The 2011 Nissan Xterra is a mid-size SUV designed for people with active lifestyles who need a vehicle that can take them up a mountain or across a stream on the weekends but not so off-road-oriented that the commute to work during the week becomes uncomfortable. The Xterra’s most iconic feature is the roof rack, which features a storage compartment for wet or stinky items. The Xterra’s other easily identifiable feature is the bulge on the rear hatch that can be used to store a medical kit.

Competition for the Xterra comes from the Toyota FJ Cruiser, the four-door Jeep Wrangler Unlimited and, for some buyers, the Subaru Forester. All of these SUVs are capable off-road but practical as daily drivers, so you can use them to get to work every day but also make it to the ski mountain when a blizzard hits and work gets canceled.

The 2011 Nissan Xterra comes with only one engine, a 4.0-liter V6 that makes 261-horsepower and 281 lb-ft of torque. The Xterra’s V6 engine has enough power to move the 4,354 lb SUV over any obstacles you might encounter off-road or comfortably cruise in the left lane on the highway. The 2011 Xterra is more powerful than the Wrangler, FJ Cruiser and Forester, though the FJ Cruiser only has a one horsepower deficit.

The Xterra’s gas mileage matches that of the four-door Jeep Wrangler Unlimited, with 15-mpg city and 20-mpg highway. The Toyota FJ Cruiser beats the Xterra by two miles per gallon in both city and highway driving and the Forester leaves all of the truck-based SUVs in the dust with 19-mpg city and 24-mpg highway, a stat that might be important if you do more commuting than kayaking.

The Xterra has the least amount of front headroom with 39.9 inches, losing to the Forester by 0.1 inches. The Wrangler and FJ Cruiser both have 41.3 inches of front headroom. In the back, the Xterra is even smaller, with 39.3 inches of headroom, more than the Forester’s 37.3 but less than the FJ Cruiser’s 40.3 and the Wrangler Unlimited’s 40.4. The 2011 Nissan Xterra comes with 42.4 inches of front leg room, more than the Wrangler’s 41.0 and the FJ Cruiser’s 41.9 but less than the Forester’s 43.1.

The 2011 Nissan Xterra has 36.3 cubic feet of cargo volume available with the rear seats down. That puts it below the Jeep Wrangler Unlimited, which has 46.4, but above the Forester with 30.8 cubic feet of cargo room and the FJ Cruiser with 27.9.