SEMA is right around the corner, but with Nissan’s new SEMA concept at your disposal, you could forget the corner and just cut straight across the desert to the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Called Project Rugged Rogue, the toughened-up SUV is one of several concepts Nissan has whipped up for this year’s SEMA show, and we’re hoping that at least some of its attitude transfers to the competent, comfortable and freshly facelifted, but fairly unexciting, 2024 Rogue available in Nissan dealerships across North America.
Project Rugged Rogue
Rugged Rogue features a stack of prototype Nismo parts, many of which we imagine will be available soon. Highlights include a 3-inch (76 mm) suspension lift, Nismo 18 x 8.5-inch wheels wearing Yokohama off-road tires and covered by carbon fender flares, a Nismo dual-exit center exhaust, roof rack and bumper guards with driving lights, and a roof-mounted kayak and mountain bike.
Inside, the Nismo connection continues with Nismo neoprene front and rear seat covers, a Nismo off-road spare tire carrier, and various bits of interior trim, again attributed to Nismo.
Related: Stellantis Pulls Out Of SEMA And LA Auto Show Due To UAW Strike
Sentra DET
Nissan’s second concept won’t get you very far on an overland route, but it ought to be handy on an asphalt one. The Sentra DET concept is inspired by the competition cars used in the Sentra Cup, a race series that’s popular in Canada and which will be extending its reach to the U.S. in 2024. It gets its DET name from the engine’s DOHC, Electronic fuel injection, and Turbocharger components, and as Nissan fans will know, references the engine code suffix used on some Nissan performance heroes from the past.
The Sentra concept’s own MR20DD 2.0-liter, turbocharged four-cylinder engine comes with no quoted power figure, but it’s sure to be punchier than the dreary 149 hp (151 PS) naturally-aspirated 2.0 that’s compulsory in every production Sentra. Plus, it gets a six-speed manual ’box in place of the road car’s compulsory CVT.
Other mods include a prototype Nismo stainless steel exhaust, while the 18-inch Nismo LM-RS6 wheels wear Yokohama Advan AD09 tires and are suspended by a prototype Nismo coilover setup. Even the garish graphics can’t prevent it from looking like a hopped-up rental car on the outside, but things improve on the other side of the driver’s door where you’ll find Recaro Sportster CS seats and a Nismo shift knob. The last Nismo Sentra bowed out in 2019 so could Nissan be hinting at a return to the affordable sports sedan market?
