2014 Nissan Rogue: The Age of Reason

When it first appeared in 2008, the Nissan Rogue seemed destined for greatness. And succeed it did, becoming the best-selling Nissan in Canada. Nonetheless, as time went on, the Rogue had more and more difficulty keeping pace with other compact SUVs, as they have become increasingly refined over these last several years. In the current market, an SUV that remains unchanged for five years is akin to a blind person trying to understand how an iPhone works at a rave.

Nissan has just updated its Rogue, and the new one shares very few similarities with the old version. Its new structure is based on Nissan’s Common Module Family (CMF) platform, which is also shared by Renault. Note that our Rogue is distributed in Europe under the name “X-Trail”, a name that Canadians are familiar with but that applies to a completely different vehicle from a few years ago.

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• Also: Nissan says 2014 Rogue SUV is more efficient, cheaper than rivals

Good looks go a long way

If a nice appearance goes a long way when selling vehicles, the Rogue should continue to be successful. Its lines aren’t exactly revolutionary, but all the right ingredients are there and it won’t go out of style next week. The most noticeable progress has been made inside: the dashboard is finally worthy of the Nissan name with its attractive colour schemes, especially when the upholstery is beige. Most of the materials are of good quality, despite certain hard plastics located mainly in the lower part of the passenger compartment. That notwithstanding, the improvement is clear. Nissan is using its NissanConnect system for the first time ever. This system, which is a lot like other comparable systems out there, seemed fairly user-friendly to me. Even if it can prove distracting when using it, an effort was made to avoid the pitfalls of more troublesome systems, like Ford’s Sync.

The SV trim with the Family Package has three rows of seating. It took a lot of imagination to create this final row and it will take a lot more imagination for an adult to find it comfortable. Rogues that do not have three rows are equipped with the Divide ‘N Hide system. According to Nissan, it offers no fewer than 18 different trunk configurations. Get ready for hours of fun! The second row, on the other hand, is very roomy and comfortable, just like the front seats that even my oversensitive body accepted without any objections.

Familiar mechanics

While Nissan was very creative in terms of the vehicle’s style, the same cannot be said for the engine. The 2.5-litre four-cylinder QR25DE produces 170 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 175 lbs.-ft. of torque at 4,400 rpm. That means that it’s unchanged. Since the new Rogue weighs 49 kilos more than the old generation, you can’t expect monumental performance. However, if you’re choosing a Rogue, performance and sportiness were probably never your top priorities. In fact, the four-cylinder’s sound in acceleration is poor at best, which is a clear indication of its lack of pep.

Even though this engine hasn’t increased in power and now has to pull more weight, its fuel consumption figures are down by 18 % thanks in large part to better aerodynamics and, more importantly, a new continuously variable transmission. What’s more, there are several gizmos under the vehicle, like an abundance of plates and deflectors. Nissan has parlayed these improvements into an average fuel consumption of 8.2 L/100 km city and 6.2 L/100 highway for an all-wheel drive Rogue and 7.9 and 6.0 respectively for a front-wheel drive.

During our test drives, we weren’t able to measure highway fuel consumption, but an exclusively urban route gave us a very high average. That said, I must admit that we didn’t exactly take it easy on our poor Rogue. My colleague and I spent a great deal of time trying to figure out the difference between Sport and Normal modes (by activating the button on the dash to the left of the steering wheel). After attempts to accelerate suddenly, smoothly, conservatively and wildly and from high and low gears, we ended up having to ask a Nissan technician, who informed us that in Sport mode, the CVT holds the virtual gears longer. So, basically, all of our shenanigans contributed to a dramatic increase in the fuel consumption without making the ride any sportier. Under normal circumstances, you can expect much better fuel consumption. Although Nissan’s numbers seem somewhat unrealistic, an average of 8.2 or 8.5 L/100 km should be well within reach.

How not to stand out

On the road, the Rogue handles like any good contemporary SUV in the sense that it offers a ride that is neither thrilling nor disappointing. In this category, only the Mazda CX-5 and Volkswagen Tiguan really stand out from the pack. The Rogue’s power steering offers good resistance and respectable precision, although the feedback could be better. The front strut and multi-link rear suspension feature excellent comfort, at least on the manicured highways around Nashville, Tennessee, and eliminate roll almost completely – unless, of course, you push it, a temptation that I gave in to very briefly, purely for professional reasons.

The Rogue will come in either front-wheel drive or the same all-wheel drive that was used in the previous generation. The Rogue AWD comes with a hill-descent control system that is becoming more and more accessible, and that, using the ABS brakes and traction control, helps the driver go downhill without having to brake, which could lead to locking the wheels. For those of you that are interested in this kind of thing, the approach angle is 17.4 degrees, the breakover angle is 18.6 and the departure angle is 25.0. If that means nothing to you, don’t worry about it. If you do understand all that, however, you’re into serious off-roading and will undoubtedly like the Rogue. What you need to know is that the all-wheel drive, in combination with good winter tires and responsible driving, can get you to your destination safely even on roads buried under a few centimetres of snow.

Less than a Pathfinder, more than a Juke

The Nissan line-up in North America is a ragtag group if there ever was one. It ranges from the basic Versa Note to the extreme GTR and from the bizarre Juke to the massive Armada. The Rogue is bigger than a Juke but smaller than a Pathfinder, which is smaller than an Armada. The Rogue now has a corporate look (it looks more like he other Nissan models more than it used to) and completely normal handling. I’m already dreaming about a NISMO version!

The 2014 Rogue will hit showrooms in December. Pricing has not yet been announced, but I imagine that it will be in keeping with that of its sworn enemies the Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V. Since the former starts at $25,705 and the latter at $25,990, we already have a good idea. Check back for developments on its price and other details.