The EX35 was a crowd-pleaser and turned heads as I drove by. I should mention that it was primarily female heads that were turned. That's understandable because the EX35's curvy profile was an attention-getter, and my Arctic Blue — aka baby blue — test car only added to it.

With its low step-in height, my 3-year-old had no problems getting in the crossover. The liftgate opened easily, but the cargo area was really small. It was so shallow that I was unable to fit my double jog stroller in it. I had to break out the umbrella stroller instead. While the cargo area was small, it was at a convenient diaper-changing height.

The EX35 is powered by a 297-horsepower, 3.5-liter V-6 engine that's paired to a new-for-2011 seven-speed automatic transmission. Both the rear- and all-wheel-drive EX35 get an EPA-estimated 17/24 mpg city/highway, and with a recommendation of premium fuel, filling up the tank could cost a pretty penny.