It is true, only the rear seat backs fold, 60,40 fashion. They fold down a long way but as the seat cushions dont fold forward its not flat by any means. Agree its a silly ommision,
------------------------------
TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
|
Ok well I have on my drive a brand new Bright Orange Nissan Qashqai Accenta 1.5 D. It goes back on Monday.
Road test to follow
------------------------------
TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
|
" I think it was Steve Cropley and others in Autocar who were left rather underwhelmed by it. I tend to value their opinion higher than Auto Express."
SC and others obviously didn't pass on their comments to the people who did the road test in Autocar
"However, the Qashqai is a capable, likeable and interesting hatchback with excellent levels of refinement that offers a refreshingly different approach to family transport." - four stars
|
Have a friend who just bought one, think it was a top of the range 2.0 litre effort and he added sat nav etc which brought its retail price up to close to £20k!!!
Think if I was spending that amount, it would be on a different vehicle - CRV?
|
Qashqai 1.5D Visia, in Fired iron metallic (that?s metallic orange to you and me)
It looks big. It looks big high and chunky. Then Nicole?s Clio arrived, parked along side and you suddenly realise this is all a very clever optical illusion, it aint so big after all. Bright oranage paintwork with good metallic flakes under the lacquer, evenly applied, no orange peel. Shut lines not exactly razor thin but all very even.
Poke around in the very high rear load bay reveals a spacesaver in the boot. Fifi the faithful TVM hound can jump in, tho I wince every time she jumps out onto concrete.
The boot is not that big, and is not very high with the parcel shelf in place. I don?t fancy lumping Nicole?s suitcase into that the next time we take it to the airport. Looking at the pile of merde that is due for a council dump trip, and the boot with its semi folding seat backs does not add up at all.
Up with the bonnet reveals a lot of Nissan badges and logos. Clip off the black engine cover (no screws) reveals lots of Renault logos on the engine (manifolds, block, pipes etc). All of the engine ancillaries (starter, alternator, pumps, control modules) all sport Renault logos. The oil filter looks the easiest thing I have ever seen to change ? right at the front, easy peasy access from above. If there is a flap or the undertray is easy to remove for the sump drain plug, then oil changes are a doddle.
Sit up in the drivers seat and its really easy to get comfortable. Everything goes up and down, in and out, sufficient to get exactly the right driving posture. A turn of the key reveals the first of the ?what the hell?? moments.
You have a speedo, (marked in 20mph increments) up to 160 mph. 160? Ok so it puts 80 mph at the top, but come on guys, a little more thought and clarity here. You have a rev counter, the same size, that?s fine.
Sandwiched in-between is a tiny orange round window, not much bigger than a tea light candle, and quite deep. In this tiny hole, lit in bright orange is everything else you need to know. The black blobs round the outside for fuel and temperature are utterly useless and indecipherable. The 4mm high time displayed at the bottom makes one myopic and can only be seen by the squinting driver. Trip computer and odometer information are all displayed in here. This is so badly thought out, and utterly useless in practise.
Turn the key further and you fire up the power (power?) plant. Now at idle, cold and warm, this is unrefinement at its worse, tingling through your botty, feet and fingers.
Snick the very satisfying (long throw but very precise) gear lever into first, lift off the light precise clutch, and drop the short throw handbrake and off we go.
Well we don?t actually. It?s at this point you get introduced to the engine. It?s a diesel, but the only diesel thing about it is the vibrations at tick-over. It?s taken me 400 miles to learn how to wring all the 105 horses out of this thing and even then I feel the stable door has been left open at times. Its as dead as a dead thing in the cemetery up to 2500 or 3000 revs. Then a few horses show up, and the rest arrive at 3,500. Great news except they all suddenly bolt at 4500 revs. It?s a good job the gearbox is sweet natured and precise because you need to become intimate friends with it. This is made to feel worse by a very long travel to the accelerator with several ?dead spots?, giving the impression that a sloth has better get up and go.
