Compare the2023 Nissan RogueVS 2023 Kia Sportage

For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Nissan Rogue have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Kia Sportage doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

The Nissan Rogue has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags helps prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Sportage doesn’t offer knee airbags.

The Rogue Platinum has a standard front seat center airbag, which deploys between the driver and front passenger, protecting them from injuries caused by striking each other in serious side impacts. The Sportage doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.

The Rogue has a standard blind spot warning system that uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them. Only the Sportage EX/SX/Prestige/X-Line/X-Pro offers a blind spot warning system.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Rogue has standard Rear Cross Traffic Alert, helping the driver avoid collisions. Only the Sportage EX/SX/Prestige/X-Line/X-Pro offers Rear Cross-Traffic Collision Warning.

Both the Rogue and the Sportage have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front wheel drive, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, driver alert monitors, available all wheel drive and around view monitors.

For its performance in IIHS driver-side and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, updated side impact, headlight, and daytime pedestrian crash prevention testing, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Rogue the rating of “Top Safety Pick” for 2023, a rating granted to only 53 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Sportage last would have qualified as a “Top Safety Pick” in 2022.

The Rogue’s 5 year corrosion warranty has no mileage limitations, but the corrosion warranty on the Sportage runs out after 100,000 miles.

There are over 38 percent more Nissan dealers than there are Kia dealers, which makes it easier should you ever need service under the Rogue’s warranty.

A reliable vehicle saves its owner time, money and trouble. Nobody wants to be stranded or have to be without a vehicle while it’s being repaired. Consumer Reports rates the Rogue’s reliability 13 points higher than the Sportage.

The Rogue’s 1.5 turbo 3-cylinder produces 14 more horsepower (201 vs. 187) and 47 lbs.-ft. more torque (225 vs. 178) than the Sportage’s 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder.

As tested in Motor Trend the Nissan Rogue is faster than the Kia Sportage:

On the EPA test cycle the Rogue gets better mileage than the Sportage:

The Rogue has a standard cap-less fueling system. The fuel filler is automatically opened when the fuel nozzle is inserted and automatically closed when it’s removed. This eliminates the need to unscrew and replace the cap and it reduces fuel evaporation, which causes pollution. The Sportage doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

In its Green Vehicle Guide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rates the Nissan Rogue higher (6 out of 10) than the Kia Sportage (5). This means the Rogue produces up to 6.9 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the Sportage every 15,000 miles.

The Rogue has a standard continuously variable transmission (CVT). With no “steps” between gears, it can keep the engine at the most efficient speed for fuel economy, or keep it at its peak horsepower indefinitely for maximum acceleration. The Sportage doesn’t offer a CVT.

The Rogue’s standard front and rear disc brakes are vented to help dissipate heat for shorter stops with less fading. The rear discs on the Sportage are solid, not vented.

The Rogue stops much shorter than the Sportage:

The Rogue has a standard easy tire fill system. When inflating the tires, the vehicle’s integrated tire pressure sensors keep track of the pressure as the tires fill and tell the driver when the tires are inflated to the proper pressure. The Sportage doesn’t offer vehicle monitored tire inflation.

The Rogue Platinum AWD handles at .84 G’s, while the Sportage X-Pro pulls only .81 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

For better maneuverability, the Rogue’s turning circle is 3.2 feet tighter than the Sportage’s (35.4 feet vs. 38.6 feet).

The Rogue has 1.5 inches more front headroom, .1 inches more front legroom and .3 inches more rear shoulder room than the Sportage.

The Rogue Platinum offers an optional heads-up display that projects speed and navigation instruction readouts in front of the driver’s line of sight, allowing drivers to view information without diverting their eyes from the road. The Sportage doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

The Rogue’s driver’s power window opens or closes with one touch of the window control, making it more convenient at drive-up windows and toll booths. The Sportage’s standard driver’s power window switch has to be held the entire time to close it fully.

The Rogue’s speed-sensitive wipers speed up when the vehicle does, so that the driver doesn’t have to continually adjust the speed of the wipers. The Sportage’s manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted.

Consumer Reports rated the Rogue’s headlight performance “Very Good,” a higher rating than the Sportage’s headlights, which were rated “Fair.”

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) conducts detailed tests on headlights for their range both straight ahead and in curves and to be certain they don’t exceed acceptable amounts of glare to oncoming drivers. The Rogue’s headlights were rated “Good” by the IIHS, while the Sportage’s headlights are rated “Acceptable” to “Poor.”

Manual rear side window sunshades are available in the Rogue to help block heat and glare for the rear passengers. The Sportage doesn’t offer rear side window sunshades.

Both the Rogue and the Sportage offer available heated front seats. The Rogue Platinum also offers optional heated rear seats to keep those passengers extremely comfortable in the winter. Heated rear seats aren’t available in the Sportage.

Consumer Reports® recommends both the Nissan Rogue and the Kia Sportage, based on reliability, safety and performance.

Motor Trend performed a comparison test in its June 2023 issue and they ranked the Nissan Rogue Platinum AWD first. They ranked the Kia Sportage X-Pro Prestige third.

The Nissan Rogue outsold the Kia Sportage by 49% during 2022.