TOAccording to Nissan, in the UK you are never more than 500 meters from a Nissan Qashqai. The company kindly lent me their pristine 2008 Traditional Fleet model, and in doing so, when you're in a certain type of car, you notice others on the road. I was suddenly acutely aware of the Qashqai's ubiquity and, when I parked the very lively Mark 1 version in an airport car park, it wasn't 500 meters past me that I passed another, a slightly worn example but obviously still rated as sufficiently reliable. for a tour of the airport.
In fact, looking at the Qashqai over the course of a week, I was also impressed to see how many clean and tidy Qashqais were clearly providing a useful service to their nearly two-decade-old owners.
The Qashqai was something of a gamble and a quiet revolution when it was launched in 2006. A gamble because Nissan was abandoning its traditional saloons and hatchbacks like the Primera and moving on to this (then) novel concept of a more SUV-style design – a “ crossover.”
That was the family car revolution. More than 750,000 have been sold since then and Nissan has somehow managed to maintain the Qashqai's place in the best-seller lists, despite a wide range of potential rivals, from Dacia to Mercedes Benz. It is also a great British success story and the Sunderland staff are rightly proud of their creation.
But that's no reason to rest on the laurels of your Nissan (and if you get that joke, you need to get out more), so the time has come for another new Qashqai, or rather new: a substantial package of improvements to the model. current that renews its familiar appearance, its attractive interior and its technology.
The unabashed aim is to meet the challenge of (relative) newcomers such as the Kia Sportage and the new Peugeot 3008/5008, but also the latest from Audi, BMW and Mercedes. The motto is “premium” and, at least in the higher versions of the Tekna+, it has practically been achieved.
Nissan's stylists (based in London's Paddington Basin) have been responsible for some of Nissan's most eye-catching designs (notably the eye-catching Ariya), and have given it a definite boost.
The front end is completely new, all piano black, smart LEDs and a wider grille that is quite reminiscent of a contemporary Benz; Swap badges and you could pass for German. Other more subtle touches include finishing the wheel arch in body color instead of black, and a slightly sportier look at the rear.
Inside they have adopted Google technology and there are new touch screens and very comfortable seats.
The Qashqai naturally meets the latest safety standards (they're from the EU, but they're here anyway), and that means that, like all other new models, your car will beep and beep like a robot nanny, which It's basically what all the kit amounts to.
Nissan makes turning off the warnings as easy as legally possible, but I'd rather save myself from a speeding ticket, and you should too, so I recommend leaving them on. The downside, noise aside, is that the cameras sometimes detect the wrong speed limit, and if you have the adaptive virtual cruise control set to the speed limit, it will brake quite alarmingly.
I should add, right away, that most new cars I've driven with these safety measures on board behave similarly. I'm afraid it's a brave new world.
At least you can still drive it (although the car will pull the steering wheel back if you drift out of your lane). I'm happy to report that the simple “ProPILOT” controls for semi-autonomous driving are still on the steering wheel. As with previous models, the emphasis on the Qashqai is on ease of use and practicality, and it is as true to this as ever.
The Qashqai's party trick is its sophisticated multi-dimensional bird's-eye view camera system that features a 'transparent hood' feature. This means that, via the in-dash display, you can “see through” the front of the vehicle for those large, expansive alloy wheels (18- to 20-inch options) and position them precisely, which comes in handy in parking lots. reduced, for example. .
Underneath, there are no changes in this model, so you can choose between a fairly conventional and reasonably economical mild hybrid petrol (manual or automatic) or the much less conventional e-Power system. The idea of this is to give the driver the feeling of a battery-electric car: quiet operation and good acceleration, but without the range anxiety because you fill it with gasoline, without needing to plug it in.
THE SPECIFICATION
Nissan Qashqai Tekna+ Auto
Price: £39,620 (range starts at £30,150)
Engine capacity: 1.5 liter gasoline 4 cylinders + electric motor, automatic
Output power (PS): 190
Maximum speed (mph): 105
0 to 60 (seconds): 7.9
Fuel economy (mpg): 53.3
CO2 emissions (g/km): 117
The fossil fuel is used in a small gasoline engine that, through an inverter, powers the electric motors that turn the wheels and/or powers a battery that can also supply electrical energy to the electric motor and therefore to the wheels. wheels. So you have the best of both worlds, although when you accelerate at higher speeds you can hear the engine working hard.
The downside is that you're necessarily wasting some energy (and money) by introducing a “middleman” into the propulsion process: converting one type of energy (mechanical via the gasoline engine) into electrical energy. You also pay extra for the privilege.
The Qashqai is a run-of-the-mill car, like the Ford Cortina used to be, which is a good thing. It's popular for all the right reasons, including ease of access and elevated driving position, but the secret is that the car is also well built and finished, it has more of that premium feel these days (something Peugeot is also into). has been working). hard, by the way), and, especially in the e-Power versions, it is also quite advanced.
I liked the simplicity and feeling of excitement of the Mark 1, but the newer Qashqai will make your journey a little smoother. I hope we see a lot of them too.
