Nissan X-Trail

Our verdict

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 23bhp, 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.