First Trip

[clev]

Good morning. I just finished a ~2800 mile trip on my '09 Rogue and thought someone may be interested in a report.

The car had ~650 miles on the odometer when I left Texas on 26 Feb. I went to Virginia to visit my parents; total mileage ~1350 miles. I returned the following Wednesday, 4 Mar '09; again ~1350 miles. The 2800 includes driving around the local area when I arrived.

My other vehicle is a full sized Ford E-350 Super Duty with High Top and all the comforts. So I was a little concerned about comfort in a smaller car. Not to worry! Comfort was great and not fatigueing, even after an 11 hour day. The cruise control was flawless and even though I had heard bad things about the transmission, I loved it. Power and shifting for pulling out, merging into 70 mph traffic and passing on two lanes was more than adequate. My dad drives a Lincoln Town Car and even he was impressed with the comfort and power of this little 4 cylinder.

Fuel economy was not too good; mostly interstate with cruise set at ~75 mph. The first two tanks were ~25 mpg but after that, it stayed in the 23's even on the final fill up when I returned. Hopefully it will improve with a few thousand more miles.

It has the OEM stereo which is the worst that I've listened to in my 61 years of living. Music wasn't too bad, but talk radio was almost unintelligible. I was using XM for music and local radio for Rush and Dr Laura. So, at this point, I'm not sure if I need to replace the stereo, the speakers or both.

All in all a great trip.

Can/ will someone comment on the radio. Is mine normal?

[RubenTheRogue]

My stereo(the Bose system) is adequate and I have done road trips doing exactly like you described.

Just out of curiosity, did anyone try reclining the passenger front seat to take a nap? Could Nissan have a worse design for the fold flat seat? You have to be double jointed in your back to recline fully.

[clev]

My adult daughter traveled with me and no, she didn't recline the seat. Neither of us thought about it. She did nap in upright position with no problem.