Big brother has extra power
THE Nissan X-Trail is big brother to the all-conquering Qashqai and looks very much the same, but is larger in every direction and available with two extra seats in the boot.
I drove the 2.0-litre turbo diesel five seater, with about 175bhp under the bonnet, driving all four wheels through a six-speed manual gearbox.
This engine can be quite gruff at times, but that kind of power is quite enough for good performance from almost any speed and gives plenty of grunt for overtaking, given the requisite gap in oncoming traffic.
It will pull happily and smoothly from low revs in high gears, helping towards a real fuel economy figure of 40mpg, which has to be excellent for such a large vehicle.
The gearchange is quite chunky but never difficult, the clutch is light and easy and there’s a very good left footrest.
In the latest vein of 4x4s, drive is to the front wheels most of the time and the rears come into play automatically when electronics sense a loss of traction. The drive selector has three settings, two-wheel drive (2WD), automatic four-wheel drive (4WD) and finally a lock to give full-time 4WD. However, it is not capable of serious off-road goings-on because the ground clearance is fairly low.
That said, it would make a marvellous towcar for the heaviest of caravans or horse box.
Comfort is one of the X-Trail’s strong points. It soaks up the worst of road surfaces with ease and the excellent seats help tremendously.
I drove the N-Connecta towards the top of the range, which comes very well equipped straight out of the box. It has cruise control, lane departure warning, stability control, a seven-inch touchscreen for the sat nav and DAB stereo, automatic emergency braking, traffic sign recognition, keyless entry and starting, front and rear parking sensors and an electric tailgate.
The Nissan X-Trail N-Connecta I drove costs £32,460.