Auburn Hills, Mich. -- Four Wheeler magazine has named the all-new four-door 2000 Dodge Dakota Quad CabTM Pickup Truck of the Year.

The award marks the third time since 1992 that the Dodge Dakota has won Four Wheeler's prestigious Pickup Truck of the Year title.

"The Dakota Quad Cab is my pick," said tester Tom Morr. "It's really a jack-of-all trades. It's powerful, comfortable, best rear-seat configuration -- it handles well, and it has a usable bed as well."

The Dakota Quad Cab scored at the top of nearly every category.

In acceleration trials, "the great motor and tranny topped the scores in the test books as the Dakota became the official muscle truck of our group," the magazine reported.

On the trail, Quad Cab also smoothed trail obstacles better than any truck in the test. 2 "Great suspension. Pound it and it wants more," testers said.

When it came to passenger comfort, the Dakota Quad Cab again came out on top. All unanimously voted the Dakota as having the best seat for legroom, comfort and ingress/egress with its four full-size doors.

In summary, Four Wheeler said: "This latest Dakota simply delivers more of a good thing -- more power, more doors, more versatility. And it's this balance of talents that makes the Dakota Quad Cab our Pickup Truck of the Year for 2000."

"The Four Wheeler Pickup Truck of the Year award means a great deal to us," said Dodge Vice President Jim Julow. "It's an example of how being 'different' pays off. By giving buyers more -- more power, more payload and more people-carrying capacity -- we've created a better package."

Dodge Dakota is already the largest and widest truck in its class. However, the 2000 Dakota Quad Cab creates a whole new segment in the compact class with a reproportioned cab and cargo box.

The Quad Cab's passenger compartment is engineered to incorporate full-size, front-hinged rear doors that open wide, along with rear seats that will comfortably accommodate three adults. With three-across seating available in front, Quad Cab is the only compact truck with six passenger seating. Split-folding rear seat cushions easily fold up with one hand to make room for cargo, people or a combination of both. The box has been re-sized, yet still delivers the best payload-carrying capacity of any compact domestic pickup in the largest bed of all compact four-door trucks at five feet, three inches long. With the only V-8 engines available in the compact truck segment -- a 3 choice of 235 horsepower 4.7-liter Magnum V-8 or 245 horsepower 5.9-liter Magnum V-8 -- Dakota Quad Cab has more power to tow heavy loads than any other compact four-door.

Four Wheeler's rigorous competition consists of four days of on- and off-highway driving, including steep hill climbs rocky trails, water crossings, dry wash running as well as other challenging terrain. Scoring is based on five categories: mechanical (25 percent), trail performance (30), highway performance (20), interior (15) and exterior (10).

Any new or significantly revised four-wheel drive pickup truck is eligible for the Four Wheeler test.