Nissan X-Trail LE
"I need a good car, what should I get?" If I got a Rand every time... You know the rest of that cliche. The thing is that the person who asks that particular question cannot usually be categorized as "car people". So what car do you recommend to a person who doesn't really like or get cars? First you establish the rough shape and use for the vehicle. The style obsessed single city slicker having a very different requirement to the dog-owning sightseer.
“Should I get a 4x4?” is often the next question from the lot with a penchant for wet Labradors. Now you just know that the noncar loving type with a permanent odour of not quite dried out Labrador is never going to figure out what a 4x4 transfer box with its extra lever is really all about. You hesitate, and just for a moment consider explaining it all to them.
This is currently my best theory around the soft roader. Built for these people and also for that type I am not entirely sure exists, the person who needs the extra traction every now and again.
Really these things are about ride height, visibility, space and practicality. Now these are usually at the expense of performance, ease of use, handling, ride quality, fuel consumption and convenience. To this end Nissan has done an exemplary job of the XTrail. The car is easy. As easy as any good estate most of the owners should be considering in the first place. Nissan is also, in my opinion, an underrated brand. Their products are well built and well thought out, bristling with innovation, quality and added value items. Take this X-Trail Diesel LE. You get a comfortable, well equipped car with a great interior that ticks all the basic boxes. It handles more like a good passenger car than a truck. Actually better than that. One can easily forget that this isn't a sedan based vehicle. You get some awesome innovation: Built in, easily removable, drawer units in the back; a truly panoramic sunroof that retracts to a seemingly physically impossible extent; keyless go that for some reason makes use of a curiously key shaped dummy key where the key usually goes bottom right of the steering shaft instead of a start stop button (this is an odd manifestation typical of many of the Japanese manufacturers); a reversing camera with video hidden in the rear view mirror; decent built in Bluetooth with steering wheel controls; hill start and electronic decent control; even miceties like auto on haedlights and windscreen wipers.
The 4x4 system has no low range but makes use of a wonderfully simple knob that you twist. Simply marked 2wd, 4x4 auto and diff lock. This one you can explain. The excellent auto is mated to a diesel consuming lump producing 110kW and a pleasantly torquey 320Nm. This is just enough to give a 0-100 time of around 10.8 seconds. It must be said that it does feel, due to all that torque, a lot brisker. While achieving all of that, the fuel consumption is claimed at 7.4 litres per 100km, and I feel the need to mention that while this is easily achievable, I returned around 6 on a long trip, it does depend on its intended use. Around town in slow driving with lots of stop starts, a biggish 4x4 with an auto box will see the penalty in raised consumption. This isn't specific to this vehicle, but any auto drivetrain connected to a usefully generous body. The answer to that? 4x4's don't make good city runabouts.
All in at R435,000 the X-Trail is an excellent option, but seriously consider foregoing the keyless entry, panoramic sunroof and 18" wheels and some other gadgets, pocket R120k, save nearly a full second in the 0-100 dash and a litre of diesel consumption and buy its 4x2 XE brother.
