There are a lot of small crossovers available in Canada, so it takes a special combination of characteristics to make one model stand out in the marketplace. Nissan has managed that with its Rogue SUV, the brand's most popular vehicle in this country and one of the Canadian auto industry's best sellers overall.
We suspect the Rogue wins over as many buyers as it does for a grown-up feel that belies a $30,000-ish price tag when well equipped. It's also one of few in its class that offers a third row of seats that, small as it is, expands the Rogue SUV's utility.
Nissan makes a few updates to the Rogue for 2019. Key among those is the expanded availability of lane departure warning and intervention, automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection and automatic high beams in lower-priced trims, while the posher SL model gains rear automatic braking and parking sonar.
Meanwhile, Nissan's ProPilot driver assist system becomes an option in SV trim and standard in SL, where it was previously optional.
With the Rogue SUV, Nissan competes with big names like the Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4 and Ford Escape. But we consider the Rogue's most direct competitors the few other compacts that pack a third row of seating. That small cohort has long included the Mitsubishi Outlander, but gained a new member in 2018 with the introduction of the second-generation Volkswagen Tiguan.
Rogue's mechanical components carry over from 2018. The engine is a 2.4L four-cylinder that makes 170 hp and 175 lb-ft of torque and comes mated to a continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT). S and SV trims start with front-wheel drive and can be optioned to AWD; SL gets AWD as standard.
S trim comes dressed in 17-inch steel wheels with covers, LED daytime running lights and taillights, heated side mirrors, air conditioning, power windows and locks, a tilt-and-telescopic steering column, cruise control, manual front seat adjustments, heated front seats, a four-speaker stereo with 7.0-inch touchscreen display, forward collision warning with automatic braking and blind spot warning with rear cross traffic alert.
SV trim adds alloy wheels, automatic on/off headlights, fog lights, passive keyless entry, remote engine start, a six-speaker stereo, lane departure warning with lane intervention, intelligent cruise control and automatic high beams.
SL trim gets 19-inch wheels, LED headlights with automatic high beams, hands-free tailgate, sunroof, navigation, 360-degree exterior camera views, intelligent climate control, electric front seat adjustments, leather upholstery, a nine-speaker stereo, rear automatic braking with moving object detection, rear parking sonar and the ProPilot Assist system.
Nissan's fuel consumption estimates for the Rogue are 9.1/7.1 L/100 km (city/highway) with FWD and 9.6/7.5 L/100 km with AWD.
