How would our Rogue AWD handle this test?

Nissan Rogue forum - Includes Nissan Qashqai and Nissan Dualis as well.
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pawprint
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Car: 2012 Nissan Altima 2.5 SL w/technology package
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Watch this video, it puts a couple different all wheel drive models to the test.

Does anyone know if the Rogue would pass the test?

The Honda CRV didn't pass. Subaru Forrester passed. Toyota Highlander failed. Volkswagen passed.
And the Subaru Legacy was the only one that really could drive just 1 wheel to make the car go forward because of the symmetrical drive-train layout.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OzK-oRPCbs


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Nick 568
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Joined: Tue Oct 07, 2008 5:59 am
Car: 2008 Nissan Rogue
Location: Anchorage, Alaska

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Tests like those are pretty pointless in my opinion. It's easy to design a test that one manufacturer will succeed at and another will fail at. I've seen similar videos comparing Audi Quattro and BMW X-Drive in which one test, the BMW fails, and the Audi wins, and then vice versa in another test.

I live in Anchorage, Alaska, and I take my Rogue out in any condition. I've never been stuck, regardless of how deep the snow was. I've never even been stuck in super muddy rutted trails. The AWD system is not the best, and starts to show its limitations off-road, but I've never felt anything but 100% confidence from it on snow and ice. Only issues I've had are when screwing around in a parking lot, and the wheels get a bit jammed up with snow, causing unbalance, and sometimes the snow melts onto the brakes, freezes, and then causes some issues stopping until it gets fully melted off.

philipa_240sx
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With the Rogue's traction control system, it would probably fare OK.

The Subaru also has the benefit of a limited slip rear differential... assuming this model was so equipped.

However, like Nick said this is carefully engineered test. IMHO, if you wanted to test this, then do it on a real road covered in real ice. Then we'll see!

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pawprint
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I don't find the test pointless. It shows that even though a vehicle that wears the badge of "AWD" or "Realtime 4-Wheel Drive" doesn't mean that it can power 1 rear wheel, while the others slip.

I think what bothers me the most is how misleading the term AWD really is and I find it more confusing than it should be. Nick says, "The AWD system is not the best, and starts to show its limitations off-road."

Philipa talks about "benefit of a limited slip rear differential". Does the AWD Rogue have a limited slip rear differential?

As a consumer, I want to know what I'm getting. It seems that manufacturers are very mysterious when it comes to describing their AWD capabilities. There is X-Drive, Quattro, 4-motion, 4-matic, and so on.

I just feel a little mislead by the word all wheel drive. For example, when I paid for the optional sunroof, I see a hole in the roof, covered by glass. I have a 4 cylinder engine, I can see the 4 cylinder heads. Radio, yup. It's there.

My point is that the AWD, in real world life, isn't something most people can see or test it's real life abilities. We depend on tests and the word of others to explain what those abilities might be...without learning the hard way, in an accident. :ohno:

ncsu
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Joined: Wed Aug 05, 2009 6:55 pm
Car: 2009 Nissan Rogue SL AWD

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This looks like some Subi propaganda – An interesting test, but curious that different model years were used. Makes you wonder if there is a reason they did not use all the same year?

Pescakl1
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Joined: Fri May 30, 2008 4:33 am
Car: 2008 Iridium Graphite SL FWD Rogue

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Thanks Pawprint for the link, I saw it before on another forum. It is a training course video for Subaru salesmen, so yes, Subaru wins every time (that is the aim).
But not because they cheated, but because their system is aimed for this type of condition.

As you mentioned, not all AWD systems are equal, so that is why it is funny when people jump on the AWD wagon and buy a car just for the logo.

The best AWD systems are the Subaru and the Audi ones (that is why no Audi is shown in the video), because they are real full time systems with central and rear differentials big enough to handle the power on each axle to move the weight of the car. The inconvenient of this is that you have more drag all the time, so fuel economy is not that good.

In my view, the Subaru and Audi systems are a little bit overkill for what you need, but some want more assurance for every single day in winter, so they go for this type of system. You just need to remember that for stopping purpose, you still rely on the same 4 small patches of rubber like every other cars.

