The Nissan Rogue was introduced in 2007 as a 2008 model, it has become Nissan’s best-selling vehicle in Canada and the United States. The Rogue slots right in the middle of Nissan’s SUV/CUV lineup, which consists of 6 vehicles. For the 2021 model year, the Rogue is all-new with many changes on the outside and inside.
2021 Nissan Rogue Canadian Prices
The 3rd generation Nissan Rogue is offered in three trims, with the base Rogue S FWD starting at $28,798 and the top-of-the-line Rogue Platinum AWD starting at $40,798. Below is a list of prices for all trims.
| Trim | Price |
| Rogue S FWD | $28,798 |
| Rogue S AWD | $31,098 |
| Rogue SV FWD | $32,298 |
| Rogue SV AWD | $34,598 |
| Rogue Platinum AWD | $40,798 |
Our review car was the 2021 Rogue SV with the Premium Package. The as tested sticker price was $38,958. This price included $2,000 for the Premium Package, $300 for the pearl paint, and $1,860 for Freight & PDI.
The Premium Package adds manual rear window sun shades, leatherette seats, power liftgate, and heated rear seats. I feel like the SV trim with the Premium Package will be what most people opt for.
2021 Nissan Rogue Engine/Driving
The 3rd generation Nissan Rogue is powered by a 2.5-liter 4-cylinder engine with direct injection. It produces 181 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 181 pound-feet of torque at 3,600 rpm. The 3rd generation Rogue gets a boost of 11 horsepower and 6 pound-feet of torque over the outgoing model. Power is sent to either the front wheels or all-four wheels (depending on trim) via a Continuously Variable Transmission.
Driving the Rogue is a standard affair, it’s a family crossover and drives just like how you’d expect a vehicle in this category and price range. The 181 horsepower is more than enough for city driving and highway acceleration and passing is achieved quite easily. The CVT is an alright transmission, it’s not bad and does have simulated gearshifts, which makes it a bit more engaging than the CVTs of the past. However, under heavy acceleration, the engine does get buzzy and you keep expecting a gearshift that never seems to come.
The 2021 Rogue comes with and “Eco”, “Standard”, and “Sport” modes on the FWD trims and the AWD trims get “off-road” and “snow” modes. The off-road mode should come in handy on that trip to the cabin and the snow mode is much needed in Canadian winters. On my previous review of the 2nd generation Rogue, I complained about the placement of these driving mode buttons, which were placed to the left of the steering wheel. In my opinion that was just too out of the way, thankfully Nissan has placed a knob for the driving modes on the center console for easy access.
Styling
When it comes to styling, everyone has different tastes and opinions. Personally, I think the 3rd generation Nissan Rogue is a good-looking crossover, it refines the “V-Motion” grill further. The previous generation Rogue wasn’t a bad looking vehicle, the 3rd generation’s design just looks more upscale to me.
The front of the Rogue is an attractive looking design. The light assembly is split into two sections, with the daytime running lights at the top and headlights at the bottom. This is a similar take on the headlight design first seen on the Hyundai Santa Fe (don’t quote me on this, the Santa Fe is where I remember it from). The side profile remains the same as previous generation. The rear features sharper looking taillights and the rear hatch has a bit more curves.
Overall, I think the 2021 Nissan Rogue is a good looking CUV. Nissan is using this design language on their other newer SUVs as well; the Pathfinder looks particularly good to me.
Interior & Features
The interior on the 2021 Nissan Rogue is quite different from the 2nd generation Rogue’s. The first thing I noticed was the main infotainment system, which used to be integrated into the dashboard, the new one sticks out of the dashboard. This layout used to be a point of contention among automotive journalists, however, pretty much every new vehicle integrates their infotainment system like this and a majority of us have gotten used to it; I wasn’t a fan of this layout when it first started appearing in vehicles, but now I’ve grown to like it and I might even prefer it over the dashboard integrated layout.
