Nissan pins hope on styling, high tech for Rogue, others
The long-popular Nissan Rogue, shortened a bit and lowered slightly on a new platform, has been enhanced in appearance for 2021 with a “black-overwhite” floating-roof design and an attractive V-shaped grille.
The compact Rogue is far and away a best-seller for Nissan, accounting for one of every four vehicles sold by the Japanese-based company in the U.S. It has been, since its introduction in 2008, a strong entry in the compact crossover field against the Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4, Ford Escape and others. “Making life easier, especially for families, was our focus of the redesign of the Rogue for ‘21,” said Steve Parrett, a regional manager of corporate communications for Nissan North America.
Nissan and its luxury division, Infiniti, took a 30 a percent hit in sales in 2020 due to the slowdown for the coronavirus pandemic, as well as some misdirection at the company’s executive level.
“We’re counting on a new front line of fresh products to restore us to our normal strong sales position,” said Parrett.
He is referring to the new full-sized Armada SUV, which I drove and reviewed last month, and the all-new compact Sentra sedan and full-size Titan pickup, which are being unveiled this week at the Montreal International Auto Show. And, of course, a big role will be played by the refined Rogue all-wheel-drive, the subject of today’s review.
The Rogue, built at a Nissan assembly plant at Smyrna, Tenn., has overall length of 183 inches, out front of Toyota RAV4 at 180.9 and Honda CR-V 177.9. The Rogue’s 106.5 wheelbase is almost an inch longer than the RAV4 and 2 inches beyond the CR-V.
Beneath is a 181-horsepower, a mostly the mild hood performer, of 2.5-liter, the Rogue 4-cylinder engine tied to an Xtronic continuously variable transmission, which with paddle shifters can mimic manual-mode control. Kick into the throttle at 50 miles per hour and the response for, say, passing another car, belies the “mild” reference.
The 3,600-pound crossover carries an EPA estimate of 25/32 miles per gallon; my overall average was 27.
New for 2021 is the Rogue’s first head-up display, one of the largest in the industry, and pull-up sunshades on the rear doors to guard against direct sunlight. Expanding the capability of Nissan’s established ProPilot Assist is the assist Navi-link, which maintains proper distance in busy commuter traffic through managing throttle and brakes and can bring the Rogue to a complete stop.
The added assist and other options of door-to-door navigation, trafficsign recognition, Bose premium audio and front and rear sonar increased sticker price to $37,920.
Beginning AWD prices for the Rogue’s four trim levels are $28, 145 for the basic S trim, $29,895 for SV, $34,495 for SV and $38,895 for Platinum.
Leather seating is standard on the Rogue SL and is upgraded to quilted semi-aniline leather for the top-trim Platinum.
Contact Bud Wells at budwellscars@comcast.net