Nissan X-Trail

Overview

The Nissan X-Trail may not have been the ubiquitous choice of the car buying populace in Malaysia, but it has always carved a niche for itself. Buyers who wanted rugged body, a reliable engine with smoothness dialed in and the peace of Japanese ownership didn’t have much of a choice. Enter the third-gen Nissan X-Trail and it is lighter than before, has an all-new design language and gets a choice of two petrol powertrains. These two powertrains determine the trims as well and luckily like the engines, there are only two variants to choose from - the fully-specced ones. The variants are called the X-Trail 2.0L and X-Trail 2.5L. The list of the competition includes the Mitsubishi Outlander, Mazda CX-5, and the Honda CR-V. So, let’s find out what this generation of the Nissan X-Trail has to offer.

Interior & Features

The cabin of the Nissan X-Trail is where one will be spending the maximum of their time, isn’t it? Here, the grey theme from the older car continues, but it has been done in a better fashion. All that extra length and other details we have referred to in the looks section has contributed to the space quotient in the cabin. Heck, the Nissan X-Trail has now become a 7-seat model though the company is also happy to supply a 5-seater model elsewhere in the world. That being said, the last row of seats is best suited for children or adults whom you may want to punish. Tumbling them forward (they don’t release in a single motion) liberates 550-litre of space, going up to 1,680-litre provided the second row too is pushed to the ground. The second row also slides aft and fore, thereby increasing the passenger room.

For the front seats, Nissan has provided for a powered seats option. This along with the Zero Gravity seats that Nissan specially built for the X-Trail in Japan, is one fatigue-free throne. Be it in the fabric trim of the 2.0-litre or the leathers of the 2.5-litre, there is literally no fatigue and this is something which buyers will definitely appreciate. As far as features go, there is the automatic dual zone climate control, push-button start, powered front seats, sunroof, cruise control, rear AC vents, power socket outlets and then some cubby holes to store the knick-knacks.

The infotainment is hosted in a relatively smaller 7-inch touchscreen system that has navigation inbuilt. The reverse camera display also shows up here. We liked the music system but it could have been a tad better. An audiophile will definitely want to upgrade. The overall build quality is typical Nissan and not Datsun and we meant it in a good way.

Exterior

They are very different! The older X-Trail seems like a breadbox in front of the new-gen car. Built on a lighter platform, the car also looks light to the eyes. Gone are those sharp edges and in come the curves. The X-Trail also looks similar to the Qashqai and the Juke. It must have got to do with that V-Motion grille. Something which even the Micra replicates. The grille looks more like a moustache design from the Hitler and Charlie Chaplin era. Those boomerang shaped LED DRLs though look good. 17-inch alloy wheels are the new addition here while the rear makes one reminiscent of the Toyota Harrier.

Pictures don't do justice to the car as it is much longer and overall bigger than what the images will suggest. At 4,640 mm length, 1,820 mm width and 1,715 mm height, it is bigger than even the Honda CR-V. For an SUV, it’s all about the girth and the Nissan impresses here in a pleasing to look at the form.

Ride & Handling

All those safety aids mentioned above are not just big names but they play an active role in keeping the X-Trail planted on the road or off-road if it ventures there. For example, the Active Ride Control commands the engine torque as well as braking to ensure a smooth progress on bumpy roads. Active Engine Brake in the meanwhile instructs the CVT to bring in engine braking while cornering or when braking hard. This ensures that the engine and CVT work together to bring the car to a safe halt. To minimise understeer, the Active Trace Control will apply a small amount of braking force to the wheel with the lowest traction. While Hill Start Assist is common to both the models, Nissan has chosen to endow only the 2.5-litre with Hill Descent Control. The Around View Monitor will help you in parking by showing the surroundings of the car. This will ensure a safe parking experience and one that doesn’t trade paints with other cars or road markings.

Nissan has set the X-Trail on the softer side. This ensures that ride comfort is optimum. However, try and drive the SUV enthusiastically and you realise that cornering is not its forte and the SUV is more comfortable taking corners easily. The steering wheel is light but decidedly weighs up at higher speed.

Engine & Fuel Consumption

We had both the engines to sample. So for the record, the 2.5-litre fuel injected naturally aspirated engine produces 177 PS of power and 233 Nm of torque. The smaller sibling, the 2.0-litre motor,  gets direct injection and makes 144 PS of power and 200 Nm of torque. Nissan will supply you with an X-Tronic CVT gearbox and manual override option with the two engines. Only the bigger motor gets the 4WD benevolence. On the move, the Nissan feels quite nimble and agile given its weight and length. However, we found that the 2.5-litre engine feels a tad noisier than the smaller motor. This was ideally the case at lower engine speeds. At high speeds, both are nearly equal in their vocal capabilities. The CVT just excels and takes away all the drudgery associated with driving. You will never feel the need to use the manual mode. The engines too have enough poke at all the revs - to overtake, cruise or just dawdle around in town.

While the 2.0-litre engine gets only FWD, the 2.5-litre has 4WD. The 2.0 then sips less fuel and the overall economy it returned was 14 kmpl. The 2.5 returned an efficiency of 12 kmpl - pretty nifty we will say.

Top speed for both the engines is around 185 kmph.

Braking & Safety

Nissan offers just two airbags with the X-Trail. This has become a serious joke within the auto industry as even far lower priced hatchbacks offer six airbags now. That aside, Nissan seems to have packed in as many other safety aids as possible. These include ABS along with EBD, Active Brake Limited Slip, Around View Monitor, Brake Assist System,  Electronic Brake Force distribution, Active Chassis Control, Vehicle Dynamic Control, Active Engine Braking, Active Trace Control, Advanced Hill Descent Control, and Hill Start Assist. The Euro NCAP rating is of five stars but there, the Nissan comes with six airbags.

Verdict

The Nissan X-Trail then is a nice option as a city SUV. While we didn’t take it off-road, we believe it will be fairly comfortable off the road. It has got the hardware to tackle the rough too. There is no dearth of equipment, except that it only has two airbags. At RM 129,289.93 for the 2.0L and the 2.5L being priced at RM 150,255.49, the Nissan X-Trail is great value too.