The redesigned 2017 Rogue comes to dealerships soon with new styling treatments inside and out along with a lot of new tech features. Our first drive shows that Nissan has paid attention to what needed it, and continued with what already works well.

The Nissan Rogue is the third best selling crossover SUV in its class, jut behind the Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4 respectively. It’s close I might add to catching the RAV4 in sales and it’s also the best selling model in Nissan’s showroom.

To keep the pressure on, they’ve given Rogue a sharper and more aggressive looking face that takes the brand’s V-Motion grille a step further. Larger and bolder in its form, it along with the deeper lower fascia opening and more rugged trim elements I think look far better than before.

Headlights are new as well with LED daytime running light elements within. The grille also sports a translucent emblem backing that conceals the sensors for its enhanced forward driver assistance and safety systems for 2017.

Tail lights get a handsome LED boomerang design, but brake lights in the center remain halogen. The lower bumper fascia is revised to reflect the more rugged style you see up front. The rear lift gate is also now available with a motion activated power opener.

All trim grades get an interior upgraded with gloss black trims and new appliques across the dash and door panels to freshen it up. A redesigned center console handles your things better and a new D-Shaped steering wheel is handsome and thick rimed for a nice grip. It also sports more controls now for those new driver aids.

The new Platinum interior trim you see here that I tested has rich coloring and lots of soft trim upgrades that really up the game. The Rogue has always had a very well put together interior in my opinion when it comes to quality and materials. This just ups the game one more step.

I think it’s very similar in look and feel to the new SE interior of the Toyota RAV4. The key difference here is that this is real leather, not fake hides like in the Toyota.

When it came to driving the new 2017 Nissan Rogue, it carries over the tried and true 170-horsepower 2.5-liter 4-cylinder engine and xTronic continuously variable transmission (CVT). Power is competitive in class and as I’ve said before in previous tests of the Rogue, the CVT operates as one of the best in class though still doesn’t have the traditional feel of an automatic transmission with real gears.

Handling remains tight and solid feeling with steering that is well weighted for back road stints. Notable are the new safety systems for 2017 including intelligent cruise control and lane departure prevention. There’s also forward emergency braking with pedestrian detection.

The lane departure system is on task and nudges you with a more gentle style than some. The intelligent cruise control was easy to set and adjust and worked without any drama. I didn’t get a chance to test the forward emergency braking, sorry about that.

In the end game I think with these enhancements the 2017 Nissan Rogue has a good chance at moving ahead of the Toyota RAV4 in sales as it is the better driving vehicle of the two in my opinion. It’s say it’s now really head to head on par with the Honda CR-V both in its drive as well as its competitive feature set.

We’ll have a far more detail review as soon as we get more time with the new 2017 Nissan Rogue.