April 2, 2010 by legendarylife
I know this post is out of the norm, but I have some time as I wait for the tires to be rotated on my 2008 Nissan Rogue. First, I feel compelled to provide some background information to provide context to what I have to say about the Rogue. I am a car guy. If I won the lottery, I would spend a significant amount of my time racing cars (and would own a wharehouse full of them!). I have owned some fun and powerful cars, from an Acura Integra Type R (for the car folks out there, you know this is a very fun and capable car), to a 400 HP Subaru that could sprint from 0-60 in the low 4-second range. As a matter of fact, this was my last car, so I was accustomed to FAST! We first considered the Rogue when looking for a “Family Car” (the words Mini Van aren’t in my vocabulary). We really liked it, but the Honda Accord had more interior room and a cavernous trunk (and the V-6 didn’t hurt…). So, when I decided to trade in the Subaru, we considered the Rogue again. I had two concerns about the Rogue… First, I had never owned a vehicle with a Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT), second, I thought having a 4-cylinder engine in a small SUV would be really slow (a vehicle trait I simply can’t tolerate). However, after re-test driving it, I found it to be quite peppy. After owning and driving the Rogue for about 2 years now, I love it! First of all, it’s light…about 3,400 lbs. Less than my Subaru. The engine is very torquey (torque is good!) and coupled with the CVT which makes the best use of the power, it’s down right quick! As a matter of fact, I “raced” a brand-new Acura TL with the 300+ HP V-6 and fended him off up to about 45 miles an hour! There aren’t many cars it can’t take off the line. If there is any complaint with the Rogue, it’s that it’s almost too powerful down low because tire spin is common. I will add that I replaced my stock air filter with a K&N filter (probably good for 5 more horsepower). The brakes are excellent and effortless. The steering is precise, and the handling is nimble for an SUV. For $22,000 out the door, in my opinion, there is nothing that can match it. It’s just. Fun to drive, and it looks good. I used to live in Colorado, and I will likely buy the AWD version of the Rogue because the CVT will keep the power flowing in the mountains with space for my gear. Gas mileage is very good too. Bottem line: The Nissan Rogue comes highly recommended by this car guy, and I won’t be trading it in any time soon.