Road test
Nissan Qashqai+2
1.6 dCI TEKNA
Top speed: 117 mph; Combined fuel consumption: 55.4mpg; Emissions: 133g/km; Price: £25,445
The British-built Qashqai is Nissan's best-selling and most important car. In the four years since its launch it has sold a million and made Nissan's Sunderland plant a huge success.
It was the company's first crossover vehicle and we buy 40,000 Qashqais a year in the UK alone. Now it has been given a new engine, smaller and more economical than before, and some electronic wizardry to boost performance and parking.
Nissan claims the new 1.6-litre diesel is 31 per cent more economical than the two-litre unit it replaces, and emits nearly a quarter less CO2 while delivering the same performance.
The Qashqai is no lightweight but remained agile and willing on a twisting Spanish test route, and provides decent refinement for a car of this type. The chassis and most of the other mechanicals remain unchanged and there is a choice of five-seat or seven-seat versions.
An optional four-camera system using clever electronic trickery provides an overhead view of the car to aid parking manoeuvres, while switchable torque vectoring can direct just the right amount of power to each wheel, which, compared to two-wheel-drive, knocked around 10 per cent off lap times around a demonstration course.
At £25,445 it is not exactly cheap, but with such a broad range of talents it will continue to tick a lot of boxes for people wanting versatile family transport.
