More affordable brother to the Car of the Year finalist?

If you looked at the Nissan Qashqai which was a finalist in the WesBank SAGMJ South African Car of the Year (COTY) competition held recently, and saw that it is a vehicle you would like to own, but you thought to yourself:  I like the Qashqai but I don’t like the CVT automatic, or its price is just out of reach, then there is good news for you here – Nissan also has a slightly smaller-engined manual at a lower price.

The Nissan Qashqai 1.5dCi Acenta is the smaller, more affordable and even more fuel efficient alternative to the Nissan Qashqai 1.6dCi Acenta CVT which made it through to the COTY finalist – that in itself is a great accolade for the all-new Qashqai launched into the South African market in July 2014 – chosen as one of the 11 vehicles deemed best by a panel of motoring editors and journalists as a worthy winner.  But there is a problem:  by entering the Qashqai CVT derivative into this competition, it means it is the unloved (by most motoring writers) XTronic CVT transmission, and pushes the price up to nearer the R400k mark.  If the 1.6dCi AWD Acenta with its manual gearbox was entered, perhaps it would have stood a better chance – but the 2WD finalist has the CVT gearing, with Nissan not offering a proper modern automatic option.  So if you want a Qashqai in manual and frugal diesel at the lowest price, the 1.5dCi Acenta is your only bet.

With such a small difference of a few cubic centimetres in engine capacity, how does the 1.5dCi compare to the 1.6dCi?  The smaller engine, as tested here, produces numbers of 81kW at 4000 r/min and 260Nm of torque at 1750-2500 r/min – a nice spread of torque, though the engine does suffer at below 1500 r/min from a bad case of turbo lag – the engine suddenly gives you almost no pulling power as the turbo smothers the engine, so needing the driver to give it some throttle while slipping the clutch to get the revs up – it would have worked better with an automatic (a proper automatic).  It is thus a trick to drive this Qashqai smoothly, as the turbo lag suddenly swaps to turbo boost.  On the plus side, the engine is remarkably quiet and smooth – only at parking speeds or at higher revving can the diesel sounds be heard.  The 1.6dCi engine ups power and torque to 96kW, also at 4000, and 320Nm peaking at 1750 r/min.  The 1.5 diesel has a claimed 4.2 l/100 km combined cycle consumption, and during our testing achieved just over 5 – put differently, during a week of testing, driving to various meetings, shops and about-town trips, the fuel gauge was still over ¾ tank full.  The auto stop-start of the engine also helps here.

So it comes down to Qashqai diesel options of 1.5dCi manual or 1.6dCi CVT auto in 2WD or manual AWD.  There are also 85kW 1.2T or 1.6T 120kW petrol options.  Pricing of the Nissan Qashqai range starts at R 287 500, as at the April 2015 general price increases, for the 1.2T Visia manual, also offered in Acenta manual or CVT options at R 317 800 and R 334 200 respectively.  The 1.5dCi Acenta under review now costs R 338 800 before option packs, the 1.6T Acenta R 364 800, while the 1.6dCi Acenta models have prices of R 392 100 for the 2WD CVT and R 393 400 for the AWD manual.

The Nissan Qashqai 1.5dCi Acenta tested had both option packs fitted:  if you want the looks (for fear of the basic Qashqai looking a bit, well, basic) then the Design pack with its 19-inch alloy wheels (much better to balance out the stance than the standard 17-inch wheels), silver roof rails (for that adventure SUV-ish look) and rear darkened privacy glass give it smart looks; the Techno pack gives you an Around View Monitor (yes, Qashqai offers the same high-tech bird’s-eye view projection with surrounding cameras as you’d find in much more expensive vehicles), Nissan Connect touch-screen system, Navigation, and heated door mirrors.  The price increases from R 338 800 to R 368 400 (a difference of R 29 600) for the combination of Design and Techno packs.

The interior presents itself as having high-quality materials, with the seat fabric also simple and seemingly durable, brightened up by some brightwork on the steering wheel and gear grip.  The electro-mechanical park brake dis/engages automatically, and is conveniently positioned at the front of the centre console, rather than in the middle or rear as in most other cars.  The dual climate control works well – sometimes over-eager to cool down, with even 23.0 as set temperature producing very cold air… perhaps not a complaint in hot SA, but not accurate.

The overall drive is friendly and easy, whether around town or on highways, which is thankfully retained from previous Qashqai, while it has become more refined. 

The first Qashqai was a pioneering vehicle, introduced back in 2007, before the compact cross-over became such a sales phenomenon.  Nissan clearly saw into the future.  The Qashqai was a big hit worldwide, striking a balance of compact dimensions with pert proportions, giving it a lovable friendly character in terms of use and visually.  Nissan even marketed it as a hatchback instead of reduced-size cross-over/SUV!  With the 2nd Qashqai, the car has lost its friendly face and smallish lights, trading it for an aggressive front-end with big lights front, and the tucked-in rear expanding to a broader behind – the vehicle looks much more substantial than its predecessor, seeming to have grown a lot to become a much bigger car, although it has only been lengthened by 4.7cm and widened by 2.3 cm.  Where the original Qashqai was a leader, the new Qashqai is perhaps a follower of other compact cross-overs – very similar in size and execution.  Examples of rivals include Citroën C4 Aircross, Hyundai ix35, Kia Sportage, Opel Mokka, Suzuki SX4, and Volkswagen Tiguan.

More affordable brother to the Car of the Year finalist?  The Nissan Qashqai 1.5dCi Acenta saves you a good R 53 300 over the COTY finalist 1.6dCi Acenta CVT.  The new Qashqai may have more aggressive looks, but in personality it is still the friendly easy-to-live-with clever Nissan that has made the Qashqai great.