Nissan Rogue 0-60 times

Nissan crossovers are popular for offering great versatility and comfort and the Rogue is certainly not an exception here. It’s small on the outside but offers generous space for passengers and cargo inside. A great choice for the family that doesn’t need a third row for seating.

That said, it’ll not make your heart pump faster. The base model is a four-cylinder naturally aspirated engine and a CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission), a combination which provides sluggish performance at best. There’s a hybrid too with 6 horsepower more, but you shouldn’t expect a bump in performance – it’s mostly the same as the non-hybrid model.

Nissan Rogue Performance

As with almost every car in its class, the Rogue starts with a four-cylinder engine. This particular one pumps out 170 horsepower and measly 175 pound-feet of torque from 2.5-liter capacity. The engine is not very powerful, sure, but the real problem here lies with the CVT transmission, which keeps the revs unusually high when accelerating hard, especially at higher speeds. For families, this might not be very important, but when you load the Rogue with passengers and cargo, it really struggles on the road. Competitors like the Subaru Forester for example also offer CVT, but with fixed gears, that make acceleration more natural and extract a bit more performance while doing that.

The hybrid version is helped by an additional electric motor with 30-kW power and is powered by lithium-ion batteries. The whole hybrid system is a bit more powerful, with 176 horsepower, but really the difference in performance is negligible, as the Hybrid model has the added heft of the battery.

On the road, the Nissan Rogue feels soft and composed, but don’t expect great agility. There is considerable body roll in the corners and there’s not much feedback through the steering wheel. We think that for a family crossover, this kind of on-road performance is expected and we applaud the comfortable ride. The Rogue is available with all-wheel-drive, which combined with the 8.4-inch ground clearance, can help in tackling a light terrain.

Exterior & Interior

The whole point of a crossover vehicle is the versatility and practicality. The Rogue scores are high in that area, thanks to a lot of room for passengers in both rows and one of the biggest cargo areas in its class. The interior is also dressed in nice materials and looks upmarket, which helps in comfort even more and has a standard 7.0-inch touchscreen infotainment with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto support.

On the outside, the Rogue carries the same design philosophy as other Nissan SUVs and crossovers. It looks modern with its swoopy lines and aggressive front end, while the black fender flares give it the desired robust and rugged look. That said, the base model looks a little bland as it lacks tinted windows, so it’s best to keep with the higher-end SV and SL versions.

Conclusion

If you want sports car performance in a crossover body, look elsewhere. The Nissan Rogue is sluggish and not very agile in the corners. On the other hand, it’s great at almost anything else a family might want. It’s roomy, comfortable and upmarket inside, rides smoothly on the road and achieves good fuel economy ratings. 

Written by Ivo Gievski