Nissan Qashqai 2014 Review - Auto express

Over the last seven years the Nissan Qashqai has spawned an army of imitators. But now the original crossover is about to be replaced by this all-new model. It's bigger, cleverer and cleaner than ever before and it could be about to teach those copy cats a lesson or two. The sleek new design is a bit less rounded and friendly-looking than before. The DNA from the original Qashqai is still very much intact. With a same basic shape, while the prominent new V-shape grille will become a feature on the new Nissan range. The overall length has been stretched by about 47mm and it's lower and wider too. New headlights on top-spec models use LED technology and sap half the power of normal halogen bulbs. Our Tekna model also came on flashy 19-inch alloy wheels. Here inside the Qashqai definitely feels like a bigger car this time around. Some clever packaging means that there's more headroom and more shoulder room than before and it feels wider, too. This particular model - which is the top-spec Tekna version - even comes with a swanky panoramic glass roof like you get in a Range Rover Evoque. For the really good stuff you're going to need to take a closer look because the quality this time around has really taken a quantum leap forward. There's squashy soft-touch plastics all over this dashboard and there's also a lot more technology at work too. Even the switchgear from the steering wheel to the indicator and the doorhandles have a really solid robust feel and it's definitely a more premium product. The new Nissan connect system well on Tekna and Excentra premium models that's a seven-inch touch screen. There's also a small screen here between the dials. And that's to help you control some of the different driver assistant systems which I'll tell you about later on when we're on the road. Okay, now we're here in the hills outside of Madrid and we've got a chance to test the handling a bit more. Although the new Qashqai keeps the 4x4 styling that made it so popular the first time around with plastic-cladding and roof rails and all the rest, 90% of the cars at Nissan are going to sell are all going to be front-wheel-drive. The new front-wheel-drive car comes with a twist-beam rear axel instead of the complicated multilink suspension that you got on the old car. The reason for that is that it saves them an awful lot of weight - about 35 kilos they told me last night. That means they can cut the CO2 emissions really easily. But, to compensate and to make sure it still handles really well they've done a few things to tweak the chassis. There's a double piston shock absorber on the back and that helps it absorb bumps at low speed but also maintain a really nice ride for when you're going round corners so it doesn't roll too much. They've also got two different active systems. The first is called ActiveTrace Control and that's just basically a fancy way of saying torque vectoring so that when you pile really hard into a corner to stop it understeering the car will brake one of the inside wheels and that helps you slingshot round and out the other side. The second is called Ride Control. That's standard on all new Qashqais and it works by braking either the front or the rear axel when you go over a bump or even a pothole something like that. Anything that moves the body up and down. The breaks just apply really gently and that's to flatten out the ride as soon as possible. Stop you dipping up and down. It's very subtle the way the system works but overall it means the Qashqai is really really comfortable and quite refined. It does feel a little grown up though and probably think it's a little bit less fun than it was before. That's not a bad thing it's going to suit most people a lot more but if you're looking for something really really fun to drive this particular engine probably isn't the one to do it. Although the performance is fine when you're cruising and in town actually I've found up here in the hills you've got to make sure you're in the right gear and work it quite hard and it's not that eager to rev. It's very refined but you'll probably want to wait for the 1.6-litre 161bhp turbo petrol which is due in September if you want to go for a really sporty drive in the new Qashqai. The Qashqai has lost none of its practicality either. The boot is now 430 litres which is 20 more than you got in the old car and there's plenty of room in the back thanks to the low transmission tunnel and tall roof. You can split the roof with a helpful divider that's built into the floor and there's even space to carry the tunnel cover when it's not in use. Sadly the seven-seat Qashqai plus two will no longer be offered so you'll have to buy the new X-trail if you want some extra seats in the back. The new Qashqai has only just arrived but it's already an award-winner. But does it deserve those plaudits. Well as you can probably tell from the in-car footage I really enjoyed spending time with it and driving it here in Madrid. This time around it's a little bit less innovative - Nissan have played it safe and it's a crowded market so some of the magic of the original has definitely been lost. Then again, it's also much more high-quality and the amount of technology and some of the efficiency of the new engines really is very impressive. Those combined will help it rocket straight to the top of the crossover class and it's likely to stay there for some time.