The 2008 Jeep Liberty could be one of the best deals of the year. Not only is this jeep all-new from the ground up, but it's also priced lower than the out-going model and has a lot more standard content than the former Liberty.

Escalating gas and home heating costs will play into consumer spending. These are serious considerations for automakers. If someone is in the market now for a new vehicle, is he or she walking into the showroom to shop for a 4WD SUV?

Jeep sharpened it's pencils. Compared to the last model, the MSRP on the 2008 Liberty is reduced by an average of $1,000 and about $1,400 in features is added to the new model.

The Jeep Liberty Sport 4x2 is priced at $20,990, including destination and handling. My uplevel tester, the Liberty Limited 4x4 starts at $26,785.

The 2008 Liberty represents the first major change since it's introduction in 2002. Besides the mannerly on-road upgrades, the Liberty takes on a more rugged exterior appearance. The softer look of the original Liberty is replaced with a classic Jeep design. This midsize SUV gains 2 inches in overall body length and a half-inch in width, resulting in more passenger and cargo room.

The star attraction for the new Liberty is the industry-exlcusive, full-length, power-sliding canvas roof. My tester featured this $1,200 option, dubbed the "Sky Slider." I pushed the overhead switch to open and close the canvas top to allow light and fresh air to envelope the front and rear rows of the five-passenger vehicle.

Jeep says the Sky Slider is similar to a convertible top and is four times the size of an average sun roof. When closed, I paid particular attention to road noise and noticed that it was pretty quiet.

This year's 2008 model gets a hardier exterior look, reverting back to more of a classic square-edged Jeep design. The Liberty has a bolder emphasis in the front with the sturdy-looking seven-slot grill, a high beltline to create a tougher, capable appearance, trapezoidal wheel openings to emphasis the wheel openings. This really drew attention to Limited's optional 18-inch tires. The spare tire is now moved beneath the SUV. Towing capacity is rated at 3,500 pounds and ground clearance is at 9.5 inches.

The Jeep is a midsize SUV equipped with a 3.7-liter V-6 engine. The 12-valve single overhead cam V-6 generates 210 horsepower at 5,200 rpm and 235 lb.-ft. of torque at 4,000 rpm. The engine is coupled to a six-speed manual transmission as standard equipment with EPA fuel economy ratings of 16 miles per gallon city and 22 mpg highway. My tester's option four-speed automatic transmission received EPA ratings of 15 mpg city and 21 mpg highway.

Striking a delicate balance of better on-road manners while retaining Jeep off-road characteristics was a major objective for the all-new Liberty. For 2008, the Jeep Liberty delivers improved road handling due to a power rack-and-pinion steering system, an all-new independent front suspension and an all-new five-link rear suspension system. These attributes combine to give the driver an optimum feel that is not attainable with a typical strut-type suspension according to Jeep. Two four-wheel drive systems are offered on the 2008 Liberty: the Selec-Trac II full-time 4WD and the Command-Trac part-time 4WD system.