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With due respect to the planning done by auto designers, it seems sometimes it’s simply the right color that makes an exterior style click with consumers.

Gold umber mica was a beautiful finish for the 2011 Toyota Venza all-wheel-drive crossover I drove last week. While parked, it caught the eye of many passersby. It’s a grabber and emphasizes so much the Venza and its powerful-looking front end with wide grille and wide-track stance, big wheels, large wheel openings and sloping rear end.

The car went away on Monday morning; that afternoon, in a new Subaru, we sat at a stoplight beside a Venza finished in white and Jan said, “It’s much more ordinary-looking in white.” I agree with her, and, yet, I remember an all-white Audi A4 Avant three years ago that was the best-looking wagon I’ve ever driven from that German builder. Certain colors match certain styles.

The Venza, introduced a couple years ago, is a Toyota SUV crossover filling the slot between the smaller RAV4 and the seven-passenger Highlander. There is no third row of seats in a Venza.

Venza in July was one of only three Toyota models to show improved sales over the same month of 2010, as production has been off sharply since March’s devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Besides the Venza’s 21 percent increase in sales, Highlander was up by 27 percent and the Sienna minivan by 6 percent.

Though the Venza is assembled in the U.S., in a Toyota plant in Kentucky, parts shortages caused by the quake/tsunami destruction have limited its production here.

“We look for continued improvement this fall toward a return to normal production and sales for all of our products,” said Jeff Bracken, vice president of Toyota Division sales.

The Venza’s performance, though nothing overly powerful, is smooth from its 268-horsepower, 3.5-liter V-6 engine and 6-speed automatic transmission. Available for a bit more economy is a 2.7-liter 4-cylinder; this 4,000-pounder, though, would not do well in these parts with a 4-cylinder.
Toyota’s “active torque control” AWD system sends power from front wheels to rear at any hint of slip or slide. It is a good handler with a low center of gravity; the Venza rides on 20-inch wheels. A stiff suspension lends a feel of stability, with some body roll in evidence on cornering.

Out on the road, the V-6 seems rather slow on its recovery of speed or midrange torque, all in the name of better fuel economy. And the Venza did deliver an overall fuel mileage average of 22.8.

Inside, two-tone hard-plastic finish of the dash, dark over light, with a touch of satin mahogany wood trim is not the most inviting look in a $40,000 vehicle. A highlight, though, is a 13-speaker JBL Synthesis premium audio setup offering clarity in sound. And there are storage bins all over the front-seating area, five of them, in addition to cupholders.

Comfortable cushions are pleasant in the second-row seats, and the backs recline. Behind these seats is large cargo space of 34.4 cubic feet and a power liftgate for easy access. The sound system and liftgate were among a long list of options boosting sticker price of the Venza from a base of $29,750 to $40,174. Among other added-cost items were navigation, rear-seat DVD entertainment with 9-inch overhead screen, HID headlamps with automatic high beams, backup camera, XM radio and engine cooler.

The unusual model name of Venza comes, according to Toyota officials, from a combination of the words “venture” and “Monza,” as in the Italian race track.

Notes from e-mail

Q: Bud, in reviewing the 2011 Chrysler Town & Country minivan, you used the term “twist-beam rear axle” in describing the vehicle’s rear suspension. I hadn’t heard this nomenclature before. – T.C.

A: The “twist-beam” reference, Tom, is really nothing new, it is what some engineers today call what we’ve known for years as “torsion-beam.” Same thing, and I almost always call it torsion beam or bar.

Q: Bud, I was delighted to read your “friendly acquaintance” in last week’s Post. What a wonderful choice of words. I think of the number of times I have heard “personal friend,” as if there were impersonal friends. I think the E.B. White knew exactly what he was doing in an episode in “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” when he wrote that someone was a “close personal friend of Roosevelt.” While I am writing, I will pass on my sister’s definition of a gentleman: someone who could shift gears in a Crosley without getting his face slapped. Although I had told that way back when, I did not fully understand how good it was until I told it at a Crosley meet several years ago and a man explained that to get the car into reverse you had to move the tall floor shift way to the right. I find your columns very enjoyable, and I like your telling where you went and what you did with whom. – D.R.

A: Thanks, David, I appreciate that very much. Several readers guessed correctly that the “friendly acquaintance” I was referring to was Mike Shaw.

2011 Toyota Venza

$40,174

(price as tested)

MPG City 18 Highway 25

Vehicle type: Midsize AWD crossover

Wheelbase: 109.3 inches

Length/Width/Height: 189/75/63.4 inches

Weight: 4,045 pounds

Engine: 3.5-liter V-6

Transmission: 6-speed automatic

Fuel mileage: 22.8 mpg

Fuel tank: 17.7 gallons

Warranty: 3 years/36,000 miles basic; 5/60,000 powertrain

Competitors: Honda Accord Crosstour, Ford Edge, Subaru Tribeca, Mazda CX-7, Acura MDX

Built at: Georgetown, Ky.

Parts content: U.S./Canadian 78%

THE STICKER

$29,750 base

$4,345 Leather trim, satin mahogany wood interior trim, automatic high beams, power liftgate, backup camera

$2,580 Voice-activated touchscreen DVD navigation, JBL sound, XM radio

$1,680 Rear-seat DVD

$485 Roof rack

$760 Destination

PLUSES

Smooth performance

Cargo space

Good handler

MINUSES

Hard-plastic dash finish

Road noise