Road tripping with the Nissan X-Trail

 

Getting the keys to a test vehicle always makes you question what you should do with the vehicle that’s relatable to owners and potential buyers. So I decided to take the Nissan X-Trail 1.6 dCi Tekna AWD on a road trip and do proper ‘holiday activities’ with it, as I had a wedding to attend in Durban anyway.

I left the office with the X-Trail, got home and started packing. I had the South Coast in mind as my first destination. I picked up my passengers, and off we went. All our bags fitted nicely into the 550-litre boot. Luggage space can be extended to 1405 litres with the seats folded, and a full-sized spare wheel (size of 225/65 R17) can be found beneath its floor.

We travelled through the night and had a lovely and smooth drive. The contoured seats are well-padded and were very comfortable for the entire eight-hour journey. The X-Trail has an easy-to-use infotainment system, and we streamed our music through Bluetooth for most of the way. The stars and moonlight shining through the glass panoramic roof also enhanced the overall mood in the car. The powered sunroof with one-touch operation is a standard feature on this derivative.

I think it’s taken for granted how a road trip in a comfortable vehicle can be a great bonding experience. If your passengers are cramped and uncomfortable, everything turns out miserable – the moods, the drive, and the experience. Road-trip-worthiness is definitely a factor that more family buyers should keep in mind when purchasing a vehicle.

The Drive 

There are three engines in the range. Powering our X-Trail to the coast was a turbocharged four-cylinder 1.6-litre diesel that provided enough power to drive at a leisurely pace through N3 traffic. It’s not the most energetic SUV out there, with rated outputs of 96 kW of power and 320 Nm of torque. The engine is mated to a 6-speed manual gearbox and has a very competitive fuel economy rating.

Acceleration from 0-100 km/h happens in 11 seconds, so you have to be a little patient with it from a standstill. The diesel engine sounds a little grumpy under acceleration but settles down when cruising. It also tends to roll back easily on inclines due to some take-off lag, but it does have an Auto Hold button which can be used to assist in these situations. The other two engines in the range are a 2.5 petrol (only available with a CVT) and a 2.0-litre petrol (only available with FWD).

All of them have a fuel tank capacity of 60 litres and the 1.6 diesel has a claimed fuel consumption of 6.2L/100 km for an urban cycle. During my time with the X-Trail I averaged around 7.2L/100 km, which is quite a decent figure. The SUV is also equipped with Idle Stop/Start to help reduce fuel consumption and emissions.

The other two engines have much higher consumption figures, so if you don’t really need a 7-seater for daily use, then the 1.6 diesel (which is a 5-seater as standard in Tekna trim) is your best bet. It’s also loaded with all the bells and whistles as standard.

Interior

ISOFIX child seat anchorages on the rear seats are standard, along with Driver, Passenger, Front Side & Curtain airbags. As aforementioned, the easy to use, and logically presented, infotainment system allows compatibility with CD/MP3/USB/AUX/RDS and Handsfree Bluetooth connectivity all played through six speakers. There’s also Smartphone integration through the Nissan Connect Apps available for Tekna models. Furthermore, Tekna models also have the Navigation system with a 7-inch colour touchscreen display as standard.

Other standard creature comforts include:

Climate control with dual zone adjustment and rear vents

Electric Power Steering (EPS)

Manual tilt & telescopic steering wheel adjustment

Electric parking brake

Front & rear electric windows

Remote central locking

Speed sensing auto door lock

Sunglass holder

Bottle and cup holders with a heating and cooling function in the front holders

The interior has a very neat layout, with everything within easy reach of the driver. The high seating position and massive windscreen allow for good forward visibility - I could take in that wide view of beautiful mountain scenery and the guy skipping a robot just as easily. Actually, all-round visibility from the driver’s seat is excellent. The driver’s seat has a 4-way power adjustment, which is so much more convenient than manual adjustment. I know I’ve grazed my knuckles in some cars having to pump-action my seat up or down, just to suit my small frame. Overall the materials in the car, such as the plastics and leather seats, look more durable than plush, which also make it easy to clean. This is convenient not only for everyday use but also after a tiring holiday trip, as you won’t have to spend so many hours cleaning it up.

Space and Comfort

Headroom and legroom in the X-Trail is pretty good. Access to the rear seats has been made easy with a 77-degree swing for the rear doors, allowing a hassle-free approach to loading the kids or a cooler box.

The 1.6 diesel only seats five passengers, but other derivatives can seat up to seven people with the addition of a third seating row. The back seat in the X-Trail 1.6 dCi allows for a 40:20:40 split, with a single-action folding mechanism, manually-reclining backrests, a folding seat cushion (60:40 split), as well as a slide function to vary the space allocation between the cabin and the boot. 

Safety Equipment

The X-Trail was awarded a five-star Euro NCAP rating for its safety equipment and crashworthiness. Privacy glass comes standard on all derivatives of the X-Trail. Here’s a list of standard safety equipment on the X-Trail 1.6 dCi Tekna AWD:

Anti-lock Braking System (ABS)

Electronic Brake Force Distribution (EBD)

Brake Assist (BA)

Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC)

Hill Start Assist (HSA)

Intelligent Around View Monitor + Moving Object Detection

Intelligent Lane Intervention

Intelligent Blind Spot Intervention

Cross Traffic Alert

Intelligent Emergency Braking

Intelligent Forward Collision Warning

Intelligent Auto Headlights

Of all these great systems, the lane intervention beeping can be really annoying, and that’s no lie. This beeping is to alert the driver when crossing over lines, but it also activated when I was overtaking and switching lanes. Tekna models are the only two in the range to have all these systems fitted standard. However, the 1.6 dCi variants and the FWD derivatives lack the Hill Descent Control (HDC) feature for some reason.

All variants across the line have a braked towing capacity of 1,500 kg and an unbraked towing capacity of 750 kg.

Nissan X-Trail Accolades

In 2017, Nissan X-Trail sales increased by six percent over 2016 and a record of 814,495 units have been sold globally. These figures have made this SUV the fourth best-selling vehicle in the world.

Verdict

I travelled from Johannesburg to the South Coast, to Durban, and back to the South Coast where I adventured on the longest zip line tour in Africa (apparently). Then I made my way back to Johannesburg. It was the first time I road-tripped with a manual vehicle, which wasn’t a problem at all. Too many people have this ‘inconvenient’ or ‘difficult’ perception of a manual vehicle, but I guess it just takes a little more practice than automatic, and really it’s not all that bad. Other than the rolling-back on steep hills (of which are plenty on the South Coast), the Nissan X-Trail 1.6 dCi Tekna AWD was a pleasure to drive and travel in. Its diesel engine is competitively frugal, and the vehicle is well-equipped. I cannot emphasize the levels of comfort and its supple ride enough. You can even indulge in light off-roading as well, so the X-Trail isn’t afraid to get down and dirty.