Nissan X-Trail - long-term review

Believe it or not, this is Nissan's fourth generation of the X-Trail... and it’s come a long way since it was launched in 2000. Back then it was part of the early surge of soft roaders, but now you’d be hard pushed to find a manufacturer that doesn’t have one in its line-up. And while I’m pretty sure 99.9 per cent of them will never go off road, the fact they could makes people feel they’re living a charmed, country chic life.

As it happens, this one will definitely never go off road, as we’ve got the 2WD version.

The X-Trail has lost its original boxy look and is now a sleeker, posher, roomier and more technologically advanced car. It also has the option of seven seats (great idea), though we don’t have a seven-seater version – nonetheless we will try and drive one for comparison purposes. Under the bonnet there is a 1.5-litre petrol engine with added ePower.

Allow me to explain what that means. The engine doesn’t actually power the wheels at all, that’s down to the 201bhp electric motor – commonly known as a self-charging hybrid. Basically, the petrol bit acts as a generator for the e-motor and also has fancy tech that enables it to vary its compression ratio to burn petrol more efficiently at different loads.

We’ve opted for the top spec Tekna+ which comes loaded with so much kit that there’s not enough space on this page to list everything. Key highlights include 20in diamond cut alloy wheels, a 12in infotainment display, quilted leather front seats and a sunroof. The only real added extra is the two tone champagne/silver paint, which comes in at £1,145.

That gives an OTR cost of £45,780 (minus the paint). For comparison, the next trim below Tekna (same engine) would be £39,790 – and there is a notable difference both in spec and quality. So is the top specification worth the extra upfront cost? Is the fancy drive technology too clever? We’ve got six months to find out