New Qashqai 2015

It's been quite a while since I have written a review. There are quite a few reasons for this.

The first is simply down to total laziness. The second is that I have been far too busy attempting to become a racing driver (more about that in my Abarth review), and the third is that thankfully, 2013 has been a record year for us and as with everything in life, the more you do, the less spare time you have to do the things that you most enjoy.

One of the reasons for our record year is the Nissan Qashqai. It has easily been the most leased car we have offered since it was launched back in 2007, and given the standard spec the car was launched with, it's easy to understand why. The Visia came with CD player, A/C, Electric Windows, Alloy Wheels and Bluetooth as standard. You also had the benefits of a 4x4 style vehicle in something no bigger than a Focus or Astra. It completely changed the market place to the point that almost all the major manufacturers followed suit and introduced similar cars. Vauxhall have the Mokka, Hyundai the ix35, Mini the Countryman, Skoda the Yeti, Mazda the CX-5 etc...

The fact is that Nissan, who had been releasing some bloody awful cars for years, had finally hit the jackpot. 6 years and 2 MILLION sales later, the Qashqai was due for a bit of a revamp, and last week I got to travel to the Williams F1 Factory to get my hands on the car that (I hope) will single-handedly keep a roof over my head for the next 6 years.

As with most of these pre-press car releases, before we saw the car we had to sit through a presentation explaining what Nissan are looking to do over the coming years (8 new Nismo models certainly got my attention) and also the thinking behind new Qashqai. The word that kept being used when describing the new Qashqai was 'Premium' and each time I heard it, I have to say that I cringed a little. Let me explain why:

I've been in the industry now for nearly 14 years and every so often a manufacturer will launch a completely new version of a current car and call it a 'Premium' car. A prime example of this was Renault with the now binned Laguna (LaGONNA from here on in). When Renault came to our office, every sentence had the word 'Premium': "Soft touch plastics for that 'Premium' feel" or "Chunky steering wheel giving a 'Premium' feel" all with the aim of "taking sales off the 'Premium' German brands". We then moved outside to take the LaGONNA for a test drive and what we were confronted with was possibly one of the worst cars I've had the misfortune to drive. I can assure you that there was nothing 'Premium' about it and with this in mind, I started to worry that what I was about to see was going to have a similar outcome... I even started to think about how to tell Donna and Max that we would be downsizing from our 4 bed detached in a nice quiet cul-de-sac and moving in to a 2 bed mid-terrace in an area resembling Kuwait in 1992.

The doors behind us then opened my thoughts turned to 5 bed houses in Knightsbridge because at first glance, the 2014 Qashqai is a massive improvement on what was already a great all round car.

This is no facelift, the Qashqai has been completely revised and the first thing you will notice is just how angular the car is. The lines are much cleaner, making it more aerodynamic than the outgoing model. This reduces drag on the car and helps improve fuel economy.
It sits lower and wider and the completely new frontend (headlights have LED daytime lights as standard on all models) give the Qashqai a much more aggressive and modern look. The length has also been improved by 5cm. Now I know that doesn't sound a lot, but we'd all love an extra 2 inches...

Move inside the car and the improvements continue. The new interior is night and day when compared with the outgoing Qashqai. The quality is of a high level and could certainly be described for the most part, as having a 'Premium' feel. There are copious amounts of soft touch plastics, the cabin is well laid out and has been designed to be more focused on the driver so everything is within easy reach. As with the outgoing model, the standard equipment levels are excellent.

The Visia comes with: 5inch TFT colour screen, A/C, Bluetooth, Cruise Control, Start-Stop, Electric Windows, Tyre Pressure Monitoring & Hill-Start Assist.

The Acenta includes: Climate Control, 17 inch Alloys, Leather Steering Wheel, Auto Lights & Wipers, Electric Folding Mirrors & Fog Lights.

The Acenta Premium includes: Nissan Connect Sat Nav, Panoramic Roof, Rear Privacy Glass, Reversing Camera, Front & Rear Parking Sensors, Intelligent Key (keyless) & Push Button Start.

The Tekna includes: 19 inch alloys, Bi LED Headlights, Satin Sliver Roof Rails, Full Leather Electric Seats, Safety Shield, Intelligent Parking and Auto Headlamp Leveliser.
There have also been some dramatic changes to engines. The new addition and replacement to the rather gutless and thirsty 1.6 petrol, is the 1.2 DIG-T. Don't let the fact that it is a 1.2 put you off, it has a turbo strapped to it so performance and fuel economy are greatly improved. 0-62 is over half a second faster than the outgoing 1.6 and is more fuel efficient by over 12 miles per gallon. Another huge benefit to lowering the engine size is that you lower the CO-2's emissions, meaning a saving on your road tax, which at the current rate would save you �35.00 per year.

The diesel engines (1.5dci and 1,6dci) have also been improved and are now much more refined. The 1.5dci now produces only 99g/km making it free to tax. The 1.6dci makes a small improvement in CO-2's but the most impressive number (unsurprisingly) for me is the 320Nms of torque. This means that the mid-range pull is much improved.

So what's it like to drive? Well again there are massive improvements on the outgoing car. The steering feels more accurate compared to the old car, there's much less body roll and the ride is better. It feels more refined on the road and the driving position is much improved. The seats feel more comfortable than the outgoing car, which I always felt were too soft. It's a much quieter place to be as well, due to better sound proofing and better aerodynamics. For me, the 1.5dci feels slightly underpowered but then I always want more power in anything that I drive so for the vast majority of sensible road users the 1.5dci will be perfectly fine. The 1.2 pulls very well and didn't feel like I had to thrash it like I first thought I would. It's most definitely a massive improvement on the old 1.6.

Not everything is perfect with this car though and my biggest gripe is that the Visia doesn't come with alloy wheels!! I just don't understand how in this day and age you can charge someone over 17k for a car and not fit it with alloy wheels! I did ask Nissan why they had done this and was told that "we didn't have a set of 16inch alloys to fit it." I'm sure you can guess my thoughts about that...

Also, there is no longer a Qashqai + 2! This is due to be replaced with an all new X-Trail with 7 seats later in the year. I don't get why they have done this as we have leased plenty of the + 2's over the years but I'll reserve judgement until I see the new X-Trail and where it sits price-wise in the marketplace.

In fairness though, this all pales into insignificance when you look at what the Qashqai has become, and also what it is allowing Nissan to do as a brand. With 8 new vehicles due over the next 2 years, Nissan is certainly in the strongest position they have ever been and if the new Qashqai is an example of where they are going as a company, then I just might be able to keep my current roof securely over my families heads.

Thanks for reading

Stuart McKay