The Qashqai’s 1.3-litre, 156bhp mild hybrid powertrain makes a slightly ordinary, though passable, impression from the driver’s seat.
It’s surprisingly torquey at bumbling revs once the turbocharger’s spooled up – though it’s not the smoothest engine when engaging on the clutch, the electric assistance failing to cover for the turbocharged engine’s momentary lethargy. Drivability is good, once the motor’s pulling – but it doesn’t respond instantly, nor rev particularly keenly beyond 4000rpm, and becomes coarser and more thrashy at high revs than you’d imagine based on its better manners at lower revs.
When it comes to the full hybrid e-Power model – if it wasn’t for the occasional thrum of the three-cylinder petrol engine coming from the front end under load, the Qashqai could easily be mistaken for having a pure-electric system much of the time.
For the most part, it accelerates in a smooth and brisk manner than is befitting of a family crossover. And because the electric motor does most of the driving, you get strong regenerative braking too – although it’s rather aggressive when you turn e-Pedal mode on.
Out of town, the piston engine remains quiet at cruising speeds, but makes itself known when with more abrupt throttle inputs. It has a tendency to spin up rather ferociously which means that, under load, the revs seem to soar and then linger at the top end of the range for no particular reason.
Overall, though, the e-Power setup feels like the best resolved and least compromised powertrain you can have in the Qashqai.
The mild-hybrid, though passable, feels a little let down by its low-rpm lethargy, which results in drivability annoyances; and also by fairly average manual gearboxes, which have a slightly notchy shift quality and a numb clutch pedal with a troublesome high biting point.
To make matters worse, engine revs drop very slowly when the clutch is disengaged, which makes it more difficult than it needs to be to change gear quickly and smoothly. The action of the gearchange could be better defined, too. It’s light, with a mildly notchy but longish throw.
The X-tronic CVT, meanwhile, masks the engine’s off-boost torpor but suffers from an irritating surge in acceleration at more than a quarter throttle that’s disproportionate with your inputs. It also feels poorly integrated with the start/stop system, sending a judder through the driveline each time the engine cuts in and out.
While Nissan claims to have tuned the variable-compression petrol engine to better match vehicle speed – a response to criticism of the jarring ‘rubber band’ effect of a CVT gearbox – it still produces a fairly monotonous and uninspiring melody. The best course is to be light with the right foot and let it tick away quietly.
Consequently, the Qashqai feels like a car that might be better suited to a conventional torque-converter or DCT automatic gearbox, which could camouflage some of the flat spots in the power delivery.
