Our Mum-in-Residence Laura Haugh, takes the Nissan Qashqai for a test drive
Every year car manufacturers promise new bells and whistles with the latest version of their existing range of family cars. Mums and dads checking out what’s available from their local car dealer on wintery Saturday mornings are often told to wait until the New Year for the latest version of their preferred model. And when it comes to the 2014 model of the Nissan Qashqai, you’ll be glad you did.
Only available in Ireland since early February, the new Nissan Qashqai was not only worth the wait, but it is probably the single best investment you could make for you and your family. Built with the kind of sophisticated technology that would turn other cars green with envy, the new Qashqai exudes a sleek level of class that will turn heads, whether it’s a mum, dad or grandparent in the driving seat.
As Mum-in-Residence for MummyPages, I was lucky enough to be offered the opportunity to test drive one of the first 2014 models to arrive into the country. I currently drive a 2007 Qashqai, the first year of this new Nissan car model in the Irish market. Some might say I was already converted, but I prefer to think of it as actually more qualified to review the level of innovation that has been fine-tuned and now evident in the new 2014 model.
In order to really put this new model to the test, I took the 2013 model for a spin before Christmas as a benchmark. The 2014 Nissan Qashqai has lots of the technology that its older sister had in place last year (2013), but feels completely different.
The first thing I noticed was the sound. Coming from driving a fairly silent petrol car every day of the week, diesel cars usually sound like tractors to me! But the 2014 Qashqai was different - it purred.
Having driven the 2013 diesel model late last year, I expected a certain gentle hum that comes with modern diesel engines. However this was different, it was so quiet that I actually had to pop the fuel tank just to be sure they’d given me the right car, and to my surprise, they had indeed given me a diesel Qashqai.
I don’t drive a huge amount – just to and from school, the office and a little further afield at the weekends. Having said that, I seem to spend an average €45 every week on petrol, which is close to half a tank. The new diesel Qashqai is impressively economical, in the same week of driving I used a quarter of the tank - a huge saving!
The rear parking camera is not only brilliant at making you look like a parking pro – reverse parking and parallel parking are suddenly a pleasure to manoeuvre – but more importantly, the children and family pets in my cul de sac are safer than ever before. For mums who never have enough hands, the new highest spec of the 2014 Qashqai will even park itself! Yes – no hands! The higher spec car also encompasses the much talked about ‘Safety Shield’ technology, which delivers clever features like front collision avoidance (autonomous braking), lane departure warning, drowsiness detection, blind spot warning, and traffic sign recognition...what more could you ask for!
As you’d expect of a car aimed at families, the 2014 Qashqai’s interior is packed full of useful storage, even more than older models since the newest version is actually slightly longer and wider. The new electric handbrake frees up the centre console area for extra storage, which is very mum-friendly!
The electronic handbrake itself took a couple of goes before I was totally comfortable with using it on a hill, but just like riding a bike, it came naturally to me thereafter. The back support in the seats is superb and although the new model is a little lower to the ground than previous models, your seat can be easily raised if you prefer.
What seems like the simplest innovation of them all is probably the presence of a boot compartment divider in the slightly larger boot space that features in this model. With the flick of your wrist you can now divide your buggy and shopping into safe separate compartments where one is not rolling into the other. It seems like such an obvious adjustment to the design of the boot, but for me it was actually game-changing. Finally my week’s groceries weren’t spilling everywhere when I turned a corner and my little boy’s scooter wasn’t making mincemeat out of my fresh bread!
I have to say, I miss the +2 seat option that some of the older models offered, like on the 2013 model I drove before Christmas. But having said that, the wider nature of the new model means that you can easily fit three chunky car seats or booster seats on the back seat of the car, which is a rare treat. The fitted shoulder strap as the middle seatbelt means this space has the full potential to properly secure a young child’s car seat.
And if I was blessed to have more than three children, I don’t think that I would be happy to devote my boot space to their seating on a full-time basis. For the larger family, the Nissan X-Trail soon to be launched, could just be the car for you!
Simply put – the Nissan Qashqai does not fail to live up to the hype – it excites!
