Nissan Dualis

Nissan's designer and engineers can tick their boxes. They've met the brief - the Dualis looks a bit like an SUV, drives a lot like a car. It actually works quite well.

• Comfort

  One trade off for the relatively tall yet composed ride of the Dualis is a certain firmness in the suspension. It's by no means a deal breaker, but you'll have to get used to a slightly jittery nature. There's plenty of head and legroom (for the front five passengers anyway) in the +2, and enough storage for even the most materialistic of children. Pity the two poor kids in the back though…

  

• Performance

  Only one engine is available, a quiet and smooth two-litre petrol with 102kW. Just as well really, because when you're accelerating what you hear is an uninspiring drone.

  

• Cool

  The Dualis is cool. Hell, we gave it an award. How much more convincing do you need? It's capable, understated, different. Exactly what so many cars aren't these days.

  

• Quality

  Tanks to quality, soft-touch materials covering the dashtop and sturdy plastics making up the rest of the fascia, the Dualis has an air of quality not seen in this sector since the Merc A-Class. All the switchgear has a nicely weighted action and feels good on the fingers.

  

• Handling

  The Dualis, despite its SUV pretensions and height, feels pretty agile and doesn't roll in corners. The steering's too light and the FWD version understeers like mad on the limit, but the 4WD version (2.0 models only) kicks torque rearward on demand so is actually rather cheeky fun to hustle along. The ride's a little disturbed - there's some vertical jitteriness and lateral wobble (especially in the rear) and you get a noisy clang when you hit a pothole.

  

• Practicality

  Space is excellent, with the Dualis offering plenty of head and legroom throughout the cabin. The rear bench is wide enough to carry three. At 410 litres, the boot is big for a car in the C-sector (the Focus manages 385 litres). The rear seats split 60/40 to expand that to 60 litres, but the extra height means it's not as easy to load as a standard hatch. The Dualis+2 is the bigger, wagon-er version (although it's more like a genuine off-roader. Confused? We are). It offers a cramped third row of seats and a slightly bigger boot.

  

• Running costs

  The Dualis is heavier than its hatch rivals and that's had an effect on the fuel economy. The 2.0-litre engine returns 8.2L/100km for the front wheel drive version, add 0.2 for AWD.