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Comparsion review: eight compact SUVs (fifth place)
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The Nissan Rogue is marketed as sporty, but its combination of a soft suspension and a noisy engine will leave neither the
sport- nor the comfort-seekers fully satisfied.
Nissan was one of the last major automakers that was not selling a compact car-based SUV in the U.S. before it introduced the Rogue as a 2008 model. Needing to distinguish its new product from the established competition, the automaker has marketed the Rogue as something of a sporty utility vehicle.
It isn’t one. Quite the opposite; the Rogue’s soft suspension gives it the most comfortable ride of these eight while its handling is far short of athletic, and its utility is compromised by its relative narrowness and a sloping roofline and back hatch.
Yet despite the smooth ride, the Rogue is less than perfect as a comfort-focused vehicle, too. There’s too much engine and road noise, it’s hard to see out the small rear windshield, and a few interior materials feel cheap.
Because the Rogue doesn’t do anything significant all that badly, it’s more pleasant overall than the competitors it outranked. But it’s a distinct step down from the top of the class.
Get in, and you’ll find soft, well-shaped, and very comfortable front seats, and more soft-touch interior materials than in most inexpensive SUVs. However, the abundance of nice materials makes it jarring contrast to come across the interior’s cheaper bits, and some have criticized it for having a dour ambiance despite the mostly nice materials.
Although they get comfortable seating and good forward visibility, drivers will have trouble seeing out the back, thanks to tiny rear windows and a small rear windshield. The rear seat is very comfortable for two adults, but too narrow for three to sit comfortably.
The Rogue’s cargo area looks roomier than it is, as much of its volume – especially behind the rear seat – is useful floor space. However, the car’s roof slopes down and its back hatch slopes in, which give the Rogue a distinctive stance but compromises its ability to carry the most cargo or the bulkiest items. It's fairly narrow inside, too. There’s 28.9 cubic feet of cargo room behind the rear seat – less than all but the Jeep Patriot and Suzuki Grand Vitara – and folding down the rear seat expands that volume to only 57.9 cubes, barely bigger than the smallest Jeep, which also packs a much smaller footprint than the Nissan.
But the Rogue’s biggest problem as a comfort-focused SUV is its lack of refinement. The engine isn’t overly powerful yet roars under acceleration and doesn’t quiet down at speed. As in the Patriot and the Mitsubishi Outlander, the Rogue uses a continuously variable transmission that never needs to shift gears, and while the Nissan unit is better than those vehicles’, it causes the same sort of engine drone. There’s also too much road noise in the Rogue.
Granted, some competitors are even less refined, but the Rogue’s excess noise is more at odds with the rest of its character. The suspension is softly sprung to allow for a very compliant ride that remains steady on the highway. (Some reviewers have said high-speed bumps can cause it to rock side-to-side; I didn’t notice that on my drive but it’s something to look out for.)
Because of the soft suspension tuning, the Rogue is maneuverable but lacks the sharp responses its marketing suggests it has. The steering is responsive enough, but too light and lacking in feedback. As noted, the Rogue isn’t especially quick for a small SUV, and unlike most of its competitors there’s no V6 option for those who’d pay extra and give up some gas mileage for extra pep.
The Rogue’s gas mileage is at least quite good; at 21 miles per gallon in the city and 26 on the highway, it beats the fuel economy of all but one of its competitors in this comparison.
More than the three vehicles the Rogue outranks in this comparison, this SUV mimics the feel of the class leaders, with its comfortable ride and pleasant if unsporting driving dynamics and reasonable pricing.
But the Rogue is noisier than those class leaders and doesn’t have as much cargo space, and they’re priced comparably. And without a specific focus of its own to offset its flaws, it’s doomed to mediocrity.
Overall grade: C+
http://www.nissanusa.com/rogue/
*Note on pricing: when possible, the vehicles tested for this review were comparably equipped. It wasn't always possible. All are 4-cylinder SUVs with automatic transmissions, but some have more options than others, which inflate the price tag.
The target for these eight was to have all-wheel-drive, cloth seat trim, power windows/locks/mirrors, cruise control, and all available safety features. Some dealerships would provide only front-wheel-drive vehicles (the driving dynamics are nearly identical to the AWD versions on dry pavement), and equipment on the eight tested vehicles ranged from crank windows to leather seats. Any discrepancies will be noted as they appear to ease comparison of the vehicles.
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