Enter, the anti-SUVs

This just in from the government’s Bureau of the Obvious: SUVs are more likely to roll over than cars. Coming soon: a statistical regression analysis involving fingers and light sockets.

Last week, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration unveiled a new component in its five-star system for ranking vehicles’ rollover risk. NHTSA will now issue a percentage representing the odds that a vehicle will roll over in a single-car accident. According to this scale, for example, the Mazda RX-8 has only an 8% chance of rollover. The Ford Explorer Sport Trac 4x2 has a 34.8% chance of rollover, the highest of any vehicle in the latest testing cycle. (The results can be viewed at www.nhtsa.gov.)

And they say God doesn’t play dice.

Rollovers occur in only a small percentage of highway accidents but account for a quarter of all traffic fatalities, according to the government’s statistics. Rollover deaths in accidents involving SUVs rose 6.8% last year, to 2,639, accounting for 40% of fatalities in SUV accidents. For the same period, rollover deaths in cars declined 7.5%.

SUVs are not highly nuanced, in the language of political campaigning. They are guilty instead of flip-flopping.

Consider your options. There are more than a dozen all-wheel-drive station wagons on the market, vehicles that combine foul-weather intrepidity, flexible cargo space, car-like performance and handling, and conscionable fuel economy, all with a marked proclivity for staying right side up.

On this page are two doses of SUV antidote: the BMW 325xi wagon and the new-for-2005 Volvo V50 T5 AWD. Though growing a bit long in the tooth, the BMW is the gold standard for all-wheel-drive wagons, beautifully made, athletic and versatile, with better balance than a tent-full of Flying Wallendas. The V50 T5 is chic, distinctive and coolly modern, with a willing turbocharged engine under its fluted hood.

Run the numbers: Both wagons are 25% lighter than a four-wheel-drive Ford Explorer, America’s bestselling SUV. Both are 20% lower in height. Both wagons return 25% better highway fuel economy than the Explorer. And both have significantly shorter stopping distances than the Ford -- stopping distance being one of the great ignored safety factors in most peoples’ car-buying cerebrations.

Will the growing sophistication of all-wheel-drive wagons -- and their image makeover as “sport tourers” -- guile SUV lovers from their lofty, unstable perches? What are the odds?

Volvo V50

The two Swedish car companies, Saab and Volvo, are now owned by the American giants GM and Ford, respectively. Saab is getting the worst of it. While the 9-3 series cars -- based on GM’s Epsilon platform -- retain the Saab’s distinctive identity, the new Saab 9-2X is a cheap and ghastly re-skin of the Subaru Impreza (Subaru is also a corporate holding of GM); coming soon, the Saab 9-7X SUV, a Swede makeover of GM’s mid-size SUV platform found under the Chevy Trailblazer and GMC Envoy.

Ford’s stewardship of Volvo, meanwhile, seems to me much more deft and intelligent. Yes, the S40 sedan and new V50 wagon are based on the Ford’s global C1 platform, found under the Mazda 3 and 2005 Ford Focus. But the compact Volvos have their own powertrains, suspensions and tangible spirits. The V50, a mechanical twin of the S40, is a fetching, subversively hip entry into the premium small-wagon segment. Subversive because -- unlike just about every car on Santa Monica Freeway at rush hour -- it isn’t German.

The car is within whiskers of the Audi A4 1.8 T Avant Quattro and BMW 325xi in every dimension; yet at 3,399 pounds the high-performance V50 T5 all-wheel drive is the equivalent of one supermodel lighter than the BMW or Audi and, with its turbocharged, 2.5-liter five-cylinder engine, has more ponies in the paddock (215 horsepower) than either.

The base V50 2.4i, a front-drive version, comes with a naturally aspirated 2.4-liter five-cylinder (168 hp) and five-speed manual transmission; our V50 T5 AWD test car was equipped with the optional five-speed shiftable automatic ($1,200). The all-wheel-drive system, built by Haldex and familiar from bigger Volvos, directs 100% of the torque to the front wheels, sluicing power to the rear wheels only when the front wheels slip.

