1. crossover utility vehicle
   multi-purpose vehicle
2. sport utility vehicle

Just as an SUV is a "sport" utility vehicle, CUV is the acronym for a "crossover" utility vehicle.

1. crossover
   hatchback
2. sedan

SUVs are typically higher off the ground than CUVs, although there are exceptions -- and modifications that can be made. But crossovers typically have better ground (or snow) clearance than sedans, wagons and hatchbacks.

1. Coastal Research Vessel
   Compact Recreational Vehicle
2. Controlled Remote Vehicle

Built on the same frame as the Honda Civic, Honda called its first crossover a "Compact Recreational Vehicle," or CR-V.

1. car frame
   motorcycle frame
2. truck frame

The basic difference between a sports utility vehicle and a crossover is the platform they're built on. Traditionally, an SUV is going to be based on the chassis (frame) of a truck, while it's a chassis of a car for a CUV -- so while it looks like an SUV, it handles like a car.

1. all-wheel drive
   front-wheel drive
2. all of these

While crossover vehicles all offer standard or optional all-wheel drive, front-wheel and rear-wheel drive systems are also available.

1. convertible
   crossover
2. sedan

Crossovers (and SUVs) typically have the highest seating position, giving you the best view. (And remember, if you're tall, this will impact your headroom.)

1. Ford Thunderbird
   Toyota Rav4
2. Volkswagen Beetle

Although some argue the 1979 AMC Eagle, with its four-wheel-drive capability and good ground clearance, was the first (or at least the precursor) crossover, the Toyota Rav4, which was introduced in North America in 1996, is typically considered the first modern CUV. "RAV4," if you didn't know, is an acronym that stands for Recreational Active Vehicle with 4-Wheel Drive.

1. the number of seats
   the color palette
2. the chassis

When the 2011 model year Ford Explorer came out, it was built with unibody construction. Instead of its previous body-on-frame chassis, the Explorer was now built on Ford's D4 unibody platform (the same chassis as the Ford Flex and Lincoln MKT are built on).

1. full-size
   mid-size
2. all of these

Depending on the make and model, crossover utility vehicles are made in pretty much any size you want: compact, mid-sized, etc.

1. higher center of gravity
   improved fuel efficiency
2. more torque

According to Market Research company IBISWorld, the next focus for automakers will be improving fuel effiency in CUVs, to meet regulatory mandates.

1. commuting to work
   driving the Moab Rim Trail
2. taking two dogs to the dog park

While a crossover has some light off-road abilities, it can't compare to true off-road vehicles with high ground clearance and a limited or locking slip differential. Without that, it's going to be tough to traverse the obstacles of the Moab Rim Trail in Utah, one of the most challenging trails in the U.S.

1. light truck
   car
2. all-terrain vehicle

You can't always tell by looking. A crossover vehicle looks like an SUV, sometimes a small SUV, but because it's built on a car frame, it drives like a car rather than a light truck.

1. the crossover
   the sedan
2. they have the same cargo capacity

One top-selling sedan's trunk has 15.8 cubic feet of cargo capacity, less than half that of a similarly-priced CUV -- with the seats up (and with the seats down, the CUV has more than four times the space).

1. less than 1,000 pounds
   less than 5,000 pounds
2. 7,500 pounds or more

Because they're built on the platform of a passenger car, crossovers don't tend to have the same towing capacity as an SUV (which typically can tow 5,000 pounds or more). Expect to be able to handle light to medium towing, about 5,000 pounds or less.

1. compact SUV
   minivan
2. wagon

Crossovers look like SUVs, just smaller, and you may hear them called "compact SUVs" (and sometimes, even, SUVs).

1. Chrysler 200
   Dodge Dart
2. all of these

Beginning with the model year 2013, Jeep Cherokees have been built on what's called the Fiat Compact platform, which is the same one used in the construction of the Alfa Romeo Giulietta, the Chrysler 200 and the Dodge Dart.

1. spaceframe (tubular)
   unibody
2. wood underframe

Most modern vehicles including crossovers are built with a unibody, which means the body and frame are all one piece. Trucks and some large sport-utility vehicles continue to be made with body-on-frame, which means the body is placed around the vehicle frame.

1. Dodge Caliber
   Mitsubishi Lancer
2. all of these

The Patriot, Outlander, Journey and other crossovers share this compact chassis, originally developed by Mitsubishi Motors and DaimlerChrysler, with many of those brands' sedans.

