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By
ALISTAIR KENNEDY in Athens
21 May 2007
The original Nissan X-Trail was released in Australia in November
2001 and gained almost immediate acceptance by Australian buyers. Partly
because of Nissan’s well-established reputation for producing quality
4WD vehicles, but also because its tough looks. Hence its ongoing appeal
to owners who are more likely to give it some semi-serious weekend work
than many of its softer competitors.
The appearance of the new X-Trail is a solid evolution of that
in the original model and it has an all-new chassis and suspension
set up. There are also new or upgraded engines, an improved
four-wheel drive system and a number of interior enhancements.
Externally new X-Trail’s grille falls into line with the
frontal appearance of its Pathfinder and Navara siblings, a smart
move because it gives the X-Trail even more credibility by
aligning it with the genuine off-road models. The really
noticeable change is a wider D-pillar.
The rear suspension has been tilted to allow the muffler to be
hidden rather than being exposed as it is with the current model.
The new Nissan X-Trail is significantly larger than its
predecessor; 120 mm longer, 20 mm wider and 10 mm taller. Because
of this it is marginally heavier, although this has been offset by
the use of lighter materials where possible.
TX-Trail comes with a choice of four engines, two petrol and
two diesel, although only an upgraded version of the existing
2.5-litre petrol unit will be made available to Australian buyers,
initially at least. While diesel engines have been making inroads
into a number of Australian market segments, especially large
4WDs, Nissan Australia is banking on its market research which is
showing little interest from buyers in compact diesel SUVs at this
stage.
The big 2.5-litre four-cylinder engine has always been a major
selling point for X-Trail in Australia. With plenty of torque from
low revs it has appealed to those buyers looking for semi-serious
off-road driving as well as for towing. While there are marginal
increases in power (up one kilowatt to 124kW) and torque (up three
Newton metres to 233 Nm) the biggest change for the 2007 model is
a noticeable reduction in noise, vibration and harshness (NVH)
levels.
The outgoing X-Trail came with the choice of five-speed manual
or four-speed automatic transmissions. The new 2.5-litre petrol
model will step up to six-speed manual and continuously variable
transmission (CVT) automatic.
Our test of the new X-Trail took place in the mountainous
region of north-western Greece and included a mixture of
motorways, narrow undulating country roads and a section on some
moderate dirt roads. We were able to drive the updated 2.5-litre
petrol engine as well as one of the diesels.
The culmination of our test was on a custom-built 4WD track set
up to demonstrate the vehicle’s off-road capabilities. X-Trail
now uses a complex 4WD system called All Mode-i that provides
excellent traction through a variety of settings. Most drivers
simply leave it in ‘automatic’ as that’s the best for
variable surfaces. It can be used on all roads and will happily
adapt to bitumen if required.
Among the new features that have been added for the 2007
X-Trail, are two hill control systems. The hill hold function, or
Uphill Start Support (USS) to give it its Nissan name, operates
automatically whenever the vehicle starts from rest on an upslope
of 10 per cent or more, and holds the vehicle for four seconds to
allow the driver to move his foot from the brake to the
accelerator.
On downhill slopes the Downhill Drive Support (DDS) system
controls X-Trail’s ABS braking system to restrict the vehicle’s
descent speed to a maximum of 7 km/h. Unlike the hill start
function the DDS system is operated manually and only operates
when in 4WD-lock mode.
Importantly for the off-road owner, the new X-Trail will come
with a full-size spare tyre which is stored under a clever
two-tier rear storage area that features two compartments, one
with a full length sliding drawer. The 40/20/40-split rear seats
can be folded flat to provide 1649 litres of storage space.
Inside, the first thing existing X-Trail owners will notice is
that the instrument cluster has been moved away from its location
in the centre of the dashboard to the more conventional spot in
front of the driver. This was done to clear the central space for
a satellite navigation/reversing camera screen, although this
option will not be available on Australian X-Trail models.
The changes have made an excellent compact SUV even better and
we look forward to giving it an extended test in our local
territory when it arrives here late this year, following its
Australian debut at the 2007 Sydney Motor Show in October.
© Copyright
Marque Publishing Company
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