2017 Qashqai SL AWD

 
 

Truth is no car company can afford to ignore the sub compact SUV category. Today's consumers are showing so much love for it. Formerly the Qashqai was only available in European markets but it has been made available in North America as of last fall. This competes against vehicles I've tested this year like the Mazda CX3 and Honda HRV. 

Disclosure: NissanCanada provided me with the 2017 Qashqai SL AWD for a week to test drive, and photograph. All photos in this blog post was taken by me.

ACCELERATION: 7.5/10

  • 141 HP @ 6000 and 147 lb-ft @ 4400

  • 0-60 miles/hr in 9.5 seconds

  • Average 0-60 times compared to vehicles in this segment

BRAKING: 7.5/10

  • Average braking for vehicles in this segment

HANDLING: 6.8/10

  • Body roll is controlled even with soft suspensions

  • Did not enjoy the steering wheel. It felt loose and wobbly. I could wobbly the steering wheel left and right with almost no feedback from the wheels actually turning.

  • The gas pedal and brakes also didn't have the responsiveness as I would have hoped for.

  • Does not feeling engaging on the road

RIDE: 8.5/10

  • I believe the suspensions were tightened up in comparison to the Rogue, but it still feels softer than something like the CX-3.

  • The softer suspension compared to other vehicles in this segment paired with the larger size make it more comfortable for long road trips.

ECONOMY: 6.5/10

  • 24/30/27 (City/Highway/Comb) - AWD

  • 25/32/28 (City/Highway/Comb) - FWD

  • Fuel Economy is the same as it's bigger brother, Rogue.

CABIN NOISE: 8.5/10

  • Engine is very quiet even when reving to higher RPMs.

  • Road noise and wind is very well controlled

EXTERIOR: 8/10

  • Looks good and not aggressive looking

  • LED headlights in the SL trim

  • Heated outside mirrors

  • Power Sliding glass moon roof

  • 19" Aluminium alloy wheels

  • Roof Rails in the SL trim

sAfETY|SECURITY|TECH: 7/10

  • Automatic Emergency Braking

  • Automatic Emergency Braking with pedestrian detection

  • Intelligent Blind Spot Intervention

  • Rear Cross Traffic Alert (RCTA)

  • Lane Departure Warning (LDW)

  • Intelligent Lane Intervention

  • Moving Object Detection (MOD)

  • 3-point ELR passenger seat belt system

  • Front seat belts with pretensioners and load limiters

  • LATCH System (Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children)

  • Zone Body construction with front and rear crumple zones and reinforced passenger compartment

  • Hood buckling creases and safety stops

  • Nissan Vehicle Immobilizer System

  • Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS)

  • Divide-N-Hide® Cargo System

  • Nissan Advanced Air Bag System with dual-stage supplemental front air bags

  • Driver and front-passenger seat-mounted side-impact supplemental air bags

  • Roof-mounted curtain supplemental air bags with rollover sensor for side-impact head protection for front and rear-seat outboard occupant

  • Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC) with Traction Control System (TCS)

  • Energy-absorbing steering column

  • Slide-away brake pedal assembly

  • Pipe-style steel side-door guard beams

  • Vehicle Security System (VSS)

INTERIOR FOR DRIVER: 6.5/10

  • The placement of the rear camera makes it easy for rain to get on the lens and also for raindrops to hang infront of the camera causing insane amount of distortion rendering the camera not usable.

  • I would give it 9/10 for driver comfort but using the rear and 360 camera ruined the experience for me as a driver.

  • 6-way power driver's seat with 2-way power lumbar

  • Tilt/telescopic steering column

  • Heated front seats and steering wheel

  • Camera system is basically us-usable at night or raining.

  • The low res camera and lack of colour makes night time usage look like I'm watching a horror movie.

INTERIOR FOR PASSENGERS: 8.5/10

  • No power driven controls to adjust seats.

  • Larger vehicle has great headroom and leg room in the rear seats.

  • Rear passengers have their own air vents

INTERIOR STORAGE: 8/10

  • Dividers for the trunk look useful to divide the cargo area to prevent items from sliding around

  • The larger vehicle in the segment provides a good amount of trunk storage

INFOTAINMENT SYSTEM: 6/10

  • No Android Auto and Apple CarPlay support

  • NissanConnectSM with Navigation Mobile Apps and Services feels dated to me.

  • UI looks like it was designed a decade ago. Definitely could use a refresh but I feel like all car brands should just Android Auto and Apple CarPlay support so users don't need a learn a new system every time.

OVERALL IMPRESSION OF THE 2017 Nissan qashqai:

Nissan's 2017 Qashqai  is for those who love the Rogue or Rav4 but want something slightly smaller, or for those who find the HRV CX-3 and CHR too small. As this one of the larger vehicles in the sub compact category we can see it being advantageous for passenger comfort when taking long road trips but the fuel economy scores are disappointing. You can't go wrong with the Nissan Qashqai as it's a well rounded vehicle coming in as 3rd in this category for me. It was a close call for 2nd though.

 
 
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