I drove Nissan’s best-selling Rogue SUV and was impressed by its controversial 3-cylinder engine.

Nissan replaced the blacked-out grille with prominent chrome bars running across the width of the front facia. Designers also updated the look of the air dam and the bumper below the grille.

The Rogue can be fitted with a tow hitch, but its towing capacity is limited to 1,500 lbs.

The Rogue offers identical ground clearance to the CR-V at 8.2 inches but falls an inch short of the Hyundai Tucson and up to four inches short of the RAV4, depending on trim level.

The Rogue delivers a friendly and pleasant driving experience. The turbocharged engine sends strong power throughout the rev range. The three-cylinders remained remarkably quiet and smooth even under the strain of hard acceleration.

Unfortunately, the engine is somewhat let down by the inconsistent performance of the CVT.

In theory, using a CVT instead of a traditional automatic transmission trades all-out performance for smoothness and fuel efficiency. While it does help the Rogue deliver in terms of fuel economy, it has pre-programmed shift points designed to mimic that of a regular automatic transmission. This creates an almost rubbery feeling in the throttle under hard throttle application that feels like it slows down the acceleration rate.

I can’t really blame Nissan for this. We, consumers, demanded the addition of these shift points because many found the consistent hum of an engine at a constant RPM to be disconcerting.

According to Motor Trend, the 2024 Nissan Rogue can do 0-60 mph in 8.4 seconds.

Screen quality excellent and Nissan’s updated infotainment system proved to be intuitive and with quick response times.

Lower trim levels still get the standard 8-inch unit.

The Rogue comes with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto along with Google Assist integration.

The combination of physical dials and buttons proved to be a breeze to use.

Bump the shifter forward to go into reverse, pull back once to go into drive, and pull back a second time to go into manual mode. Press the “P” button atop the shifter to go into park.

Lower-spec Rogues come standard with cloth and leatherette upholstery, while the top-tier Platinum gets quilted leather seats.

The Rogue’s second-row boasts an impressive 41.5 inches of leg room, on par with the Tucson and the CR-V, and beats the RAV4 by more than 3 inches.

Remove the cargo floor and space behind the second row expands to 36.5 cubic feet.

However, that still falls short of the Tucson we recently tested’s 38.7 cubic feet.

That’s on par with the Hyundai Tucson.

In the harshly competitive arena of the compact SUV market, the Nissan Rogue is a standout.

It offers a quiet cabin, loads of tech, and a funky but very gutsy little engine.

It’s not perfect, and a traditional automatic instead of a CVT would do wonders, it’s still a highly competitive and highly capable little SUV.