Nissan Qashqai

Our verdict

A car that it’s almost impossible to categorise, or pronounce, the Nissan Qashqai is an urban, compact SUV hatchback thingummy. And a very good one at that.Although we haven’t found anything to compare it with yet.

Comfort

One trade off for the relatively tall yet composed ride of the Qashqai 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.

Performance

Diesels are the way to go with the Qashqai, and although the peaky 1.5-litre option makes a decent crack of hauling the cars reasonably sizeable bulk around, we'd definitely advise stretching to the 2.0-litre with an auto ‘box if you can.

Cool

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

Quality

Nothing to get your knickers in a twist about here. The Qashqai is beautifully put together inside and out and has a range of strong, trouble-free engines doing the dirty work.

Handling

The advantage of not quite being a proper SUV is that the Qashqai doesn't really drive like one. There's a merciful absence of body roll in the corners, and it feels light and easy to manoeuvre.

Practicality

With that extra height, space is abundant here. Lots of head and leg room front and rear, and room for three across the back. And all this in a car with a surprisingly small footprint.

Running costs

With its greater weight and optional four-wheel drive the Qashqai does suffer a bit on fuel economy, but the diesel will still do you a respectable 52.3mpg and residuals will be strong for a good while yet.