N-thing special, but still good

15 September 2024 | Paul Gover

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The Nissan X-Trail N-Trek UB in action. Photo: Supplied.

Car companies are always looking for ways to tickle their cars and add freshness to their showrooms.

So we come to the Nissan X-Trail N-Trek.

It’s nothing special, beyond some cosmetic tweakery and a tickle in the cabin, but thankfully the basics of the X-Trail are good.

The mid-sized Nissan is one of the better contenders in the family-sized SUV world, with a body that works for up to seven people it makes plenty of sense from $47,290.

Of course, as always, the starting price is just that – the start for a five-seater model with front-wheel drive, not the seven-seater with all-wheel drive.

Even so, what makes the X-Trail good are a roomy cabin, reasonable performance, suspension that works well in Australia, and the proven reputation of the Nissan brand.

It’s a car to recommend to friends, even if a Hyundai or Kia is more attractive and more enjoyable and a Toyota is, well, a Toyota, but all three are costlier and have significant wait times.

Back to the N-car and the tickle for the X-Trail is show over go, with no changes to the engine or drive system. Although the extra body bits give a (slightly) tougher look, it still sits at the same ride height so there is no improvement to ground clearance.

The N-Trek is built off the fairly basic ST-L grade, sadly without the e-Power hybrid drive system – it always runs on electric power, with the combustion engine to charge the battery – which has become a recent favourite package.

It misses the bells-and-whistles treatment of the flagship Ti-L, but do you really need – not crave – things like “quilted Nappa leather seat trim” and “heated second-row outboard seats”?

Nissan X-Trail N-Trek. Photo: Supplied.

So, what do you get?

Apart from black-painted mirrors and grille and door trims, there are 18-inch N-Trek alloys, fog lamps, and slightly different bumpers.

The real pay-off is inside, with twin 12.3-inch display screens, one for instruments and the other for infotainment, and a 10.8-inch heads-up display to project your speed into the windscreen, fighter-pilot style. There is also ’synthetic leather’ trim which Nissan claims has “water-resistant qualities”.

The seat covering alone, will be enough for any N-Trek shoppers with messy youngsters …

Nissan is pushing hard with the ‘Let’s Get Dirty’ sales pitch for the N-Trek, promising – but not justifying – how it is for people “who embrace adventure, the outdoors, and want to use their vehicle to enjoy time and adventures together”.

As for the car itself, the basic strengths of the X-Trail are still present and correct.

After recent drives in a bunch of the (many, many, many) other mid-sized SUVs, the cabin feels more roomy than others, but with design work which is a bit pedestrian and (honestly) dowdy.

Does that matter? Not a bit.

It drives nicely in all conditions, easily swallows three teenagers and their ‘stuff’, and provides no-fuss motoring at a sensible price.

Is it special? A bit.

Is it special enough to consider shopping for the N-Trek version of the Nissan X-Trail? Yes, for sure.