Nissan's new X-Trail sticks with what it knows and improves on the rest, writes Paddy Comyn
It's hard to see any consistency in the Nissan design studio. In football parlance, they seem to take an approach similar to team selection at Liverpool. Where others either have a reputation for conservative styling or radical otherworldly looks, at Nissan you never know which you are going to get, once word gets out about a new model or revamp.
It's a rather schizophrenic design philosophy: but one that works most of the time. Where fellow Japanese brands went conservative with their small cars, Nissan created a rather quirky look for its Micra. Then it went avant garde with the last generation Primera. Modus and Qashqai were more traditional, but honed on particular growing sectors. Then came ultra-dull Tiida. You never know what to expect.
There was a certain fear that Nissan might be tempted to do something madcap with the X-Trail. Thankfully they let that thought pass. Launched in 2001, the X-Trail became something of an instant success, hitting the right note with buyers as it offered a blend of saloon car comfort and enough off-road looks and ability to give it a good dollop of desirability. It sold strongly here in Ireland all through its lifespan, but was hindered a little by the fact that its diesel engine was a 2.2-litre unit, which meant it suffered at the hands of VRT, and was a little expensive.
With the arrival of the Qashqai last year and the outstanding success that it has been, you would be forgiven for thinking that there might not be a need for the X-Trail anymore.
However, the problem with some of the new breed of pseudo-SUVs, such as the Qashqai, is that while they are reasonably spacious for people, they aren't that cavernous for other tasks. And let's face it; if you have a family then you need room and lots of it.
Setting out for a week with the X-Trail didn't have me trembling with excitement. The arrival of the Tiida and the apparent disappearance of the Primera into some sort of motoring Bermuda triangle haven't been the most exciting motoring events of late, but the previous X-Trail was always pretty good to drive and visually at least, it would appear that very little has changed.
This, of course, isn't the case as it is completely new both on the surface and under the skin.
For a start, the new X-Trail is substantially bigger than the old one, and you actually wonder why Nissan didn't take the opportunity to make the X-Trail a seven-seater, but this space is used to give better legroom to rear seat passengers and offer a quite enormous luggage space of 603 litres which can fold out to 1,773 litres with the seats folded flat. Overall the wheelbase is up by 5mm to 2,630mm, with the total length up 175mm. The new model is also 20mm wider than before, giving more legroom and elbowroom to all aboard.
The cabin is a much better place to reside now too. The old one wasn't badly built, but the plastics were a little poor in some areas and thankfully this has been sorted out with a much higher grade interior finish and clever standard items like Bluetooth hands-free kit for your mobile phone.
There are six cup-holders, a large glove box and there is a false floor in the rear that has clever slide-out trays for muddy boots or items that you don't want to slide around. The seats are good too, with much better support than the rather flats seats of the outgoing model. Cabin noise has also been greatly improved from before.
What is often irritating about these type of SUVs is that they are generally pretty rubbish to drive under normal conditions.
You are high up and that might make you feel safer, but suddenly you are handing your life into the inventor of ESP for the rest of your motoring life. However, this X-Trail feels incredibly well sorted for what it is. There is a new chassis and a variable-assistance power steering system and these combine to give the X-Trail very car-like handling.
The X-Trail comes with All Mode four-wheel-drive which employs an electromagnetic clutch and this works in automatic mode as the default set-up. This means that it operates as a front-wheel-drive car with up to 50 per cent of power diverted to the rear wheels as necessary when slippage is detected. Front-wheel-drive only can be selected using a dial in the centre console and this will save fuel, and you can lock four-wheel-drive if necessary.
This All Mode system combines with ESP, hill descent control and hill assist to give you an arsenal of safety systems.
We were driving the 2.0-litre diesel model with 150bhp and this is likely to be a strong seller, and will be sold alongside the 141bhp 2.0-litre petrol and higher-powered 2.2-litre 173bhp 2.2-litre diesel. There are two grades, SE and SVE. The 2.0-litre petrol version only comes in SE grade with two-wheel-drive, but the 2.0-litre diesel comes as an SE two-wheel drive, SVE four-wheel-drive and as an automatic too.
OUR 2.0-LITRE 150BHP SVE DIESEL with manual transmission was also fitted with full leather upholstery and it really is one of those vehicles that you just find very difficult to fault. The cabin was a good place to be, with great seats, clever convenience features, a good driving position and great all-round view, although the rear lip of the car is quite long and this can cause a few parking mishaps.
The driving manners are great too. Not only is the X-Trail comfortable, but its fondness for getting stuck into corners makes it pretty rewarding to drive for anyone used to saloon handling.
Where it really shines, however, is its versatility. Over the course of my week with the X-Trail I used every centimetre of the X-Trail's luggage capacity. The flat floor provided by the folding of the rear seats is really clever, and the high roofline makes it a usable van. Add to this the fact that it looks like a proper tough SUV and that it will be as decent off-road as anyone is likely to need it to be and most buyers' checklists will be ticked. The standard equipment and great safety kit cannot be ignored either.
There are drawbacks, of course. The model I was driving costs €45,100 and that it €12,150 more than the cheapest model they sell, the 2.0-litre petrol SE. This means that most buyers are likely to choose the 2.0-litre petrol and therefore miss out on the better engine. But this may change in July, when the diesel version could come down slightly in price. Apart from that, I'd have it over any of its main rivals out there right now. It is better to drive than the Hyundai Santa Fe although the Santa Fe can offer seven seats.
It is much better value than the Land Rover Freelander and is more spacious and is better equipped than the Toyota Rav4.The Honda CR-V would be a tough competitor, but in the end the Honda's more svelte look and the fact that you have to spend €56,825 to get one as well equipped as an SVE X-Trail, will work against it.
If you want the look of an SUV but aren't much bothered about much else then the cheaper Qashqai is still your best bet. But it you want something altogether more substantial, then the X-Trail is a great evolution of what was an already popular model.
So that's the SUVs sorted - come on Nissan, give us some decent family saloons.
FACTFILE
NISSAN X-TRAIL 2.0-LITRE SVE DIESEL CC: 1995 0-100km/h: 11.2 seconds Top speed: 188km/h Consumption (comb): 7.1L/100km (39.7mpg) Price: €45,100
ENGINE: 1995cc 4-cylinder diesel engine putting out 150bhp @ 4,000rpm and 320Nm of torque @ 2,000rpm. Six-speed manual transmission.
SPECIFICATION:Standard features on the SVE include 17" alloy wheels, electric windows, electric door mirrors, heated door mirrors, remote central locking with perimeter alarm and folding key, climate control, six-CD changer, Bluetooth, ABS with EBD, driver, passenger side and curtain airbags, ESP, UCC, DDS, multifunction leather steering wheel, leather gearshift knob, leather upholstery, front fog lamps, colour-keyed bumpers front and rear, intelligent key, auto headlights, rain-sensing wipers, panoramic sunroof
L/100KM (MPG)
URBAN: 8.7 (37.1)
EXTRA-URBAN: 6.2 (45.5)
COMBINED: 7.1 (39.7)
CO2 EMISSIONS: 190g/km (Band E - 28 per cent VRT post-July 1st)
ANNUAL ROAD TAX: €590 (Since February 1st until
July 1st)
PRICE:€45,100