DRIVEN TO DRIVE

Winner of the AJAC “SUV/CUV under $35,000″ category, the Nissan Rogue is a delightful newcomer to this expanding market. Since we subconsciously correlate size with price, and since this was in the least expensive of the three SUV/CUV categories, I was surprised at how large it was. And for those of you who are wondering what a CUV is – it’s a ‘Crossover Utility Vehicle’. I know that ‘Crossovers’ have their roots in SUV’s (Sport Utility Vehicles), but I never have quite figured out what these SUV’s were crossing over to. But, enough philosophical chatter – this is about the Nissan Rogue. Now since it’s a Nissan and since it has a CVT – another acronym, this one meaning ‘Continuously Variable Transmission’ – it’s tempting to think of the Rogue as a baby Nissan Murano.