Nissan X-Trail

A solid interpretation of the entirely on-road off roader, the Nissan X-Trail does everything quite well, which amounts to one of the most ordinary cars on the market. Not that that’s a bad thing.

• Comfort

  Despite all those tricky underpinnings the X-Trail rides quite smoothly, soaking up the bumps and remaining largely free of the excessive body roll that can upset SUVs.

  

• Performance

  Two new diesel engines have improved the X-Trail's performance stats. They're the same size but one eeks out an extra 17kW, to our minds well worth it for the little extra money you need to shell out.

  

• Cool

  The X-Trail is way to middle of the road to be cool. Just because there's nothing significantly wrong with it doesn't mean there's much that's right either.

  

• Quality

  Nissan isn't trying to fool you into thinking the X-Trail is a premium SUV, and it's all quite basic and wipe-clean in here. Having said that, it's also well put together and able to endure far more than the pseudo-sporty lifestyle it's marketed towards.

  

• Handling

  With a standard two-wheel drive setting the X-Trail drives with natural and controllable understeer. ‘Auto 4WD' mode engages clever anti-slip trickery for improved grip in crappy conditions too, so it's largely very sure-footed.

  

• Practicality

  There's plenty of space in front and back thanks to a high roofline and the new X-Trail does actually have a larger boot at 603 litres, making it undeniably more practical than the old one. Although we didn't notice.

  

• Running costs

  With Renault's economical diesels now powering the X-Trail, it's a relatively easy vehicle to run, and residuals are very strong on a car that has sold immensely well in the past. We're talking 60% of retail in three years.