Nissan X-trail?
Submitted: Friday, Apr 14, 2006 at 08:33
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Member - Phil G (SA)
Just planning my wife's next car. Need good rear
seat access and space for a walking frame in the rear....................No, thats not for us........................its for her aging parents who have just lost their licence.
Thought I could do a swifty and get her a 4wd :-))
Just wondering what is good and bad about the Nissan X-trail with automatic transmission? We may even play with it offroad :-)))
Cheers
Phil
Reply By: Willem - Friday, Apr 14, 2006 at 11:38
Friday, Apr 14, 2006 at 11:38
G'day
My misus has one and loves it dearly. Lightweight, auto, cruise control(aftermarket)very economical, plurry fast, rear eats fold down etc etc.for oots of room.
Has 135kw engine and it goes!!!!!!
Not really an offroad vehicle but good on SA dirt roads with auto AWD and locking AWD.
I see lots coming through town towing small caravans.
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Follow Up By: Member - Phil G (SA) - Friday, Apr 14, 2006 at 18:50
Friday, Apr 14, 2006 at 18:50
Hi Willem,
Sounds like you're the one who loves it dearly :-))
The size and shape are about right for what we need to complement the traytop, and reviews suggest that its offroad ability is better than most softroaders. Got to be better than the Corolla I used to take bush back in the 70's!
On the latest model, they've quietly detuned the motor back to 123Kw (was 132) and torque back to 230. My guess is that they've done that to improve fuel consumption a little, but I'd expect it to still move pretty
well. And Cruise control is now standard on all models.
So we went out shopping for a used Ti, and looks like we'll buy a new ST-S which is on special at moment with the 16inch alloys and a sunroof to get a tan on my bald head!
Cheers
Phil
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Willem - Friday, Apr 14, 2006 at 19:06
Friday, Apr 14, 2006 at 19:06
Nah, its a plastic toy. Not my style. Advised against it but SWMBO did as she pleased
Even my GQ RX is too upmarket for me. Need a real bush truck like yours............
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Jimbo - Saturday, Apr 15, 2006 at 13:39
Saturday, Apr 15, 2006 at 13:39
The power drop is due to new emission laws which came into effect for any car manufactured after 1/1/06. It affected many vehicles.
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Follow Up By: Member - Phil G (SA) - Saturday, Apr 15, 2006 at 14:14
Saturday, Apr 15, 2006 at 14:14
Jimbo, thats interesting. Might be worth getting an '05 badged one.
Thanks,
Phil
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Reply By: bevnles - Friday, Apr 14, 2006 at 12:16
Friday, Apr 14, 2006 at 12:16
We have an X-trail which we have taken outback Qld and across Australia from
Brisbane to WA in a direct line. See post 27471. Walking frames no problem. You need a rubber mat in the back though or everything slides all over the place thanks to the spare wheel cover which is designed to take out and hose clean. The web site www.xtrail.australia42d.com/ is very active and will answer any queries that you may have. We have just spent 5 days driving through dunes in Kinkuna NP is Qld and it handled beautifully. Tyres (Coopers) at 19 and a little lower for the very soft areas. Quite deep wheel ruts but the X-trail manages to get centre and outside no problem. Great for suburbia too.
Cheers
Bev
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: bevnles - Friday, Apr 14, 2006 at 12:18
Friday, Apr 14, 2006 at 12:18
Sorry - typo. Should read www.xtrailaustralia4wd.com/
Bev
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Follow Up By: Member - Phil G (SA) - Friday, Apr 14, 2006 at 18:54
Friday, Apr 14, 2006 at 18:54
Thanks Bev,
Good practical advice. That website is brilliant - huge number of reviews and links. Even detected a bit of bias with the CRV review that slams the CRV and tells people to go for the X-trail :-))
What size are your Coopers?
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Follow Up By: bevnles - Saturday, Apr 15, 2006 at 12:31
Saturday, Apr 15, 2006 at 12:31
Our vehicle is a 2002 ST and the tyres are Cooper A/Ts 225 70 15. Our last vehicle was a Pajero with Coopers and we travelled 30,000km around Aust with only 1 slow leak. A lot of time off-road - Bungles,
Kimberley etc. Corrugations, bulldust or sand, we do not normally lock in 4wd but leave the X_trail in auto. No overheating - works brilliantly. Only on steep hills, and for short periods of time, would we lock in 4wd. Friends with CRV find it engages 4wd far too late and they bog in sand very quickly even with tyres very low.
