Nissan Qashqai (+2)

Nissan Qashqai, I clearly remember the first day I read about Nissan’s new car Qashqai on Top Gear Magazine on 2007. It was totally something different than the existing model range and I was not able to pronounce it properly. Actually, with many people we had the same issue. We were trying to develop a phonetic and which end up totally wrong!

Qashqai was the leader of front-wheel drive small size SUV segment. Before Qashqai, only front-wheel drive concept was a bit risky. Because, it was contradicting with the mentality of SUV. Manufacturers were hesitating to remove the four-wheel or all-wheel drive system from an SUV. I was not that sure that, it would receive this success. However, it did!

Actually one my dear friend Ferruh Uztuğ was one of the first people in Turkey who bought the Qashqai. It was a bit risky decision and I didn’t wish to stop him from this exciting purchase. Hopefully, it was a gambling end up with win! Later on, Qashqai became so popular and strength its new segment of front-wheel driven small SUVs. Even the Land Rover followed this lead by front-wheel driven Evoque and Freelander.

I drove this car couple of times and it was way better than the Almera and Primera. Even the Nissan realised that those cars are terrible, and went into production. Once again, Qashqai is a great example of integration of cleaver and contemporary design with competitive features. And it was so successful, they introduced +2 model later.

The engine options are; 1.6-lt (117 PS) and 2.0-lt (140 PS) petrol engines and 1.5-lt (110 PS), 1.6-lt (130), 2.0-lt (150 PS) diesel engines. The best option will be the 1.6-lt diesel! 5-Speed, 6-Speed manuals; CVT and 6-Speed auto transmissions; front-wheel and all-wheel drive options are available across the range.

For pricing and specifications, please follow the Nissan's web site.

Ferruh Uztuğ is Professor at Department of Communication Sciences at Anadolu University, Eskişehir, Turkey.