Nissan Qashqai long-term test: report 9

The car Nissan Qashqai N-Connecta DIG-T MH 158 XTronic Run by John Bradshaw, chief photographer

Why it’s here To see if one of Britain's most popular family SUVs can cut it as an all-weather, all-purpose workhorse 

Needs to Carry heavy, bulky equipment all over the country while being comfy, safe and economical

Mileage 14,737 List price £31,535 Target price £28,425 Price as tested £33,135 Test economy 42.4 mpg Official economy 44.3 mpg

23 August 2022 – A question of Sport

From 1979 onwards, the theme tune to the BBC’s “Why don’t you” kid’s TV show suggested that you “Turn off your TV set, and do something less boring instead”. In other words, get out of the house and do exciting things as a family. And my Nissan Qashqai is much better suited to such expeditions than the Vauxhall Chevette Estate that my parents carried me around in.

The Qashqai is a family Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV), and the ‘sport’ in that term refers to whatever energetic activity takes your fancy, even if it means straying from the beaten track. Now, the Qashqai doesn’t have the hardcore hardware (four-wheel drive, clever terrain-defeating electronics, that kind of thing) of major-league mud-pluggers such as the Mercedes G-Class or regal Range Rover, but it wasn’t afraid to get its wheels dirty when we recently put those machines through their paces in a deserted quarry.

No, it won’t shrug off the Serengeti, but its chunky tyres and decent ground clearance mean it’ll get you close enough to the action to have some family fun. Put it this way; whereas going out for a picnic in Dad’s Chevette would have meant stopping in the car park and hiking up a hill, the Qashqai would have taken us all the way up the uneven track to the clifftop viewpoint.

Read our Nissan Qashqai review

Read more on our long-term Nissan Qashqai

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