Nissan to outfit the Rogue with a turbocharged 3-cylinder engine

Nissan is working on a pilot program for its 2021 Rogue in hopes of boosting its fuel economy by between 2 and 4 miles per gallon, according to a report published Sunday by Car and Driver. 

The program involves offering the Rogue with a three-cylinder 1.5-liter turbocharged engine, which, if it proves successful, may eventually replace the Rogue’s naturally-aspirated 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine. The odds are good that the four-cylinder model’s CVT transmission would stick around in either case.

The 2021 Rogue is presently only available with the 2.5. While that’s not exactly a gas guzzler — the EPA rates it at 27 mpg city, 35 highway and 30 combined with front-wheel drive and 27/34/30 with all-wheel drive — in an age where corporate average fuel economy targets are getting harder to hit, everything helps.

The EPA lists the turbo-three version of the Rogue already on its FuelEconomy.gov website and shows that engine returning an impressive 30/37/33 mpg with front-wheel drive and 30/36/33 with all-wheel drive. 

Of course, the big missing piece of the puzzle is performance. We reached out to Nissan for more information on what we could expect for horsepower and torque from the little three-cylinder, but didn’t hear back in time for publication.

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