A refreshed Nissan Qashqai now features warrior-look styling that reminds of Ariya’s. An enlarged grille is finished in dark and silver chrome, resembling Japanese armour. Nissan says the best selling vehicle in the UK for the past two years running now competes more effectively with rivals like Sportage and Tucson.
Styling includes sharper lines and a more aggressive front end.
DRLs resemble eyebrows above the new projector eye-shaped adaptive headlights. The front bumper profiled is new, so too the rear one which gets a more upmarket look. At the rear are new LED lights styled like those at the front.
Added refinement is the result of using thicker window glass, while the new shape evidently slips through the wind better.
Under the hood are carryover hybrids or the E-Power full hybrid system. The latter uses a 140kW motor to drive the front wheels while a 1.5L engine acts as a generator to feed the motor and replenish the 1.8kWh lithium ion battery. Regenerative braking is by a B-mode setting while there’s also an e-pedal button for one-pedal driving.
The Qashqai’s digital interfaces has added computer power for enhanced graphic quality and processing times. Nissan now moves to Google’s Android Auto operating system in the higher grade levels, for better app activity. For example, the Nissan Connect app can provides live tracking of the car’s location and can alert various agencies if the car is stolen. Remote immobilisation is also possible via a call centre that coordinates with police. And the app allows locking or unlocking remotely.
All but the base model come with Google Maps inbuilt. Google’s voice assistant is also new and features natural language understanding. Wireless smartphone hook up is standard.
Other interior changes include new finishes up front, different trim patterns, and the addition of ambient lighting.
Added safety features include driver fatigue warning, AEB, emergency lane keeping assist and accident data recording. Shortcut buttons on the steering wheel allow fine tuning of the driver assistance set-up. A special surround view monitor setting provides an ‘invisible-hood view’ that minimises kerb damage to alloys when parallel parking. A side view system helps with visibility at difficult T-junctions.
A new trim level, N-Design, adds Alcantara, 20-inch alloys and body-coloured paint for the wheel arches. It sits alongside Tekna.
Nissan New Zealand says production will begin in November and first examples of new Qashqai should arrive here early in the new year. Expect similar models to the existing line-up.
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