Crossover one of best values out there
Stripped-to-the-bone Nissan Qashqai offers comfy seats, willing engine
I’m spoiled when it comes to cars. Porsches and BMWs pass through the Booth household like they’re a dime a dozen. I’m lucky enough to enjoy a fairly steady diet of Ferraris and Maseratis in farflung coastal climes. Throw in some racing schools, a little bounding in Range Rovers as well as the occasional motorcycle track test, and I pretty much live every gearhead’s fantasy. The life of an (automotive) Riley is mine to boast and, Lord knows, I take full advantage of it.
Which may make it a bit of surprise then to realize that were I, after 30 years of driving freebies, to suddenly find my steady stream of free luxury cars staunched, the vehicle I’d buy with my very own, hard-earned money would be …
A Nissan Qashqai.
Yup, pretty much the cheapest sport cute available would be my first choice were I suddenly raiding my RRSP for a four-wheeled conveyance. And not just any Qashqai. I’m talking about the cheapest, stripped-to-the-bone, manual-transmissioned little roustabout Nissan makes. That means no navigation, an infotainment screen not much larger than a postage stamp and the damned thing doesn’t even have cruise control. But I love it. More to the point, I’d buy it.
Here’s why: $19,998. That’s Nissan’s manufacturer’s suggest retail price for a base Qashqai. Thrifty automotive shoppers know that 20 large doesn’t buy you very much — at least new — off an automobile dealer showroom floor. There’s Chevrolet’s Trax, nominally in the same sport cute segment. But it’s smaller, nominally more expensive ($20,200) and, well, frankly not nearly as complete an automobile. A Yaris sedan would be significantly cheaper ($17,320) but you could probably fit the little Toyota in the Qashqai’s (semi) commodious trunk. Yes, Nissan’s own Micra can cost as little $10,000, but nobody in their right mind buys a base Micra. On the other hand, you can get by with a base Qashqai.
It just fits me. While this is purely personal attribute, the fact is every bit of the Qashqai’s ergonomics fits my semi-stooped 5-foot-11 frame to T. The step up into cabin is the perfect rise, the seat’s base is just the right height for my knees and the reach to the steering wheel and gearshift lever ideal. I can’t think of a single thing I would change ergonomically. Like I said, it fits me.
Simplicity is its own reward. I’m tired of cars that require a degree in advanced computer science to operate. I’m just as tired of being continually frustrated that I can’t find something as simple as the odometer among the manifold submenus that are the modern car’s operating system. And I don’t want to have a NASA engineer on retainer to figure out why my infotainment system can’t seem to offer a manual tuning function without prayerful incantations to our lord Bill Gates. I’m simply sick and tired of unnecessary complication.
I’m not the only one. J.D. Power’s 2017 Tech Experience Index Study found that many car owners question the value of all sorts of gizmos and gadgets. If you’re a 19-year-old computer gamer, maybe these digital gee-gaws add something to your driving experience. For me — and many of my generation — they just get in the way.
That’s why I love the Qashqai. There’s no navigation system, no seat adjustment submenus or voice activation. I miss none of it (OK, I miss not having cruise control, but that’s hardly new or complicated). In fact, having spent the last little while in high-end luxury vehicles with the very latest in computerized gadgetry, I never realized how much I missed simplicity. The Qashqai reminded me and I thank Nissan for it.
Sometimes the rewards of simplicity go beyond the obvious. The front seats of the Qashqai have but two adjustments — fore and aft — as well as the ability rake the seat back. Both require manual levers to change their position, Not only that, said seat is covered in cloth. In other words, it is not possible to get a more basic or, one assumes, cheaper seat.
And yet the little Nissan’s perches were among the comfortable I’ve tested recently. I’ve been driving a healthy sampling of luxury sedans lately and, while had leather covering their seats and some were cooled as well as heated — even at $19,998, the Qashqai’s seats are at least heated — none were more comfortable the Qashqai’s basic perches. When simplicity proves not only its own reward but more comfortable to boot, then less really is more.
It turns out, I don’t need more than 141 horsepower. Who knew? Not me. After a steady diet of 300-, 400and even 500-hp sedans and SUVs, I just assumed that 141 hp would be too little.
It isn’t. Oh, it’s not overwhelming and certainly isn’t too much, but in two weeks behind the wheel, I never once though, “Gosh, I wished I had more power.” In fact, only once did I have to wring the little 2.0-litre four out and even that was as much curiosity as necessity.
It turns out I don’t need a dual clutch transmission, either. The base Qashqai, again a $19,998 stripper, has a lowly manual transmission, nary a torque converter or a paddle-shift to be found. Turns out that, as long as the clutch is light and the throws crisp, I don’t find a manual as annoying as I once did. Indeed, the only thing I’d change about the Qashqai’s entire powertrain is the gearing of sixth. It has the engine spinning about 3,500 at just under 130 kilometres per hour. Three thousand rpm at that speed would be much more relaxing and
would probably improve on the nine or so L/100 km I was averaging on the highway. On the other hand, if you only spent $19,998 on a car, you should have a few loonies left over for gas.
The one thing you might miss is all-wheel-drive and this — at least the pricing of Nissan’s AWD offering — might be the Qashqai’s only weakness. In fact, to move up to the company’s Intelligent AWD, you have to fork over $24,898. Admittedly, there’s more to that $4,900 walk than merely prop shafts and a rear differential — features included in the AWD package are the CVT transmission, 17-inch wheels, a bunch of safety features and, yes, cruise control — Nissan would really cement the Qashqai’s reputation as THE entry-level sport cute with a cheaper AWD option.