Nissan's X-Trail SUV has been given a make-over for 2011.
Compact SUVs, like compact MPVs (people carriers), are big sellers now and all the top names have piled in – ‘premium’ brands and the rest. BMW has brought out a new X3 - larger to slot between the recent X1 and latest X5, there’s an Audi Q5 with a Q3 coming soon and Mazda has a CX-5 ready to fit in under the CX-7.
Compact SUVs, like compact MPVs (people carriers), are big sellers now and all the top names have piled in – ‘premium’ brands and the rest. BMW has brought out a new X3 - larger to slot between the recent X1 and latest X5, there’s an Audi Q5 with a Q3 coming soon and Mazda has a CX-5 ready to fit in under the CX-7.
Of the current players, Volkswagen’s ‘team mate’ to the Q5 is the newly revised very polished Tiguan, while Hyundai-Kia iX35 and Sportage have earned more than a tad of credibility. Ford’s Kuga is good on-road and has enough 4x4 ability for the odd excursion off it while all-terrain class best is Land Rover’s Freelander.
Like its relative (from Ford days) XC60 Volvo, the Freelander (as do many of the above) offers 4x2 front wheel drive only “entry” models but Volvo makes more of this. Land Rover’s latest ploy is the Range Rover Evoque.
Sharing much of the Freelander structure, a striking ‘haute couture’ light SUV-coupe crossover has been created which will shake up the whole sector. It too, however, does the 4x2 FWD only compromise for bottom of the range models.
In Nissan doctrine the X-Trail is an SUV not a crossover, so it’s meant to be a ‘serious’ utility vehicle as well as a sporty one. In this it stands alongside the Navara pick-up and Pathfinder SUV (‘original’ Patrol too in some markets still).
Despite unitary bodywork and no low ratio gears the X-Trail has a sophisticated 4x4 system with an ‘opt-out’ FWD for dry tarmac. ‘Auto’ setting is for 4x4 on and off road. The system senses when to shift the torque from front to rear axles and a switch to ‘Lock’ fixes the drive 50-50 should conditions deteriorate.
The 2011 re-shuffle reduced the model range to two – Acenta (£25,780) and Tekna (£29,580), both 4x4, both equipped with a 2.0dCi 171bhp Diesel engine and 6 speed manual gearboxes. (A 6 speed automatic Tekna is available for £30,960.) All petrol models have gone and, with them, the entry FWD variant.
Apart from the usual smartening up outside (lights and bright trim) the cabin looks better and equipment is generous: climate control; Bluetooth and six airbags standard for both. Tekna adds a very posh SatNav which offers touch-screen and voice operation, a lot of music capacity and DVD movie playback – provided you park up first. A rear parking camera is included along with quite a few further ‘bells and whistles’.
The 6 speed manual X-Trail can reach 124mph and do the 0-62mph dash in 10 seconds. Official combined fuel consumption is 44.1mpg and (brim to brim) on test it ranged between 31-34mpg (without opting out of 4x4). So 35-plus day to day is probably there and that’s good for a compact yet credible SUV. O2 168 g/km: Road Tax ‘H’ £190pa. Insurance category: 14E (or 33E on the 1-50 scale).
Braked trailer maximum is a substantial 2,200kg, the angular shape allows good use of interior loadspace (max payload 555kg) and the ‘double deck’ floor at the back means certain items of kit can be secured out of sight. Approach and departure angles (28 and 24 degrees) are good for quite difficult conditions.
Ride is comfortable and, although it’s no sports car, on-road dynamics (steering, cornering) are consistent and predictable. The X-Trail is not ahead of the class on any specific point but, overall, it is a highly competent well-equipped vehicle at a competitive price. It deserves its place among the top compact SUV players but the latest products to emerge mean it certainly has its work cut out.
By Huw Thomas
First published in Welsh Farmer, the newspaper of the National Farmers' Union of Wales.
Like its relative (from Ford days) XC60 Volvo, the Freelander (as do many of the above) offers 4x2 front wheel drive only “entry” models but Volvo makes more of this. Land Rover’s latest ploy is the Range Rover Evoque.
Sharing much of the Freelander structure, a striking ‘haute couture’ light SUV-coupe crossover has been created which will shake up the whole sector. It too, however, does the 4x2 FWD only compromise for bottom of the range models.
In Nissan doctrine the X-Trail is an SUV not a crossover, so it’s meant to be a ‘serious’ utility vehicle as well as a sporty one. In this it stands alongside the Navara pick-up and Pathfinder SUV (‘original’ Patrol too in some markets still).
Despite unitary bodywork and no low ratio gears the X-Trail has a sophisticated 4x4 system with an ‘opt-out’ FWD for dry tarmac. ‘Auto’ setting is for 4x4 on and off road. The system senses when to shift the torque from front to rear axles and a switch to ‘Lock’ fixes the drive 50-50 should conditions deteriorate.
The 2011 re-shuffle reduced the model range to two – Acenta (£25,780) and Tekna (£29,580), both 4x4, both equipped with a 2.0dCi 171bhp Diesel engine and 6 speed manual gearboxes. (A 6 speed automatic Tekna is available for £30,960.) All petrol models have gone and, with them, the entry FWD variant.
Apart from the usual smartening up outside (lights and bright trim) the cabin looks better and equipment is generous: climate control; Bluetooth and six airbags standard for both. Tekna adds a very posh SatNav which offers touch-screen and voice operation, a lot of music capacity and DVD movie playback – provided you park up first. A rear parking camera is included along with quite a few further ‘bells and whistles’.
The 6 speed manual X-Trail can reach 124mph and do the 0-62mph dash in 10 seconds. Official combined fuel consumption is 44.1mpg and (brim to brim) on test it ranged between 31-34mpg (without opting out of 4x4). So 35-plus day to day is probably there and that’s good for a compact yet credible SUV. O2 168 g/km: Road Tax ‘H’ £190pa. Insurance category: 14E (or 33E on the 1-50 scale).
Braked trailer maximum is a substantial 2,200kg, the angular shape allows good use of interior loadspace (max payload 555kg) and the ‘double deck’ floor at the back means certain items of kit can be secured out of sight. Approach and departure angles (28 and 24 degrees) are good for quite difficult conditions.
Ride is comfortable and, although it’s no sports car, on-road dynamics (steering, cornering) are consistent and predictable. The X-Trail is not ahead of the class on any specific point but, overall, it is a highly competent well-equipped vehicle at a competitive price. It deserves its place among the top compact SUV players but the latest products to emerge mean it certainly has its work cut out.
By Huw Thomas
First published in Welsh Farmer, the newspaper of the National Farmers' Union of Wales.
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