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CORNWALL, N.Y. — Heavy fog settled along Mine Hill Road, a treacherous blacktop path made more dangerous by inclement weather.

I loathed the wetness.

Mine Hill, particularly when shrouded in fog, splashed by rain or covered with snow, can break your heart over a car or truck.

A vehicle that dazzled you at speed on a highway bereft of curves and meaningful elevation can bitterly disappoint you on Mine Hill.

A car that seduced you with its ability to take curves on dry mountain roads could prove feckless on Mine Hill in wet or snowy weather.

But a car, wagon or truck that dances uphill in the rain, tiptoes lightly through the fog, that literally feels the road regardless of precipitation, certain of every step taken on an uncertain surface, is one that makes you smile.

I smiled a lot in this week’s subject vehicle, the 2009 Audi Q5 Premium Quattro crossover-utility wagon.

It is a compact, luxury all-wheel-drive wagon. It is among the latest entries to a growing segment of vehicles bought by people who want truck-like utility without a truck’s thirst for fuel or its relatively clumsy handling.

Such consumers also want the strength of a sport-utility vehicle and the people-hauling ability of a minivan without the social opprobrium of either.

Thus, the Q5 and its peer models, regardless of price range, represent the minivan or station wagon needed by many couples who have children but refuse to buy anything that too clearly resembles a minivan or station wagon.

Instead, in possible rebellion against their parents or their own entry into parenthood, those consumers have bought into a “cool factor” exemplified by upscale models such as the Acura MDX, Audi Q5, BMW X-3, Buick Enclave, Ford Flex and Lexus RX 350. Or, they’ve signed purchase agreements for one of the more affordable crossovers, such as the Chevrolet Equinox, Honda CR-V, Nissan Rogue and Toyota Rav-4.

For me, the crucial test for those vehicles and all others is their performance on Mine Hill Road.

The exam begins with a sharp turn — right or left, depending on your direction of travel — off Angola Road onto Mine Hill, a winding, twisting surface rising steadily uphill to the appropriately named Sky Drive.

At the turn, does the vehicle’s weight shift, shimmy and rumble in the manner of an overloaded washing machine? Must you slow down in imitation of a turtle rounding a curve, thus risking a rear-end collision from traffic following you on Angola?

In my years of reviewing cars and trucks, I’ve learned something about those with well-engineered suspensions and tightly built bodies. In fog or snow — one condition compromising vision and the other possibly compromising vision and feel — you can always feel the road. If you apply common sense and drive at the appropriate speed given the driving conditions, you can sense where possible danger lies and when it might be wise to drive even more slowly and apply a bit more caution in steering. Any vehicle that retains useful road feel, that continues to “tell” me when, where and how under trying conditions, is one that reduces driver stress and makes me smile.

Perhaps the ultimate Mine Hill test is torque — an engine’s ability to supply twisting power and a transmission’s corresponding ability to get that power to the drive wheels — two front wheels, two rear or all four wheels.

You’d be surprised at how many cars and trucks, some of them pricey and allegedly “high performance,” failed that test. Some whined and wheezed uphill. Some — it happened with both automatic and manual transmissions — stalled out mid-hill, which is not something you want on a fog-shrouded, upwardly winding, narrow road. A few other vehicles with automatic transmissions shifted gears so much, I couldn’t tell whether I was coming or going, rising or falling.

The Audi Q5 Premium Quattro — outfitted with a 3.2-liter, 270-horsepower V-6 engine and six-speed automatic transmission with hill-climbing and descent control — did none of those things. It was as certain in road feel and overall performance on foggy Mine Hill as it was in the high-speed mayhem on I-87 North leading here.

Did it make me smile? Yes. It rendered my expression Sarah Palinesque. I love this one!