Hybrid power marks a welcome return to form for the Hyundai Santa Fe rival
The Nissan X-Trail has found itself in a slightly odd place, and a far cry from what it once was. As the brand’s largest SUV in Europe, and one available with seven seats, it is natural to compare it to other seven-seaters such as the Skoda Kodiaq, Kia Sorento, Hyundai Santa Fe and even the behemoth Toyota Highlander.But that was never the point of the X-Trail. It was launched in 2001 as a fairly no-nonsense Land Rover Freelander-esque 4×4, and Nissan made plenty of noise at the time about the four-wheel drive system (two-wheel-drive versions came much later) and uncarpeted boot.The X-Trail’s mission remained much the same for the second generation, though it gained more family-friendly sensibilities, and by that point the X-Trail had to share showroom space with the Nissan Qashqai, which for most people fulfilled the same role. So, for the third generation the X-Trail grew a little and effectively replaced the seven-seat Qashqai+2. And since the Qashqai tends to be a bit smaller than cars like the Kia Sportage and Toyota RAV4, that allowed the two Nissan SUVs to coexist.The new one mostly picks up where the last one left off. Visually it looks less like a big Qashqai, but in many ways that is still what the X-Trail is. As such, it’s more of a Sportage and RAV4 rival, just one with a small third row of seats.Range at a glanceNissan expects the volume sellers to be the full-hybrid e-Power versions. The standard e-Power has a single front motor but the e-4orce gets an additional rear motor for four-wheel drive. There is also an entry-level three-cylinder mild-hybrid with front-wheel drive.The line-up has five trim levels. The bottom one, Visia, gets very little equipment and is only available in combination with the 163PS engine. For the e-Power versions, you need to step up to Acenta Premium. Upgrades from there are N-Connecta, Tekna and Tekna+.VersionPowerNissan X-Trail Mild hybrid 163161bhpNissan X-Trail E-Power201bhpNissan X-Trail E-Power E-4Orce210bhpTRANSMISSIONS1-spd reduction gear CVT (mild hybrid only)
