Wait, the new Nissan X-Trail is already in the Philippines?
Hold your horses now. The X-Trail was previewed at the 2024 Philippine International Motor Show (PIMS), but it’s not available in our market just yet. What I was recently able to try out was the Japan-spec model which we drove briefly on an 80km or so trip from Yokohama to Chiba and back.
I see. This SUV looks good, how is it in the metal?
It does, doesn’t it? Up close, it looks just as good as it does in the photos. I really like the design of this fourth-generation model. The split headlight design with the wide grille make it look more modern and miles better than its predecessor—the last version that was sold in the Philippines.
Note, though, that there was a recent facelift that made the X-Trail look like a baby Patrol. That was neither the one previewed at PIMS nor the one we drove in Japan. That said, I’m still keeping my fingers crossed that that’s the one we get, because that looks even better than the pre-facelift model.
What’s the engine on the X-Trail you drove?
That bit might be the most important here—the X-Trail is powered by an e-Power setup with e-4orce, Nissan’s all-wheel-drive system. Technically, this isn’t Top Gear Philippines’ first go at this, as my colleagues Sheng Banzon and Charles Banaag were already able to try this out in Japan back in October 2023. However, our recent drive was all the more important given its recent preview on our soil.
Anyway, back to the powertrain—this consists of a 1.5-liter gasoline engine with Nissan’s VC-Turbo or variable compression ratio engine and two electric motors. It produces north of 200hp and 300Nm of torque, and delivers power to all four wheels.
What’s this X-Trail like to drive?
Of course, I knew you’d ask that. We didn’t exactly drive this on the track, so we weren’t able to push it to the limit. We didn’t drive it through twisties, either. What we did was take it through typical roads and highways under real-world Japan driving conditions.
Ride comfort is excellent in the X-Trail, though I might have to credit Japan’s road conditions for that as well. The question still remains whether or not it’ll be okay to take through, say, EDSA, but then again, only a few cars can be considered ‘comfortable’ on roads like those. All that being said, the cabin is easily enjoyable, which adds to overall comfort. There’s an abundance of soft-touch materials inside, with a large infotainment system and physical buttons and knobs for the A/C controls—everything within reach of the driver and very easy to operate.
Power delivery smooth and instantaneous as well, and while there were only two of us onboard during the drive, I’m sure the powertrain will have enough oomph even with seven passengers. Handling-wise, I can’t say for certain if it’s precise per se, but the e-4orce does handle acceleration and braking quite well on a straight line, as there’s relatively minimal pitching when flooring the pedal or slamming the brakes.
If I had to rate it out of five in terms of driving dynamics based on our short drive, I’d give it a perfect score.
How does it fit in Nissan’s Philippine lineup?
If Toyota can have both the RAV4—a hybrid compact crossover—together with the Fortuner—a diesel-powered midsize SUV—then NPI offering both the X-Trail and Terra shouldn’t be a problem. There was a time that these two co-existed here, anyway. The X-Trail e-Power doesn’t overlap with the Kicks, either, so there’s really space for it in the local lineup.
There’s a market for vehicles like this, and evidence to that is the aforementioned RAV4 and the Honda CR-V. We can’t exactly say that it’s a gap that exists specifically in NPI’s stable, seeing as the carmaker has been fine living without the X-Trail for years now, but there’s surely potential for it. Besides, the Filipino buyers have already gotten a taste of e-Power and they’ve grown to like it, so at least there’s assurance that the technology will be accepted here.
At the end of the day, the industry is shifting to electrified powertrains. Until Nissan builds an electrified Terra, this is the future-proof SUV for Nissan.
