Nissan QASHQAI Car Review

Facts At A Glance
Car: Nissan Qashqai range
Prices: £14,495-£23,845 - on the road INSURANCE GROUPS: 5-10
Emissions: 139-204g/km
Performance: [2.0 petrol 2WD] 0-60mph 10.1s / Top Speed 119mph
Fuel Consumption: [2.0 petrol 2WD] (urban) 26.4mpg / (extra urban) 42.8mpg / (combined) 34.9mpg
Safety: ABS with Brake Assist and EBD, Active front headrests.
Dimensions: length/width/height mm 4310/1780/1610

QASH CONVERTER

Our Rating: 7.0 / 10

Is the crossover Qashqai quite as novel as Nissan claims? Andy Enright isn’t sure

Immerse yourself in the launch hype that surrounded Nissan’s Qashqai crossover vehicle and you could easily become convinced that this was the next big thing, Nissan plunging headlong into a brand new motoring niche. "There’s change in the air… Thanks to the Nissan Qashqai, something different has arrived. You need never drive a boring car again." That was the big build up from one of Nissan’s senior product planners and it was driven home with claims that the Qashqai is "a catalyst for change, a totally new vehicle in a totally new sector of the market", and a car which should be seen as an "urban nomad." Nissan was either embarking on an enormous bluff or convinced that it was on to a winner. With the benefit of hindsight, you’d have to say that the hyperbole went too far, but only a little.

The Qashqai, in reality, is somewhere between an all-wheel drive-orientated Family Hatchback (like a Fiat Sedici or a Suzuki SX4) and a road-orientated compact 4x4 (like Toyota’s RAV4 or Honda’s CR-V). And, like all of the current versions of these cars, it incorporates MPV-style practicalities on board. Like many rivals of this kind, the Qashqai offers the choice of a two or four-wheel drive platform, the front-wheel drive model being perfectly adequate for 95% of customer’s requirements. In case you were wondering where the wacky name came from, it’s pronounced ‘kash-kai’ and is named after a desert-dwelling nomadic tribe from South Western Iran. A little frisson of the Axis of Evil adds an exotic feel to the Nissan and although it’s easy to be a little cynical about the window dressing, there can be little doubt that the product on display is rock solid.

There’s one of the widest choices of engines in the sector available to Qashqai customers with two diesels and two petrol powerplants. Things start off with a 1.6-litre 115bhp petrol unit and move up through 106bhp 1.5dCi diesel and 140bhp 2.0-litre petrol units before topping-out with the 150bhp 2.0-litre dCi diesel. Nissan hasn’t skimped when it comes to transmission options either, the Qashqai being supplied with five and six-speed manual boxes, a six-speed auto option and even an advanced Constantly Variable Transmission (CVT). The Qashqai drives in an assured manner on the road and feels more like a conventional family hatchback that a 4x4 with its supple suspension and absence of body roll.

The ALL-MODE 4x4 system is available on the 2.0-litre vehicles. This is an electronic system which automatically engages four-wheel drive the moment a loss of traction is detected. It offers more safety and security in extreme weather on-road. Nissan makes no bones of the fact that the Qashqai is anything but an off-roader, citing its lack of ground clearance. What precludes it from tackling rutted tracks makes it a better car on the blacktop, the hunkered down centre of gravity giving the Nissan the driving dynamics of a typical family hatch.

There are two bodystyle choices, the standard model now joined by a Qashqai+2 seven-seater variant. Here, everything behind the windscreen pillars has been modified. The wheelbase has been extended by 135mm and the overall length has grown by 211mm to 4,526mm. To make sure that rear seat occupants don’t feel too hemmed in, the roof line has been reprofiled as well, adding 38mm to the car’s height. The middle row of seats splits 40/40/40 and the backrest reclines to no fewer than nine adjustment positions. When the seats are folded down, there’s a massive 500 litres of stowage space, and the rear hatch is both wider and has a lower loading sill than the standard Qashqai model.

Built at Nissan Motor Manufacturing UK in Sunderland, the Qashqai is undoubtedly a good-looking design. The rising hipline gives it a wedgy, athletic look and the canted C-pillar is a design cue nicked from the bigger Murano. The Qashqai’s front end is a good deal less extreme than the Murano, a vehicle that looks like an alien lander, the smaller vehicle favouring a more conventional front grille and lights arrangement. A large panoramic sunroof gives the cabin an airy feel. The dashboard is cleanly styled with a neat centre stack and uses better materials than Nissans of late.

The trim level range kicks off with the entry-level Visia before extending through the Acenta and N-Tec derivatives to the plush Tekna. The N-Tec models are likely to prove pa