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.