As you could see, the Honda and Toyota ones are just a joke, they are not even real time. The flaw in the video is that the first thing you do when you are stuck is to remove the traction control, but still, their systems are not just that great (not design to handle a lot of power, just enough to help the front wheels to move the car).

The Volkswagen one is a simplified one out of the Audi one. It is better than the Honda and Toyota, but not as good as the Subaru as they removed the full time all wheel traction in order to get better fuel economy. They also did not put huge differentials in it (to save some weight), that is why it cannot handle the one wheel test. But they put a big enough central differential to send enough power to the rear wheel to move the car with just these two wheels. In real life, it is enough for your every day winter in the north.

My belief is the Rogue system is closer to the Volkswagen one than the Honda or Toyota, but it is just my opinion based of what I read about it. Is it better than the Volkswagen 4motion system? I don't know.

As others (who have the system on their car) have said, for the real life every day drive, it looks like the Rogue did not mislead you by putting the AWD letters at its back.

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Leo2005
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Of course this propaganda of subi but I really like to new subarus..especially legacy and tribeca. Every company could make their own video to show that their car is the best. Here's couple more videos where it shows bmw vs audi where audi a8 looks like not 4wd but rear wheel drive? And where audi is winning to all competitors such as bmw lexus nissan and others in snow mountains:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGWsogAlZLE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dx2mgPw33r4
Every car always will find a test where it fails. For example here's the Russian piece of junk Lada Niva but hey..it is pulling out X5 from the snow so I guess it's not that bad. :naughty: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fm3mYWOw ... re=related

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Andybond
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I owned the 2010 Forester. I liked its huge sunroof, reliability and awd sys, but they are putty noisy. I sold it and bought the Rogue... Huge difference in driving! Rogue feels much smother and quitter and much more fun to drive.

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bokito
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Car: #Infiniti FX35 AWD '05 DG, Technology/Navigation/Touring/Entertainment
#Nissan Rogue '08 SL AWD

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Here is an interesting video comparing Acura's AWD with Audi, BMW and Infiniti
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YidkaqlW9ns&NR=1

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casperfun
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Everyone probably saw this test made by foreign television awhile back.

So this is for all the new Rogue owners.
enjoy!

Even though the nissan Rogue is not a REAL off-road vehicle, this group of folks tested it in some rough terrain.
WOW! :greg:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0KygTBv ... re=related

philipa_240sx
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This video has popped up a couple of times so I wanted to point out a few things:

1) The Subaru vehicles (2008 Forester and Legacy GT) used in this test both feature Subaru's electronic AWD (only available on automatic transmission equipped models) AND limited slip rear differential (assuming the top line Forester was used).

2) The Honda CR-V and Toyota Highlander by comparison make do with a mechanical centre diff. No fancy electronics. These systems are limited in terms of the torque they can deliver to the rear axle. This setup is simple to manufacture and requires no electronics but does have a couple of trade off's:
- The front wheels have to slip before power is diverted to the rear wheels. This delay is considerable, it's not instantaneous.
- There is no way to lock the torque distribution at 50:50.

3) The VW uses a Haldex based AWD system. This is an electronically controlled AWD system not much unlike the Subaru's.


YES, the video is really biased.

They took 2 Subaru's with their electronically controlled AWD with rear limited slip diff and pitted it against 2 simple mechanical AWD systems (CR-V and Highlander) and the slightly more advanced 4Motion. It's not even apple's to oranges, it like apple's to umm... squash?

philipa_240sx
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So where does this leave the Rogue?

The Rogue has a couple of things going for it:

- The Rogue AWD is electronically controlled like the Subaru. It also adds yaw and steering angle sensors to fine tune the torque split.
- The Rogue has a limited slip/traction control system that will attempt to brake individual wheels to transfer power to the 'non-slipping' wheel. Some of the newer Subaru's also use this setup as it's cheaper than adding a limited slip rear differential.

I think the Rogue would fair well in this test. But the answer will likely never be known unless we can duplicate the results using the same rig.

IMHO, this is all a moot point because this rig does not simulate real world driving conditions. I've seen similar setups using split friction surfaces including real snow, ice and asphalt. They are a little closer to reality but are still only useful for comparing vehicles under controlled conditions. It's very easy to engineer a test that will favour one vehicle design over another.


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