Apart from the Pathfinder Rock Creek Edition Package, Nissan showcased the 2020 Rogue Sport at the dawn of the 2019 Chicago Motor Show. The exceptionally successful small compact SUV has been slightly updated inside out with Nissan especially focusing on safety. Considering that Kia revealed the new Sportage at the show and gifted it with all kinds of safety gear, I can only say that the compact crossover segment is really evolving. All new cars from the segment are exceptionally well endowed with all kind of safety gear. With a bit of markup though, the new 2020 Nissan Rogue Sport easily surpasses the rest. You can have the small and fairly cheap 2020 Nissan Rogue Sport with a freaking ProPILOT Assist system (a semi-autonomous driving system). True, the tech was available on the European Qashqai (the Rogue Sport for the Old Continent) before, and for the U.S. in the Rogue. Nevertheless, with it in the Rogue Sport, I am rather confident that the tech will be scaled down to basically all Nissan cars.
Safety Features Are Considerably Improved For The 2020 Nissan Rogue Sport
Redesigns or facelifts aren’t that exciting. Well, they can be if the car is rubbish, but the 2020 Nissan Rogue Sport isn’t that. At all. Yet, Nissan does not seem to pay much attention to the public outcry. The one thing many wanted in their Rogue Sport is a more powerful engine. Guess what, Nissan did not do anything to make this possible. I’d imagine a 1.6-liter, turbocharged engine with 200ish horsepower a far better proposition here. That raspy engine from the Juke R, for example. Despite this, the 2020 Nissan Rogue did get a few interesting improvements.
First of all, Nissan focused on picking up its safety attributes to a whole another level. The same thing that Hyundai did with the Tucson and now Kia with the Sportage basically. So, from now on the Rogue Sport will come as standard with the Nissan Safety Shield 360 technology:
-* Automatic Emergency Braking with Pedestrian Detection
-* Rear Automatic Braking, Lane Departure Warning (LDW)
-* Radar-based Blind Spot Warning (BSW)
-* Rear Cross Traffic Alert (RCTA)
-* High Beam Assist (HBA)
This system monitors when the rear door is opened and closed and warns the driver to check for any article on the rear seat when the transmission is set to park after the drive. It can go that far to warn you with a horn if you get out of the car without acknowledging it with a press on the button on the steering wheel before leaving the car. It can be turned off, obviously.
Definitely A Better Looking Crossover
At first glance, the styling changes on the 2020 Nissan Rogue Sport do not seem to be that massive, but I find this one just the right amount better looking compared to the pre-facelift model. Look closely at the front and you can see a new hood, a new V-motion grille, and a new bumper. Nissan designers slightly redesigned the back of the 2020 Nissan Rogue Sport with gentle changes on the taillights and the bumper. Add to this massive 19-inch wheels and a new Nitro Lime Metallic finish to get yourself a cool modern crossover. One of the least powerful ones though.
Nevertheless, it is still available as a 2WD or an AWD machine. All of them are linked with an Xtronic continuously variable transmission. Although we do not have official data about fuel efficiency, I can assume that the Rogue Sport will return about 28-29 mpg combined.
Further reading
Read our full review on the 2018 Nissan Rogue Sport.
Read our full review on the 2018 Nissan Rogue.