25 replies to this topic

[the1]

Nissan today (6 September) will present for the first time its new Compact Crossover for Europe, the QASHQAI at an event hosted in Paris by Carlos Ghosn, Nissan�s President and CEO.

Inspired by the concept car of the same name that was presented at the 2004 Geneva Motor Show, the QASHQAI (pronounced �cash � kai�) is a new vehicle for Nissan in Europe, with sales starting in February 2007.

It will cater for those car buyers who want a more dynamic design than that offered by a traditional C-segment car, but who are not attracted to the large, aggressive nature of a compact SUV.

The design of the car was led by Nissan Design Europe (NDE) and it represents the first new production vehicle to be designed at NDE since its move to London in 2003. The development programme was led by Nissan Technical Centre Europe based in Cranfield, England, with significant input from Nissan�s engineering base in Japan. Qashqai will be produced at Nissan�s factory in Sunderland, England.

As well as European sales, QASHQAI will also be exported from the Sunderland factory to Japan � where it will be named Dualis � the Middle East and additional overseas markets.

The QASHQAI is described as a crossover as it inhabits the area where passenger car attributes meet those of a 4x4. In terms of design, the top half of QASHQAI is reminiscent of a dynamic passenger car, with a sleek, dynamic form that features a distinctive shoulder line which rises at the rear � a design cue similar to that of the Murano.

The lower portion of the car suggests SUV attributes of strength and solidity thanks to large, pronounced wheel arches, slightly elevated ground clearance and a purposeful stance.

The interior has been designed to give the driver a focused cockpit feeling, with a clear separation between them and their passenger. The deeply recessed instruments give a sporty feeling to the driving environment � a feeling reinforced by the raised central console. However, the front and passenger environments have been designed to feel airy, spacious and relaxing.

In terms of size, QASHQAI sits between C-segment hatchbacks and SUVs. It has a wheelbase of 2630mm, it is 1610mm tall, 1780mm wide and 4310mm long. It is about 100mm longer than a typical hatchback but 150mm shorter than a typical SUV. Similarly, it is taller than rival hatchbacks by between 100-150mm yet up to 130mm lower than an SUV.

Four engine options will be available, two diesel and two petrol offerings. The 1.6-litre petrol offers 115PS of power and 160Nm of torque, while the 2.0-litre produces 140PS and 200Nm. The diesel engine options � 1.5- and 2.0-litre � provide 106 and 150PS and 240 and 320Nm of torque respectively.

Several gearbox options are available, according to engine choice. These include a five- and six-speed manual, a new six-speed automatic and a Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) option with manual mode.

Both 2.0-litre engine options can be specified with Nissan�s advanced ALL-MODE 4x4 system which gives added security and stability in marginal conditions.

Speaking at the launch event in Paris, Mr Ghosn said: �European customers want it all: dynamic design, driving performance and attractive premium interior. QASHQAI delivers all which is why it will lead our sales growth in Europe and the growth in recognition of Nissan as a truly bold, thoughtful and innovative Japanese brand.

�We expect QASHQAI will sell more than 100,000 units a year on average across Europe � with 80% of those customers buying a Nissan for the first time. Before QASHQAI, they drove a premium C-segment car, a compact 4x4 or a D-segment car,� added Mr Ghosn.

[maximus]

pana la urma ce inlocuieste asta? X-trailul cumva? sau e vre-un urmas de-al almerei ?? stiam ca pt almera este note-ul..

[Mugur_Cosma]

Cred ca X-trail-ul.
Masina arata bine, ce sa zic. Nu extraordinar, dar bine.

Insa http://www.garajul.r...tyle_emoticons/default/wtf.gif e cu numele asta. "Quashqai" ???
Foarte aiurea numele.

[lexus]

Arata binisor, poate se putea putin mai bine din fata, insa eu nu sunt sigur daca era nevoie de alt model intre X-trail si Murano.

[the1]

Nu e vorba de un model plasat intre X-Trail si Murano, ci de un crossover compact, destul de micutz, care inlocuieste Almera. Noul X-Trail va fi mai mare si mai competent in off-road.

[lexus]

http://www.garajul.r...tyle_emoticons/default/crazysanta.gif Aha, am inteles eu cresit atunci.

[Kenny]

E asa de urat ca nici nu stiu de unde sa incep .
Nu-mi place : laterala a la BMW X3 , spatele a la Hyundai Santa Fe nou , fata in general , si "limba" aia care au scos-o pe grila . Nu puteau sa puna logoul Nissan peste plasa aia neagra ?

