We’ve all heard the ads by now about the Nissan Qashqai. The fact is that the Qashqai works very well for manufacturer. It sells brilliantly on the Irish market and has won many awards around the world, including the most prestigious APMP Car of the Year Award here in Ireland. Last year the manufacturer rebuilt the long-standing X-Trail and Qashqai’d it up, and in terms of style they certainly made the new model curvier.
Engine & handling:
The new Nissan X-Trail is a slightly bigger car than before but it looks very different – like a twin to Qashqai except the X-Trail ate more. The new X-Trail is 10mm longer than the outgoing model, but it is lighter and it holds a smaller, more practical engine. This medium sized SUV is available with one engine in the 1.6 litre turbocharged 4-cylinder diesel. It offers 130hp with a maximum speed of 180km/h. It will accelerate from 0-100km/h in 11 seconds using a six-speed manual gearbox to get you there. This engine replaces an older 150hp 2.0 diesel, which wasn’t as efficient.
The X-Trail deals with bumps easily with its multilink suspension, but where it does suffer is with body-roll on heavy corners. Steering in this vehicle is good but at higher speeds I felt it could offer a small bit more. This beast is available 2WD manual, 2WD Xtronic and 4WD manual.
Inside:
The X-Trail comes as a 5-seat or 7-seat vehicle. The two seats to the rear are ideal only for children, and if you do get an adult in there I would suggest a sedative for the passenger if the journey is going to be long. I recently took a quick spin in the new Kia Sorento and what they offer in seats 6 and 7 is a much more versatile space. The extra seats in the X-Trail are very practical for families who want to take extra kids for a day out and when those two seats are folded away the boot space is ample.
Safety:
Safety is where this car really excels. Its Lane Departure Warning System is very good, with the beep sounding every time you even tip the centre or side line. Blind Spot Recognition gives constant but subtle blinks on the inside of each wing mirror to let you know if somebody or something is approaching either side of the vehicle. Two other safety features worth noting are the Forward Emergency Braking (this stops your car automatically at low speeds if it senses that an imminent crash) and the Around View Monitor (using cameras around the car this shows you a 360 degree view of your car through the touch screen).
Price & competition:
There are three trims available with the X-Trail; XE, SV and SVE. I drove the SVE trim and it is a nice package. With the SVE you get all of the equipment in the XV and SV, as well as; heated seats to the front, keyless entry and ignition, NissanConnect, Park Assist, driver fatigue alert and more. For all of this you will be paying up to €38,700 for the seven seat version.
The X-Trail does have its competition, and competitive pricing and good warranty deals could be what win customers here. The newly released and refreshed Honda CR-V, the Kia Sorento, the Ford Kuga and the Mazda MX-5 are all in close contention.
Some people were disappointed that the X-Trail didn’t maintain individuality in terms of style, but by basing design on the Qashqai Nissan played it safe and used what’s proving to be a winning formula. When you’re onto a good thing you should roll with it, and that’s what they’ve done.
