The first hit vehicles of 2007 have arrived.

The Saturn Outlook and GMC Acadia, GM's new fuel-efficient and family friendly SUVs, have the looks, practicality, comfort and room to set the standard in their class.

Competing with vehicles like the Toyota Highlander, Honda Pilot, Chrysler Pacifica and Ford Taurus X (formerly known as the Freestyle), GM's new models set the standard with exceptionally attractive styling and a spacious interior that combines a third seat fit for grown-ups and usable cargo space.

GM's got a couple of clear winners on its hands, and based on the prices for the Outlook and Acadia, the folks in marketing know it. The stickers on both SUVs betray the confidence of a poker player holding a straight flush.

The Outlook and Acadia are the first new GM vehicles I've tested in years that felt as if the company had built a premium into the manufacturer's suggested retail price, as if GM knows its offering is clearly superior to anything else on the market.

The budget-minded Irishman in me recoils at the thought, but they're right.

Even though the $32,799 Outlook I drove 700 miles lacked a few features that should be mandatory at that price, it's still a good buy, because it's a great vehicle. A few hours at the wheel of a luxurious Acadia convinced me that, like the Outlook, it is a winner.

Outlook prices start at $27,355 for a front-wheel-drive XE model. The least expensive all-wheel-drive model costs $29,255. I drove a well-equipped XR AWD model with a base price of $31,555 and $1,244 worth of useful options -- a power tailgate, rear parking assist, remote start, heated windshield fluid, XM satellite radio and a 115-volt power outlet. All prices exclude destination charges.

All Outlooks and Acadias get their power from GM's powerful and efficient 3.6-liter V6 and drive the wheels with the automaker's smooth new six-speed automatic transmission.

The Outlook I tested lacked heated seats and memory and mirrors, however. No matter how stylish, practical and well-engineered, any vehicle that costs $33,000 should have those basic amenities.

The Outlook I drove to Chicago and back did have six standard air bags, including curtain bags to protect passengers in all three rows of seats, antilock brakes, electronic stability control and a sensitive all-wheel-drive system that kept the SUV steady and stable as I passed one jackknifed truck after another following a snow and ice storm in western Michigan.

Safety and security are vital in family vehicles, and the Outlook provides both in spades.

It's also a comfortable vehicle, with plenty of head, leg and shoulder room for passengers in all three rows of seats. The mechanism to fold the rear seat flat for cargo and tilt the middle row forward for ingress and egress functions simply and logically, and the SUV's low step-in height made it easy for small children to get in and out unassisted.

Interior space is amazing, as GM's designers created an optical illusion on wheels: a vehicle that looks only slightly larger than a 174.9-inch Ford Escape compact SUV, but at 200.7 inches long is actually a mere 1.3 inches shorter than a Chevrolet Tahoe full-size SUV.

The Outlook's and Acadia's accommodating interiors and excellent fuel economy -- EPA ratings of 18 m.p.g. city and 26 m.p.g. highway for front-drive models; 17/24 with all-wheel-drive -- stem from the SUVs' unibody, car-type structure, as opposed to the heavier and bulkier body-on-frame construction of traditional SUVs like the Tahoe, Ford Explorer, Toyota Sequoia and Nissan Armada.

That kind of construction is ideal for SUVs that will be used mostly for hauling people and luggage, because the vehicles don't have to be over-engineered to haul horse trailers and scale rock piles.

The Outlook and Acadia boast a very useful 4,500-pound towing capacity, however. That's 650 pounds more than a base Dodge Durango, despite that SUV's use of a traditional body-on-frame chassis, 1,000 pounds more than a base Honda Pilot and 984 pounds more than a base 2007 Toyota Highlander.

Toyota hasn't revealed the towing capacity for the base model of the 2008 Highlander that goes on sale in July, but an optional towing package gives it a maximum capacity of 5,000 pounds.

In a week of driving, the Outlook I tested proved comfortable and quiet, with little wind or road noise and excellent stability on ice and in gusty crosswinds. The suspension absorbed the bumps from rough pavement but felt a little floaty and disconnected from the road in fast highway curves.

The brakes provided excellent stopping power and had a firm pedal feel that made for easy modulation. The speed-sensitive steering provided a good combination of low effort in parking lots and a secure on-center feel in fast highway driving. The all-wheel-drive system transferred power imperceptibly from front to rear, with no noticeable torque steer, despite the engine's 275-horsepower output.

Power and fuel economy. A stylish exterior and a large, comfortable interior.

If the Outlook were a person, it would have brains and beauty, strength and sensitivity.

Valentine's Day may have been Wednesday, but that combination makes for a keeper every day of the year.