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The 2017 Nissan Rouge Hybrid Review: The Rogue is one very popular Nissan. It’s a compact crossover, so it’s situated in a rising car market segment. The most recent version has done so well that for 2017, Nissan gave it a heavy mid cycle refresh, with some updated styling and new content. Up front, the Rogue now wears the corporate front fascia with the signature “V-Motion” grille and revised headlights and daytime running lights.
In the rear, you’ll find a new bumper and revised boomerang tail lamps. Eye-catching 19-inch rims contribute to the new look. Ford pioneered the motion-activated tailgate, but in a clear example of keeping up with the Joneses, Nissan now offers one too. The body structure is now enhanced for a quieter ride.
But most significantly, welcome the first ever Nissan Rogue Hybrid. With the competing Toyota RAV4 offering one, this really isn’t a surprise. Nissan has swapped out the standard 175-horsepower 2.5-liter inline four for a 141-horsepower 2.0-liter four, allied with a 30-kW motor to produce a total of 176 horsepower. It all flows through Nissan’s Xtronic continuously variable automatic transmission.
The car drives just fine with the hybrid drivetrain, but it felt like it was mostly gas-powered. I did note some moments of EV behavior, and there is automatic engine shutoff when idling at stoplights. It also has a “Best MPG” display, so if you’ve been driving carefully through commute traffic or a quiet neighborhood and rack up good numbers, you can replace your previous best.
There’s a small energy flow diagram in the instrument panel, so you can see what the car’s doing and moderate your behavior for maximum efficiency. There’s the requisite colorful moving display in the center console, but it’s really more of a distraction. Nissan made it look just different enough from the well-known Toyota display to save on legal fees.
You can get a Rogue, hybrid or not, in S, SV, and SL designations. The Hybrid doesn’t come in the base S level, but you can order it with front- or all-wheel drive. My Palatial Ruby test vehicle was a top-level SL Hybrid with all-wheel drive. That means that the U.S. EPA awarded it ratings of 31 City, 34 Highway, and 33 Combined. I averaged 25.6 mpg. The front-wheel drive model boosts those numbers by 2 mpg City and 1 mpg for the Highway and Combined scores.
Compare that to the regular gas vehicles. The AWD version, the direct nonhybrid match to my tester, earns 25 City, 32 Highway, and 27 Combined. So, on paper at least, that’s a 22 percent improvement. Green scores are 7 for Smog and 8 for Greenhouse Gas.
The Rogue may be a “small SUV,” per the EPA, but it doesn’t feel small inside. You sit up high, and the interior furnishings are first rate. The flowing door and dash create a sensation of movement, and materials show no hint of penny pinching. The carbon fiber trim is faux, but this is Rogue, after all. There’s a stitched panel on the passenger side of the dashboard above the glovebox, just for effect.
The SL is at the top, and is packed with goodies you won’t see on the SV unless you check some option boxes. You get the QuickComfort heated front seats, which immediately start warming the body areas most sensitive to heat, such as thighs and hips. There’s a memory setting for the mirrors and driver’s seat, a heated leather steering wheel, a 7-inch color touch-screen display, the NissanConnect navigation system with various apps, and a lovely Bose Premium Audio system with nine speakers. This sounds like stuff worth having, if you can afford the bill.
You get all the Safety Shield protections, such as Blind Spot Warning, Rear Cross Traffic Alert, and the two forward motion ones, Lane Departure Warning and the more aggressive Lane Departure Prevention. Nissan added two new ones for 2017, Intelligent Cruise Control and Forward Emergency Braking with Passenger Detection. These features make it safer to drive the car and to be walking near it, and are helping to pave the way toward true autonomous driving.
Pricing ascends from the front-wheel-drive S non hybrid at $24,720 to the all-wheel-drive SL Hybrid at $32,210, including the destination charge. By Steve Schaefer © AutoWire.Net - San Francisco
The 2017 Nissan Rouge Hybrid Bottom Line Review provided by: Tony Leopardo © AutoWire.Net
The Bottom Line: The 2017 Nissan Rouge Hybrid. People today want the high-riding crossover SUV experience and are looking for an easy-to-drive, right-sized family car, so the Rogue is going to shuttling around a lot of families. And the new Hybrid makes that just a little less impactful on the planet. The Rogue is smaller than its Pathfinder sibling, but it still can be ordered with a third-row seat, if you select the standard car. With the Hybrid, the third-row foot room is taken up by the battery pack. The car now weighs in at 3,693 pounds, so this is a beast to be reckoned with. And maybe, just for those reasons alone, you should “Drive one, Buy one, Today ©”. This Bottom Line Review is provided by: Tony Leopardo © AutoWire.Net
“Tony the Car Guy” is an automotive writer, editor and publisher in the San Francisco Bay Area. If you have a question or comment for Tony send it to TonyLeo@pacbell.net or visit AutoWire.Net at www.autowire.net - And remember: “You Are What You Drive ©”
Column Name: The Rogue is one very popular Nissan
Topic: The 2017 Nissan Rouge Hybrid
Word Count: 958
Photo Caption: The 2017 Nissan Rouge Hybrid
Photo Credits: Nissan Internet Media
Series #: 2017 - 15
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