What is it?
There are few greater success stories in the automotive industry than the Nissan Qashqai. Nissan might not have invented the compact SUV segment, but it’s certainly the one responsible for launching it into the stratosphere.
But as always with trailblazers, others follow – and in the case of compact SUVs, many, many others have followed – which means it’s imperative to hold your advantage.
So far, the Qashqai is still doing brilliantly. It’s on its second-generation, had a facelift last year and, year-to-date, is the fourth biggest selling car in the UK. Its closest SUV contenders, the Ford Kuga and Kia Sportage, are in eighth and tenth place respectively.
A third-generation Qashqai is on its way in 2020, but in the meantime, the car maker has introduced another update to keep things fresh. This time it’s a new 1.3-litre petrol engine with 138bhp or 158bhp outputs, replacing the existing petrol engines, and promising reduced fuel consumption and lower CO2 emissions.
A seven-speed dual clutch transmission also makes it debut on the 158bhp version.
Despite the focus on refreshing petrol engines, Nissan is not giving up on diesel. A 1.5-litre 113bhp diesel launched in September and a 1.7-litre 158bhp diesel will arrive early next year. Qashqai’s sales mix is slightly biased towards petrol currently, but less so than the overall trend in the compact SUV segment.
The other update is an all-important new infotainment system, Nissan Connect which the car maker says offers “seamless and intuitive integration of driver and vehicle”. The current Qashqai’s system is one of the most outdated features compared to rivals, so this a crucial area for Nissan to address.
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Rear suspension for 1.3 DIG-T
The model with 1.6 DIG-T (now extinct) used to have an independent rear suspension (the only 4x2 version of Qashqai with an independent suspension, AFAIK).
Does anybody know, please, how is the rear suspension of the 1.3 DIG-T models ?
Amazed how good a car
These were when I hired one the article highlights all the strengths and weakness .would like to have known if the diesel is available as an auto and how refined it is. Android auto and Apple helps with nav llack of poke addressed also.
1.2 to 1.3
On bigger cars it's good to see downsizing has become upsizing. Wonder how the Modeo 1.0 triple is selling these days