When I first heard of this new vehicle from Nissan, the name alone conjured up all kinds of thoughts in my mind. After all, who names their new born fledgling "a Rogue"?? In my mind, that's almost like Chanel calling its latest fragrance "Pong"!

Mind you, after seeing and driving the vehicle, I can't honestly think of a better nameplate to describe this delightful new CUV offering from Nissan.

Obviously, the Rogue is built on a slightly smaller scale than the Murano.

Yes, it's a rogue all right, but a loveable one in the way that The Artful Dodger from that famous Charles Dickens story of Oliver Twist was.

The Rogue brought this to my mind because it somehow carries an air of cheekiness to it, and rather like the character in the Dickens's story, who we all knew to be quite young, yet managed to project a sense of being more mature and grown up for his age. The 2008 Nissan Rogue has a similar ability. Much of this is perhaps due to the fact that it resembles it's bigger and slightly bolder stable mate, the Nissan Murano. (Now there's a vehicle which I recently reviewed and was suitably impressed with, I must say).

Obviously, the Rogue is built on a slightly smaller scale than the Murano, yet it still boasts a decent size, and a size that I can see appealing to a lot of young families.

I also see some of that Artful Dodger charisma in the way that, although it is priced in, shall we say, the affordable area of the CUV market, it manages to project a certain prestige, something like the Dodger managed quite nicely with his top hat. (The Rogue line-up starts in the mid $20"s, my tester pretty much loaded, tops out in the mid $30's)

Of course, the clothing that this new Rogue carries is quite a bit more upscale than its Victorian counterpart. In fact, the high level of build quality which we have come to expect from Nissan is suitably evident throughout the entire exterior of the vehicle.

The interior follows along similar lines, and I'd go as far as to say that when I opened the driver's door, I felt like I was being truly welcomed inside.

Sitting in the driver's seat, you have everything that you could basically wish for within easy reach, and from the quality feel of the steering wheel and hand controls, you get a sense that the vehicle has been well designed and put together.

Sitting in the driver's seat you get a sense that the vehicle has been well designed and put together.

 To me, the touch test, as I call it, is one of the most important aspects of a vehicle. After all, you may spend a few seconds a day admiring your new vehicle from the outside, but you'll spend an awful lot longer driving to and from work. In that time, you'll be touching and turning the steering wheel, the signal/wiper switches, and of course, the gear lever constantly. In my mind, if they don't feel right, or they seem limp and flimsy, you will never truly enjoy that vehicle.

The dashboard display on the Rogue has also been well thought out, and the all important gauges are not only easy to read analog styled, but are nicely illuminated at night.

Another rather pleasant surprise for me was the Bose premium audio system that Nissan had seen fit to include (optional on SL model only). I don't know about you, but I do like a nice sound system in a vehicle, and this is definitely one of those.

The seating in the Rogue is also worthy of mention. The leather power heated seats (optional) which my tester carried were not only extremely comfortable, but the contrasting stitching added a rather sporty and up market look and feel to the interior. There is even a flat folding front passenger seat available as an option.

The Nissan Rogue also boasts plenty of storage space within the cabin. Sounds like the Dodger's coat of many pockets to me. However, I believe that Nissan visualized that the oversized partitioned glove box and large center console would be used for all the owners' personal bits and bobs, not the ill-gotten gains of pick pocketing! I also liked the pop-up organizer in the rear compartment, ideal for stopping those small items flying all over the place.

We now come to the drive of the 2008 Nissan Rogue, and yet another reason for my Artful Dodger comparisons. Why? Well, how many of us out there could honestly say that they didn't fall under the Dodger's charm when he started singing and prancing about the stage, and that is exactly what happened to me when I first drove the new Rogue from Nissan.

With it's DOHC 2.5 4 Cylinder engine which produces 170hp / 175 lbs/ft of torque, it has plenty of get up and go, especially when coupled to Nissan's Xtronic Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT). This combination allows for ample power, whist returning exceptional fuel economy (9.5 L/100 City 7.7L/100 Hwy). It is also worth mentioning that the Rogue operates on regular gas, which is something to take into consideration nowadays what with gas prices the way they are.

On the road, the Rogue is a bundle of joy to drive. It is a vehicle that is amazingly easy to become acclimatized to. The driver position is very good, and so is the all-round visibility. The vehicle rides on a platform of High-Caster front independent-strut suspension, with large diameter stabilizer bar and high-performance shock absorbers with rebound action. On the rear, it carries a multi-link independent suspension system, with a similar stabilizer bar and shocks. All this makes for an incredibly well handling vehicle, and will appeal to even the sportiest of drivers.

Obviously, Nissan has packed a number of safety features into their new vehicle, including duel-stage front air bags, seat-mounted side-impact supplemental air bags, and roof-mounted curtain supplemental air bags for front and rear outboard occupants with rollover detection. It also boasts active head restraints, a tire pressure monitoring system, an anti-theft system, and several other safety related features.

One thing which truly impressed me was Nissans Intuitive All-Wheel Drive system. The week that I had this vehicle on test, we had one of the worst snow storms of the season. To add to this, I live on a farm property with over 1300 ft of driveway and a farm tractor that had decided to take a mid-winter break (or rather breakdown!). As my wife blasted her way through the snow in her Range Rover which is fitted with snow tires, I looked at my loveable Rogue and thought... (actually, they wouldn't let me print what I really thought!). Having no choice, I crossed my fingers and headed out into the drifting snow. Absolutely amazing! With snow up to its bumper, my loveable Rogue did me proud. In fact, I swear that it had less trouble than that expensive Range Rover (although I won't tell her that!).

However, all was not exactly music to my ears with the Nissan Rogue. In fact, upon hard acceleration, the sound emitting from the engine bay sounded more like the dastardly Bill Sykes after a bad night out on the booze. To call it a roar would be an understatement. Of course, it's hard to blame Nissan for this as most ext transmission vehicles tend to sound like this nowadays. I guess there is a certain price to pay for the fuel efficiency that they offer. However, I couldn't help thinking that perhaps a little more sound-deadening here and there might help a bit.

That was really my only negative on the vehicle. On the whole, I found it extremely pleasant to drive, very easy to become acclimatized to, and I can see Nissan doing rather well with their "loveable Rogue".

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