Spot On | 2016 Nissan Rogue

By Marc Schulhof
February 2016 View more For The Road

There is great pleasure in driving a vehicle that looks like a million bucks but costs a whole lot less. There is even greater pleasure when that vehicle drives like a million bucks, too.

The 2016 Nissan Rogue is a very pleasurable vehicle, indeed.

Second Generation Stunner

Diving into the deep end of a crowded pool of seven-passenger crossovers, Nissan redesigned the original ho-hum Rogue into a second-generation stunner. The Rogue generally sticks to the script for this segment of the market: Front- or all-wheel drive, an optional third row of seats, an efficient four-cylinder engine, and trim levels ranging from well-equipped to downright luxurious.

The difference for the Rogue is in its execution. One look and it’s clear that the new Rogue plays in a different league than the old model—and many other affordable crossovers. But for its entry-level badge, the Rogue could be an Infiniti.

Superior Interior

Inside, the story is the same: Clean design meets high-touch materials, and the result is a cabin that feels many thousands of dollars nicer than the window sticker would lead you to believe. The front seats, especially, are fantastic, and the optional panoramic moonroof floods the seats with light.

The new Rogue is also a packaging prodigy, squeezing terrific rear-seat legroom and cargo space—especially with all the seats folded—out of a body that is only modestly larger than the previous model. The third row of seats is not the place for long drives, but they turn a standout five-seater into an occasional seven-seater.

A Smooth Ride

On the road, the new Rogue feels decently quick, but its strength is its smooth ride and soft handling. All-wheel-drive models send all the power to the front wheels unless things get ugly, when power automatically splits among the four wheels. If you find yourself on an icy driveway, a low-speed four-wheel lock button and standard hill-assist will give you a good chance of getting moving.

The Rogue also stands out, for better or worse, with its continuously variable transmission. A hallmark of Nissan models, and a technological solution to the goal of eking out a bit more fuel economy, the CVT features a belt and pulley rather than individual gears.

The CVT creates a somewhat different driving experience than the typical automatic transmission. First-time drivers may notice the lack of shift points, both in how the transmission feels and how the engine sounds. But the Rogue’s CVT seems to perform better than CVTs of models past—accelerating smoothly, for example, and down-shifting appropriately as you come out of a corner.

And the CVT does help with fuel economy: The Rogue delivers 33 miles per gallon on the highway and 26 miles per gallon in the city. Knock just a mile off each number for the all-wheel-drive variant.

Safety Standards

Along with its good looks and good road behavior, the Rogue has also been endowed with some of the latest safety features, again mimicking vehicles that cost much more. Among the best of that long list are blind-spot detection, moving object detection and forward emergency braking, which monitors the road ahead with radar and will hit the brakes if the driver does not react quickly enough to avoid a collision. Nissan’s bird’s-eye-view camera system still trumps just about everyone when it comes to safe low-speed maneuvering.

The 2016 Nissan Rogue starts at $23,240 in “S” trim with front-wheel drive and $24,590 with all-wheel drive. Prices rise to $29,990 for the “SL” model with all-wheel drive—and myriad options add features and dollars to all models.