FIRSTDRIVE NISSAN QASHQAI: Adding seats to the boot of the Nissan Qashqai creates the Qashqai+2. Kyle Fortune tries it out for size
ONE HUNDRED and thirty five millimetres, 13 and a half centimetres, or if you're still stuck in pre-metric, 5.3 inches. That's the difference between Nissan's regular Qashqai and this new Qashqai+2.
It is the stretch to the wheelbase, Nissan going to the trouble of lengthening its Qashqai properly rather than merely adding a larger boot behind the rear axle. That small increase in length has actually resulted in a Qashqai that's totally new from the windscreen back.
Not that you'd notice it from a cursory glance. Take a longer look though and the +2 is slightly sleeker - even though there's also a 38mm increase in height - and there's a new grille, too.
That seems to be a lot of trouble to go to just to add a pair of 'occasional' seats. But then the Qashqai is Nissan's current darling, selling 250,000 units in its first 18 months in Europe - a Nissan record - with massive success in Ireland.
Hardly surprising then when a few customers suggested they'd like a bit more space, Nissan was only too happy to oblige. So now there are two extra seats in the back that fold flat into the floor when they're not in use.
Access to them is aided by the sliding second row seats - Nissan put all of that 135mm stretch into the rear doors to make getting in the back less of a scramble than in some rivals.
You still wouldn't want to spend much time in the back unless you're Lilliputian, but for those odd occasions when an extra seat or two is required, they're more than adequate. Aside from those seats, there's really not much else to say, except that the Qashqai+2 feels just like its -2 relative.
This is no bad thing, Nissan's 'crossover' drives like the regular hatchbacks it rivals.
It rides well, is refined and inside it feels nicely finished and spacious.
Really, it's hardly surprising the standard car has been such a success, the +2 only likely to add to those sales.
Only the two 2.0-litre engine choices were on offer to test, the turbodiesel, impressing with its punchy mid-range torque, the petrol with its smoothness and willingness to rev.
Good as they are though, Irish buyers are likely to opt for the more tax-friendly 1.6-litre petrol and 1.5-litre turbodiesel two-wheel drive models - the diesel returning an impressive combined consumption figure of 5.7l/100km and a CO2 rating of 149g/km.
Sensible family transport then, that Nissan hopes will pinch sales from the compact MPV versions of the hatchbacks its regular Qashqai has been so successful against.
First impressions are very good, the +2 adding some practicality to an already accomplished package.
FACTFILE
NISSAN QASHQAI+2 1.6
Price: €27,000 (estimated)
Engine: 1.6-litre petrol engine
Peak power: 113bhp at 6,000rpm
Peak torque: 156Nm at 4,400rpm
Transmission: five-speed manual, front-wheel-drive; six-speed manual, front-wheel-drive
Performance: 0-100km/h: 12.9 seconds
Top speed: 174km/h
Emissions: 165 CO2 g/km
Combined cycle fuel economy: 7.0 litres/100km
NISSAN QASHQAI+2 1.5
Price: €27,500 (estimated)
Engine: 1.5-litre turbodiesel Peak power: 102bhp at 4,000rpm
Peak torque: 240Nm at 2,000rpm
Transmission: six-speed manual, front-wheel-drive
Performance: 0-100km/h: 13.3 seconds
Top speed: 170km/h
Emssions: 149 CO2 g/km
Combined cycle fuel economy: 5.7 litres/100km
NISSAN QASHQAI+2 2.0
Price:€33,000 (estimated)
Engine: 2.0-litre petrol
Peak power: 138bhp at 6,000rpm
Peak torque: 196Nm at 4,800rpm
Transmission: Six-speed manual, front-wheel-drive (4wd optional)
Performance: 0-100km/h: 10.5/ 10.9* seconds
Top speed: 190/188*km/h
Emissions: 197/205* CO2 g/km
Combined cycle fuel economy: 8.4/8.6* litres/100km