2014 Road Trip Pros & Con

[ivan_2001ve]

Hello Everyone,

I just got back from my first road trip with the Rogue. The trip as from Austin, Tx to Orlando, Fl.

Like i said before i tried to keep record of the gas millage. The average on the way down was 27.8 Mpg and on the way back 27.2. Everything was highway I-10 & I-75. I have to stop for fuel three times. The fuel used was 3 1/4 tanks.

I would like to mention that the 27 MPG was due that my driving habits are going above 75mph "75 the legal speed limit here in Texas". For the Rogue is easy to achieve the advertised 32 Mpg only if you travel at 65 - 70 MPH and the road has no uphills downhills, but as soon as you pass the 70 and beyond the MPG's go down like a rock on the water. I did the section from pensacola to I-75 almost at constant 85-90 MPH and the tank last me for almost 320 milles before stopping for refuel, this is also the average range of the gas tank 350 to 370 beyond that i will not advice to go unless that you know for sure that there are gas stations every 15 to 30 milles since the low fuel warning goes off to late for my taste. 30 miles which are usually more like 20, since it will suddenly indicate zero range when you still have like 20, believe i miss calculate the service plazas distance at the Florida Turnpike and almost ran out of fuel, because when i pulled over to refuel the tank i put 14.9 gallons this was till i could see the fuel on the pipe near the lid. So when nissan say 14.5 gallons they really ment 14.5 gallons of capacity, since the pipe only hold .2 o .3 gallons.

This car clearly needs one or two more gallons on the tank to make happy. Other thing that i noticed on the vehicle information display, The one that indicates time and traveled distance it only goes to 999 miles after that it goes back to zero and starts a new count so if you want to track your traveled distance used the regular trip odometer.

The seats are definitely the best of this car. This has been the most comfortable road trip that i ever taken. Cargo Capacity is Ok. Those cases like mine were is just me and my wife we got plenty of space to carry necessary (me) and unnecessary (she) things. Divide and Hide is completely useless the are no coolers or suitcases (non-carry on) on the market that will be compatible with the height of divider. This is a tip for Nissan to create a line of coolers and Luggage, bigger families will have to get things to a roof carrier or install a hitch and a carrier in the back (best options for those who have a heavy right foot like mine LOL)

To conclude I'm very happy with my Rogue, and very satisfy with my road trip experience looking forward for the next one. Hopefully California/Nevada or New Mexico.

[Leo2005]

This car clearly needs one or two more gallons on the tank to make happy.

Totally agree. It's smaller than the 1st generation Rogue. I guess 1 gallon of gas in the tank makes a difference on mpg comparing to 1st generation
Why not to make it 5 gallon tank then? lol

[therealroland]

It's funny. I used to have a blackberry, used a GPS tool to track my route on trips, and realized driving west from Chicago to the Mississippi I was going downhill-ish, driving back I would go uphill.

So mileage was better in any of our cars (past and present) driving west, and worse going east.

Found out that driving from 'the East' to roughly the southern tip of Lake Michigan was 'uphill', after that 'downhill' again. So driving from home towards the East was more fuel efficient than driving back.

It helps setting the expectation on certain road trips

Edit: forgot - pay attention to what you load on those dividers - they have a weight limit of only 30 lbs or so! Also, when you have the leather interior, pay attention when folding down the back seats - those seat belt thingers in the seat bottoms will crease / dent the leather, even within a couple of days being folded down. I'm sure this happens with the cloth seats as well, but don't know how visible it stays.

Edit2: any gurgling sound when stopped at a rest stop / traffic light after a long stretch of drive? I did hear some, after driving for 2 hrs, interstate speeds, AC switched on, pulling into a rest stop, coming to a full stop at a parking spot.

[ivan_2001ve]

Nope no sounds. Some times those sounds is ice that builds up around the evaporator or A/C components. It usually happens when the humidity is high. So when you stop you can heard some noises which is the ice breaking. Forgot to mention that my drive happened with temperatures above 95 F and bathroom or leg stretching stops every 150 to 200 miles. No losses of power or CVT going to safe mode or rare behavior issues. This is for those who still not believe on the CVT's in hot weather and long drives.

It is true what you say about the seat belts. Advice for those with leather seats like me do not keep the seat folded for long periods of time as soon as you get the cargo out put them back to their position, and use Lexol cleaner on conditioner keeps it like new from the factory and non greasy finish you use it overnight to give time to leather to absorb it

[majorjohn]

great post!

I have drove my Rogue for around 700 miles, so far I agree with you.

[JLD94]

I have wondered a little bit about the logic too of the true 14.5 gallon tank. It seems like there really is no room for error, once the warning coming on, you better pay attention.

[mag318]

My first road trip in my 2014 AWD SL was from western Illinois to Indianapolis and back. I set the cruise at 70 and my mileage both ways was a satisfying 33.1. I'm now approaching 8K miles on the odometer and have not experienced a single problem. I had a 2008 Rogue for 5 years that was also trouble free and this new model is a huge upgrade.

[Earthwateruser]

Nice post. I've driven that route before and it gets very boring along I-10! I recently did an 800+ mile round-trip in our new SL and agree that the seats remain comfortable over the long haul. I also found that using cruise control allows some flexibility for my legs which also helps over a long trip. And the seat heaters also help, although I find that intermittent heating function to be a bummer. I'd be interested to know if anyone has figured out a simple way to hack the thermostat in the seat to allow constant heat.

We found the divide and hide cargo feature very useful. Our carry-on size bags slid nicely under the raised section and we filled in the extra space on the sides with packages for family. The fragile stuff went on the top level and those little handle things kept everything from sliding off. I did find that the plastic liner/cover on the lower level of the cargo compartment is pretty slippery, so I bought a $20 pad from Amazon (Rightline Gear 100650 Non-Skid Roof Pad) to keep stuff from sliding around down there. The pad will also come in handy if I need to strap stuff to the roof.

Finally, it was kind of a pain that my passenger couldn't access all of the NAV features while I was driving. Not a huge deal, but other manufacturers offer this capability so I don't see why Nissan won't.