2014 Nissan Rogue, thinking things through: Motoramic Drives

Let’s face it: Compact sport utilities generate as much excitement as a DMV appointment line. It is a highly functional yet aesthetically challenged suite of vehicles — the overalls of the automotive world. But it is also massive, shifting some 1.8 million units last year, with growth of 6.5 percent expected next year. Hence, it is bloodily contested — won on a foundation of value, efficiency, storage and other utilitarian metrics. And by those measures, Nissan’s all-new Rogue offers a nicely improved contender.

Rogue boasts best-in-segment trunk space, better than the Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V, Ford Escape, Kia Sportage, Subaru Forester, Mazda CX-5, et al. If you utilize the second row and max out room, however, the Honda and Toyota squeeze past. But what gives the edge to the Rogue in this department is its unique Divide N’ Hide system. Like Ram pickup trucks’ RamBox in-bed storage, it’s one of those clever advancements that figures out how to do more with the same space as everyone else. Divide N’ Hide is a simple 2-piece cargo organizer and hidden floor storage that keeps items separate using one easily cleaned lower level. So dirty socks from your weekend camping trip stay separated from your organic broccoli. Ingenious.

There’s also an added thoughtfulness for back-seat passengers, something curiously absent in many competitors, especially when one considers it’s most likely your children sequestered back there. The back seats feature nine inches of travel, allowing generous personal space to the Taylor Swift fans in your life. There’s also second-row air vents, a simple consideration the RAV4 and CR-V don’t offer.