Nissan X-Trail

Expert Review by Maxabout

Main

Exterior

Interior

Dashboard

Overview

There are very few Nissan X-trails plying on our Indian roads. X-Trail from Nissan is still searching for its spot in our car market as its facing tough competition from others like Ford Endeavour, Chevrolet Captiva, Mitsubishi Pajero Sport and the leader of its segment, Toyota Fortuner.

Exterior

The look of this car itself speaks for its failure. It doesn’t look like a well composed SUV. When our market is witnessing some of the best SUVs, this SUV stands nowhere in terms of designing and overall style. It has strangely shaped headlights with a prominent grille. Front bumper is also very simple in shape with round shaped fog lights. Its face certainly lacks the aerodynamic character. When seen from the side, it doesn’t look well proportionate due to its rear overhang which is visually very bulky. The top model features 17 inch alloy wheels and body colored outside mirrors. The rear of the car features long tail lights with inbuilt spoiler.

nterior

Things get much better once you step inside the Nissan X-Trail. Its dual tone interiors look very soothing and up market. Everything seems perfectly positioned inside. Headroom is best offered in this car especially at the back. Legroom and shoulder room is not an issue either in this 5 seater SUV. Seats are very comfortable with adequate under thigh and back support. New instrument dials are much easy to read. It has leather wrapped three spoke steering wheel along with a short gear lever and leather upholstery. The top model also sports a sun roof which lightens its cabin.

Comfort and Convenience

Nissan X-Trail has many significant features like auto air conditioning with rear AC ducts in its top variant. Front seats are power adjustable along with power windows, outside foldable and adjustable outside mirrors and tilt adjustable steering wheel. It also has front and rear centre armrests with rear parking sensor and camera. Other features in this car include keyless key with auto door lock and cruise control for stress free long rides.

Dashboard and Storage

Nissan X-Trail has a very basic dashboard which looks elegant in dual tone. It houses a central console which looks well designed. The texture and the plastic quality of this dashboard are quite convincing. It has an airy glove box, cup holders, backs pockets on front seats and door pockets. It also has a luggage floor tray and a massive boot capacity of 479 litres.

Music System

The central console features a 2Din music system. It has a CD changer with radio, CD and MP3 player.The top model comes loaded with six speakers, Bluetooth connectivity and Steering mounted audio and Bluetooth controls.

Engine and Gearbox

Nissan X-trail is powered by a 2.0L diesel engine. This 4 cylinder DOHC engine is capable of producing 150 bhp of power at 4000 rpm with a maximum torque output of 320 Nm available at 2000 rpm. This engine is mated with a six-speed manual as well as automatic transmission.

Acceleration and Performance

Thanks to its lightweight and powerful engine, this car manages a good power to weight ratio which is quite noticeable in its performance. This engine is available with four wheel drive system which confirms you pleasing off road trips. The automatic variant of this car suffers a minor turbo lag. However, its manual variant feels ready to go and that makes it a good car for day to day usage as you don’t have to continuously work on its gears thanks to its well proportionate gear ratios. This is a very responsive engine and it takes around only 11 seconds to reach 100km/hour from standstill. These figures are very impressive and better than many of its competitors. Refinement level of this engine is very satisfactory and it only turns noisy when pushed really hard. It is one of the best performers in its segment as this car feels butter smooth from 2000rpm-3500rpm. The car easily goes passes the speed of 150km/hour and cruises all the way to a top speed of 200km/hr. X-trail is a nice performer on road as well as off road. It’s powerful low and mid-range helps it move quickly without much effort.

Mileage

One of the biggest USP of Nissan X-Trail is its fuel efficiency. It can give you a mileage of around 11km/ltr in city conditions while on highways, things get much better and you can expect anything around 13-14km/ltr.

Safety Features

It features dual front airbags, side and curtain airbags in its top model with ESP.

Suspension and Brakes

High quality of suspension is used in this car. For its smooth off road performance, Nissan has mated this car with a suitable suspension. The braking system of X-trail features ventilated discs on its all four wheels and other features like ABS with EBD and brake assist are standard on this car.

Ride and Handling

The car handles brilliantly specially in city traffic. The minimum turning radius of 5.4m doesn’t allow you to feel its actual size and that’s the best part about it. Even off road the car handles really smooth and with its high ground clearance (200mm), it’s easy to pass most of the obstructions. Sharp corners and frequent lane changing at high speeds doesn’t feel as scary as expected. The overall ride quality of this car is very comfortable and satisfactory.

Warranty

Nissan offers a warranty of 2 years/50,000 kilometres on the X-Trail.

Variants

Nissan X-Trail is available in three variants: LE, SLX and SLX AT.

Shades

Nissan X-Trail is available in seven shades: Pearl White, Quartz Silver, Diamond Black, Champagne Gold, Sapphire Blue, Graphite Grey and Titanium Grey.

Verdict

The car offers excellent performance, great fuel efficiency and superb handling. It has all the needed features and performs well on almost every terrain. If compared to its rivals, it is well-priced and feels a tough competitor but its visual appearance and poor brand image takes the game away from it. Nissan could have worked more on its styling to make it more appealing as when you spend this much of money, look matters. Had it been more stylish, things would have been different.