The interior features a mixture of hard and soft materials, and looks about the same quality as most of the competition in this class. The traditional mechanical gear lever has been replaced by an electronic shifter, this saves space and it looks like something we normally see in luxury cars. Using this gear lever has created a separate compartment underneath the center console for storing phones and other smaller items.
The Zero Gravity seats, which are inspired by NASA’s space seats, are extremely comfortable. I enjoyed these seats a lot due to my back issues, these seats are great for short grocery trips or on a long road trip. Our SV trim was equipped with leatherette seats, the Premium trim comes with quilted leather seats. These seats can be covered with graphite, grey, or tan colored materials. The second-row seats are also really comfortable and there’s more than enough leg and head room for even taller occupants.
The interior is fairly quiet during normal driving, you do get to hear the engine whine quite a bit under heavy acceleration, which is partially attributed to the CVT.
The Nissan Rogue comes with a decent number of standard features in the base trim, but to get to some of the luxurious stuff like real leather, Bose sound system, and wireless Apple CarPlay, you’ll need to upgrade to the Platinum trim. Our review Rogue was the middle trim, with the Premium package, it has a nice balance of equipment. Below is a list of equipment available on the 2021 Nissan Rogue.
- Cruise control (S)
- Intelligent cruise control (SV/Platinum)
- ProPILOT Assist (SV)
- ProPILOT Assist with Navi-link (Platinum)
- Intelligent Forward Collision Warning
- Full Safety Shield 360 suite of safety technologies
- Intelligent Emergency Braking with Pedestrian Detection
- Lane Departure Warning
- Intelligent Lane Intervention (SV/Platinum)
- Blind Spot Warning
- Intelligent Blind Spot Intervention (SV/Platinum)
- Rear Cross Traffic Alert
- RearView Monitor
- Intelligent Around View Monitor (SV/Platinum)
- Rear Sonar System
- Front, Rear, and Side Sonar System (Platinum)
- Rear Intelligent Emergency Braking
- High Beam Assist
- Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC) with Traction Control System (TCS)
- Intelligent Trace Control
- Active Ride Control
- Hill start assist
- Automatic Brake Hold
- Intelligent Driver Alertness
- Traffic Sign Recognition (Platinum)
- Intelligent Auto Headlights
- LED headlights with LED Daytime Running Lights
- LED taillights
- LED fog lights (Platinum)
- Power Liftgate (SV option/Platinum)
- Motion Activated Liftgate (Platinum)
- Dual Panel Panoramic Moonroof
- Dual Zone Automatic Temperature Control (SV)
- Tri-Zone Automatic Temperature Control (Platinum)
- Nissan Intelligent Key with Push Button Ignition (SV/Platinum)
- Remote Engine Start System with Intelligent Climate Control (SV/Platinum)
- Remote Engine Start from your smart phone (through NissanConnect Services) (SV/Platinum)
- Heated Leather-wrapped steering wheel
- 8-way power driver’s seat (SV/Platinum)
- 4-way manual front-passenger’s seat (S/SV)
- 4-way power front-passenger’s seat (Platinum)
- Memory system – driver’s seat and outside mirrors (Platinum)
- Heated front seats
- Heated rear seats (SV option/Platinum)
- 12.3″ Digital dashboard (Platinum)
- NissanConnect 8″ touchscreen (S/SV)
- NissanConnect 9″ touchscreen (Platinum)
- Heads Up Display (Platinum)
- Navigation with Premium Traffic (Platinum)
- Voice Recognition
Final Thoughts
Overall, I think the 2021 Nissan Rogue is an improvement on an already popular vehicle. In my opinion, it’s an attractive looking vehicle that’s well equipped and has a nice interior. The interior looks quite luxurious in the Platinum trim. This is a competitive segment and there are a lot of great choices, so if you are in the market for a mid-size CUV, don’t forget to check out the 3rd generation Nissan Rogue.
