Test Drive: 2014 Nissan Rogue SL AWD

By Kevin Harrison

As you’ve likely noticed by being on any Canadian road, compact crossovers are apparently the bees knees. They are intensely popular.

As such, people tend to ask me which one I think is best. I inevitably give them a smart ass answer such as “The Golf wagon is quite nice” and then I inexorably harp on about how these compact “SUVs” are really just jacked up wagons, and spew about how I don’t understand why someone would want something that has worse handling than a traditional wagon and is worse on gas than a traditional wagon.

Most people are polite enough to let me rant, but ultimately it falls on deaf ears. I know I’m in the minority for being a true wagon lover and my viewpoint likely won’t change much in the industry.

So after my tirade, I give them the more useful answer they’re looking for by naming a couple crossovers worth checking out. I usually throw in the Nissan Rogue – not because I think it’s the best – but rather to make people actually check out alternatives. There are far too many people who will buy the first car they test or buy based on the brand name alone.

The Rogue isn’t the worst but it certainly isn’t the best. There are far better players in the market. But then the Olympics happened, which really turned out to be foreshadowing for the new Rogue.

Let me explain by mentioning the name Kristers Gudļevskis. If you don’t remember, he was the goalie for the Latvian hockey team at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Latvia didn’t win a medal, but boy, did they ever make a splash.

After their quarterfinal game with Canada, Gudļevskis was declared to be the subject of an all-out bidding war in the NHL. Playing for a team that isn’t normally a contender, Gudļevskis somehow managed to save a whopping 56 of 57 shots coming from the always dominant Canadian team. In fact, his all-star performance kept the game so close that we Canadians regretted not investing in Depends adult diapers prior to the game. There were some very real moments when it seemed like we would actually be going into overtime against Latvia.

Since then, the 21 year old goalie is almost a household name in Canada, known as the one that actually almost took us down.

And that brings us to the 2014 Rogue.

New for 2014 is brand new exterior styling and I think we can all agree it is a major improvement. Taking cues from its big brother, the also-recently-redesigned Pathfinder, the bold new front fascia matched with standard LED daytime running lights and the rather attractive grille makes for an almost menacing look on the road. Unfortunately the side profile looks quite typical, but the rear end rounds up the look nicely using similar tail lights to the Pathfinder. My top of the line tester added 18 inch wheels, which admittedly I am not really a fan of in terms of their design, but overall the look is quite the step up. I’d even hazard to say it’s among the best looking in the segment.

It’s clear that Nissan wanted to take a stab at producing something other than their typical drab and bland cabins. The new interior is a very nice place to be with premium feeling materials and ‘zero gravity’ seats which were supremely comfortable, even if there could be more thigh support in the bottom cushion. The form and function of the centre stack and touchscreen is well laid out and it works flawlessly, unlike other touchscreens that don’t always respond to command. The only problem is the interior still looks a bit plain and dreary – and this is coming from a guy who absolutely loves dark interiors.

But the good news is room is plentiful all around except for in the optional third row seats which are best suited for children, but kudos to Nissan for introducing this option as a first in the segment. As a result, Nissan can now dip into other segments with contenders such as the Dodge Journey and Mazda5. Smart move. The second row is pretty uncomfortable when the seats aren’t reclined as they are pretty much at a 90 degree angle, but once you recline them they do just fine.

Cargo room with the third row up isn’t plentiful but there certainly is enough space for a few grocery bags. With the third row down, space is excellent and it obviously gets better with the second row down, but the real story here is Nissan’s new clever storage abilities. The cargo organizer allows you to take the cargo floor panels and snap them into place to act as walls. This keeps your items from sliding about – something that is a pretty big pet peeve of mine – and I’m shocked that no other automaker has thought do to something like this. Sure there are cargo nets, but they can be quite limiting. The Rogue’s cargo organizer allows you to create different sized compartments and it’s quite easy to do, as demonstrated in the pic below holding my orange juice and massive bag of cat food. Kudos to Nissan for this.

Power comes from a 2.5 litre 4 cylinder making 170 horsepower and 175 pound foot torque. The end result is decent low end torque that quickly becomes neutered by the CVT, which is the only transmission offered. The transmission is good as far as CVTs go, but that’s a bit like saying manslaughter is better than first degree murder. It still isn’t good no matter how you slice it. CVTs are still the bane of every auto journalist, but just like how auto journalists prefer wagons to CUVs, it likely won’t matter to too many people. Besides, it’s clear that Nissan is been working on refining its CVT since the last one I tried in the Altima and it is much quieter and smoother.

The CVT does a good job of restricting power as mentioned, but power is still there when you need it for merging onto highways and passing. The Rogue is equipped with a “Sport” button which mostly changes the CVT’s responsiveness, but to be honest it isn’t really noticeable. While on the highway, the Rogue feels decently solid though wind noise is a bit prevalent. My SL model came with blind spot notification which is a nice thing to have but to be honest, the light which comes on to warn you of something in your blind spot is way too dim – barely even noticeable. This could have something to do with its placement which is more next to the A-pillar than the side mirror but regardless, I hope Nissan revisits this system soon.

The Rogue in SL trim is officially rated at 6.2 L/100 kms highway and 8.2 L/ 100 kms city. If you opt for the base or mid trim level the official ratings are even better at 6.0 L/100 kms highway and 7.9 L/100 kms city which is class leading. And that’s the real reason why Nissan continues to use CVTs. But in the real world I returned 10.5 L/100 kms which isn’t good comparatively to the numbers on paper but there are a few things to consider: a) we, like the rest of Canada, have had a brutally cold winter here in Halifax and my week with the Rogue was among the worst and b) a compact sedan that I tested the week before (which shall remain nameless for now since I have yet to write the review) returned 11.4 L/100 kms and that was with the eco button on for half the time. So not bad all things considered.

Another thing that isn’t bad is the Rogues handling abilities. In fact, I’d wager to say its handling abilities are downright good for a tall wagon. This is due mostly to the automatic braking system which comes into play to minimize understeer and the system works well. The only issue is the system will sometimes unintentionally cause a bit of over steer, so there are a few times when you find yourself overcorrecting, but overall it’s a very decent system. Steering feedback is actually quite good and it doesn’t feel overly bossted electronically which is something not often found in this segment. It is indeed a very pleasant surprise.

And that last sentence sums up the new Rogue quite nicely: a very pleasant surprise. Which brings me back to my original point with the Kristers Gudļevskis analogy. I very much recommended that crossover shoppers took a look at the Rogue, but knew they ultimately they would buy elsewhere. It’s the same with Latvia. Normally credible enough to have a hockey team at the Olympics, but ultimately no one would expect them to beat Canada. And even though they didn’t, Latvia and Gudļevskis took us completely by surprise. That’s why Gudļevskis is like the Nissan Rogue. It took me completely by surprise, I was not expecting it to be as good as it is. And I think anyone who puts the Rogue on their list will have the same feeling. This Rogue is way better than expected.

While Latvia wasn’t able to beat us in hockey, one thing is for sure, we will be paying them more attention next time and giving them more credit. Which is what I think Nissan’s competition should be doing as well. Take note: the Rogue may just sway CR-V and RAV4 owners now.

Price As tested: $34,983

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