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It's urban warfare – by Gerry Boyd

Sunday World - 29.04.07

Nissan's crossover takes to the streets NISSAN'S tongue-twisting Qashqai – you'll need to limber up your lips before saying it – is a car of two halves.

The top half looks racy while the lower half has an aggressive, muscular appearance.

The Qashqai – pronounced cash k-eye – is a Euro-styled compact crossover that is being offered in two- and four-wheel drive, although Nissan Ireland here see demand being mainly for the2WD. It falls between hatchbacks like the Ford Focus and VW Golf and compact SUVs like the Subaru Forester.

The Qashqai's sleek form has a dynamic shoulder line which rises at the rear, large pronounced wheel arches, an elevated ground clearance and a purposeful stance.

Based on the new platform of the upcoming replacement for the X-Trail and built in Nissan's Sunderland plant in England, from where it is also being exported to Japan amongst other places, the Qashqai is around 100 to 150mm taller than rival hatchbacks and about 130 mm lower than an SUV.

Also it takes up no more road space than rival hatchbacks or weigh much more either.

The Qashqai, named after an Iranian tribe, is like a scaled-down version of Nissan's popular Murano. It looks strong, refreshing and distinctive with a long bonnet and a vertical nose along with a comfy interior that's attractive arid well put together. A large panoramic glass roof on our test car really lightened up the interior.

Inside soft-touch materials cover the dash top, switch-gear is well planned and the deeply recessed instruments and raised centre console look quite sporty. Fit and finish are excellent. Supportive seats adjust for height and the steering wheel for height and reach.

High seating gives a good visual command of the road at the front and sides although rear pillars hamper rear visibility.

The Qashqai carries four in comfort and will seat five with a little bit of a squeeze in the back. There is plenty of leg and headroom up front and the boot is big for its class and well shaped.

The Qashqai, which in all versions comes very well equipped, has plenty of storage spots and is high on safety gear, is being offered in two trim levels, SE and SVE and in petrol and diesel versions. The 2WD is available in 1.6 and 2.0 litres petrol and two diesels, 1.5DCi and 2.ODCi while the 4WD offers 2.0 litre petrol and 2.0 litre diesel.

B POWER: The engine that powered our vehicle on appraisal, Renault's excellent shared 106bhp 1.5 litre diesel, completes this Nissan winner. It feels and drives well and is impressively punchy at low speeds. Economical too. We returned an average 53mpg.

It does the 0 to 100 km/h in 12.2 seconds and has a top speed of just under 173 km/h. The engine is not particularly quiet but the soundproofing is very effective.

There is some body lean on cornering but it rides and handles well and there is plenty of grip.

Highly recommended.

PRICE (ex works): EUR29,195 (1.5 dCi diesel).

PERCENTAGE RATING (out of 100): 85 per cent

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