2025 Nissan Rogue

The Nissan Rogue is an unassuming small crossover that is also Nissan’s best-selling model. More finely, Nissan sells so many of these unassuming small crossovers – around 270,000 per year – that it makes up for Nissan’s other models that aren’t selling well.

So it’s really important – to Nissan – that lots of people keep on buying new Rogues.

Should you consider doing that?

What It Is

The Rogue is one of many compact crossovers fighting for a share of the market pioneered by Toyota (RAV4) and Honda (CR-V) which got their small crossovers to market first, way back in the ’90s. Since then, practically every other vehicle manufacturer has added small (and medium and large) crossovers to their rosters. So much so that there are only a handful of new cars left on the market.

The reason why is that even small crossovers like the Rogue are more practical than same-sized cars because of the crossover layout and shape. You can fit more inside a crossover than inside a same-sized car because the cargo area is part of the crossover’s interior as opposed to a separate compartment (i.e., the trunk) in a sedan.

Crossovers also have more ground clearance and almost all of them offer or even come standard with AWD, which makes them better able to not get stuck when there is snow on the road and even go off the road a little bit.

But what makes the Rogue stand out from the others?

It’s not its price. The Rogue’s starting MSRP – $29,230 for the base S trim with FWD  – is only slightly less than the base price of a Honda CR-V ($30,100) and it’s slightly more than the base price of a Toyota RAV4 ($28,850).

It’s not power – or gas mileage – about which more below.

What it probably is is the likelihood of being able to haggle down the Rogue’s price – because Nissan dealers need your business. You’re less likely to get a deal on a Honda or a Toyota.

There’s also one more thing. Nissan offers some equipment – such as all-terrain Falken Wildpeak tires on 17 inch wheels, specially tuned Hill Descent Control and some tough-looking exterior styling touches – including a tubular roof rack – that make this little crossover just a touch more roguish than the Honda and Toyota, neither of which offer anything similar.

Subaru’s Forester – another competitor – does, however.

That one is available in a Wilderness iteration ($34,995) that’s similar to the Rogue’s new Rock Creek iteration ($35,420). It also has underbody skid plates and more ground clearance than the standard Forester. The Rock Creek Rogue hasn’t got skid pates and has the same 8.2 inches of ground clearance as other Rogues.

There’s also the Kia Sportage to consider. It is available in X-Pro trim, which is similar to the Rogue Rock Creek (and also sans the skid plates and extra ground clearance vs. the regular Sportage).

But you can get the Rogue with ProPilot Assist, Nissan’s hands-free self-driving system. And none of the others above offer this feature yet.

What’s New For 2025

The Rock Creek trim is new as well as the availability of ProPilot Assist self-driving tech.

What’s Good

Offers some features that aren’t available in competitors’ models.

Very small engine makes big power for its size.

You’ll likely pay less than MSRP for one.

What’s Not So Good

1.5 liter engine’s under a lot of pressure.

CVT automatic.

No skid plates or additional ground clearance for Rock Creek version.

Under The Hood

The Rogue comes standard with the biggest smallest engine in the class – a 1.5 liter three cylinder engine. It’s the same displacement as the same-sized 1.5 liter four cylinder engine that’s standard in the Honda CR-V but it has bigger cylinders to make up for having only three of them.

And – of course – it is turbocharged to make up for having only three cylinders.

Interestingly, it makes more power – 201 horsepower – than the CR-V’s also-turbocharged four cylinder engine, which produces 190 horsepower. And it makes nearly as much power as the Toyota RAV4’s much larger (2.5 liter) four cylinder, but that one doesn’t  need a turbocharger to make its advertised 203 horsepower.

So why not just use a larger four rather than turbocharge a three? There would be fewer parts – and less stress.The engine would be simpler and would probably last longer because it wasn’t under pressure to make the power of a larger four without a turbo.

The reason why has to do with gasses. Not the ones that cause pollution. Those have been catalytically scrubbed from exhaust gasses. But you can’t scrub C02 – the gas that isn’t a pollutant but which does result from burning gas. The only way to cut down those “emissions” is by burning less gas – and the easiest way to do that is to make an engine smaller. But smaller engines don’t make as much power as larger engines – all else being equal. So add a turbo, which temporarily increases the effective size of the engine by pressurizing its cylinders, making them able to process more gas. This, of course increases the emissions of gasses – to as much or even more as would have been “emitted” by a larger engine that makes about the same power – but only when under boost. When not, the engine is smaller – and its output of C02 is lower.

That’s why.

The catch is that because the engine is small, it lacks enough power to adequately move the vehicle without boost – and ends up “emitting” the same or even more C02 as the larger engine, except when the vehicle isn’t moving – and that’s apparently enough to make it worth replacing larger with smaller (and turbocharged to make up for it) in terms of placating the government, which demands ever-lower C02 “emissions.”

