Going from a v 8 to a four cylinder

My guess is the difference between your current truck, a RAV4, Liberty, Pathfinder or X-terra might get you hack from guys like Drewdog but unless your trying to attract them instead of ladies I don't think it will impact your prospect one bit.

Now if you were getting a Lexus LX 470 or comparable SUV that might make some difference in the ladies department. But then you also would know what is drawing them and that they would ditch you for the Ferrari guy

As for power, as others suggested you got to look at HP & torque (even better) given the weight. For instance the Mini Cooper S and VW New Beetle Turbo S have V4s but are very quick.

Further, check out edmunds.com. Looks like the RAV4 with the 4 0-60 is 8.9, only a half off a 2000 Pathfinder (8.4) with a V6 and faster than the Dodge Durango with the V8 (9.1)--so it is right in the ballpark with the other ones. What you don't want however is when there is a choice between engines on an SUV model to go with the smaller one--then it is likely the smaller engine will be substantially underpowered relative to the vehicles curb weight.

I'd say unless you are pulling, need to accomodate more than 5 passengers at times, or have the kind of serious off-road demands probably like 1% of SUV owners actually need (like Jeep trails, not just everyday hills, ice, snow and gravel roads any 4wd can handle) the RAV4 is a pretty good choice. Also, if you want to go a little bigger without too much gas penalty, consider the Forrester. If you are sticking to roads travel for about the same cost you seem to be talking about (20K-low 20Ks range)--I wouldn't get an SUV at all but look at sport coupe (probably German, maybe Japonese if I could find one equally fun) or the like.

For me, I just bought a Pilot. Honda makes a great V6 that is very powerfull (240HP, 242 torque at 4500RPM, 8.6 0-60--overall pretty close to the Dodge and other domestic V8s prior to 2003), yet very efficient (around 20MPG in mixed conditions), and takes regular gas. I wanted to be able to handle New Mexico winter travels and moderate off roading--but also wanted 7 passenger capability. This was the clear choice for me though I had to shop around a lot to get one within $500 of invoice. Of course I have been married for 6 years so take my opinion on the attraction material with grain of salt.