Test drive Nissan Qashqai 2007 - 2010 SUV

Normal logic

Nowadays, when marketing rules the world, any, even the smallest change in the design of the car can stimulate sales. Has Qashqai has changed a lot, adding +2 to the name?
 
The success of Qashqai is the merit of marketers. It was they, having felt universal craving for crossovers, were not afraid to create a model that does not find out unambiguously in any class. Created from scratch. And they did not lose. In just a year and a half, 250 thousand copies were sold. But success, as you know, must be fixed. And only a year and a half after the start of sales, Nissan rolls out a new version of the bestseller. From the point of view of marketers, Qashqai +2 will fill a niche between the short -drawn version and large minivans. From the point of view of future buyers, it can be in demand by those who desperately did not have enough more trunk and children's third row of seats.
Outwardly, Qashqai remained. From a distance you can’t immediately determine who is who is simple or stretched. But if you put two modifications nearby, the difference will become more obvious. The wheelbase +2 added 135 mm, and the rear overhang m is 75 mm. Plus, two and in height (by 38 mm). Few? But these seemingly insignificant changes demanded to redeem almost the entire body. Qashqai+2 is not just Stretch. He has other roofs and doors. The elongated back door and increased window openings are especially noticeable. Feed is also a new sidewall, bumper, glass shape. So the work was carried out quite serious. Another question, was it worth it?
At the wheel and in the front passenger seat ordinary Qashqai. The fact that the spaces above the heads became more than 10 mm is difficult to notice. The dashboard, the steering wheel, chairs, the materials of the finish are all unchanged. But the back door is really huge. The entire increase in the wheelbase has gone to increase its length. The only drawback of it is difficult to open to the end in close parking. Otherwise, plus two pluses at the back. A large doorway allows you not to seep on the second row of seats, like the usual Qashqai, smoking trousers, but almost go there. And there are more places. You can accommodate quite freely, in contrast to the short -term modification, where the knees constantly rested, then pressed on the head. In addition, the middle row is made in Qashqai+2 sliding with a control range of 240 mm.
Of course, if you move it to failure, it will become even closer than in Qashqai, but the space for those who are intended for those plus two additional chairs in the trunk will increase. So for whom are they? Nissan assures that for people up to 165 cm tall. How good that I have 180 cm! I have been ordered on the third row. But the profession makes you find out at least once. I tried to cling to 20 cm and return to childhood. Maybe I was old and a trip in time failed, but it seemed to me that oh how hard the kids would have to! One narrow hole between the back of the seat and the doorway scares unheard of. Suppose that this phobia managed to overcome, and you finally attached the fifth point on one of these benches. I want to get out right away. You sit on the floor, uncomfortable, uncomfortable, closely. If not for fresh air, then at least for the middle human row.
But it is more difficult to get out. Trap. With your head forward, you can stumble and hit the dirt in your face. Going forward even if you abstract from the well -known meaning of this phrase, you still either get dirty, or you need to literally jump out. In general, I decided that the third row is designed for the offspring of Japanese ninja. Or kamikadze. No, it’s better to re -make these plus two back on the floor and take an interest in the luggage compartment. If the second row of seats is set in the most comfortable position for passengers, then it is a little more than that of Qashqai. But in the mind, we still hold the possibility of increasing its volume and mark a convenient niche for storing the curtain.
We will not dwell on the running qualities of Qashqai+2 We will not become engines and transmission remained the same. In order to compensate for an increase in the mass of elongated modification (an average of 100 kg), a suspension was slightly modernized. As a result, +2 and by driving is very similar to his short fellow travels reliably, calmly, but without a light. He took French serpentines without much enthusiasm, but he did not resist the test with dignity. A lot or few plus two? And this is the whole cunning of marketing to present not such significant changes as grandiose, and lure the next gullible buyer. Although formally everything is true. Have the sizes increased? Yes. The car is seven -seater?
Yes. Did the trunk become more? Yes. So maybe I in vain attacked these same marketers? After all, not so little has been done. And I really admit that someone needed just such Qashqai. And the fact that for Qashqai+2 they will ask for a plus of two thousand conditional units, a completely humane approach. And the queues for this niche model will probably be shorter, if at all. Summarizing all of the above, it turns out that plus two is not a lot and not a little, this is normal and logical.
NOTE
Engines and transmission
A modern 1.6-liter 16-valve engine with a cylinder block, an aluminum head and a plastic intake manifold. It has in its arsenal a multi -point fuel injection and adjustable phases of gas distribution. Power for Qashqai+2 increased by 5 hp, and torque by 7 Nm compared to short Qashqai, Tiida and Note, on which this motor is also installed. It is possible only in combination with a 5-speed manual checkpoint and front-wheel drive.
Despite the larger liter, this engine has the same compact dimensions as 1.6 liter. The cylinder block and the head is also aluminum. This motor is characterized by a low level of internal friction (the so -called mirror processing) and small weight. More than 90% of the maximum torque are available after 2000 rpm. Qashqai+2 with this engine can be either the front and all-wheel drive. In addition to a 6-speed handle, for an all-wheel drive version, a stranded CVT variator is offered.
Suspension
The front suspension of the Macphereson type is installed on a subframe with the lower L-shaped levers. The anterior reptile stabilizer is attached directly to the racks for a more effective resistance to body rolls. The rear compact multi -link suspension is also assembled on a subframe. Its design is made in such a way as to ensure the maximum volume of the luggage compartment. To reduce the unsaved masses, the upper levers are made of aluminum.
Dmitry Krotov
 

Source: Motor magazine [November 2008]