Give me more, give me more; wait, not on the diesel?

And so it begins; Nissan is the latest victim of the new trend where everything with an ‘i’ stands for intelligently designed and uber cool. But their Nissan X-Trail ‘i’ line is quite confusing and not so smart. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve always considered the Nissan X-Trail as a great car, I had one and loved the comfort, the ride and the amenities all around, but some things have me confused at the moment.

The Nissan X-Trail began its life as Nissan’s answer to the growing market of slightly upscale SUVs, such as the Rav-4 and the Vitara. The first generation was pretty spot on and made itself a reputation as a great option so when, in 2008, Nissan promised a new X-Trail, I was pretty excited.

Lo and behold, I’m confused and slightly disappointed. Let’s put out the facts and see if we can up with the answer to this most interesting conundrum.

Technical Data:

Right now, there are two X-Trail lines available in Costa Rica, the Classic and the X-Trail ‘i’ and here’s how they fare out.

The X-Trail ‘i’ is the newest one. It came to the market in 2008 with a set of options expected for anyone who had the prior version. It comes with power windows, mirrors, seats, cooled/heated cup holders and so many storage drawers you definitely will lose something inside of it. There are two possible engines, the 2.0L or the 2.5L (the latter my choice if I were to choose petrol). It also comes with the following options: descent control, uphill start control, smart brake distribution and a limited slip differential. Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? But what if you don’t like petrol and prefer diesel?

Ah! It’s not that simple. You see, the X-Trail Classic has all the amenities inside, such as power seats, cooled/heated cup holders, yadayadayada, and it comes with a diesel engine but doesn’t have the super-smart, super-safe and neat All Mode 4×4 ‘i’, it only comes with the basic All Mode 4×4. Hence, you don’t get the brake distribution, the assist when you up or downhill and the differential isn’t really something special.

So that means, if you like diesel, you can’t be as safe as if you liked petrol. Hum, that’s weird.

On the other little details, you get the same on both: the sound system is great, road noise is just tolerable and the handling is car-like, responsive, just on the money for an SUV.

Is it cheap to run?

Depends on which model you get. The 2.5 is logically very thirsty but has great power. I wouldn’t recommend the 2.0 petrol; it’s just vastly underpowered and renders it needy of a heavier foot, hence a bigger hole on your wallet. This whole power to weight ratio is so crucial, not a lot of people analyze it. Petrol engines usually average about 8 km/L in the city and 12 km/L highway. Expect about 450 km per tank in the city.

Spares are cheaper for the petrol version and that has to be considered in the long run.

The 2.2 turbodiesel engine is the best, providing over 10 km/L in the city and moves up to 14 km/L in highway. The turbo kicks in the low-rev range and keeps going for a good chunk of torque, making hill climbs a breeze and also helping the range but the spares are quite expensive if compared to its confused sibling. Expect about 600 km per tank in the city.

Can it climb walls?

Don’t believe the brochures: it’s not that good off-road. The 4×4 system is made to assist the driver in gravel, snow and mud but that doesn’t mean it’s going to cross the Darien’s Gap with full A/C and a chilly Pepsi in the cupholder.

Where to?

Somewhere in Costa Rica where the off-roading isn’t too challenging, such as the mountains of Heredia.

Where can I get one?

Dealership’s the choice. If choosing a used version, be very careful with used diesel engines (ironically the best options), ask for full service details and check the usual aspects with a mechanic you trust: you’ll be thankful later. Used X-Trails aren’t hard to find but prime condition models are much tougher to spot.

Final thoughts:

The X-Trail is a great car. It handles great, is comfortable even for a man my size and has every tidbit I look for and I wouldn’t have one. I really liked the diesel version and would love a X-Trail ‘i’ with the 2.2L CRD engine mated with a six-speed manual. But it can’t happen, unless I buy it in Europe and bring it here and that’s not practical. Can anyone say Hyundai Tucson?