2015 Nissan Qashqai

12 February, 2015   By: Alex Forrest

The Nissan Qashqai was a welcome replacement for the Dualis when it arrived on our shores in July 2014, but it did bring with it an obvious first problem: how to pronounce it?

Let’s get that one out of the way for starters. Nissan have said it’s pronounced “cash kai”, so we’ll go with that. You can practice at home if you like.

Underneath that strange name though, is a very good little SUV. So good in fact, that the two wheel drive version won its category in the 2014 Australia’s Best Cars program.

The Qashqai offers more room inside than the Dualis it replaced, which was really a high-riding small hatchback.

For an SUV this size, it offers good head and shoulder room for people over 185cm tall, but the seats also adjust well for smaller people. There’s good legroom for rear seat passengers and a range of handy storage spots.

The car we road tested was a TL, which is the range-topper and has a 1.6-litre diesel engine which makes 96kW and 320Nm. This comes in at $41,455 drive away.

However, pricing for the Qashqai ST starts at $28,950, which means a 2.0-litre petrol engine with a six-speed manual gearbox. The 2.0-litre makes 106kW and 200Nm, and is among the front runners in its class for fuel economy.

With the auto, which is a continuously variable transmission (CVT, or Xtronic as Nissan calls it), the ST petrol will cost $31,670. There is plenty of power for what could reasonably be expected from this type of vehicle, and it’s delivered with class-leading refinement.

The CVT in the Qashqai is much better than the CVTs of five years ago.

CVTs are widely known for making the engine drone at high revs, however the Qashqai’s CVT has been tuned to feel more like a conventional auto. This means gear changes have been artificially stepped to give a calmer acceleration experience.

There’s a long list of standard safety features which help it to a 5-star ANCAP safety rating. These include six airbags, electronic stability control, electronic brake force distribution, brake assist and LED daytime running lights.

This vehicle qualifies for RAC's Less Emissions Mission rewards.