Nissan X-Trail
HELLO
£45,780/£46,925 as tested/£598 pcm
WHY IT’S HERE
Family 4x4 on top, clever hybrid beneath: the ideal SUV combo?
DRIVER
Andy Franklin
BELIEVE IT OR NOT, THIS IS NISSAN’S FOURTH GENERATION OF THE
X Trail and it’s come a long way since it was launched in Back then it was part of the early surge of soft roaders but now you’d be hard pushed to find a manufacturer that doesn’t have one in its line up And while I’m pretty sure per cent of them will never go off road the fact they could makes people feel they’re living a charmed country chic life As it happens this one will definitely never go off road as we’ve got the WD version
The X Trail has lost its original boxy look and is now a sleeker posher roomier and more technologically advanced car It also has the option of seven seats great idea though we don’t have a seven seater version nonetheless we will try and drive one for comparison purposes
Under the bonnet there is a litre petrol engine with added ePower Allow me to explain what that means The engine doesn’t actually power the wheels at all that’s down to the bhp electric motor commonly known as a self charging hybrid Basically the petrol bit acts as a generator for the e motor and also has fancy tech that enables it to vary its compression ratio to burn petrol more efficiently at different loads
We’ve opted for the top spec Tekna which comes loaded with so much kit that there’s not enough space on this page to list everything Key highlights include in diamond cut alloy wheels a in infotainment display quilted leather front seats and a sunroof The only real added extra is the two tone champagne/silver paint which comes in at That gives an OTR cost of minus the paint For comparison the next trim below Tekna same engine would be and there is a notable difference both in spec and quality So is the top specification worth the extra upfront cost? Is the fancy drive technology too clever? We’ve got six months to find out