Latest version of Nissan’s large SUV is available with five or seven seats and range-extender tech On sale Now Price from £32,030
Dan Jones Dan.Jones@haymarket.com
WHILE SOME LARGE SUVs try to outdo their rivals for practicality or luxury, the Nissan X-Trail has always been skewed towards families with adventurous lifestyles. In other words, it’s aimed at you if you plan your holidays around kayaking trips or downhill biking sessions.
The fourth-generation X-Trail maintains that outdoorsy ethos.You get the option of four-wheel drive to help you get to the wilderness safely (or reach the shops on an icy day), and up to seven seats, so you can share your adventures with lots of friends.
Nissan has also updated the X-Trail’s engine line-up. There’s no diesel, just three turbocharged 1.5-litre petrols: a mild hybrid with a small electric motor to help the engine, and two range-extender options, called ‘e-Power’. Strictly speaking, the e-Powers are not actually driven by the engine. Instead, it’s used to generate electricity to power a single electric motor in the front-wheel-drive version, or two motors – one on each axle – in four-wheel-drive guise.
We’ve driven the e-Power X-Trail with four-wheel drive – or e-4orce, as Nissan calls it – in the most expensive trim,Tekna. Having read how it works, you might be surprised to hear that it doesn’t set off instantly like an electric car; there’s a brief delay when you ask for power. It’s quick when it does respond, though: the official 0-62mph time is a brisk 7.0sec, and it builds speed fairly effortlessly – but not silently.
When you put your foot down, the e-Power’s engine is quite noisy, because the revs soar and remain high until you ease off. It’s quiet when you’re tootling around town or cruising on a motorway, though, and wind and road noise are among the lowest in the large SUV class.The Hyundai Santa Fe and Kia Sorento are less hushed.
So, is the e-Power a fuel economy superstar? Actually, no. With four-wheel drive, its official figure is just under 45mpg.That’s no great shakes compared with the 173.7mpg the plug-in hybrid Hyundai Santa Fe is officially capable of if you keep the battery charged up.
The X-Trail has fairly soft suspension, which absorbs road imperfections well without the floaty feeling of the softer Citroën C5 Aircross. The ride is comfier than in the firm Mazda CX-60, and while there’s some fidget at low sp