[masterblaster]

e ok, din fata seamana cu tribeca

[ska]

lipsit de sens... da ca tucson parca... numa mai spre masina de strada nu "suv"

[scaevola]

Mie mi se pare interesant ! Foarte interesant ! Va avea posibilitate 4x4 si cutie automata.
Este un all-purpose bine dozat.
Acum deja exista o categorie, Dodge Caliber si Nissan Quashquai. Doar ca primul nu ofera atatea optiuni (de ex. 4x4) si probabil al doilea va fi mai scump.
Inca nu am comparat dimensiunile dar cred ca sunt comparabile, pe langa faptul ca au un concept similar.

[the1]

Da, crossovere compacte. O noua nisa destul de interesanta. Totusi, Cashcow asta nu e prea grozav...

[the1]

Se pare ca noul Qashqai va fi disponibil destul de curand, primul exemplar a fost deja fabricat la fabrica din Sunderland, UK.

[the1]

Primul test.

Nissan Qashqai

Test date 10 January 2007 Price when new �17,899

Nissan Qashqai

What is it?

That�s the very question we�ve been knocking around the office. During the past few months, Qashqai has been the new Almera. a small sport utility vehicle, a replacement for Primera revenue, has contained a hint of MPV, and more.

It is, Nissan says, none of the above. Get this: �It is a car of contrasts for a world of contrasts� It is tough and compact for the city but sleek and agile for journeys away from the town� It reflects our personalities, our imagination� It is very different to every other car currently on sale� It should be seen as an urban nomad.� What a load of old cobblers.

It�s actually a hatchback the size of a Golf/Focus, only a bit taller. It�s mostly their size inside too, but has a bigger boot, quite a nice interior and a higher price. It�s the new Almera in search of a niche that doesn�t label it a small family hatchback - because a Nissan small family hatchback can�t get close to Focus, Golf or Astra volumes in Europe.
What�s it like?

Beyond the smoke and mirrors, the Qashqai�s actually not bad. It has far and away the best-feeling interior that Nissan has produced at this money (from �13,499 to �23,249). Soft-feel plastics abound, the front seats are big and comfy, the rear seats short on headroom but otherwise fine. The cabin�s slickly designed, while the window line is high and the centre console beefy to create a snug, �I�m safe, me� atmosphere that works.

It�s a feeling enhanced by a 20cm higher driving position than the lowest in class and a ride height 10cm above the class norm. The 410-litre boot the only dimension that�s class leading. And when Nissan says class, what it�s talking about is the Golf, Focus, et al, not little SUVs. You can have a Qashqai with four-wheel-drive if you want, but only one in every four buyers will. This is a tall hatch.

And it drives like one. The steering weight is good, accurate if a touch unresponsive just off straight-ahead. The ride seems fine on the (mostly smooth) roads we�ve tried. Body control is looser than a typical hatch�s, and roll more pronounced in corners, but these movements are at least linear and predictable. Its worst dynamic characteristic is across sharp bumps, particularly mid-corner, when the body occasionally shimmies laterally (which may be because the suspension is mounted on subframes in turn attached to the chassis via rubber bushes), these kick back mildly through the steering too.

It�s otherwise a quiet and refined drive and, while it can�t match a Focus, Golf or Astra for fun, the Qashqai�s weightier, more positive steering makes it preferable to cooking Meganes, whose platform the Qashqai shares.

It also shares its engines with the Renault. There�s a 1.6 petrol, 1.5 diesel, and 2.0-litre petrol and diesel. We�ve tried both 2.0-litre cars and both engines are very good. The 147bhp turbodiesel is quiet, has good low-end response yet revs well to 5500rpm; the 138bhp petrol engine delivers a nice linear zing and both get automatic gearboxes. One was 2WD, the other 4WD and most of the time you won�t notice the difference. The X-Trail-derived 4WD system makes pulling away easier when it�s wet or worse, but in normal driving the Qashqai is a 2WD car and feels it.

Of the other engines, we�re fans of the 1.5-litre 105bhp diesel engine in the Megane, but can�t help thinking that pulling the wrong side of 1400kg is asking quite a lot of it here.
Should I buy one?

