Nissan X-Trail Rock Creek and e-Power 2WD first drive

Nissan has added front-wheel drive versions of the X-Trail e-Power hybrid and a new Rock Creek grade to its New Zealand range, in the X-Trail’s 25th year on sale here. Nissan has sold 27,779 X-Trails in New Zealand since the first arrived in 2001.

We drove both at the launch around Queenstown and Glenorchy, on sealed roads, gravel and river fords.

What’s new?

Until now the e-Power X-Trail came only with e-4orce all-wheel drive. Nissan’s own figures show hybrids have overtaken petrol in the medium SUV segment, and just over half of hybrid buyers choose two-wheel drive.

The ST-L and Ti-L e-Power now come in 2WD, priced $3000 below the AWD versions. On launch campaign pricing, which runs to the end of October, that’s $49,990 for the ST-L and $55,990 for the Ti-L. RRP is $55,990 and $61,990. Allowing for Nissan’s negotiable pricing against Toyota’s fixed, the entry car lines up dollar for dollar with a RAV4 hybrid.

You keep the 150kW drive motor and the 1.5-litre turbo three-cylinder, which only ever generates electricity. You lose the rear motor, a chunk of braked towing and around half a second to 100km/h; Nissan doesn’t publish a figure, but product manager Aleks Pecanac puts it at 7.5 to 8 seconds against 7.0 for e-4orce. The Ti-L 2WD gets 19-inch wheels instead of 20s, which we’d count as a win for ride. Claimed economy is 5.4L/100km, about 11.5 per cent better than the AWD.

The Rock Creek is built on the ST-L 4WD, costs $2600 more, and comes as a seven-seat 2.5 petrol ($50,590 campaign, $56,590 RRP) or a five-seat e-Power ($55,590, $61,590). We’re the only market getting the e-Power one.

Is it tougher?

No, and Nissan doesn’t pretend otherwise. Its own people call it a lifestyle vehicle for mountain biking and hiking.

You get a black grille with three chunky slots that nod to the Patrol and Navara Warrior models, a unique lower bumper with orange-tipped tow points (plastic, so don’t hook anything to them), black roof rails and mirrors, 18-inch wheels with orange accents, and an exclusive Baja Storm paint with a black roof. Inside there’s Rock Creek embroidery, orange stitching, and the head-up display and 12.3-inch digital cluster from the Ti-L.

Suspension, ride height, tyres and drivetrain are standard X-Trail.

We don’t see that as a problem. Most rugged-looking SUVs stay on the seal, and plenty of buyers like the look without wanting the noise and fuel penalty of all-terrain tyres. Toyota took the same approach with the RAV4 Adventure. A dealer can fit A/Ts if you want more grip, and the Patrol and Navara are there if you need real off-road ability.

The gravel trail at the launch was mild enough that the 2WD e-Powers got through without trouble.

What’s it like inside?

The cabin is unchanged apart from the Rock Creek trim. It is older than the latest RAV4’s but better put together, with more soft-touch surfaces where Toyota uses hard plastic. The brown trim in the Ti-L is your call.

Nissan called the Rock Creek seat trim “ballistic nylon”. We were expecting a woven fabric; it’s closer to a tough vinyl. It wipes clean, which suits the brief.

Both screens measure 12.3 inches. The cluster crams in a lot of information, which we like. The touchscreen does wireless CarPlay and Android Auto, though the wide format leaves the phone mirroring in a smallish window and you have to back out of it to get to car settings. The real buttons for the climate control are welcome.

The start button is black, low down and in shadow, and we had to go looking for it.

How does it drive?

The e-Power drivetrain remains the main reason to choose an X-Trail. With the wheels driven only by the electric motor there’s no gearbox and no CVT flare, so the throttle response feels like an EV’s, with that instant-ish torque. The engine fires up regularly but quietly; the drone of the early e-Power cars has gone.

There’s an EV mode and a battery gauge, but with a battery of around 2kWh it kicks you out as soon as you use more than about a quarter throttle. We’re not sure what it’s for, other than reminding you that you bought the e-Power.

Refinement is good overall. The steering is better than we expected. There isn’t much feel, but it is direct, well weighted and free of the artificial heft some SUVs have. The ride is firm enough to keep things tidy through corners and only crashed over the sharper rocks off the seal. The brake pedal is long on both petrol and e-Power, probably for smoothness, and we’d prefer a firmer one.

No driver-monitoring camera, and almost no beeping all day. After a few weeks in Chinese SUVs that was a relief. ProPilot held its lane well on the Glenorchy road, but its steering inputs came late and it gave up on tighter bends.

What about fuel?

On a launch day of gravel, river fords and open road we saw high fives to low sixes in the AWD e-Power, consistent with our previous testing, and around 5.4L/100km in the 2WD. A RAV4 hybrid will do high fours, the trade-off is a better drive in the Nissan against roughly half a litre per 100km. The petrol Rock Creek was in the nines.

Verdict

The 2WD e-Power is the more significant addition. It puts Nissan’s best powertrain in front of RAV4 buyers at RAV4 money, and backs it with a warranty of up to 10 years and $499 servicing for the first five, both conditional on servicing at a Nissan dealer.

The Rock Creek changes the look rather than the capability, which will suit most buyers of rugged-looking SUVs.

A plug-in X-Trail isn’t on the cards yet, and Nissan’s next electrified models for us are more likely to come out of China. A new-generation X-Trail has already been shown overseas. For now, this is a sensible pair of additions to the X-Trail range.

Nissan X-Trail Ti-L 2WD e-Power

Nissan X-Trail Rock Creek e-Power