Roadtest: Nissan X-Trail Tekna

In Car Reviews, Nissan by Robin Roberts

The Nissan X-Trail Crossover has been a long-lived and much-loved member of the Japanese family, sitting above the smaller Qashqai SUV with which it shares many components and technology.

Launched in 2001 as a tough dual-purpose 4×4 alternative to the bigger and heavier Patrol 4×4. The X-Trail has gone through three generations and it cannot be too long before it is again revised or replaced, possibly with a platform from the sister company Renault or as a new model for both brands.

Nissan has a lot of faith in its X-Trail series and as if to underline that belief it sent us a May 2019 registered model with 14,500 miles recorded, way more than most press fleet models we sample.

It’s a brave decision and initial impressions were favourable.

For a model which has had a hard life on a press fleet, it felt used but not abused. The leather-wrapped steering wheel had a delightfully smooth, worn look and all the pedals, the gear change and steering had a very easy-going feel and light operation and even the stalks for lights and wipers still felt taut.

Secondary switches were silent when pressed and the powered seat switches immediately worked along with the heated cushions front and back, backrests and steering wheel. The seats were of generous size and with only slightly raised edges were very easy to slip into if not particularly good holding you when cornering.

But the test car was showing its age with an old fashioned small infotainment display in the centre of the fascia and a slow responding one at that. The driver’s essential instruments were compact but clear for engine speed and road speed and split by another multi-purpose panel for all manner of car-related information.

More controls on the wheel-spokes covered the sound system, phone links and incremental sections for the other displays which could be called up.

I am not a fan of having so much crammed into the infotainment panel display as it detracts from the driving if you need to use it. However, Nissan wisely decided to keep the heating and ventilation controls for temperature, distribution and output below the panel display, so all was not lost to the screen.

Oddments room was very good in front or back. The optional third row of individual seats dropped flat into the load bed floor to gradually increase the nominal 135litres boot space to 445 litres when five seats were occupied and onto nearly 2000 litres when used two-up. That really is a useful feature.

A near waist-high load bed was easy to use and could be accessed from the side doors while passengers could also easily climb in or out. Seats’ adjustment was excellent and the movement of the column allowed a wide range of driving positions.

Smooth as it was, the engine was not particularly flexible for a diesel, certainly no match to the latest compression ignition engines’ responsiveness from other manufacturers, and it was not particularly quiet when pressed to perform.

The chosen ratios meant it could be stirred along through the six gears, but fifth and sixth were really for main road cruising and with a load aboard you’d need to be patient to get anywhere.

This possibly explains our over-40mpg fuel consumption, whereas a longer set of upper ratios would have pushed this higher while allowing for more flexible gearing in mid-range situations.

It is a big car at nearly 1.9 Tonnes and with this 150ps engine it was not particularly brisk, but it did have good road-holding even if it was not very agile. The standard 2WD can be selected for economy, or you can move to automatic and let the system decide what’s best. You have a dedicated 4WD setting and then a lock setting to ensure you get out of any trouble you run into off-road. Limited only by its 21cms ground clearance, the Nissan X-Trail is a surprisingly good off-roader.

The electrical system’s demands can be huge, however, and we found it was too much for the test car’s battery after a series of short runs. It refused to start on one occasion, necessitating an RAC call-out, which took over two hours to arrive but just a few minutes to boost charge and see us moving again.

Whether or not that was an age-related battery problem we don’t know, it is a very unusual occurrence with any test car, but it possibly shows how much power is drained by a self-starting-charging system.

The 2.7m wheelbase, soft seats and springing combine to give an excellent ride over all surfaces, with modest body roll and pitching and in 2WD or 4WD the road-holding was good even if the handling was not taut.

Visibility was clear all round with a low waistline, deep windows, all-round cameras and sensors and backed up with big wipers both ends and bright, intelligent headlights.

Noise levels were confined mostly to that hard-working engine, with some suspension bump-thump and a few other mechanical clicks and groans.

Personally, the interior design looked black, dull, featureless and not as bold as the exterior might lead you to expect. Still, I suppose it’s wipe-clean surfaces would be easy to maintain in a family working vehicle.

The Nissan X-Trail does a good job and is equipped for many roles, which it’ll do very well, but it is not class-leading by any stretch of the imagination. 

Car reviewed: Nissan X-Trail Tekna 4WD, on the road price with options £34,830 0-62mph 10.7secs Top speed 121mph Engine 1749cc 4-cylinder turbo-diesel Fuel Economy Combined 41mpg CO2 emissions 154g/km Max Power 150PS Torque 340Nm Transmission 7-speed automatic with manual mode Insurance Group 21E Bik rating  37%, £850FY, £150SR Warranty 3yrs/ 60,000 miles Boot space 135 – 1996 litres

For: Very roomy for passengers, good visibility, easy to drive, fairly smooth, light controls, reasonable economy and good equipment at the price

Against: Dull interior, noisy inflexible engine, modest performance, heavy handling, slow touch-screen.

Robin Roberts

Motoring Journalist

Robin contributes to a number of outlets in Wales and the UK, including the Driving Force editorial syndication agency feeding the biggest regional news and feature publishers in Britain.

Robin is the longest serving chairman of The Western Group of Motoring Writers. He specialises in the Welsh automotive sector and motor related businesses with interests in Wales and publishes WheelsWithinWales.uk which covers news, features, trade and motor sport in Wales.

© WheelsWithinWales

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