In the February 2008 issue of Car and driver Magazine, a comparo test of nine compact SUVs found the Nissan Rogue SL AWD in third place, just a few points behind the leading Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V.

The Rogue won top ratings for fun-to-drive, driving performance, gas mpg, front interior volume, and low noise at 70 mph.

The only knocks against the Rogue related to the darkness of the interior and the restricted view aft.

Url please.

Earl Grey wrote:Url please.

It's one of those old-fashioned hardcopy magazines that comes in your mail.

Actually, Car and Driver usually posts the article on their website several days after the magazine comes out. We can add the URL to this thread later.

I was just about to post some of the excerpts from the Feb 08 Car and Driver CUV comparison. You beat me to it.

#3 out of 9 is pretty impressive.

#1 Toyota Rav4 208#2 Honda CR-V 206#3 NISSAN ROGUE 203#4 Mitsu Outlander 194#5 Suzuki G. Vitara 193#6 Saturn Vue 187#7 Ford Escape 178#8 Hyundai Tucson 161#9 Jeep Liberty 159

I think they did a nice job with this article. For the most part, I agree with their pros and cons for each vehicle.

My biggest issue with their take is their criticism of Rogue's interior. They call it somber. "The Rogue's funureal gray and black interior was a Brian DePalma dream come true." Interesting observation???? Its pretty amusing to page through the article to see the interior of all the other vehicles in this comparo. The only one that was any brighter and happier was the CR-V because it was the only one with a beige and black color scheme.... and ugly I might add. How they could single out and downgrade the Rogue for its interior color scheme is beyond me.. Guess you have to find some way to let the Toyota and Honda win. ??

whoo.. deep breath.. I'm over it..

I happen to agree with their assessment of the "grim rear visibility, and nervous off-road" ability.

They definitely rave about the Rogue's sporty feel. "That the Nissan topped our fun-to-drive category surprised no one - and all for the lowest base price."

In their ratings the Rogue scored highest in the overall powertrain, chassis and experience catagories. Though not high enough to overcome the low scores in rear seat space, trunk space, towing capacity, etc..

Eikon thanks for the Info, I haven't been able to find this issue on the news stands yet. Yeah that sucks if they took points away from the Rogue for interior color, after all there are a lot of other interior colors than what was in the one they tested, and colors are a very personal choice and should not factor into the scores. Oh well as you said sometimes you just have to get over it. Still bugs me though. I look forward to reading the complete article.

Eikon wrote:I was just about to post some of the excerpts from the Feb 08 Car and Driver CUV comparison. You beat me to it.

#3 out of 9 is pretty impressive.

#1 Toyota Rav4 208#2 Honda CR-V 206#3 NISSAN ROGUE 203#4 Mitsu Outlander 194#5 Suzuki G. Vitara 193#6 Saturn Vue 187#7 Ford Escape 178#8 Hyundai Tucson 161#9 Jeep Liberty 159

I think they did a nice job with this article. For the most part, I agree with their pros and cons for each vehicle.

My biggest issue with their take is their criticism of Rogue's interior. They call it somber. "The Rogue's funureal gray and black interior was a Brian DePalma dream come true." Interesting observation???? Its pretty amusing to page through the article to see the interior of all the other vehicles in this comparo. The only one that was any brighter and happier was the CR-V because it was the only one with a beige and black color scheme.... and ugly I might add. How they could single out and downgrade the Rogue for its interior color scheme is beyond me.. Guess you have to find some way to let the Toyota and Honda win. ??

whoo.. deep breath.. I'm over it..

I happen to agree with their assessment of the "grim rear visibility, and nervous off-road" ability.

They definitely rave about the Rogue's sporty feel. "That the Nissan topped our fun-to-drive category surprised no one - and all for the lowest base price."

In their ratings the Rogue scored highest in the overall powertrain, chassis and experience catagories. Though not high enough to overcome the low scores in rear seat space, trunk space, towing capacity, etc..

I picked up an issue today and have scaned thru it a few things I noticed;The Rogue had a best in test in the powertrain ratings in 6 out of 8 catagories including best; 0-60 mph @ 8.2 sec, 0-100mph @ 24.7 sec, 1/4 mile 16.4 sec, rolling 5-60 mph @ 8.3 sec, 50-70mph @ 5.8 sec.

