Category: Small 4x4s 
Price Range: £19,245 to £26,795
Performance, on-road handling, value for money, fun image.
Loud engines, interior quality.
The X-Trail is a good drive on road and more than adequate off-road, but it's not quite as refined as it should be.
The launch of the X-Trail puts Nissan in the trendy 'soft-roader' market niche for the first time - off-roaders for buyers who will probably never, or rarely, want to actually go off-road. Not that the X-Trail is incapable of extra-tarmac activity, it's just that it has been designed with on-road refinement and driveability as more of a priority than out-and-out mud-plugging potential. It goes on sale alongside the Terrano II, but, says Nissan, there's no risk of confusion. The X-Trail is the model for families, leisure users (horse owners, sportspeople with bulky equipment to cart about, boat towers etc) or those who simply want something higher-riding and more imposing than a normal family estate car without compromising too much on comfort or performance. The Terrano, on the other hand, says Nissan spokesman Wayne Bruce, 'is better off-road than the X-Trail, and more of a workhorse' - that model is intended for the rural folk and green-laners for whom on-road sophistication is less important. Nissan also offers the UN-issue Patrol - a full-sized off-roader only for the hardcore - and the Navara, a 4x4 double-cab pick-up, giving it a comprehensive line-up of four-wheel drives for all needs. The X-Trail, however, is set to be the most popular of them all.
Latest Readers' Drives About the Nissan X-TRAIL
wrote on 30 12 2007
wrote on 18 10 2007
wrote on 31 07 2007