Nissan’s X-Trail diesel is a surprise towing package
The competition about who could tow more broke out a few years ago among large SUVs and utes. The result was many car-makers bumped up their vehicles up to 3000kg or 3500kg towing capacity.
That’s all good and well for those towing heavy trailers, but if you have a lightweight trailer, there are plenty of vehicles which while they have the big towing numbers, will still easily shoulder the load.
Case in point, the Nissan X-Trail. Refreshed in May last year, the Nissan X-Trail came with an updated front and rear, minor interior revisions and new safety gear (AEB and forward collision warning).
While the petrol powertrain remained unchanged, the diesel got a big pull-through. The 1.6-litre turbo-diesel and it’s manual-only transmission were out and in their place arrived a 2.0-litre engine linked exclusively to an Xtronic CVT transmission.
Rear cross traffic alert, adaptive headlights and motion-activated power tailgate were added to the Nissan X-Trail TL as part of that update, but it missed out on active cruise control and lane departure intervention, which are are only available with the top-shelf petrol model, the Ti.
Here we’re looking at the upper-spec diesel model, the X-Trail TL (which arrived in October 2017, five months after the TS and the rest of the updated range) but this time with a trailer behind it.
Pricing starts at $47,790 (plus on-road costs) but the test vehicle had the $1190 optional tow kit fitted (including tow bar, wiring harness, tow ball, D-shackles and fitting costs) and $575 optional paint.
This adds up to $49,555 (plus on-road costs), before you add an aftermarket electric brake controller, which will add a further $500-$800 to the price.
Slow to go
While you might appreciate not having to shuffle gears with the updated Nissan X-Trail diesel, you’ll have to learn to be patient getting off the line. Until the engine reaches about 2000rpm, there is a fair bit of lag.
Once past this, the new engine spins up to redline smoothly and quickly. If you are driving around just relying on the engine to churn out its excellent mid-range torque, you won’t notice how clattery it becomes when reaching into the higher rev range.
The CVT has stepped changes, so it acts much like a conventional auto by dropping revs as if it’s changing gear. It does flair out more than an auto initially, which helps the engine delve into its peak torque band more easily.
Smooth ride
Ride comfort is a Nissan X-Trail specialty, and aside from the engine when its revving, the X-Trail is very quiet, with very little wind, road or engine noise seeping into the cabin.
While the X-Trail makes a good point-to-point tourer, you won’t be excited by the prospect of pushing it along a winding road.
It has pretty good grip but lacks much steering feel or chassis refinement to be described as a sporty SUV.
Cabin fever
The Nissan’s cabin is a simple, understated affair. If you’re picky about interior fit and finish, you should have no complaints about the way all the trim lines up, but you might not be so happy about the brittle plastics used in some areas.
Hard plastics might be easy to clean, but they are also also easier to scratch than other materials, such as padded vinyl or rubberised surfaces. The X-Trail is no Robinson Crusoe here; still it’d be nice to see a more luxurious interior overall for a $50k wagon.
Console-mounted handbrakes take up a lot of real estate, so it’s easy to see why Nissan opted for a foot-operated park brake here. It’s only when you’ve tried an electronic park brake that you realise how annoying the old foot-operated system is.
There’s plenty of room for five in the X-Trail (although it’s tight across the rear bench for three adults). The boot will swallow suitcases or boxes easily as it a clean, fairly square shape and length can be increased slightly with the sliding rear seat racked forward.
Towing time
The Nissan X-Trail diesel can tow up to 1650kg (with a maximum of 165kg on the towball). This is down from 2000kg/200kg for the pre-update 1.6-litre diesel.
We hitched up two different trailers behind the X-Trail to do the tow test. First up was a 1500kg (with a 140kg towball download mass) trailer boat from GRE Marine in Prospect NSW and then a Jayco Hawk Outback (which weighed 1349kg as tested, with 140kg on the towball) from Jayco Sydney.
Promising was the change in attitude with a trailer on (or lack of change, really). The front rose 15mm and the back dipped 30mm with either trailer boat or caravan hitched up.
Stable and quick
Some tow vehicles can have a lush ride when not towing, but then either stutter or wallow over bumps with a trailer hitched up. The X-Trail maintained the same compliant ride it provides when not towing, and is also very stable, without a hint of twitchiness or pitching.
The X-Trail shot up our test hill climb, easily maintaining 90km/h thw whole way up. On the descent, speed crept up from the 70km/h start speed to 75km/h. Not bad, but engine braking isn’t among the best diesels.
It couldn’t meet Nissan’s combined 6.1L/100km fuel consumption figure when driving one-up and without a trailer. We averaged 8.6L/100km with a mix of highway driving with a sprinkle of the city stop-start shuffle thrown in, with a high of 10.3L/100km with purely city driving.
Towing fuel consumption averaged 11.7L/100km – which is not exceptionally good, but will at least give a theoretical 460km touring range (with a 50km safety margin).
The bottom line
The Nissan X-Trail's fuel consumption is heavier than you might expect and its turbo lag makes for slow take-offs. Yet it has a solid core of interior space, comfort and refinement and a smooth ride.
Add to this its strong towing performance and excellent towing stability, and the Nissan X-Trail TL a small-to-medium trailer tow-hauler to put on your short list.
Specs: 2018 Nissan X-TRAIL TL
Price:$47,790 (plus on-road costs)
Engine:2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel
Output:130kW/380Nm
Transmission:Continuously variable
Fuel:6.1L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2:162g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety Rating:Five-star ANCAP
