Toyota Sienna XLE

Promising to be the first Toyota minivan truly able to compete head-on with the Big Three, the all-new Sienna offers traditional styling, standard V-6 power, seven-passenger seating, a lavish assortment of standard and optional equipment, and, most important, an attractive sub-$20,000 base price. Toyota has taken a mainstream approach to the 1.2-million-unit minivan segment with this versatile people/cargo hauler, marking a significant departure from its Previa predecessor.

You'll recall that the well-built and strikingly unique Previa was equipped with a supercharged four-cylinder engine, rear-drive, space-age appearance, roomy interior, and an unfortunately intimidating sticker price, which let it grab only 51,000 sales in its best year-less than a tenth the number of the class-leader Chrysler minivans. Faced with such an expensive-to-produce vehicle and the desire to gain a stronger market presence, the firm looked to the sales-leading Chryslers, distilled their very essence, and set out to build a Toyota-ized clone.

Classified as an EPA domestic vehicle and assembled at the same Georgetown, Kentucky, production facility as the outrageously popular Camry sedan, the front-drive Sienna will also share its drivetrain, basic platform, and key suspension components, contributing to the aggressive pricing strategy. This is good news for consumers, as the same all-aluminum 3.0-liter DOHC V-6 used in the Camry and Lexus ES 300 will be fitted to the Sienna, producing 194 horsepower and 209 pound-feet of torque.

Acceleration was brisk in the 3891-pound XLE we drove, with the capable V-6 maintaining its refined composure and silky smoothness as the revs climbed from 800-rpm idle to the high 5900-rpm shift points. Output and performance put the Sienna on par with the strongest domestic offerings, enabling effortless merges and swift passing maneuvers.

An independent front suspension, with MacPherson struts, coil springs, and anti-roll bar, combines with rear torsion-beam underpinnings to achieve sedan-like ride and handling characteristics. Driving spiritedly through long, sweeping turns, the Sienna confidently approaches its respectable handling limits, drifting into predictable understeer at the edge. The power-assisted rack-and-pinion steering has a distinct Toyota feel-precise and moderately weighted but somewhat isolated. The Sienna's road aberration-absorbing ride compliance exposes its Camry lineage. Future test numbers will better reveal its quantitative abilities, but our first subjective impressions have us doubting that customers will find much fault with any of the Sienna's mechanical bits.

The inoffensive, streamlined appearance seemingly blends shapes from the Dodge Caravan and Ford Windstar into an all-new American minivan. Visible tracks on both sides reveal the standard dual sliding doors found on our top-of-the-line XLE tester. The CE base trim level will be available only as a three-door, the midlevel LE offered with three or four doors. Toyota's number crunchers forecast 90 percent of Siennas being four-door models, with the LE four-door claiming 65 percent of total sales. A power-operated passenger-side sliding door similar to that used on General Motors' minivans will be offered midyear. Controlled via B-pillar switch, dash-mounted button, or remote, the convenient power door can detect obstructions to prevent potential injury.