Compare the2023 Nissan RogueVS 2023 Subaru Forester

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Cargo Capacity
Ergonomics
Model Availability
Recommendations

Safety

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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 Forester doesn’t offer a front passenger side knee airbag.

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 Forester doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.

The Rogue SL/Platinum has a standard Around View® Monitor to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Forester only offers a rear monitor and front and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the sides.

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. A system to reveal vehicles in the Forester’s blind spot costs extra.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Rogue has standard Rear Cross Traffic Alert, helping the driver avoid collisions. Subaru charges extra for Rear Cross Traffic Alert on the Forester and its not available on the Base.

Compared to metal, the Rogue’s plastic fuel tank can withstand harder, more intrusive impacts without leaking; this decreases the possibility of fire. The Subaru Forester has a metal gas tank.

Both the Rogue and the Forester have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front and rear seatbelt pretensioners, 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 and available all wheel drive.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Nissan Rogue is safer than the Subaru Forester:

	Rogue	Forester
	Front Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Chest Movement	.4 inches	.6 inches
Abdominal Force	99 lbs.	122 lbs.
Hip Force	339 lbs.	389 lbs.
	Rear Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	162	246
Spine Acceleration	31 G’s	56 G’s
Hip Force	513 lbs.	670 lbs.
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Max Damage Depth	13 inches	16 inches
Hip Force	398 lbs.	673 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

Side impacts caused 23% of all road fatalities in 2018, down from 29% in 2003, when the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety introduced its side barrier test. In order to continue improving vehicle safety, the IIHS has started using a more severe side impact test: 37 MPH (up from 31 MPH), with a 4180-pound barrier (up from 3300 pounds). The results of this newly developed test demonstrates that the Nissan Rogue is safer than the Forester:

	Rogue	Forester
Overall Evaluation	ACCEPTABLE	ACCEPTABLE
Structure	GOOD	ACCEPTABLE
	Driver Injury Measures
Head/Neck	GOOD	GOOD
Neck Compression	45 lbs.	67 lbs.
Torso	GOOD	ACCEPTABLE
Torso Max Deflection	.94 in	1.5 in
Torso Deflection Rate	6 MPH	8 MPH
Pelvis	GOOD	ACCEPTABLE
Pelvis Force	803 lbs.	1071 lbs.
	Passenger Injury Measures
Head/Neck	GOOD	GOOD
Head Injury Criterion	455	544
Torso	GOOD	GOOD
Shoulder Deflection	1.22 in	2.2 in
Shoulder Force	379 lbs.	469 lbs.
Torso Max Deflection	.87 in	1.26 in
Torso Deflection Rate	7 MPH	8 MPH
Pelvis	GOOD	GOOD
Pelvis Force	535 lbs.	625 lbs.

Warranty

There are over 69 percent more Nissan dealers than there are Subaru dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Rogue’s warranty.

Reliability

To reliably start during all conditions and help handle large electrical loads, the Rogue has a standard 720-amp battery. The Forester’s 620-amp battery isn’t as powerful.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Nissan vehicles are better in initial quality than Subaru vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Nissan above average in initial quality. With 24 more problems per 100 vehicles, Subaru is rated below average.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Nissan vehicles are more reliable than Subaru With 21 fewer problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, J.D. Power ranks Nissan higher than Subaru.

Engine

The Rogue’s 1.5 turbo 3-cylinder produces 19 more horsepower (201 vs. 182) and 49 lbs.-ft. more torque (225 vs. 176) than the Forester’s 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder.

As tested in Motor Trend the Nissan Rogue is faster than the Subaru Forester:

	Rogue	Forester
Zero to 60 MPH	8.4 sec	9.6 sec
Quarter Mile	16.5 sec	17.3 sec
Speed in 1/4 Mile	85.8 MPH	82.3 MPH

Fuel Economy and Range

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

			MPG
Rogue
	FWD	S/SV 1.5 turbo 3-cyl.	30 city/37 hwy
		SL/Platinum 1.5 turbo 3-cyl.	29 city/36 hwy
	AWD	S/SV 1.5 turbo 3-cyl.	28 city/35 hwy
		SL/Platinum 1.5 turbo 3-cyl.	28 city/34 hwy
Forester
	AWD	2.5 DOHC flat-4	26 city/33 hwy
		Wilderness 2.5 DOHC flat-4	25 city/28 hwy

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 Forester doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

Brakes and Stopping

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 Forester are solid, not vented.

The Rogue stops much shorter than the Forester:

	Rogue	Forester
60 to 0 MPH	114 feet	129 feet	Motor Trend

Tires and Wheels

For better traction, the Rogue has larger tires than the Forester (235/65R17 vs. 225/60R17).

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Rogue SL/Platinum has standard 19-inch wheels. The Forester’s largest wheels are only 18-inches.

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 Forester doesn’t offer vehicle monitored tire inflation.

Suspension and Handling

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Rogue’s wheelbase is 1.4 inches longer than on the Forester (106.5 inches vs. 105.1 inches).

The Rogue Platinum AWD handles at .84 G’s, while the Forester Touring pulls only .79 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The Rogue Platinum AWD executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver quicker than the Forester Touring (27.7 seconds @ .6 average G’s vs. 28.1 seconds @ .6 average G’s).

Cargo Capacity

The Rogue has a much larger cargo volume than the Forester with its rear seat up (31.6 vs. 28.9 cubic feet).

To make loading groceries and cargo easier when your hands are full, the Rogue SL/Platinum’s liftgate can be opened and closed just by kicking your foot under the back bumper, leaving your hands completely free. The Forester doesn’t offer a hands-free gesture to open its liftgate, forcing you to put cargo down if your hands are full.

Ergonomics

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 Forester doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

The power windows standard on both the Rogue and the Forester have locks to prevent small children from operating them. When the lock on the Rogue is engaged the driver can still operate all of the windows, for instance to close one opened by a child. The Forester prevents the driver from operating the other windows just as it does the other passengers.

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 Forester’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 Forester’s headlights, which were rated “Good.”

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

To quickly and conveniently keep personal devices charged without cables tangling and wearing out, the Nissan Rogue Platinum has a standard wireless phone charging system (Qi) in the center console. The Forester doesn’t offer wireless personal charging.

Model Availability

The Rogue is available in both front-wheel drive and four-wheel drive configurations. The Forester doesn’t offer a two-wheel drive configuration.

Recommendations

Motor Trend performed a comparison test in its June 2023 issue and they ranked the Nissan Rogue Platinum AWD first. They ranked the Subaru Forester Touring fifth.

The Nissan Rogue outsold the Subaru Forester by 63% during 2022.