2014 Nissan Rogue SL AWD Long-Term Road Test

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2014 Nissan Rogue SL AWD Long-Term Road Test

The standard four-cylinder engine in the 2014 Nissan Rogue isn't overly powerful, but the standard CVT makes the most of its power.

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diigii

Cue the CVT-bashers here. Some of them here haven't even driven Nissan's new generation of CVT-equipped cars and they ARE experts in CVT performance.

7driver

Well, it is a 2.5L. Not that long ago 2.5L meant a V6 because it was rare for a 4cyl to be bigger than 2.0L.

yellowbal

CVTs are getting better but repair costs are super high since most transmission shops just order new/rebuilt ones.

CVTs are not very serviceable. I much rather have a well sorted automatic like those in the Mazda SkyActiv.

allthingshonda

@yellowbal repair cost for any modern transmission will be super high since none of them are serviceable. Even Mazda's SkyActiv. If a tranny fails on any car it will be replaced not repaired. I was told that this is because most new trannies have extremel

allthingshonda

As technology advances 4 cylinders are not as weak as they used to be. This Nissan engine makes as much power as the V6 Nissan used in the Maxima in the nineties. V6 engines produce as much or more power than v8's did 15 years ago. Ford admits that if they put the Ecoboost twin turbo in the Mustang it would be faster off the line than the 5.0 V8. GM's new twin turbo V6 is only 40 horsepower and 35 ft/lbs of torque short of the Stingray's V8.

dm7279

This long term test will be interesting, as my wife just got one of these in December (hers is a 3 row FWD SV model). I would call the powertrain adequate. I agree it's hard to get caught off the power band, the CVT responds very quickly to throttle input and really only gets annoying under hard acceleration. Economy is significantly better than our previous CR-V as well.

arcticbluetsx

Merging into highway traffic with a conventional automatic transmission; drive up the approach lane, step on the gas pedal hard, transmission downshifts, "VROOM!!" and a quick burst of acceleration. I feel like I would miss that with a CVT

diigii

@ arcticbluetsx: Not true. In a CVT, the power delivery is VERY smooth because there is no shift shock. On a conventional automatic, there is a lag when the transmission downshifts, then the abrupt surge that pushes you back to your seat.

misterfusion

The bad news is that Nissan used a carryover engine for the new Rogue (the previous version used the same 2.5). That's also the good news, because Nissan has been replacing their engines with gimped versions in the name of fuel efficiency. (The previous Sentra had the 2.5 available, but now it's the 1.8 across the line, and by all accounts that engine cannot move the car.)......

I had a 2010 Rogue, and it was legitimately fun to drive. The previous Rogue was the lightest CUV in its class, so it had a great power to weight ratio. I wonder how much heavier the new one is...

arcticbluetsx

@diigii: I know that CVT's are very smooth, and in many cases offer quicker acceleration than conventional automatics. In ALL cases they offer better fuel economy than automatics as well. However, I simply find CVT's boring to drive. They get moving, b

arcticbluetsx

In full disclosure, the only experiences that I have are with a previous gen AWD Rogue and a current gen AWD RX450h. Two vehicles not necessarily known to offer smiles as standard equipment

diigii

@arcticbluetsx: I actually like driving our 2012 Quest because if I want to accelerate, I step on the gas pedal and hear the engine rev up to give that surge of power when I change lanes. I also own a 2007 Altima 3.5SE but with a 6-speed manual and thou