The Volvo feels very solid, very within itself, during hard driving, particularly for what is effectively a front-drive car. The steering is heavy but accurate, the brakes stiff and effective. It corners flatly, with a nice, easy balance, and the 205/50R17 radials adhere to the asphalt beautifully. These same tires give the car a bit of a flinty ride -- with small impacts registering in the chassis somewhat immoderately -- but the larger suspension movements are well damped and rebound is quickly annulled. The AWD models come with the sportier suspension; our test model’s Sport package added the grippy wheels and tires.

The Volvo is quicker than the BMW or the Audi, and the limberness of turbocharging, combined with continuously variable valve timing, allows the engine to put out a hefty 236 pound-feet of torque between 1,500 and 4,800 rpm. It gives the T5 AWD a flexed, bridle-pulling quality that makes it a quiet riot to drive around town. That said, the car doesn’t have the charcoal-filtered smoothness of either German car.

Nor does the Swedish car have quite the premium ambience of the German cars. Yet it’s awfully nice inside. As in the S40, the visual center of gravity in the V50’s cabin is the unique floating central console, a flat panel that bridges between the dash and the floor with an open storage area behind it.

The cargo hold of the V50 is less user-friendly than the BMW. You have to flip up the rear seat bottoms and then detach the rear headrests in order to fold the seatbacks flat. The loose headrests are secured in slots in the tilted-forward seat bottoms; stowing them there is awkward and steals cargo space. The retracting horizontal cargo cover is hard to remove and replace, and a plastic fastener popped off while I was exorcising this particular demon.

The premium small sedan/wagon segment is something of a circular firing squad. Volvo brings plenty of ammunition. Our test model, a V50 T5 AWD with Sport, Premium, Climate and Audio package upgrades, went out the door at $34,215. For that you get bi xenon headlights; heated seats with headlamp washers; 12-speaker, 445-watt stereo system with six-disc in-dash changer; rain-sensing wipers; leather interior. Volvo’s options and package structure is a tad confusing, but it does give buyers plenty of mix-and-match opportunities.

BMW 325xi

The Werks and I have had our differences. For instance, I think some of the newer cars -- the Z4, X3 and 5-series sedans -- are ugly enough to unknit the fabric of space-time. They point to the company’s effortlessly rising sales figures and direct me to the nearest rolling doughnut.

Reasonable minds may disagree.

But when it comes to the BMW 325xi Sports Wagon, the boys from Bavaria and I come to terms: This is a superb car, as smooth as a mink glove, satisfying and well-rounded, polished and competent to the marrow.

The current 3-series generation is several years old, but the car doesn’t feel dated so much as well sorted. Compared to the alienating instrumentation of the recent 5-series, for instance, which always feels just a little out of one’s mental reach (How do I switch radio bands again?), the 3-series controls are models of fuss-free, intuitive design. The car is a symphony of little things: the dinner-jacket fit of the bucket seats (leather interior is a $1,450 option); the feel of the leather steering wheel in your hands, like the best outfielder’s glove; the panoramic sightlines from the driver’s seat. The car feels like a biometric appliance.

The all-wheel-drive wagon is more than 300 pounds heavier than the rear-wheel-drive sedan (3,627 pounds versus 3,307), and that translates to more than a half-second penalty from 0-60 mph (7.8 seconds versus 7.1). Pushed around by a 2.5-liter, 187-hp V6, the 3-series is in no sense overpowered; yet the engine’s variable-valve timing and electronic throttle spread the torque across the rev counter like jam on toast. The engine pulls at just about every rpm (peak torque is 175 pound-feet at 3,500 rpm).

It’s an eagerness, a friction-free gait that makes the naturally aspirated engine feel as if it were turbocharged.

Our test car was equipped with the five-speed manual transmission; a five-speed automatic or six-speed sequential manual gearbox is optional. The 225-hp, 3.0-liter engine is not available in an AWD wagon.

