Nissan’s redesigned Rogue remains like a member of the family

2021 Nissan Rogue SL AWD: Still as easy to relate to?

Price: $35,275 as tested. Floor mats and cargo protector added $385, and two-tone paint $395.

Conventional wisdom: Car and Driver likes the “handsome new styling, improved on-road demeanor, better cabin tech,” but says it “could use a bit more power” and suffers from “expensive upper trims, middling standard warranty package.”

Marketer’s pitch: “Say hello to the game-changer.”

Reality: The more things change …

What’s new: The Rogue SUV sports a new look and a new platform for 2021, and it seems obvious they’ve put the Mitsubishi designer to work. It resembles the Outlander now. Handsome, but I see a Mitsubishi, and I worry about repair costs. Maybe that’s the Rogueish part.

The Rogue adds safety features and a redesigned interior, as well.

Driver’s Seat: Despite the redesign, the Nissan Rogue continues to be as easy to adjust to as ever. I was not fond of the 2014 or 2017 versions, but I rented a 2019 a couple years back, and both that version and the new one left me feeling as if the Rogue were something I’d been driving for years. (The slightly smaller Rogue Sport offers the same familiarity.)

The Zero Gravity front seat was covered in leather and mostly quite comfortable, although the seat wings are a little narrow and might not accommodate wider occupants.

Up to speed: The Rogue is still not winning any races. The 2.5-liter four creates 181 horsepower, 11 more than in 2017, and this moves the vehicle to 60 mph in a turtlely 8.1 seconds, according to Motor Trend.

Shiftless: The Nissan Rogue tested received a spiffy new block shifter. Push forward for Reverse and pull backward for Drive or Manual mode, and press the button for Park, as most new shifting mechanisms offer. Paddle shifters operate the “gears” in the CVT.

Shifting is ideal for Sport mode, where the vehicle wants to hold gears for a long time. Otherwise, the Rogue functioned fine in automatic mode.

On the road: Several modes give drivers choices for their handling pleasure. I switched to Sport mode for some country road traveling and found the steering to be taut but not twitchy. Certainly not sporty, the Rogue took on the feel of the previous generation of the Subaru Forester, which is not a bad all-wheel-drive vehicle to emulate.

Little bumps, though, become really detailed in this mode. In switching back to auto mode, though, bigger waves in old-style country roads really set the Rogue to dancing. And not JLo-style dancing, but more Mr. Driver’s Seat had a few too many and awkwardly tried to prove he’s a lot of fun.

Highways, though, could feel a little wavy, and here, auto mode seems a little bit better. Note, though, I wasn’t out highways much or taking a long trip at this stage of the quarantine.

Friends and stuff: For as comfortable as the front seats are, the rear seat isn’t offering any of that. The seat bottom feels oddly rounded upward, so rather than providing a contour, passengers feel perched on a stool.

The awkward feeling is enhanced by the seat back, which sat tilted at the strangest angle, almost half-reclined. I even hunted for adjustments but found none. I couldn’t imagine riding back there at all. It’s too bad, because legroom, headroom and foot room are all exceedingly generous.

The Rogue’s third-row option is long gone, but the cargo space remains: 74.1 cubic feet with the rear seat folded, and 39.3 with the seat up.

Play some tunes: The stereo interface is an attractive 12.3-inch touchscreen coupled with knobs for volume and tuning and buttons for a few sources. Pressing the tuning button also toggles it between bass, midrange, and treble adjustments, a nice touch. The touchscreen is easy to follow along.

Sound from the system was really strong, about an A-.

Keeping warm and cool: Dials control the temperature for driver and passenger, while buttons control all the rest. They’re small buttons but fairly easy to follow.

Fuel economy: The Rogue averaged just more than 22 mpg in a short range of driving, a little highway and mostly country. Its EPA estimate is 27 city/35 highway, and I’d averaged 25 in the 2017. The Rogue can be fed regular unleaded.

Where it’s built: Smyrna, Tenn.

How it’s built: Consumer Reports predicts the Rogue’s reliability to be a 3 out of 5.

In the end: If you’re looking for excitement, look elsewhere. But Nissan’s user-friendly Rogue has long since golly-geed its way to top 10 in U.S. sales, so making big changes seems to be — going Rogue.