Category: Small Family 
Price Range: £15,600 to £24,700
Fine drive, added space.
Seats only useful for occasional use, hefty premium over already pricey five-seat.
Worth considering for those who occasionally carry more than five and are thoroughly bored with the MPV way of thinking.
We're a big fan of the way the original Nissan Qashqai drove. Although it was no Ford Focus-basher owing to its higher centre of gravity, it was always more than capable when you finally escaped the city crawl.
The biggest enemy the new larger +2 model will face will be the added weight the larger body brings. Both 210mm longer and 38mm higher the weight swells by as much as 114kg depending on model and this is one substantial measurement that can't be hidden the designers. Choose the 147bhp diesel 2.0-litre and opt for the optional 4x4 hardware and you'll be tipping the scales at an incredible 1.8 tonnes - that's half a tonne heavier than the lightest regular Qashqai.
So how does it drive? Pretty well actually. The diesel lump may be vocal but its maximum 236lb-ft of torque at 2,000rpm seems to shrug off all that kerbweight with ease.
The Nissan engineers have done a fine job too, tuning the suspension and even stretching the wheelbase by 135mm to cope with the epic mass. It means that it maintains the smaller car's fine dynamics and proportions.
Like the smaller five-seat Qashqai the +2 benefits from having more sophisticated multi-link rear suspension that helps minimise the tendency of the nose to push wide when pressing on through a bend.
Only extreme cornering (or slippery conditions) will a driver ever really feel the All-Mode 4x4 system earning its living by shuffling torque backwards. Otherwise it feels, and acts, like a regular front- wheel-drive car.
The 138bhp 2.0-litre petrol is equally impressive, if a little lacking in pulling power compared with the muscular diesel.
The two-wheel-drive version we drove was more agile since it's some 80kg lighter with the loss of the rear driven axle. The petrol also had better weighted steering than the diesel and rode better too. Both were beautifully damped and felt safe and secure on the road.
As you might expect, the +2 is slower than the standard model. The 0-62mph sprint takes four tenths of a second longer, with the petrol taking 10.5 seconds and the diesel 10.9 seconds. On the road, even accounting the petrol's lighter weight, the diesel still felt faster with superior mid-range overtaking thanks to its greater reserve of torque.
We expect the base 113bhp 1.6-litre petrol model to struggle with a full load of passengers and luggage though.