1. 4-cylinder
   8-cylinder
2. 4- or 6-cylinder, but not 8

Smaller crossover vehicles often come with a 4-cylinder engine, but when you move into mid-size CUVs, you'll typically find a V6 under the hood. For the power of a V8, you'll want to look at full-size SUVs.

1. women
2. men

Although it doesn't help us understand if more men or more women are driving them, according to recent gender demographics -- analyses from J.D. Power & Associates and customized data Experian Automotive -- it turns out women are more likely than men to buy a crossover vehicle.

1. lighter-weight vehicles
   more passenger room and cargo space
2. all of these

Unibody construction usually means a lighter-weight vehicle with not only more passenger room and cargo space, but better safety features, including built-in crumple zones.

1. two rows
   three rows
2. some offer a third-row option

Most crossover vehicles are offered with two rows of seating. Some of the larger CUVs, though, do come with -- or offer -- third-row seating.

1. SAVs have a side-hinged liftgate
   SAVs aren't made to tow anything
2. there is no difference

When you take away the descriptive marketing language around it, the term "sports-activity vehicle", or SAV, is one that's used by BMW to describe its BMW X line of, surprise, mid-size crossover vehicles.

1. CUV
   sedan
2. truck

While a crossover typically gets better gas mileage than an SUV and a truck, none beat the fuel economy of a sedan.

1. it's a crossover with more towing capacity
   it's an SUV with more than 5 seats
2. it's nothing more than a marketing term

You can have a crossover or an SUV, but a "crossover SUV" isn't really anything more than a marketing term for a CUV.

1. station wagon
   sedan
2. hatchback

During the first half of 2014, according to IHS Automotive, SUV and CUV sales accounted for 36 percent of the retail market, versus 35 percent of sedans. And that made the SUV/crossover market the No. 1 body style sold in the U.S.

1. a crossover is more likely to tip over
   a crossover is less likely to tip over
2. it's about the same odds

Most SUVs, which tend to be high off the ground, have the worst SSF rating, at 3 out of 5 stars. And crossovers, built on car frames, tend to score a little better, with 4 out of 5 stars.

1. crossover
   minivan
2. truck

While a crossover vehicle has a lower floor height than an SUV or a truck, it can't beat most cars and minivans. The floor height in a minivan -- plus its low seat heights and sliding doors -- make them the easiest to get in and out of.

1. a crossover
   a minivan
2. a sedan

Sorry, crossovers, but most CUVs and SUVs can't haul long and/or tall items as well as a minivan. (And forget about putting anything that size or shape in the trunk of a sedan.)

1. Acura RSX
   Honda Accord
2. Ford Taurus

These mid-size crossover vehicles share the same platform as the Honda Accord. Smaller CUVs, like the Honda CR-V, are built on the same platform as the compact Honda Civic.

1. more than 30 million
   5.6 million
2. 50,000

Of the vehicles Americans bought in 2016, 5.6 million were crossovers -- which is almost one-third of all new car sales in the U.S.

1. the location of a seated occupant's hip
   the distance from vehicle floor to the road
2. the distance from seat base to ceiling

The "H-point" is an important number in seating and interior design, standardized by the Society of Automotive Engineers. It impacts everything from roof height to safety features like passenger restraints and airbag function (and more). Set by an H-Point Machine (HPM), the H-point -- or hip-point -- is the location of your hip joint when you're seated in your car.

1. roughly 357,000
   about 3,570,000
2. about 35,700

As many as 357,335 Honda CR-Vs were sold in the U.S. in 2016, making the CR-V the No. 1 crossover among American drivers. In close competition was: the Toyota Rav4, which sold 352,154; the Jeep Cherokee, which sold 199,736; and, the Subaru Forester, which sold 178,593.

1. Fiat Cinquecento
   GAZ M72
2. Volkswagen Karmann Ghia

We think of these features in our modern vehicles, but it was in 1955 when the Russian GAZ-M20 Pobeda was modified into a new model called the M-72, a light truck that was built with unibody construction and included four-wheel drive.

1. its back hatch
   its higher ground clearance
2. its tall profile

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the height of crossover vehicles and SUVs may be advantageous in a crash. A taller profile, the IIHS says, could protect better, among other examples, in side-impact crashes.