The catagories it did not win were 30 to 50 mph rogue was second best to the v-6 Ford Escape, 0-30 mph the Rogue was 3rd to the Saturn vue V-6 and Jeep Liberty. The Rogue also was the winner in the cruising sound level test at 70 mph @ 68 dba.

C&D does a good job with supplying data on the 9 Crossovers. I'll post some more info as I digest the rest of the article.

C&D quotes"The Rogue was the sports car of the group and the overwhelming victor at the drag strip too."The highs: "Go get'em handling, steering and acceleration"The lows: " Grim rear visibility, nervous off-road, somber interior"The verdict : "A stunning example of extracting the most from the least."

"It eschews a big horsepower V-6 in favor of an inline four. Yet it gets the job done with speed and panache."

"The Rogues mandatory CVT powertrain is loud at wide open throttle, where it drones for seconds at a time if your right foot is heavy. Strangely, it makes up for that failure by being the quietest at 70 mph, and its 170 hp four banger was judged as vibrationless as the Honda and Toyota."

Earl Grey wrote:Url please.

http://www.caranddriver.com/re...ge)/1

http://stage.caranddriver.com/...l.pdf

Modified by ntwrkd at 7:54 PM 3/11/2008
Modified by ntwrkd at 7:55 PM 3/11/2008

ntwrkd wrote:
http://www.caranddriver.com/co....html

http://stage.caranddriver.com/...l.pdf

Modified by ntwrkd at 4:12 PM 1/9/2008

Coming from a WRX, Reading the PDF in the second link I'm glad to see the Rogue scores high in the categories I'm most intested in, best 1/4 mile by 2 points, best Steering, brake & handling and tied for best peformance and best fun to drive. Sounds like a winner in all the areas that seperate it from just another SUV to me! And it's by far the best looking and sportiest of the group!

Number 6 wrote:
Coming from a WRX, Reading the PDF in the second link I'm glad to see the Rogue scores high in the categories I'm most intested in, best 1/4 mile by 2 points, best Steering, brake & handling and tied for best peformance and best fun to drive. Sounds like a winner in all the areas that seperate it from just another SUV to me! And it's by far the best looking and sportiest of the group!

Here's another one you'll like then..... http://www.caranddriver.com/as...n.pdf

Eikon wrote:Guess you have to find some way to let the Toyota and Honda win. ??

You got it. That's C/D for you. Not surprising to see the most boring car win. There are two things you can depend on with them: boring cars always rank ahead of fun cars in comparos, and if there's a Honda or Toyota, it'll win.

What really interested me was their comment that the "170-horse four-banger was judged as vibrationless as the Honda's and Toyota's."Looks like Nissans' doing things right with these new-generation QRs.

MinisterofDOOM wrote:
You got it. That's C/D for you. Not surprising to see the most boring car win. There are two things you can depend on with them: boring cars always rank ahead of fun cars in comparos, and if there's a Honda or Toyota, it'll win.

What really interested me was their comment that the "170-horse four-banger was judged as vibrationless as the Honda's and Toyota's."Looks like Nissans' doing things right with these new-generation QRs.

Yeah I have to agree if you look at the overall scores the things that are not subjective to a personel bias it looks to me like the Rogue could have easily won the test. Keep in mind that the differences in total score is slight RAV:208, CRV:206, Rogue:203 Here's my edit of the C&D overall scores.Rear seat comfort Rogue=2, CRV=4,RAV=5 My counter: The Rogue is quieter than either, so its easy to carry on a conversation with rear seat passengers, and there is plenty of leg room, just no center arm rest in the Rogue. My scores Rogue=5, RAV=4, CRV=3

Trunk space Rogue=2, CRV=5,RAV=5 My counter: The Rogue has more length in the cargo area than the CRV, the CRV has more height. For me my bike would not fit in the back of a CRV but it does in the Rogue. The way the CRV seats fold is poorly designed. RAV is tops in this area. My scores RAV=5,Rogue=4, CRV=3

Interior styling Rogue=7,CRV=8,RAV=8 I disagree, the CRV and Rogue are fairly equal the RAV is not at their level. My scores Rogue=8, CRV=8, RAV=7

The bottom line to my scores Rogue wins with 209 , RAV=206, CRV=203Link to C&D overall scores: http://www.caranddriver.com/as...l.pdf