This Is The Best Feature Of The 2023 Nissan Rogue

Nissan’s Rogue – a mid-sized SUV that is competing against the likes of the Hyundai Tucson, Mazda CX-5, Volkswagen Tiguan and many others.

The thing that continuously makes Nissan a competitive force in the segment is its good balance of practicality, up-to-date equipment and technology, capable and frugal engines and its price point.

It’s not the most basic, cheapest workhorse nor is it rubbing shoulders with the premium end of SUVs market along with BMW and Mercedes-Benz; but it just works and in the way you expect it to – mostly.

For 2023, the Rogue has sharp styling and a few things that set it apart from the rest of the pack, and we’ll have a quick look at the biggest-selling Nissan in the US to see what its best feature is.

The 2023 Nissan Rogue Is One Of The Best Workhorses

According to Forbes magazine in January 2022, the Nissan Rogue is the US’s biggest selling Nissan vehicle, at number 7 in the list of best-selling vehicles State-side in 2021.

Following the likes of the Ford F-150, Chevy Silverado, Toyota Camry, and Toyota RAV-4 it’s one of the top sellers period, and for a reason: it does the job well.

There are spacious seats, although there isn’t a third row, and the trunk offers 36 cubic feet of storage with the rear seats up, one of the Rogue’s main rivals, the Mazda CX-5, also has 5 seats and around 30 cubic feet of trunk space which is significantly less.

With a reasonable fuel economy of around 32-33 combined, and an array of safety features and convenience equipment, the Rogue focuses more on daily trips and people-moving than off-roading for sure, its comfortable suspension set up gears towards highway cruising and suburb traffic for sure.

This laid-back focus is evident in its styling, too, the latest sharp design ethos helps it stand out but perhaps mostly it fades into the background as another reliable workhorse.

Nissan’s Rogue Has A Great Downsized Engine And CVT Gearbox

Whether you like the powertrain of the Rogue is subjective and mostly down to what you need the car for.

It’s another downsized engine here, a 1.5-liter, 3-cylinder engine that offers up to 201 hp and 225 lb-ft of torque – it will sip fuel when driven gently and is the perfect partner for short quick journeys and relaxed highway cruises but lacks big punchy power associated with Nissan’s own bigger models or the Mazda CX-5’s turbo engine.

Mazda offers up to 256 hp and 320 lb-ft of torque for its turbocharged CX-5, and it even comes with a 6-speed automatic transmission which is less drone-like than the CVT transmission in the Nissan Rogue.

Again, for the typical usage requirements that the Rogue will get exposed to, the punchy little engine and CVT gearbox are fine and suited to the job.

Four-wheel drive is optional in the Nissan Rogue, a $1,500 feature we suspect most people will tick on the order form – even though most will never need to ford streams or navigate steep off-road hills - while the Mazda has four-wheel-drive on every trim.

2023’s Nissan Rogue: It’s Competitively Priced

2023 Nissan Rogue, interior, tan leather — Via: Nissan

According to CarEdge, the Nissan Rogue has proven itself to be the 15th least expensive car to own out of the top 100, behind other budget-friendly cars like the Toyota Prius, Camry, RAV4, Honda Accord, Subaru Forester and others.

Nissan’s Rogue starts at around $27,000 and reaches $39,000 for the top Platinum model. Mazda’s CX-5 starts at around $27,000 and ends up at almost $40,000 for the 2.5-liter turbo Signature model, so the cars overlap on price although the base-trim AWD Rogue is almost $2000 more than the cheapest CX-5.

With the CX-5’s higher-performing optional turbo engine the Rogue misses out but considering most users’ requirements it shouldn’t be an issue for many.

The Nissan Rogue And Its Great Interior

The Rogue also impresses with its interior design and quality – another strong point of the CX-5.

For the Nissan, it’s an 8” or 9” infotainment display and the top trim level gains a 12.3” digital instrument display too, while the top trim also has optional tri-zone climate control and ‘Quilted semi-aniline leather-appointed seats’.

In addition, heating front and rear seats and steering wheel compliment the well-design and modern-looking cabin.

In the top-tier Platinum spec with the attractive tan leather finish on the dashboard and the largest screens the Rogue looks decidedly premium and practical.

Equipment and safety features are abound, a characteristic found in not just Nissan’s SUVs but in all of its cars like most others in 2022, so the Rogue is perfect for families and little ones and also capable in more adverse conditions especially in with the AWD option ticked.

This mid-sized SUV has many features and design choices that make it a capable and versatile vehicle for most usage requirements, it stands out just enough without being particularly exceptional in any one area.

If the Rogue does something different it’s perhaps the competent and frugal powertrain, if it does something well it’s being a reliable and predictable workhorse, and if there’s one stand-out feature it’s that this is perhaps one of the best all-round SUVs on the market, all things considered.