, Toyota leapt too far ahead. It's a good, solid engine, and it adds substantially to the RAV4's capabilities. It has to haul as many as seven people, for instance, and it raises the tow rating to as high as 3500 pounds. But as it's engineered for the 2006 RAV4, it just might be more than was needed. In other words, the new RAV4 really scoots with the V6.