Nissan X-Trail Aventura eXplorer eXtreme

3 months ago 22nd Mar 10:01

Nissan X-Trail Aventura eXplorer eXtreme - What’s in a name? Well, an awful lot and if you take the name of this Nissan X-TRAIL that caused a sensation at last years Geneva Motorshow, images of boldness, brazenness and outright toughness spring to mind.

Not just the X-TRAIL, but add on ADVENTURA eXplorer and eXtreme, immediately you are assured that this car will conquer any terrain it is given with utter ease. Believe me, it does.

Not for the light hearted this all new X-TRAIL may not look too different from its outgoing model, but under her façade is a whole new chassis and body, more powerful engines that provide better performance therefore economy, superior equipment plus an awful lot more interior space.

This X-TRAIL is the ultimate of SUV’s boasting outstanding off road capabilities coupled with practicality to suit every sport every family just happens to be involved in. She looks fabulous with the 17-inch alloy wheels cementing her presence, chrome door handles, colour coded electrically adjustable folding and heated door mirrors, her attractiveness, while eXtreme roof rails with integrated lamps, her practical side.

This X-TRAIL is the ultimate of SUV’s boasting outstanding off road capabilities coupled with practicality to suit every sport every family

Three grades are of offer, TREK, SPORT and AVENTURA to four engines, three of which are brand new to the X-TRAIL. My test car for the week had the new 2.0 litre diesel 173 PS that took a respectable 10 seconds to accelerate to 62 mph, claims a top speed of 124 mph yet fuel consumption a penny saving 38.2 mpg. CO2 emissions are not to be knocked coming in at 198g/km but beware the insurance group – 34E.

The new X-TRAIL is slightly larger than before so quite a heavy car to drive. Yet she seemed so nimble to drive racing through the six speed manual gearbox and the steering was superb being light and responsive for those treacherous parking bays then tightening up on the motorways. Initially I was driving around finding the most deserted part of the car park, but in fact, manoeuvring the X-TRAIL, despite her dimensions, was much easier that you would have thought.

The AVENTURA eXplorer eXtreme comes with every conceivable toy imaginable to aid and abet the driver. The extra pack over the normal AVENTURA includes a DVD satellite navigation system, rear parking camera, which the kids love, and Xenon headlamps that I love driving through the country lanes where I live at night. The panoramic sunroof keeps the children amused for hours as well as creating a bright spacious interior enhanced by the light tan leather upholstery. Settling into the electrically adjustable heated drivers seat, I then adjusted the steering wheel to suit whist familiarising myself with all the remote controls on the leather wheel from audio to cruise controls to Bluetooth phone integration. Whist waiting for the climate controlled air conditioning to kick in; I selected my six favourite CD’s and placed them in the auto-changer.

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