2024 Nissan Rogue improves to be fine and good

When friends and neighbors asked me what I thought of the refreshed 2024 Nissan Rogue SL with AWD, I said, “It’s fine.” That reply wouldn’t suffice any more for them than it would this review. 

“Good infotainment upgrades, smooth transmission, it’s gotten quieter, and it’s one of the bigger compact crossovers,” I expounded. “It’s all fine and good.”

I wasn’t being dismissive. It does just about everything well without standing out in any one category. While not exciting, it’s a good value and a good car, and that’s most exciting to most crossover shoppers.

The brand’s bestseller, more than doubling the sales volume of its second bestseller in the Nissan Altima sedan, suggests that Nissan has turned the corner on yet another identity. 

The new millennium has been a trying one for a brand that was saved from bankruptcy by Renault in the last century. In the last decade, the alliance added Mitsubishi with ambitions under now-disgraced CEO Carlos Ghosn to be the world’s third largest automaker behind VW Group and Toyota. In a drama made for tabloids and bad TV, Ghosn was arrested for financial crimes, fled Japan to Lebanon in a music box in 2019, and eventually, late in 2023, was expelled from his home in Beirut. During this saga, Nissan hemorrhaged money, and its products felt like stopgaps trying to stem the bleeding.

The past year or two have shown new signs of life, starting with the excellent Nissan Ariya electric crossover. But it’s the Rogue that matters most to Nissan in the U.S., chasing only the Toyota RAV4, Tesla Model Y, and Honda CR-V in sales volume status in 2023.  

With the refreshed 2024 Rogue, Nissan appears to be changing with the industry and investing in the future once again. Unlike those rivals, however, it still lacks any electrified powertrain. 

Pro: Google built-in streamlines the Rogue

The big news for the Rogue’s mid-cycle refresh is the Google built-in operating system. The first Nissan to use it, and standard on SL and Platinum, it mimics how easy it is to interact with smartphones. The voice recognition listens like Siri and projects like an aria. Google Maps means you can leave the wireless Apple CarPlay (or Android Auto, for you green bubblers) for phone and music stuff. There’s more continuity between the 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and a 12.3-inch touchscreen stretching across the bowed dash. A climate panel with buttons and dials sits below, and below that is a newly standard wireless smartphone charger. It’s all easy to use and makes it worth, in part, the $1,500 upcharge from last year’s SL. 

Con: Turbo-3 fades at cruising speed

Following the Rogue’s 2021 redesign, Nissan applied its variable compression technology to make its small engine work smarter, not harder. Every Rogue uses a 1.5-liter turbo-3 that makes 201 hp and 225 lb-ft of torque. The promise of varying the compression ratios with the VC-Turbo is greater turbo spunk around town while providing more cruising efficiency on the highway, long a bugaboo of small turbocharged engines. The Rogue delivers on the first part, with pert starts from the line and responsiveness on the low end. At highway speed limits, when the variable compression moves to high compression for better fuel efficiency, it accelerates slower than expected. Several clicks of the paddle shifters don’t remedy it much. For drivers intent on staying in their lane, the Rogue’s powertrain has its benefits. 

Pro: Nissan Rogue’s evolved CVT

Decades ago, Nissan became one of the first major automakers to introduce the continuously variable automatic transmission in mass produced cars. The CVT and its variable range of “gears” improves fuel economy but historically, it resulted in some yo-yoing effects behind the wheel and it could cause engines to drone on like a Sunday sermon in a stuffy church. Nissan has dramatically improved the CVT, so much so that the paddle shifters mimicking seven gear shifts could be mistaken for a traditional automatic. It and the turbo-3 leads to a cabin that’s supremely free of engine noise unless hammered. 

Pro/Con: Nissan Rogue’s 31 mpg combined fuel economy rating

The VC-Turbo’s promise was great fuel efficiency, and at 31 mpg combined, the 2024 Rogue SL with AWD is above average. The Honda CR-V with AWD rates at 29 mpg combined, which is the same for all but the base Toyota RAV4. The problem is that most automakers in the compact crossover segment, with the exception of GM, Subaru, and Mazda, offer a more efficient hybrid or plug-in hybrid option. Toyota’s hybrid upcharge has narrowed in recent years, so a RAV4 Hybrid LE with AWD costs $33,075; a 2024 Rogue S with AWD costs $31,185. 

Is an upcharge of $1,890, or 6%, worth it for a hybrid? The RAV4 Hybrid gets 39 mpg vs the Rogue AWD’s 31 mpg, leading the EPA to estimate that you’d save $1,750 over five years with the RAV4 Hybrid over the Rogue. So it depends. Your savings may vary. The CR-V Hybrid starts above $35,000. 

The Rogue sizes up as roomier than the RAV4 but not quite as spacious as the CR-V, which has grown into midsize proportions. The modern technology on the refreshed Rogue keeps it important, which is critical for Nissan, but its overall package and value should be important for shoppers. That’s all fine and good.  

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2024 Nissan Rogue SL AWD

Base price: $29,685, including a $1,365 destination fee

Price as tested: $40,120

Drivetrain: 1.5-liter turbo-3, CVT, all-wheel drive

EPA fuel economy: 28/34/31 mpg 

Pros: Google built-in, spaciousness, tech, quiet ride

Cons: Complex engine, weak cruising power, no electrified option