Crossovers: The Perfect Porridge
Crossovers are everywhere these days, and with good reason. Remember the story of Goldilocks? There are full-size SUVs with lots of seating and lots of room like a too-hot bowl of porridge. Then there are sedans with less of everything making them the too-cold porridge. Crossovers are the just-right choice in the middle. The challenge is that there are so darn many it can be hard to choose.
The 2021 Nissan Rogue wants to be your just-right bowl of porridge, so Nissan added plenty of features to give it appeal. Did it manage to add enough milk and honey to make the Rogue the perfect porridge?
Well, perfection is a tall order, especially since what’s perfect for me isn’t perfect for you or perfect for your neighbor. Everyone has their own specific needs when it comes time to buy a car, so Nissan expanded the Rogue lineup, added new tech features, and improved the Rogue’s ride and powertrain to make it a better fit no matter your priorities.
The all-new 2021 Nissan Rogue shows off a fresh new look that makes it more modern. There’s a new headlight design alongside the signature Nissan V-motion grille and the Rogue shrinks a bit coming in 1.5-inches shorter than the outgoing model. It’s lower, too, which helps it handle better. You might not immediately see or feel these small changes, but together they create a better looking and better-handling crossover.
Zero Gravity for Maximum Comfort
The interior of the Rogue still features Nissan Zero Gravity seats, and this makes us happy. It sounds like marketing mumbo jumbo, but these seats are fantastic. Driving the Roque over the holidays, we had the opportunity to take it on a couple of longer trips that had us in the car for hours at a time. The seats never got stiff or uncomfortable, which makes the Rogue a great choice for families with road trips in their futures.
In addition to its comfortable and roomy interior, the Rogue has numerous safety features to set your mind at ease, including standard Nissan Safety Shield 360. This bundles a bunch of safety features together including automatic emergency braking with pedestrian and cyclist detection, rear cross-traffic alert, and rear automatic braking, which are all but sure to save you from a fender bender or two.
ProPilot Gets an Upgrade
Nissan’s ProPilot Assist technology, which isn’t technically self-driving but instead gives the driver an assist with steering and adaptive cruise control, gets a series of improvements. It brakes more smoothly and adjusts steering more consistently, especially if a car cuts you off in congested traffic. The big news, however, is the availability of ProPilot Assist with Navi-link on select trims. Using navigation data, this adjusts your speed in advance of highway off-ramps or tight curves for a smoother ride.
And of course, there’s plenty of connected tech, too. An 8-inch touchscreen is standard with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto along with both USB and USB-C ports up front. As you move through the trim lineup, you get goodies including a 10-speaker Bose audio system, two rear USB chargers, wireless Apple CarPlay, wireless charging, and Wi-Fi hotspot connectivity.
Choose from four trims, including the new upscale Platinum, with a choice of front-wheel or all-wheel drive. All are powered by a 181-horsepower 4-cylinder engine with a continuously variable automatic transmission that is noticeably quieter than the outgoing Rogue. Even under hard acceleration, you won’t be bothered by the sounds under the hood intruding into the passenger compartment.
Room for Cargo, Room for People
And of course, the new Rogue still has the same flexibility as the prior Rogue for managing people or cargo depending on your priorities of the moment. Seating for five easily reconfigures with a 60/40 split-folding rear bench seat. There’s up to 36.5 cubic feet behind the rear seats or 74.1 cubic feet behind the front seats and the Rogue can even tow up to 1,350 pounds should your needs be greater.
The 2021 Nissan Rogue gets the updates it needs to stay relevant in a crowded segment. Advanced safety technologies, a comfortable and attractive interior, and good cargo capacity give it the versatility and functionality crossover buyers crave. Pricing from $25,650 to $36,830 makes sure it’s also a crossover that families can afford.
The 2021 Nissan Rogue lets you have your crossover porridge and eat it, too.
