Refreshed Rogue loads up with tech and safety features

by Wade Ozeroff on Wednesday, October 26th, 2016

You won’t mistake the 2017 Rogue for anything else, it is still very much the shape that helped it become Nissan’s best-selling utility vehicle.

Greensboro, GA – The Nissan Rogue returns for the upcoming model year with updates and improvements all ‘round, bringing a lifted face and reworked fascia to Nissan’s top-selling compact crossover ute for 2017.

Sporting the latest update to the front-end brand-identity unification effort (the so-named ‘V-Motion’ grille that we are seeing on Nissan’s entire lineup) the Rogue maintains distinctiveness in a segment increasingly crowded with high-level competitors.

It’s a good look, I must say – simultaneously recognizable and upscale, and an improvement over the unremarkable grid of past models – between the restyled headlamps.

The Nissan Rogue, following three straight years of sales growth since the introduction of the completely redesigned second generation for the 2014 model year, takes another major step forward for 2017 with a new look, enhanced utility and an expanded suite of Nissan Safety Shield technologies.

The Nissan Rogue, following three straight years of sales growth since the introduction of the completely redesigned second generation for the 2014 model year, takes another major step forward for 2017 with a new look, enhanced utility and an expanded suite of Nissan Safety Shield technologies.

The Nissan Rogue, following three straight years of sales growth since the introduction of the completely redesigned second generation for the 2014 model year, takes another major step forward for 2017 with a new look, enhanced utility and an expanded suite of Nissan Safety Shield technologies.

 

 

Nissan’s efforts on the body, from new-look bumper to new-look bumper, are about improving flow; both in the ‘design’ sense of causing the eye to follow the lowered lines along the car, and also for improved airflow over the Rogue for lessened wind noise and resistance. In fact, Nissan claims an eight-percent reduction in wind noise on the 2017 Rogue, and similar reduction in road and mechanical sound intrusion in the cabin.

There haven’t been any powertrain changes for the 2017 model – the Rogue still runs on a 2.5 litre four-cylinder gasoline engine (170hp, 175 lb.-ft. of torque; which is slightly less horsey than its major competitors, Honda’s CR-V and the RAV4 from Toyota, but only slightly. Incidentally, there is, in fact a hybrid version of the vehicle, but it won’t be coming to Canada; at least not in the immediate future according to Nissan.

Externally, you won’t mistake the 2017 Rogue for anything else, it is still very much the shape that helped it become Nissan’s best-selling utility vehicle; and the interior remains familiar, albeit with upgrades and better ergonomics.

The dash and centre console area are more ‘cascading’, in order to provide a freer range of motion for front-seat passengers (and less opportunities to bang your knee on it when entering the car).

Third-row seating is an available option for the 2017 models (beginning with the SV trim level, and allowing for up to seven passengers) and a cargo management system is available – Nissan calls theirs ‘Divide N Hide’, a multiway configurable divider for the rear space.

A new suite of convenience-and-safety tech also becomes available for the Rogue as well, from more well-known systems (blind spot monitoring, lane departure warning, rear cross traffic alerts) to first, for Nissan vehicles: radar-activated forward emergency braking, specifically designed to detect pedestrians.

Intelligent cruise control and remote start are getting to be fairly common across the compact ute segment, as is the availability of a heated steering wheel (and seats, of course), and Rogue joins a couple of competitors in adding a motion-activated liftgate.

The feature allows you to open the rear hatch by sweeping your foot under the rear bumper.

2017 Rogue breaks down into four trim levels and two major option groups (the ‘Family’ and ‘Technology’ packages, which group together the most desirable add-ons). starting with the base S trim, and walking up through SV, Platinum and finally ‘Platinum Reserve Interior Package’.

Platinum Reserve Interior models are the most luxurious, premium-car feeling of the bunch, with distinctive, quilted inserts and custom piping on the high-quality tan leather upholstery.

It looks really good and imparts an unquestionably uptown air to the interior.
The PRI trim’s seats have more padding in them, which I find actually changes the shape of them (and also impacts the amount of support I can feel from the adjustable lumbar support).

Now I’ll grant you, I am sort of a strangely shaped individual with more upper body than legs, proportionately (kind of like a ferret, or maybe a salamander), but if you find yourself test driving the 2017 Rogue when they come to dealers in late fall, sit in one of these and also a regular ol’ Platinum model and see what you think.

Highlights of the Rogue line in general remain much as they have been for the last couple of years – if you like the driving and handling characteristics of previous years, you will like the latest one.

Lowlights likewise remain primarily the lack of headroom in the second row, at least for me (but again: I am salamandrian).

Pricing is still being worked out for Canada, but expect the perennial Nissan favorite to continue to compare favourably with the big names in its class.

wade [dot] ozeroff [at] drivewaybc [dot] ca