Perhaps, but it ain�t cheap compared to traditional C-sector hatchbacks � the (admittedly well equipped) top-spec, two-wheel-drive Tekna variant costs upwards of �20,000. So when compared to the Golf, Focus, Megane, Civic, Astra, etc, this doesn�t look like great value. But then, the Qashqai is no ordinary hatchback, is it? Umm�maybe you have to buy into the concept. I�m afraid I don�t.
Matt Prior

AUTOCAR UK

[canan17ro]

1.6 benzina si 1.5 diesel pe masina asta??? Il compara cu Astra, Golf si Focus??? WTF

[masterblaster]

pai e un fel de SX4 sau Caliber

[ska]

cu 1,5 dci va fi un adevarat bolid. bine totusi ca nu e ala de 80cp

[the1]

E cam scump ca sa fie un concurent direct al SX4ului.

[the1]

Nissan, in Europe anyway, is filing hatchbacks under 'too hard'.

Yup, it's decided that to sell ordinary mainstream cars you need to be a huge player with a loud 'voice': Ford, VW, Renault, Peugeot, Toyota, whatever. Nissan has seen its Almera and Primera get swamped and is dropping them.

Nissan's only regular hatch will be the Micra, and for the rest of its business it's going to sell either SUVs (X-Trail, Pathfinder, Patrol), sports cars (350Z, GTR) or cars of such oddball dimensions, purposes and shapes that they get themselves noticed above the general market hubbub. That'll be the Note, the Murano (which isn't really an SUV) and now the Qashqai.

The Qashqai is a Focus competitor. No really: it's about the same size, has about the same room inside, costs about the same.

Nissan figures that people like SUVs because they look tougher than Mr Dreary's common-or-garden hatchback, and because they like the high-and-mighty seating. So the Qashqai gives you those. But it isn't an SUV, so it doesn't have off-road hardware weighing it down.

It's almost as light and economical as a hatch, and almost as agile to drive. There is a 4WD version of the top engine, but think of that option like the quattro option on an Audi A3 diesel.

I had a go in a 2.0 petrol and 2.0 diesel. They're both new engines. The petrol is quiet and smooth, which is just as well because when you do hear it when you're accelerating, what you hear is an uninspiring drone. The diesel is torquier and usefully faster in give-and-take, but it does have a bit of a dieselly rattle to it. Turn the radio up a bit.

Anyway, it feels pretty agile, and doesn't roll about in a corner desite its height. The steering's too light and the FWD version understeers like mad on the limit, but the 4WD version kicks torque rearward on demand so is actually rather cheeky fun to hustle along. The ride's a little disturbed - some vertical jitteriness and lateral wobble, and you get a noisy clang when you hit a pothole.

So the designers and engineers can tick their boxes. They've met the brief - it looks a bit like a SUV, drives a lot like a car. But will anyone buy it? The nearest thing to a Qashqai is the Honda HR-V and that disappeared without trace.

TopGear

[the1]

[masterblaster]

urat la exterior, frumos la interior

[Frank SF]

masina mi se pare reusita, insa au scos-o prea scumpa in Ro - mai ales daca vrei o versiune 4x4 si mai bine echipata, ajunge la 23,000-25,000 EUR CIP.

Nu inteleg totusi faptul ca in ciuda acestor preturi incep sa vad destul de multe pe strada ?!

[masterblaster]

@frank traim in romania, la ce te asteptai? mie mi se pare inutil, la fel ca fusion, crosspolo, etc. nu sunt bune deloc in offroad, sunt doar inaltate, ce sa-ti spun, sa dau cateva mii de euro ca sa vad mai de sus (ceea ce oricum nu imi place)?? nu as da atatia bani pe qashqai nici beat :laugh: dar nu arata asa rau ca in poze, e chiar ok.

[MikeTekRacing]

urat zici tu, mie imi place

[masterblaster]

tocmai, nu am zis ca e urat, am zis ca in poze mi se parea urat, dar dupa ce am vazut unul live mi-am schimbat parerea:

dar nu arata asa rau ca in poze, e chiar ok

[Frank SF]

Am citit niste teste prin reviste straine cu masina si am si mers cu una (e drept 1.6 115 CP si 2WD), masina e foarte reusita, nu inteleg insa ce au avut in cap cu pozitionarea de pret cind au plasat-o asa sus - in toata Europa de Vest modelul e mult mai apropiat de pretul unei compacte.

Estimez ca in max 1 an de zile vor reaseza preturile sau vor baga niste discounturi substantiale. E stupid, chiar au un produs bun, insa isi strica sansa prin lacomie... daca fixeaza preturi mari si vind 50 de masini ies clar mai prost decit daca ar fi stabilit niste preturi fair si vindeau 200... WTF ?