2023 Nissan Rogue Platinum AWD – Road Test

Nissan are on a roll at the moment. They’ve turned an entire range of ugly-duckling vehicles into some of the most attractive ones on the road today. Just look at the nose on any SUV of any size/manufacturer on the road and it’s just a mass of chrome or ugliness that can’t really be described. The best part of owning one is that you can’t see the front end from the driver’s seat! The 2023 Nissan Rogue doesn’t fall into that category – it’s actually a good-looking SUV with a nicely proportioned face. It’s not only a looker, but it has a great personality too!

What Is It?

- Small to Mid-size SUV
- 5 Trim levels: S, SV, Midnight Edition, SL and Platinum
- The test vehicle is the Platinum and as such many of the things mentioned are only on this trim level
- 5-litre 3-cylinder VC Turbo mated to an Xtronic CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission) transmission with steering-wheel mounted paddle shifters for added control/excitement
- Intelligent AWD
- 5 Drive and Terrain Modes – Sport, Off-Road, Snow, Auto and Eco. More on that later…

How Does It Look?

It’s big, much bigger than its rivals, but it’s nicely proportioned and to be honest it’s the best-looking SUV in its class
It’s main rivals would be the Honda CRV and Ford Escape, but it’s bigger than either of them and its closer in size to the Ford Edge or Toyota Venza
The front grill is one of the nicest on the road today.. I have to say Nissan vehicles have gone from ugly to attractive in just a couple of years, while Toyota, Honda and Hyundai among others are heading in the opposite direction with plenty of gusto
LED headlights and taillights

What’s It Like Inside?

Interior layout and feel is very luxury – you’d be hard pressed not to mistake this for a much more expensive vehicle in the Infiniti/Lincoln/BMW range!
Interior size it’s more Ford Edge than Escape. It feels cavernous compared to the Escape or Hyundai Tucson
Front seats are extremely comfortable… again in-line with a luxury car. I spent the entire week without doing any adjustments other than moving it closer to the dashboard when I first got in. When you switch the Rogue off, the seat slides back to give you plenty of room to enter/exit – nice touch. The passenger seat doesn’t lower enough for the wife’s taste – usually that complaint is the opposite – the seat is too low and can’t go higher!
The driver gets an 8-way + 4-way power lumbar adjustment plus 2-person memory. The seats are a very tasteful quilted Semi-Aniline leather
All seats are heated
Everything is perfectly placed and easy to use with just a minimum of orientation
Head-Up Display and 12-inch digital dashboard
We loved the driver’s digital instrument panel with the tachometer and speedometer angled instead of the usual flat one-dimensional look everyone else is doing.
I also love the shift lever. Push the button on the side and push it forward for reverse. For drive just pull it back. Even when it’s in Park, you don’t need to use the button (don’t pull it back more than once or you’ll end up in manual shift mode). To park just press the “P” button (or just press the start/stop button)
In reverse the 360° camera is ideal for parking – it gives you a split screen with an overhead shot of you as well as the rear camera. There’s also a front camera that is really handy for stall parking at the mall, although it doesn’t come on all the time… it’s almost like it knows you need and when you don’t!
The centre console has a split-opening armrest storage – very BMWish that has lots of room. There’s also a ton of storage room under the shifter/console – why can’t all manufacturers do this? The room is there…you just have to USE it and design it into the vehicle – there really isn’t an excuse for not using that space
9-inch infotainment system with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto sits nice and high on the centre of the dashboard
Three choices of navigation: Nissan’s Door to Door Navigation (Optional) or use Google Maps or Waze
As with just about all manufacturers now, Nissan have a dedicated app for interacting with the vehicle called MyNISSAN app (subscription required though)
Bose Premium Audio System with 10-Speakers and dual driver subwoofer – is pretty good, but not spectacular – only because you can’t do a lot of tweaking to the sound. The quality is as you’d expect though. One annoying thing was the fade front-to-back because almost all of the sound came from the front, adjusting it to a more rear-bias just resulted in it going 100% to the rear, not a perfect 50/50 balance.
One thing of note that reared its ugly head… weather reports of a thunderstorm 60 kms away kept interrupting my music. I had this issue with an Infiniti last year and can’t find a way to disable it. Of what use is there of knowing about a storm that is anywhere in a 60 km radius!! Note – the following week I found out how to disable this when driving the Arya – it’s buried in the Sirus Radio menu!! You can switch the various warning off (dust storms, tornadoes, flooding, flying cows and goats etc)
Power Moonroof with power open/close/tilt and power shade
There’s plenty of knee and legroom for rear passengers with the bonus of a completely flat floor
Rear seat folds flat without having to flip seat base forward. You also get the nice bonus that the Rogue also uses levers to effortlessly drop the seats when standing at the rear door instead of having to get into the rear seat area and fiddle with buttons or levers there. Well done Nissan!!
Rear seat occupants get their own A/C and heat controls… as well as bum warmers too
The ingenious cargo area offers plenty of space and has a very handy storage options with a modular system that we absolutely loved. Both seats fold 60/40 and completely flat although there is a little step up between the cargo area and the seat back – you can insert one of the spacers to help make it completely flat. There is no under floor storage in the rear cargo area…you get a spare tire instead
You also get a roll up tonneau cover to protect your stuff from prying eyes – this seems to be one of the things manufacturers tend to eliminate recently to cut costs – glad to see it in the Rogue
Cargo Space: All seats folded, max capacity is quite good: 74 cu.ft (2,098 L). As a comparison – the much larger Pathfinder is 80.5 cu.ft / 2,280 L

Safety Features: Nissan Safety Shield 360 comes standard

– More in-depth details are below “What’s The Verdict?”

