How does Rogue do on gravel roads

[mkcollins]

I am researching what auto I want to buy. I have 10 miles of gravel road to drive before getting to the blacktop every day. At times these roads are horrid.

I am looking at a 2010 Rogue. What are the longest wearing type tires this car will handle? How does it do on rougher types of road, muddy gravel and snow drifts?

[kerrton]

Hi there, I do a lot of driving on gravel roads for work, and basically in my area I would only use a truck or SUV with a wide track/wheel base equal to a truck because all gravel roads inevitably have wear tracks from pickup truck and heavy truck traffic. If you try to drive on these roads with a narrower track vehicle such as the Rogue, it gets really frustrating because one side of the vehicle is in a track and the other side is fighting a pile of gravel which gives you a unstable feeling. On a freshly graded road the Rogue will do great, but one it gets rutted from truck traffic you will lose stability.

Also, in my opinion the Rogue will not stand up well to gravel dings and nicks as the lower panels are just painted and very prone to rock chips. If you look at other competitors such as the Sorento, Santa Fe and many others, there is a heavy duty plastic or durable coating that would resist gravel nicks - the Rogue does not have this coating on the lower panels and even just driving around town for a few winters my 08 Rogue has many chips and scratches on the lower panels. It's not a big deal and I'm not complaining, but I can imagine that if you were to use this vehicle on gravel roads regularly the lower panels would be a mess after a few short years.

The Rogue is a great vehicle and I'm happy with my 08, but I don't think I can recommend it as a regular gravel road vehicle.