Gas mileage is pretty good, though. The Rogue rates 30 in city, 37 highway – which is quite something given this small crossover weighs 3,477 lbs. empty. It also gets to 60 in about 8 seconds, which is pretty good for a vehicle this heavy with such a little engine under its hood.

A CVT automatic is your only choice as far as transmissions. The only drivetrain choice is whether stick with FWD or go AWD, except in the Rock Creek – which comes standard with AWD.

You can pull a small trailer up to 1,500 lbs. with this small crossover.

On The Road

The Rogue does not feel like all it’s got under the hood is a three cylinder engine – because the turbo makes it pull as authoritatively as a larger four cylinder engine. It has the torque (225 ft.-lbs. at 2,800 RPM) of a V6 engine and so it pulls like a six when you’re pulling away from a dead stop or just getting rolling.

But it does sound like a small engine when you put your right foot down hard. And the CVT automatic sometimes feels like its slipping – because of the revving. There’s nothing the matter, though. The transmission isn’t slipping.

It is varying.

Conventional automatics shift up as you accelerate, as in from first to second and then third – and so on – the engine RPMs decreasing with each upshift. In a CVT-equipped vehicle, the engine RPMs increase in response to throttle pressure and are held there by the CVT until the driver backs off the accelerator. This is what gives the impression of a slipping transmission – and magnifies the sounds made by the engine.

Nissan – like other manufacturers that use CVTs – has programmed in a shift-emulation feature (just without the shift-shock during the simulated 1-2 and 2-3 and 3-4, etc. “upshifts”) that reduces both the sound and the sensation of slippage when you’re just driving around.

But floor the pedal and the sounds and sensations manifest.

These could be greatly mitigated, probably, with some more sound deadening but that would add weight and that would probably reduce gas mileage (and increase “emissions” of the dread gas CO2) and so that’s probably why there’s not more of that.

And why you hear more than you should.

Like all new vehicles, the Rogue has a bevy of “driver assistance” technology but these are not as interventionist as they are in some of the Rogue’s rivals. You are not constantly corrected by chimes and beeps and flashing lights, etc. This alone makes the Rogue more pleasant to drive than some of its rivals.

Also in the plus column is the Rogue’s planted feel and big car ride, which is benefit of its weight – which is on par with what a mid-sized car weighs.

At The Curb

Like the other crossovers it competes with, the Rogue has a small footprint. It is just 183 inches long – so it’s got about the same footprint as a small car such as a Toyota Corolla, which is 182.5 inches long.

But – like other small crossovers – the Rogue has much more room inside, especially for whatever you need to cart around. It has just shy of three times as much cargo space behind its second row (31.6 cubic feet) as the Corolla has space in its trunk (13.1 cubic feet) and that space can be more than doubled (to 74.1 cubic feet).  There is also much more rearseat legroom – 38.5 inches vs. 34.8 in the Corolla – which means a small crossover like this is a family-viable vehicle while a small car such as the Corolla is much less so.

The new Rock Creek trim is pretty much exactly that. It’s an appearance package more than a functional upgrade, with the exception of the Falken all-terrain tires – which do provide better traction on snow-covered roads and dirt roads. And the tubular roof racks allow this version of the road to carry items that might not fit in the cargo area.

But don’t be fooled into thinking it’s an off-roader.

The SL and Platinum trims do a fine job of looking – and feeling – like luxury-brand crossovers. They have a larger (12.3 inch) LCD touchscreen to the driver’s right and a digital instrument cluster in front of the driver. The seats are covered in semi-aniline leather and the dash and door panels are covered and stitched to match. There’s a 360 degree bird’s eye-view camera system and you can add a panorama glass sunroof to that as well as quilted leather seats and a 10 speaker Bose premium audio system.

Features and amenities-wise, there’s not much if any meaningful difference between a loaded Rogue and a luxury-brand small crossover from Audi or BMW.

Including the price. An AWD-equipped Platinum trim Rogue lists for $40,920 – which puts it in the same price ballpark as an Audi Q3 ($39,800 to start) and the BMW X1 ($41,350 to start). These two are a little smaller than the Rogue – but they both come with larger (2.0 liter) engines and the prestige that comes along with the Audi – or BMW – badge.

The Rest

If you’d like a Rogue with a third row, you might want to check out the Mitsubishi outlander. It’s a Rogue wearing a Mitsubishi badge – and has room for seven instead of just five. It also stickers for less – $28,395 – than the Nissan-badged Rogue.

It is not, however, available with some of the Rogue’s options – including ProPilot and the new Rock Creek upgrades.

The Bottom Line

It’s kind of ironic that Nissan’s least-Roguish vehicle is its best-selling vehicle. But that may be precisely why it is. Rogues – the real ones – can be fun for a night or even a long weekend. But it’s the steady ones that are a better bet for a long-term relationship.

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