Well Worth A Look
by David Finlay (24 May 07)

This is an appropriate time to be writing about the Qashqai. During my test of the 1.5 dCi Acenta, I didn't crash the car (I knew there was something I'd forgotten), but Euro NCAP did, and the results must have been greeted with whoops of delight back at Nissan headquarters.

As reported in our news story, the Qashqai achieved the highest score for adult occupant protection of any vehicle to have been given the Euro NCAP treatment in the past ten years. Nissan's marketing department will no doubt make much of this, and it's certainly something to think about if you're wondering whether to write that cheque.

It won't be the only consideration, though, so let's look at this in more detail. The Qashqai (named, in case you were wondering, after a nomadic tribe in the desert of south-western Iran) is a crossover, intended to combine the features of a medium-sized hatchback with those of an SUV. It takes up about the same amount of road space as your average hatch, but it's significantly taller - enough, at least, for the driver to get a decent view of the road ahead.

Note that I said "ahead". Nissan's efforts to give the Qashqai a coupé-like profile have led to the use of pathetically small rear side windows. I complain a lot about this kind of thing, but even at a time when hardly any manufacturer seems to be paying attention to rear visibility, the Qashqai stands out as being an especially ridiculous example.

It does better in terms of interior space. Passenger room is decent enough, and there's 410 litres of luggage capacity with the seats up. With the seats down the figure increases to 1513 if you load the car to the roof, or 860 litres if you restrict yourself to the window line.

More . . .

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