ROAD TEST: Tough on the outside, sweet on the inside, the X-Trail is designed for the tarmac habitat. Andrew Hamilton liked the road manners of this new 4x4 from Nissan built on the Primera platform
The Nissan X-Trail has a tough-looking countenance. You can't help imagining it ploughing through mud and water and going up and down impossible slopes. In reality, though, it's a pussy cat.
Nothing wrong with that - easy and safe handling is to be admired in a high, four-wheel-drive vehicle that is designed primarily to prowl on innocuous tarmacadam landscapes.
X-Trail is built on the platform of the new Nissan Primera, which seems to be a more instant hit than any previous Primera, judging by its familiarity on Irish streets and roads. Although the X-Trail is raised up to give enough ground clearance for crossing trails - and climbing kerbs - its four-wheel-drive system works on the same principle as that in Nissan's mighty and much acclaimed Skyline GT-R coupé.
So the X-Trail is more like a car and less like a truck, and that's a good thing. Is it better then than the Land Rover Freelander , Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4? Yes, if you want a vehicle with a spacious, practical and stylish interior.
For serious country pursuits, the greater off-road capability of the Freelander or the Jeep Cherokee would be preferable, but otherwise the X-Trail does just fine. That's our judgement after a couple of weeks of test driving.
The X-Trail is longer (4.5 metres) than its immediate rivals in the price range and that translates into more cabin space. Sadly, there's no diesel option for the present. Only a 2.0 litre 140 bhp petrol unit is available, which comes either in five-speed manual or automatic form.
There are two specification levels, Sport and Elegance. Ex-works prices start at €33,592: our manual drive Elegance model had a €35,992 tag. We should point out that in other countries including Britain, a 2.2 litre common-rail direct injection diesel developing 114 bhp is marketed. According to Paul O'Sullivan of Nissan Ireland, this diesel will be available next year, greatly increasing the X-Trail's appeal. Even so, over 200 have been sold here since launch earlier this year. "We sold our full year's allocation in seven months," says O'Sullivan.
In spite of greener and cleaner credentials, the diesel is on the wrong side of the VRT divide. Engines over 2.0 litres are treated much more punitively.
We found the petrol engine did a competent enough job in giving the weighty X-Trail reasonable performance. It displays very much the manners and personality of a car on the road.
Maybe the biggest appeal for us was sitting high above the traffic,especially all the holiday jumble on the roads in August.
Being based on an up-to-the-minute saloon car chassis, the X-Trail has features that some other sport-utilities lack, such as independent suspension and disc brakes on all four wheels. It steers well, corners with little or no body roll, and rides comfortably.
We were much taken with the interior, a welcome break from the usual sport-utility style. It was light and airy, thanks to a big electrically-powered glass sunroof.
There are impressive practical aspects too: the load floor which looks like aluminium but is tough plastic, is washable and removable.
The centre of the fascia may not be the best place for the speedometer, but it does allow a shelf right across the dashboard and a hinged box hole in front of the driver with a power point that can hold and charge a mobile phone.
X-Trail drivers, mostly confined to the urban jungle, will be happy that Nissan has its priorities right.
Fuel consumption during much holiday driving, worked out at just over 30 mpg. It's an acceptable enough figure, but we couldn't help thinking how much better it could have been if there was the diesel option.
X-Trail has no shortage of competitors and most of them are available in either petrol or diesel form. Exceptions include the Mazda Tribute and Honda CR-V.
The Tribute only has a 2.0 litre petrol and is €34,610 ex-works in the 4x4 model: CR-V with Honda's innovative 2.0 litre VTEC unit starts at €34,365 ex-works.
The Land Rover Freelander comes with a wide mix of petrol and diesel models: the 1.9 entry-level petrol model is €29,555 ex-works.
Korean affordability is represented by the Daewoo Korando and Musso, both using an ageing 2.9 litre Mercedes-Benz derived turbodiesel selling respectively at €31,895 and €35,995 ex-works.
Nissan's X-Trail is a softie at heart. It may not be the toughest off-roader but it's spacious, comfortable and practical. A case of getting your priorities right!