A new aggressive face
Now five years after its local debut, Nissan has given the third generation X-Trail a mid-life revision and although seemingly not needed, the small but visibly appealing touches have contributed in adding a touch of aggression to an already stylish offering.
The recent arrival of the updated X-Trail was also somewhat of a welcome reunion as the pre-facelift model did duty as our long-term test car last year. In fact, apart from the new attire, the similarities stretched further as the test model turned out to be the flagship 1.6 dCi Tekna 4WD, exactly the same as our long termer.
Although very little was amiss with the previous X-Trail aesthetically, the incorporation of the same styling tweaks as the new Micra has certainly worked in its favour despite the rather bland grey paint finish our tester arrived in.
Boasting Nissan’s trademark V-Motion grille, new headlights with boomerang shaped integrated daytime running LEDs, a redesigned front bumper, darkened taillight clusters and new alloy wheel designs, the overall look is both classy with a good helping of machoism thrown in.
Slightly new inside
Open the front door, and you are greeted by an interior that on first glance appears to have been carried over unchanged. In fact, bar the new D-shaped leather wrapped multi-function steering wheel with its chunky switches, the only other changes are upgraded materials and a new gear lever.
The big annoyance
This also means the retention of the seven-inch touchscreen infotainment system with satellite navigation, which as we pointed out previously, still rates as one of the downsides of the interior.
Appearing smaller than what its size suggests, the system not only features outdated graphics, but continues to be blighted by poor resolution, especially when the 360-degree camera system or reverse cameras are in operation
Lots of space, kit and new safety tech
Where the interior does win back some ground are decent levels of fit-and-finish and no lack of space for front and rear passengers. While the addition of electric front chairs are a bonus for the driver and passenger, those seated in rear have frankly excellent levels of legroom and just enough headroom to not be impeded by the standard panoramic sunroof.
This being the top spec X-Trail, standard kit includes a six-speaker sound system with Bluetooth and USB, dual-zone climate control with rear vents, auto on/off headlights, 19-inch alloy wheels, cruise control and Hill Descent Control to name but a few. The biggest advancement though is a new suite of driver assistance systems that include Autonomous Emergency Braking, Blind Spot Intervention, Forward Collision Warning, Intelligent Lane Intervention, Rear Cross Traffic Alert and Hill Start Assist.
The power
Up front, and unlike its exterior and interior upgrades, the X-Trail retains, the rather feisty 1.6-litre turbodiesel engine with 96kW/320Nm. Despite sounding underpowered and pegged by some initial turbo-lag, the mill pulls strong and makes for effortless progress on the move. While slick, our biggest gripe with the six-speed manual gearbox is again its grabby clutch action, meaning a perfect balance and suitable revs are needed to avoid stalling.
During its weeklong stay, the X-Trail also faced a road trip to the Free State where it’s three mode (2WD, Auto, Lock) 4x4-i system was put to the test on rain soaked, muddy roads. This it pulled off rather well given the road biased wheels which were frankly out of their depth on anything but tar.
On the flip side, the suspension did an adequate job of soaking up the notorious imperfect Free State roads, with the highlight being the fuel consumption figure of 6.3-litres/100km. Although down on Nissan’s claimed 5.3-litres/100km, keeping the tank to full level meant that after a week, 780 km and a mix of town and highway driving, the X-Trail was returned with half-a-tank of diesel left.
Verdict
It remains one of the most popular in its class and now with its updated looks and features, it seems unlikely that the Nissan X-Trail will drop off the radar anytime soon. Our gripes with the infotainment system and terrible clutch do prevail, however, if you can factor these out, the 1.6 dCi Tekna 4WD makes for a compelling buy that is worth its R457 900 asking price.
