First off, anybody who decides to name a vehicle after an X-Men character (whether they do it intentionally or not) is a bit of alright in my book. Of course “my book” is pretty much a pop-up affair designed for children and rarely, if ever, considered serious literature. But there you go.
Oh, and the Nissan Rogue? It’s a pretty cool little crossover SUV that has a really stout, quality feel to it and a surprisingly amount of ground clearance. It’s not as roomy as a lot of the competition, and the Constantly Variable Transmission is a tad vocal (and can be lazy at dropping the ration on occasion) but the Inline Four is spunky, quick and reasonably frugal. The option 360 value package on our tester had what is becoming more common on mainstream vehicles; a back-up camera in the rearview mirror. This is a very good thing, especially since rearward visibility is kind of poor (also a thing becoming more common on mainstream vehicles, sad to say). All in all it’s a lot of all-weather capability in a small, affordable package, and naturally I’m talking about the All Wheel Drive version which is what you need here in the Northeast (and has a button to lock the center differential when you have to challenge an unplowed hill). The Question is: how many realize the Rogue’s real name is Anna Marie? The Nissan Anna Marie does sound more like a giant cargo ship than an SUV, so I guess we should stick with Rogue. I would actually call it the Samwise, but that’s just me.

Well, here’s something you don’t see everyday: a manufacturer does an all-new version of a vehicle, and it’s actually smaller than the previous iteration. This is really unusual, as just about every time there’s a fundamental redo cars get larger (the universe is expanding, after all). The new Cadillac SRX is a sport-sport ute, and either wildly avant-garde in styling or another case of origami gone horribly wrong. As I mentioned it’s actually less roomy than its predecessor, which could be a function of the much more sedan-like rear roofline (Honda did that too, a few years ago with the CRX). Our test mule is powered by a 300-horse Turbocharged V6, and so far I have observed some good power but pretty expressive turbo lag. This is surprising, because until recently GM owned Saab and them there Swedes are amazingly adept at smooth turbocharging integration (especially with their V6). But, there you go. We have the All Wheel Drive variant, which I shall get to test in the snow as soon as I walk outside. The other version is a front-driver, which is another variation as the previous 2WD SRX was a rear-driver. I shall perhaps share more after I have more seat time. Lots of fun techie juju within, and I loves me the huge Panorama moonroof.

Suzuki has been a really fun company to watch the last few years on the automotive front, for while their motorcycle side has been a major player (and completely dominant in US Superbike racing) their car side has been a bit more stealthy when it comes to increasing their market footprint. But they have been coming out with some very interesting products, and their new Kizashi midsize sedan is a pretty big deal. My favorite feature? A very good (optional) AWD system that you can switch off on demand, reverting to pure front-drive status and therefore helping fuel economy when you don’t need the extra traction. The car seems well-built, comfortable, and while the CVT transmission on our test mule was a bit vocal the manual mode with paddle shifters on the wheel was very trick indeed. The lone engine is an Inline Four, which is spunky enough overall and delivered 22.6 MPG in mixed driving. The brakes are excellent. All told it’s a pretty fine car, and a pleasure to drive. Very nicely equipped, it was $27K, too. Look out, Subaru. Oh, and the name? Apparently it translates to “something good is about to arrive.” Now that it’s actually here, I think it may do well.