Cheers
Bev
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Reply By: hotdfa - Friday, Apr 14, 2006 at 22:50
Friday, Apr 14, 2006 at 22:50
Hi phill, the only problem with x-trail is in heavy beach work or mud with constant wheel slip is the rear diff over heats and reverts vehicle back to one wheel drive..Which is not real nice when you really need it.
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Follow Up By: Member - Phil G (SA) - Saturday, Apr 15, 2006 at 12:53
Saturday, Apr 15, 2006 at 12:53
Hotfa,
i presume you're talking about when its switched to 4wd - not just in "Auto" or "2wd". According to the blurb, with 4wd selected it has 50+% of drive going to the front and 40+% of drive going to the rear. Buggered if I know what that means and how they achieve it!!
I'm guessing you mean that the centre diff is the one that gets hot because its the one with the slip, and that reverts it???
Cheers
phil
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Follow Up By: hotdfa - Saturday, Apr 15, 2006 at 23:08
Saturday, Apr 15, 2006 at 23:08
NO phil, i mean the rear diff. it has a clutch pack seperating the tailshaft and the pinion (same as new rav4). how they change the amount of drive to the rear diff is to slip the clutch pack (multi plate same as a motor bike).And after slipping the clutch it overheats and shuts down drive to the rear pinion. this reverts the vehicle back to a front wheel drive and only one wheel drives.....
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Follow Up By: Member - Phil G (SA) - Sunday, Apr 16, 2006 at 08:40
Sunday, Apr 16, 2006 at 08:40
Hotdfa,
Thanks for explaining that. I had no idea of how it worked. All makes sense now :-)
Cheers
Phil
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Reply By: Jimbo - Saturday, Apr 15, 2006 at 21:06
Saturday, Apr 15, 2006 at 21:06
I looked at one seriously a couple of years ago. I reckon they're a top little unit and much underrated off road.
However, I then became aware of the Kia Sorento and the Hyundai Terracan at about the same price. I ended up with the Terracan which has decent off road ability, 2500 kg towing capacity and plenty of space. V6 does like a drink. However it is now available in diesel which is quite frugal (around 10L/100km).
The Sorento is a very stylish looking vehicle, which is a factor for ladies' cars.
Both will offer more space than the X Trail.
I offer this counsel; if you're going to do some offroading, be warned, it is addictive. The X Trail may do what you think you will do, now, but once you've been out you may be looking for low range and ground clearance. As much as I thought the Terracan would do everything I planned to do it has since had a
suspension lift and Cooper S/T's fitted.
Just some food for thought.
Jim.
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Follow Up By: Member - Phil G (SA) - Sunday, Apr 16, 2006 at 08:54
Sunday, Apr 16, 2006 at 08:54
Thanks for the thoughts Jim. But this will be our second vehicle, and used primarily around town. I'll still be doing all our bush trips in the LandCruiser. We're really looking at it to be able to cart our aging parents and their walking frames around (Thats my excuse :-))) But I'm guessing there will be opportunities to take family or friends (who are 4wd-deprived) away with us so it may get dirty occasionally ;-))
Cheers
Phil
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Follow Up By: Jimbo - Sunday, Apr 16, 2006 at 09:16
Sunday, Apr 16, 2006 at 09:16
How dopey am I? I should have looked at your rig
pic.
Cheers,
Jim.
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Follow Up By: Member - Phil G (SA) - Sunday, Apr 16, 2006 at 22:51
Sunday, Apr 16, 2006 at 22:51
Hi Jimbo,
Done that a few times myself :-))
Had a little giggle when I first read it.
Cheers
Phil
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Reply By: Member - Davoe (Widgiemooltha) - Saturday, Apr 15, 2006 at 23:32
Saturday, Apr 15, 2006 at 23:32
Not that I would ever say believe what the mags say but I am pretty sure the current 4x4 australia (not monthly) has a soft roader test which includes the x trail - could be worth a look. I will check it out when i get back to
camp tomorrow morning
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Follow Up By: Member - Phil G (SA) - Sunday, Apr 16, 2006 at 08:43
Sunday, Apr 16, 2006 at 08:43
Hi davoe,
Yeah it rates well in the mags. Nice to hear positives from the people who drive them as well, so we'll go shopping next week I think. Its always great fun trying to screw the dealers on price :-))
Cheers
Phil
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Follow Up By: Member - Davoe (Widgiemooltha) - Sunday, Apr 16, 2006 at 19:46
Sunday, Apr 16, 2006 at 19:46
I forgot to have a look but from memory the writeup considered it lightly built with some vulnerable low bits like aircon compressor - Probably just typical soft roader stuff
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