On the move, although up high, visibility is not brilliant. It?s a small windscreen (I haven?t seen wipers that small since my last ride in a mini). Small side windows and the A post intrudes sometimes. Full marks to the excellent truck sized door mirrors, just as well really as the rear window is small with a limited view behind.
The ride initially feels very smooth, but all is not well there. Its under damped, 30 mph over speed bump produces a real up and down fairground ride type feel with a secondary bounce 5 yards past the hump clearly showing the dampers cant cope. It patters quite badly. This is really felt when pushing on round a bend - Hit some rough tarmac and the rear wheel skip sideways.
Dynamically it handles very well but has quite noticeable lift off oversteer at the limit. The Touran handles just as well, is much better damped and frankly has a better ride.
In view of HJs comments about the ride quality of his, I am tempted to check the tyre pressures to see if they are over inflated. Steering is weighted ok, but has no feedback or feel, and too many turns from lock to lock.
On the motorway this is really a very well refined wagon. Noise is very muted with a slight wind flutter around the top of the A post at an indicated 80mph (75mph true, 2,500 revs) The radio does not need to be turned up in anyway. Given the noise, the excellent driving postion and seat, three hours and 180 miles galloped by with ease at an indicated 51mpg.
Your kids will not be happy in the back tho. The rear seats are lower than the front, the windows narrow towards the rear and all in all this a very dark and gloomy place to travel. In Acenta trim there is no rear light either ? how tight is that.
This car is loaded with ?surprise and disappoint? features. For example it has excellent bluetooth connectivity for your mobile, but only one power outlet in the dash and nowhere to put your phone. No power outlet in the boot. Limited storage space. Take the drivers window, It has a one shot down feature but no one shot up function. WHY?
All in all this is a very capable car that is laden with stupid design. Its really quite badly compromised and does not do anything superbly to make up for it.
Oh it does have one superb feature. The (non xenon) headlights. They are broad, even, bright and very very well defined on dip.
------------------------------
TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
|
Oh - I forgot to mention the brakes, Progressive, good feel, stomp on them hard and ------- utterly superb - it stops in astonishingly short distances from high speed.
------------------------------
TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
|
|
|
TVM,
Thanks for this report.
Have been thinking about this car for SWMBO - but high sill(similar dog problem) and semi-folding rear seats will probably be enough to put her off. Semms strange that they can have a flat floor in the Note but not a bigger car.
C
|
"It has a one shot down feature but no one shot up function. WHY?"
Costs - if you have auto up you also need auto stop sensors to stop kids garotting their brothers and sisters! May only be a few quid, but all cars are made to a price.
You also mention the radio not needing adjusting - did it have an auto volume adjust function? My Focus and Audis had this. The Focus you could tell it was increasing the volume as the increments were coarse, but in the Audis it's seamless.
1.5d delivering 105 bhp isn't enough - far better a 1.7 or 1.9 unit still delivering 105 bhp but with higher torque.
|
You also mention the radio not needing adjusting - did it have an auto volume adjust function?
Yes it does have a speed function, but I turned it off. It stil didnt need adjusting because it just as noisy at 30
as it is at 75. Its a quiet cruiser at speed.
1.5d delivering 105 bhp isn't enough - far better a 1.7 or 1.9 unit still delivering 105 bhp but with higher torque.
They have pushed this engine to its limit to get 106 bhp. As a result its become very peaky and not flexible.
------------------------------
TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
|
|
Funny to think of it - 50 years ago, 105 bhp was enough to power an Austin A105 Westminster, and power it well. I suspect low-down torque was the secret of engines in those days. Obviously it was a lot slower than cars are now, but it didn't feel sluggish.
|
now but it didn't feel sluggish.
Time has clouded your memories. Sluggish is exactly how they felt!
Maximum speed 96mph; 0-60mph 15.4sec; standing 1/4-mile 20.2sec: overall fuel consumption 22mpg. 106 bhp generated from 2.5 litres.
Mind peak torque was generated at about the same revs as the 1.5dci and with 4 speed box rather than the 6 on the dci - much less stick stiring.
------------------------------
TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
|
|
|
|
