Took me a while to read through the whole thing. Honestly, THAT is a disappointing conclusion. It sounds like they unanimously liked the steering and powertrain changes enough to give it the title, but then loathed so much about it. The conclusion doesn't follow from the premises, and the RMPG number is shockingly bad - on par with the ancient Rogue.
I think the NX300h should have won, to be honest. Great fuel economy with decent power and performance, all hampered by an overly firm ride. I like the Trailhawk - sounds incredible, until you read about the transmission (which I agree - you click the paddles and it LITERALLY takes 2seconds before there is any transmission shift - it was frightening on the 200). I could go on about them all.
As you all mention here, these comparos always end with a winner that is not the best, but simply never the worst. "mid-pack" is always the winning formula - in this case, I'm just surprised that the Rogue didn't beat out the CRV. I mean, I hate that powertrain in the Rogue, but the execution of the interior is worlds ahead of the CRV.