2023 Nissan X-Trail review: Wheels Car of the Year finalist

Making the final four at COTY after vanquishing seven tough combatants in our medium SUV Megatest was enough to put away some early scepticism towards the T33 Nissan X-Trail.

The new X-Trail shares its CMF-C platform with the Mitsubishi Outlander, a car that wasn’t invited when it was eligible in 2021 – having lost a key comparison, albeit barely – but Nissan’s family-friendly SUV has proved a more considered and well-rounded vehicle, sailing through static assessment and Proving Ground challenges.

That bold V-Motion grille, sharp LED headlights, squat proportions and near-premium cabin presentation make it a shoo-in for most improved. That’s not all. “​It’s got one of the best new-car smells,” added Spinks. Boat floated.

WHEELS CAR OF THE YEAR 2023

When you start looking at the little things, the X-Trail really excels.

Take the door hinges; there’s no unsightly stamped steel here. Nissan has cast items that are unique and allow the doors to open 85 degrees, perfect for fitting baby seats and negotiating with two-foot terrorists. Soft-touch materials are everywhere, and the storage tray beneath the central console for bags or tissues enhances practical appeal.

Lower X-Trail trims are available with seven seats (even though the rearmost seats are really kids-only), though we wish they could be teamed with Ti and hybrid trims. The Ti-L’s 575L boot is generous, with flocking to minimise pram-scratching and clever ‘Divide-And-Hide’ cargo separators built in.

It’s not all pragmatism, though – our Ti-L tester had a bit of pizazz thanks to tan Nappa leather upholstery. “If I didn’t know what car I was in, you could almost think it’s a Ferrari cabin. Take note, Mitsubishi!” said an enthused Inwood, though Fisk didn’t love it: “I found the tan leather over the top and something I wouldn’t want to live with long-term.”

Black leather’s also available, thankfully.

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Consensus decreed that while the ST-L has almost everything you need, Ti is the sweet spot.

“The first question I had was: what’s the cheapest one that I can buy with the nice screen?” asked Andy. That’d be the Ti, Enright. You’re welcome. It also gets a powered tailgate. The richly equipped $57K Ti-L E-Power makes a case for itself too – it’s one helluva polished package.

At the proving ground, judges remarked on the ST-L’s excellent ride quality and enjoyable dirt experience in ‘Off-Road’ mode. The Ti-L E-Power’s 20-inch alloys added some fidget, but not enough to ruin the package – its clever electric AWD also added confidence on dirt.

"The E-Power exhibits a lovely cohesion between the ICE and the hybrid system" – Alex Affat

Not long after sampling the X-Trails, I noticed my fellow judges spending a lot of time on the emergency lane-change manoeuvre.

As I was chatting with Inwood about the Pug 308’s lovely ride, Campbell arrived and said, “Mate, the E-Power does something for me in the lane change; can you see if it does it for you?”

“What’s it do?” Inwood queried. “You’ll see,” Campbell yelled back while jogging to test his next victim.

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Both the X-Trails and Qashqais demonstrated “authoritative” ESC tunes on dirt, but as Inwood hurtled towards the lane change in the E-Power, the first steering input sent the Ti-L’s rear end slewing sideways into the cones at any speed faster than 90km/h – a totally different trait to the atmo ST-L. In fairness to the E-Power, its mid-pack performance is about what you’d expect for a medium SUV, but it was the first real chink in X-Trail’s armour.

Despite this, the decision to bring the X-Trail along to road loops in the final four was nearly unanimous, with the judges aligned on its overall excellence.

On road, the X-Trail made a case for itself with a wide-screen view out over the bonnet. The rear bench is set significantly higher than the front, too, for a stadium-seating setup. With the Ti-L’s pano roof letting plenty of light in, it was by far the most pleasant second row of the finalists.

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What about those engines?

“The 2.5 is not a delight, but it’s certainly not a nail,” opined Enright, while it reminded Inwood of past hot hatches: “Does anyone else think the 2.5 sounds a bit like a Renaultsport Megane?”

The atmo ST-L’s powertrain is a mainstay in this segment, so the E-Power hybrid piqued the judges’ interest. Being a true series hybrid, all four wheels are driven by two e-motors exclusively, with the turbo-triple just there to keep electrons flowing. That means razor-sharp throttle response from a standstill and great roll-on punch.

Nissan’s way of keeping revs as low as possible and eliminating the dreaded RAV4 rubber-band effect is with a variable compression ratio (from 8:1-14:1). The E-Power even has active noise cancellation (how very Rolls-Royce!) so under full throttle, four-up applications it remains pleasantly muted.

“An intriguing technical proposition, but still E-Power uses more fuel than a RAV4 hybrid,” noted Enright. He’s right, of course, with a 6.1L/100km rating on the combined cycle to RAV’s 4.8L/100km.

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Although the E-Power returned the best fuel economy (9.2L/100km, besting the atmo X-Trail by 15 per cent), there’s no escaping that a RAV4 would have been more efficient on the same drive. The E-Pedal mode is engaging, at least, allowing one-pedal driving down to about 7km/h for an ‘EV-Lite’ experience.

The light steering had more consistent weighting than the Qashqai’s, and the X-Trail’s chassis preferences fluidity and neutrality over outright engagement, which is what most buyers want in a family SUV.

Spinks wasn’t enamoured by the E-Power’s unsettling float on one particularly vicious mid-corner compression, but overall we were convinced.

“Of all our finalists, the X-Trails surprised me most on the road loops. I thought they were good at the proving ground but on flowing country roads they’re truly excellent,” opined Inwood.

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Its ProPilot active driver aids were also great in the real world. The lane-keep assist was helpful without being heavy-handed, and the adaptive cruise control adjusted speeds smoothly on the highway.

The X-Trail excels as a package. “It’s like Nissan has gone to somebody’s house, got the list of what a midsize SUV buyer wants, and just gone ‘tick tick, tick’... it would slip into your life so seamlessly, like a butler,” said Inwood.

Entering the final discussion I was confident that X-Trail had a 50:50 chance – and I wasn’t alone. But after fleshing out the expensive service costs, short service intervals and the E-Power’s lacklustre performance in the lane change, the tune changed in the room.

There’s an awful lot to love about the excellent, well-rounded X-Trail, but not quite enough to make it 2023’s Car of the Year.

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