It would be hard to tell from the car’s handling that it is, in fact, a station wagon. The 325xi’s agility and snubbed-down ride is classic Bimmer; our test car’s front strut and rear multi-link suspension were endowed with sport suspension’s tauter settings. The steering is as precise as a diplomat’s language. The car doesn’t have quite the liveliness of the sedan or coupe, because of the weight and because of the AWD. The system uses a planetary (mechanical) differential with a fixed-torque split, apportioning 38% of the engine torque to the front wheels and 62% to the rear.

Masterminding the traction are the same electronic brains in the X3 and X5 SUVs. The Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) includes traction control, hill-descent control, anti-lock braking and stability control -- all systems designed to maintain grip and direction. The car comes with 17-inch all-season radials. A change of shoes to winter tires will be necessary to beat up the snowy roads to the ski resorts.

For all its road-savvy handling and performance, the 325xi’s versatile cargo space might be its best feature. With the 60/40-split rear seats upright, capacity is 25 cubic feet, 150% better than the sedan’s. The cargo compartment is equipped with floor straps, a cargo net, an accessory power outlet and a retractable cargo cover. This window-shade-like device detaches easily from the bulkheads; in some cars, removing and replacing this device is like fighting an anaconda.

Another nice feature of the sport wagon is the hatch with the separately opening window. Also, while other small wagons may require you to tilt forward the rear seat bottoms and remove the headrests to create a flat floor in the cargo bay, the 325xi couldn’t ask for less: two easy-to-reach latches allow the rear seat backs to fold forward. That’s it.

Our test car was loaded to the gills with a cold-weather package ($750); premium package including power seats and upgraded interior trim ($2,400); xenon headlights ($700); and Harman-Kardon sound system ($675).

The total was $40,045.

That’s a lot of money. But it’s a lot of car -- rain-sensing windshield wipers, automatic headlight control, power moon roof, intelligent brake lights -- the full smash.

If you don’t like the idea of driving a “station wagon,” I have a solution. Don’t look behind you. You will soon forget.

Wagons, ho

I hate being right all the time. Nonetheless, I predicted some time ago that the SUV’s house of cards -- or is that House of Saud? -- was imperiled by the threat of rising fuel costs and the long-term aggravation that these vehicles impose on their drivers. Now that fuel prices have indeed spiked, buyers are leaving SUVs in droves (the bribing incentive and rebate structure of the manufacturers notwithstanding). Fortunately, thanks to cars like the Volvo V50 and BMW 325xi, they have someplace to go.

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2004 BMW 325xi Sport Wagon

Price as tested: $40,045

Powertrain: 2.5-liter inline-6, variable-valve timing, electronic throttle; five-speed manual transmission; planetary

gear center differential;

all-wheel drive.

Horsepower: 184 hp @ 6,000 rpm

Torque: 175 pound-feet @ 3,500 rpm

Weight: 3,627 pounds

0-60 mph: 7.8 seconds

Wheelbase: 107.3 inches

Overall length: 176.3 inches

EPA mileage: 19 miles per gallon city, 26 highway

Competitors: Audi A4 1.8 T Avant Quattro, Volvo V50 T5 AWD

Final thoughts: Clutch Cargo

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2005 Volvo V50 T5 The 75th Academy Awards

Price, as tested: $34,215

Powertrain: 2.5-liter, dual overhead cam, inline five cylinder, turbocharged with variable-valve timing; five-speed automatic transmission; mechanical center differential; all-wheel drive

Horsepower: 218 hp @ 5,000 rpm

Torque: 236 pound-feet @ 1,500 to 4,800 rpm

Weight: 3,399 pounds

0-60 mph: 6.9 seconds

Wheelbase: 103.9 inches

Overall length: 177.7 inches

EPA mileage: 23 miles per gallon city, 30 mpg highway

Competitors: BMW 325xi, Audi A4 1.8 T Avant Quattro

Final thoughts: Cabin fever