Beyond the smoke and mirrors, the Qashqai’s actually not bad. It has far and away the best-feeling interior that Nissan has produced at this money (from £13,499 to £23,249).
Soft-feel plastics abound, the front seats are big and comfy, the rear seats short on headroom but otherwise fine. The cabin’s slickly designed, while the window line is high and the centre console beefy to create a snug, ‘I’m safe, me’ atmosphere that works.
It’s a feeling enhanced by a 20cm higher driving position than the lowest in class and a ride height 10cm above the class norm. The 410-litre boot the only dimension that’s class leading. And when Nissan says class, what it’s talking about is the Golf, Focus, et al, not little SUVs.
You can have a Qashqai with four-wheel-drive if you want, but only one in every four buyers will. This is a tall hatch. And it drives like one. The steering weight is good, accurate if a touch unresponsive just off straight-ahead. The ride seems fine on the (mostly smooth) roads we’ve tried.
Body control is looser than a typical hatch’s, and roll more pronounced in corners, but these movements are at least linear and predictable. Its worst dynamic characteristic is across sharp bumps, particularly mid-corner, when the body occasionally shimmies laterally (which may be because the suspension is mounted on subframes in turn attached to the chassis via rubber bushes), these kick back mildly through the steering too.
It’s otherwise a quiet and refined drive and, while it can’t match a Focus, Golf or Astra for fun, the Qashqai’s weightier, more positive steering makes it preferable to cooking Meganes, whose platform the Qashqai shares.
It also shares its engines with the Renault. There’s a 1.6 petrol, 1.5 diesel, and 2.0-litre petrol and diesel. We’ve tried both 2.0-litre cars and both engines are very good. The 147bhp turbodiesel is quiet, has good low-end response yet revs well to 5500rpm; the 138bhp petrol engine delivers a nice linear zing and both get automatic gearboxes. One was 2WD, the other 4WD and most of the time you won’t notice the difference.
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Re: Nissan Qashqai 2.0 Tekna
After 2 years with a 2 litre fwd Accenta auto I can add some long term comments
Pros: Good to drive, very economical, comfortable with good roadholding.
Cons: Engine and road noise, silly things going wrong, absolutely pathetic heating/demisting/deicing system.
Re: Nissan Qashqai 2.0 Tekna
Mipala, thats the beauty of these forums, everyones got a view, not always in agreement with others. The bottom line is, if you are happy with the car, it matters not what others think.
You have bought yours for practical reasons obviously.
I chose mine because I've always wanted one. I may get it out of my system and move on to something more practical, heaven knows I need something practical.
Re: Nissan Qashqai 2.0 Tekna
I agree with Jon ....I've waited nearly 5 months for my black tekna qashqai...but i've seen only 3 or 4 qashqai in my city so where are the others...Unpainted parts are not very cute but practical if u are using it on bad surfaces...In fact i really enjoy driving it especially in mud. I must be honest...it is better then all kind of compact ( golf,focus,astra, etc...) and nearlly the same price..besides gives more prestige ....Only well car dealers can understant that it is not a 4x4.... so cheep way of show of :).
PS:My wife and baby ara quite comfortable on its back seat....