SUV environmental impact? Nissan rogue 2015 and suspension questions? Benefits?

[engineer20]

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticis ... y_vehicles

I have a family member who bought a new 2015 nissan rogue, it's actually pretty fuel efficient and got 35 mpg highway today. My question is, I'm not a big fan of SUVs and have heard the criticisms of SUVs as is noted in this article but do these apply to newer SUVs or crossover SUVs? The rogue is still high like an SUV even if it's car based and my question is, despite being good on gas, better than my sedan, does it really still have a higher environemental impact or give out more emissions than my Toyota Camry which only gets 24 miles per gallon or was that to older larger bulkier truck based SUVs like the bronco or does the new fuel efficient rogue still have a larger environmental impact than my Camry, despite using less gas and does it really emit more emissions than the Camry?

Also what are the advantages of having an Suv? The family member bought it because they thought it would be better in the snow but someone said awd or SUVs aren't invincible and ironically get into more snow related accidents because of a psychological perception of safety whereas such isn't the case for a two wheel drive sedan where you feel the slip and feel unsafe so you drive more cautiously. Also, I live in michigsn and the roads are horrible. As a result, my ten plus year old Camry needs and needed many suspension parts related repairs like struts, wheel bearings, control arm, due to bad roads. With an SUV would you have an advantage on rough roads in that it'd handle them better and not be impacted by them as badly? Would the suspension hold up better to bad roads and consequently , it's suspension components would last longer so I wouldn't need to replace faulty parts as much as I did to the Camry? It's an awd rogue too. Would it have any advantages on rough roads? What about gravel or dirt or unpaved roads? I'm guessing SUVs have stronger suspensions that won't break as easily as sedans since they go off roading in them but the rogue wasn't designed for off roading and is a car based SUV, so would its suspension be the same as a car, just as prone to failure or is it better since it rests higher than a sedan? I notice the steering isn't as nimble as that of a sedan, but does that mean any advantage or disadvantage in terms of its suspension or its longevity? The dealership also offers rust proofing which I didn't do though I still could do it as it's under a year old. Should I do it before this winter as I live in michigan and they salt the roads real offen and my Camry's underbody is pretty rusted though the car drives well and I feel like rust will ultimately kill the Camry. Are nissan a prone to rusting, should I let the dealer rustproof the car or no or have the car rustproofed in nearby canada since Canada does a better job at it? Thanks.

[Ferrisfan]

I think if you consider vehicles like the Rogue to be CUVs rather than SUVs, you can treat them as cars for things like environmental impact scores and ruggedness of suspension.

Regarding snow, I have always had the opinion that tires are far more important than AWD. AWD vehicles are better than FWD once the tire situation is addressed, but AWD is not a replacement for good all-season tires (in mild climates like I have in NC) or winter tires where you live.

We had a bit of ice and snow last winter, and the OEM tires on my 2014 SL were not good it it. I will put some of the blame on myself because this was my first bad weather experience with a CVT. I was used to controlling my shift points in bad weather from my previous car and I need to learn the nuances of the Rogue in adverse weather.

CUVs have filled the niche that used to be filled by the family station wagon back in the day. The body style is more of a response to marketing than to performance.

[ImStricken06]

I presume the majority of your questions, you already know the answers to; but you want someone to dispel all the crap you are reading in tree-hugging articles that paint suv's as these environmental monsters. An SUV is a car. It's just tall. Period the end. Don't let some amateur blogger, overnight journalist, tell you otherwise. Many of these "journalists" don't know a thing about cars; they are just regurgitating what they, themselves, read in 'green' magazines, books, etc.

The engine has little to do with the platform it's in. There are gas guzzling 2-door sports cars with large engines, which get worse MPG's than an evil SUV with a small 4 cylinder engine. Will an SUV give you better performance on rough terrain? Ground clearance is the advantage - that's really it.

Will components on an SUV last longer than that of a sedan? Meh... not really. You cant take an SUV and drive it on a dirt road, the way you'd drive a sedan on a highway. SUV's are really not "off-road machines" like many manufacturer commercials paint them to be. They can navigate off-road conditions better than sedans, but only if you have the right combination of: driver skill, tires, suspension, and terrain = an SUV can get stuck just as fast/bad as a sedan. Many SUV's today, are simply tall cars. They use similar components as their sedan counterparts. And many of the remaining true body-on-frame SUV's, are using such junk suspension parts now a days - that I'd hesitate to call them "terrain rated". Manufacturers are in a race to better their MPG's, so they started shrinking the beefiness of the suspension parts, to reduce the vehicle weight. What might help you, is the fact that many SUV's have larger tires, than the lower profile tires mounted on many sedans. Lower profile tires pass along the shock of road vibrations to the suspension parts.

Here are 2 thoughts that blow the minds of many tree-huggers:
1. Clean-diesel engines get better MPG's than gas! So that means they are in fact better for the environment then gas cars!!
2. Hybrid cars, are worse for the environment then tree-huggers wanna admit. The batteries inside hybrid cars depend on materials like lithium and cobalt. Mining for those minerals is an extremely destructive process, and one that has left entire mountains leveled in their wake. Then there's the issue of plug-in hybrid cars. While they have the potential to use far less gasoline than conventional engines or even regular hybrids, the electricity they use comes from our existing power grid. And in the U.S., most of our electricity comes from coal.

[engineer20]

And how can I not scratch the dashboard the interior plastics, and the navigation screen? Put a screen protector on top of it? Any anti dust chemicals or chemicals that are safe and won't cause scratches?