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S. Muralidhar

AMONG the NRIs in the Silicon Valley, the Nissan Sunny and the Maxima are a rage. And with nearly every other Indian middle-class household having a son, daughter, brother or sister in California, the Nissan should ring a bell.

But for the bell to ring loud and clear, just say Datsun. The slightly quirky-sounding Japanese brand of yesteryear is well remembered for the Bluebird 510, the Skyline C110, the Laurel and the famous Cedric. But as competition raced in, Datsun and then its makeover the Nissan brand, were all but pushed off the road till Renault came as a co-driver. The brilliant navigation got Nissan back on the road. Over the last five years Nissan's products have become much improved, and the brand has more than regained much of its respectability. The company has also retained old favourites, such as the Fairlady Z Roadster and Skyline Coupe, and their redesigned models are now popular in many markets around the world.

In keeping with its cautious and yet aggressive foray into new markets, Nissan has decided to make a low-profile entry into India. We would have liked the company to launch its Sunny and the cute Micra or the Cube Cubic, but Nissan has chosen a different rail — the X-Trail — to be precise. On second thoughts, the X-Trail is probably the right choice given the focus of Nissan's revival plan, and after all, the X-Trail has what it takes to leave a lasting impression in the Indian car buyer's mind. The compact sports utility vehicle that has been a runaway success in many of the markets that it has been introduced in the last two years, will be imported in fully built form from its Japanese plant and will be sold in India through a network of dealers.

Practical design

The Nissan X-Trail clearly belongs to the new breed of cars that the Japanese manufacturer set out to make to bring back customers to its showrooms. In keeping with Nissan's design policy — "clear, creative and consistent" — the X-Trail was born out of the need to offer a well-designed, compact sports utility that offers high practicality, good fuel economy and has excellent build quality. It is still a compact SUV, though it looks bigger than some of the rivals such as the Honda CR-V. Is that why Nissan is yet to introduce the X-Trail in the US? After all, Americans like their SUVs big, some even the size of small trucks. According to Mr Carlos Ghosn, President and Chief Executive Officer of Nissan Motor Company, design is the key to the revival of the Nissan brand. The X-Trail's design follows the same bold and innovative styling theme that Nissan has adopted for most of its new products, even ones that have come from its luxury marque — Infiniti.

Though because of its traditional boxy yet bold design, the X-Trail belongs dimensionally to the compact SUV category, it still looks big-made from the front. The thick front bumpers, the large clear lens headlamps cluster and the flared out, deep-cut wheel arches give the X-Trail a stout, rugged on-road presence. The fog lamps integrated into the bumper and the chrome-lipping around the diamond-mesh bonnet grille gives the X-Trail a distinctive countenance. The roof rails merge into the bodylines and the colour coordinated polymer fenders on the flanks add class and practicality to the X-Trail.

At the rear, the X-Trail's dimensions look more like its compact SUV peers, probably due to the absence of any single dominating feature. The tail-lamps are placed high on the C-pillar for better visibility and the low-floor access bay for the boot area makes loading up the X-Trail easy. This vehicle is also airy and well-lit thanks to the large, UV-block glass area all around, including the extra-large, panoramic sunroof.

Interiors

Once inside the X-Trail, the interiors immediately strike you as being extremely thoughtfully laid-out. The first thing that hits the eye, of course, is the instrument cluster, which has been shifted to the top of the centre console and away from the traditional space above and behind the steering wheel. In its place, right above the steering wheel, comes a driver's glove box, with a 12V power socket for charging cellphones and so on, and an auxiliary vent from the air-conditioner. Both very practical. The meter console at the centre offers better visibility for the driver, though it may take a while getting used to.

Build quality and interior trim are top notch. Switches and knobs have a rugged and precise feel about them. The centre console is clad in brushed aluminium as also the console housing the gear-shift stick of the X-Trail's six-speed manual transmission. Automatic, tropicalised air-conditioning is standard and the strategically located vents all around the vehicle quickly make the interior temperature comfortable.

The X-Trail abounds with storage space options. The cooled cubbyholes for storing beverage bottles, the driver's side upper glove box and the massive luggage storage area at the rear, thanks to the splitting and double folding second row of seats, all make the X-Trail well suited for long distance travel. But without the third row of seats or even jump seats, the vehicle is not for large families. Powered, tilt-adjust steering; power windows; keyless entry; body coloured bumpers; powered and foldable door mirrors; and engine immobiliser with alarm are all standard features.

Designed for speed and high traction, the X-Trail is a hardy off-roader, while offering the comfort and conveniences of a sedan. For the Indian market, the X-Trail has been brought in with the highly refined, responsive and fuel-efficient, four-cylinder, in-line, 2.2-litre common-rail diesel engine. Together with a variable nozzle turbocharger and a larger intercooler, this engine delivers an impressive 314Nm of peak torque. The interesting aspect about this dCi engine is that the torque peaks at a relatively low 2,000 rpm. This class-leading 2,184cc dCi diesel engine also provides a high power of 136 bhp at 4,000 rpm.

Adequate torque is, as a result, available within a wide band from 1,500 rpm to about 4,000 rpm. Low-end torque improves the X-Trail's performance in both city-driving conditions and while off-roading.

Further, this enables the vehicle to come up with an amazing fuel efficiency number of 12-14 kmpl (combined cycle). Powerful and responsive, the engine helps the X-Trail accelerate from 0 to 100 kmph in 11.5 seconds, with good in-gear acceleration. The X-Trail is rated for a maximum speed of about 180 kmph. The X-Trail has a technological surprise in its "All Mode 4X4" electronic four-wheel drive system. With the dash-mounted rotary switch you can select a setting to suit any road or track condition. Select `2WD' for the best fuel economy when driving on open roads.

In `auto' mode, four-wheel drive is automatically selected when the X-Trail senses it is required — as in slippery conditions or when a loss of traction is anticipated. In other conditions `auto' mode drives the front wheels to maximise economy.

For extra confidence on difficult terrain, the `lock' position sets the front-to-rear torque distribution at a ratio of 57:43, giving maximum traction.

To make the X-Trail handle even better and safer, there are such features as electronic brake force distribution for load specific differential braking and a brake assist system that comes combined with the anti-lock braking system. Other safety features include the dual front and side airbags, the active headrests and three-point seat belts for all five passengers.

The X-Trail comes with two trim levels — Elegance and Comfort at an ex-showroom price of Rs 24 lakh and Rs 21 lakh (Chennai), respectively. The higher priced variant comes with such additional features as fog lamps, six CD-changer, electric sunroof and leather upholstery.

The X-Trail is an exciting new compact SUV that may be the right choice for those who love the outdoors and also want a handsome looking vehicle for city use city. It offers sedan style comfort, but the pricing, in the Mercedes C-class league, is still a bit steep.

Nissan is represented in India through its dealers PS Natarajan & Co in Chennai, Pushpanjali Motors in Delhi and Aquest Auto in Mumbai.

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