So How Quick Is It & How Does It Handle?

It has a very solid and well planted feel to it – again, almost luxurious
Steering is perfectly weighted at all speeds and the turning ratio is also spot on
Plenty of giddy up and go from the gas pedal, not eyeball flattening but can it catch you off guard if you aren’t ready for the sudden rush of power… and that’s in the Normal mode
Is it a 7-speed or a CTV transmission? It is really hard to tell because it ‘Feels’ and ‘sounds’ like a traditional transmission – it even has shift-points, but it is always in the perfect gear – like a CVT. My wife refused to believe it’s a CVT because it just doesn’t act like one (she spends a lot of time driving Ford’s with CVT’s). For the record – it’s a CVT, albeit a very good one
The Rogue comes with five Drive and Terrain Modes – Sport, Off-Road, Snow, Auto and Eco. Of course Sport is the most fun, with instant throttle response… too bad it always defaults to Normal when you switch the engine off. Driving in Eco mode drops the response and fun factor considerably and we found NO benefit in fuel economy, so you might as well have a fair amount of fun and just leave it in Normal mode which is more than adequate for a great combination of fun, fuel economy and leisurely driving
Nissan’s Intelligent AWD system (AWD when you need it, 2WD when you don’t)
Dynamic Driving Technologies that include: Intelligent Trace Control; Active Ride Control; Hill Start Assist; Automatic Brake Hold (Details below)

Horsepower: 201 @ 5,600 rpm

Torque: 225 @ 2,800 rpm

Top Speed: 193 km/h / 120 mph

0-60 mph (sec): 7.8

What Does It Cost? For up-to-date pricing and options visit: www.Nissan.ca

To Buy… 2023 Rogue starting prices: $35,998 (S) / Platinum $43,748 As Tested: $44,378 Options: ‘Champagne’ Metallic Paint – $630

To Operate…

Rated at (L/100 km): City – 8.4 / Highway – 6.7 / Combined – 7.6
We averaged between 6.7 and 7.0 L/100 km, 90% of the time. It didn’t appear to change whether highway (100-120 km/h) or city/town driving. Very impressive! As a comparison I drive my dad’s Escape (1.5L) a lot and it averages 8.6 L/100kms

Warranty:

Basic: 3 years/60,000 km
Powertrain: 5 years/100,000 km
Roadside Assistance: 3 years

The Competition

Ford Escape, Honda CRV, Hyundai Tucson, Kia Sportage, Mazda CX-5/7, Toyota RAV4

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

The Good: Looks, quality, standard features and functionality
More Good: Price and outstanding fuel economy
The Bad: Nothing, this is a keeper

What’s The Verdict?

This is a perfect-sized “smallish” SUV that identifies as a much bigger and better one than its competitors. It’s much bigger than most people realize and for the price and kit – it’s superior to many similar vehicles. This feels like a luxury SUV at a budget price. The Nissan rogue is our new highly recommend SUV that offers no compromises and should be in your driveway.

SAFETY – Safety Shield 360

(Several cameras, radar technology and sonar work together to create a system that looks in front, behind and beside the vehicle as it drives)

- - Intelligent Forward Collision Warning – It watches two cars ahead, monitoring your speed and distance, and when it detects sudden deceleration, it can give you a warning to slow down.
  - Intelligent Emergency Braking with Pedestrian Detection – can provide audio and visual alerts and even apply the brakes to help avoid or mitigate a collision
  - Blind Spot Warning – was disappointing only because Nissan/Infiniti usually place the blind spot light – nice and high on the A-pillar where it’s very easy to get your attention. For some reason they’ve put it on the outside mirrors like all the other manufacturers. There’s probably a reason for it, but we just loved the other location
  - Rear Automatic Braking – will actually stop the vehicle if it detects something that may not be in your field of vision
  - Rear Cross Traffic Alert – can alert you to approaching cars that might be out of sight
  - Intelligent Around View Monitor with moving object detection – Four cameras combine to give you a composite, bird’s-eye view from above – works great, a regular single backup camera is sooo yesterday!
  - Lane Departure Warning – vibrates the steering wheel just enough to get your attention without being annoying
  - Driver Attention Alertness – analyzes driver steering behavior to provide an alert if signs of drowsiness or inattention are detected
  - High Beam Assist

Dynamic Driving Technologies

- - Intelligent Trace Control – Corner with confidence. Intelligent Trace Control can brake each wheel individually to help you steer effortlessly through a turn
  - Active Ride Control – Smooth out the bumps. By applying the brakes and adjusting engine torque, Active Ride Control can deliver a more comfortable drive
  - Hill Start Assist – Hill Start Assist holds the brake pressure, helping to prevent you from rolling backwards
  - Automatic Brake Hold – Once your vehicle is stopped, Auto Brake Hold helps maintain braking force, so you don’t need to keep your foot on the pedal

Text: Iain Shankland / Images: Iain Shankland

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