After learning about what a CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission) is post release of the video, does it change my opinion on the X-Trail at all?? It does a little bit, I wouldnt recommend putting this 'soft-roader' through a hard time off-road for too long with this type of system. This also explains why that Down Hill Assist is SUPER important for anything steep off-road. When it gets too hot it will jump out of LOCK MODE and over 40kph it will jump out of LOCK MODE. Final note, despite what the internet experts say in the comments this vehicle does have 'ratios' in driving similar to gearing its just variable. Like gearing on a push bike except for the 2 gears change in size, to in a way change 'gears'.
I had the manual diesel from 2015 ish for few years. Absolutely a better off road platform than cvt (even though it's some cool equipment) 😎 😁 Also have a lift and bigger tyres while still at 8.5L/100 avg.
My first thought when listening to the engine howl cvt. My wife have Corolla with cvt. There’s a continuous revving when flooring it. But with normal driving trans simulates gear changes.
Alot of Car journalist are the worst. No idea of what there talking about, just reading off a brochure or media kit blah blah blah. And generally have next to no off roading skills or understanding of what there doing.
Xtrails are a great family car. Definitely not a bush basher! But very capable in most situations. I've tested them off road and as long as you drive within their limitations, they're fine. Buy a nice set of all terrains and get the pressure right, and they're not bad. I've had them in dirt,mud, rough tracks and up on two and three wheels using lock and decent control. Excellent touring car but it's not a four wheel drive. If you want to do serious off road stuff, better but the right vehicle. A great all rounder for mum and the family.
Can I ask what you'd call a rough track vs a road you wouldn't have taken your X-Trail on? Is it, for example, anything marked as a gravel road on a map? I'm just trying to gauge what a vehicle like this can safely handle if I wanted to tour the country.
Honestly, this review is proof as to how good automatic 4x4 systems and CVTs have gotten. I have almost exactly that car, only with the tan leather, as a Diesel and with the current CVT generation, that simulates shifting so good that you actually won't recognize it. It is an excellent vehicle and suprisingly capable on snow and sand. It is no offroader, but that is pretty obvious. It's a daily driver that will get you where you need to go, even if the weather goes t*ts up or there are dirt roads and sh*t in your way. The 4WD and CVT will do perfectly fine in those settings, and since the CVT (at least the one in the Diesel version) has a super wide spread, you will have no problem crawling up steep, rough gravel roads etc..In fact, the way the 4WD and CVT interact in offroad settings or while mountain driving and towing is way ahead of what a normal auto could do. It really punches above it's weight concerning the 4WD system when you compare it to it's rivals. This is no lifestyle softroader, this is an SUV with a proper automatic 4WD system that Nissan put some serious effort into. No, it's not equiped with a locking center dif, it also is not equiped with a wet clutch or a viscous cuppling (interesting how many people just make stuff up :D), it has a magnetic clutch that "acts" as a center locking dif, and it will lock under 40 and will stay put unless you use this car for stuff it has not been designed for. It will also lock automatically if the terrain suggest so and it will lock up to 70kph and higher if the road is slippery. This is no rock crawler. Nobody ever said so. But I put this thing through heavy snow for hours on end and it didn't even flinch. It has a very capable traction control as well. Ground clearance isn't too bad either for a daily driver, with 21cm. And for what it is - a daily driver - this automatic 4wd system actually is way safer than a locking dif based one, that on the pavement will pretty much be a rear wheel drive. The X-Trail will just jump in and out of 4WD and everything inbetween, and super quickly as well. If you hit a snow patch, 4WD and transmission will react immediately, jump to 50/50 and alter the transmission ratio to give the ESP more control. No traditional 4WD will do that for you. For people that drive on roads first and foremost, this car is way more efficient, comfortable, safer, quieter. Mine weighs almost 1.9 tons (because of the diesel) and you can drive it between 6 and 7 liters/100km if you can tame your right foot. If you want to do serious offroading, this car is not for you. But if you needed this video or this comment to find out, you should not go offroading in the first place :D
I'm loving this !!! I like seeing soft roaders on sand, helps judge whether people can do the occasional beach run as I mostly do beach fishing 🎣 and the majority of smaller "4wd's" are soft roaders, and for someone with a limited budget and can't afford a hilux or prado etc, don't want to buy an older vehicle thats more than 10yrs old or just want a small 4x4 thats bigger than a jimny sierra are limited in choice, I have owned a 93 suzuki sierra a 08 3 door grand vitara and have been excellent beach cars with dual range 4x4 I now have a 08 suzuki sx4 4x4 it has Suzuki's iAWD system 2H 4auto and 4lock and stays locked up to 60kmph then will revert back to auto if over that speed ( don't recommend sand driving in auto or it will over heat the clutch pack but will happily drive around in lock mode all day as long as it's under 60kmph) and on the fly can engage from 2wd to auto whilst driving up to 100kmph. I've just put on some Goodride AT tyres to fit the stock alloys. The Sx4 is the only awd softroader I know that can be centre locked up to 60kmph where most are 40-45kmph. But I must say I love this style content, as it's useful for people like me wanting to buy or upgrade there car that want some offroad capabilities such as beach/sand driving. Cheers Ronny 👌🏻👍🏻✌🏽
I wouldn't worry too much about that lock mode. It's literally just a suggestion to the computer that you want full clutch pressure on the RDU. Nothing "locks" and auto mode will be able to apply the same amount of clutch pressure, it just applies it less aggressively.
I hired one of these once and it was a lovely comfortable car however it just felt like a city car. As a SUV the older x-trails were a lot better and they had awesome interiors
Great review! I own an NT32 2015 1.6DCI TS 6 psd manual 4WD and I really like it. You can really punt the thing on the road and it's great fun in the dirt. The overhangs and limited clearance is a letdown but you can always lift it a bit. Tyres make a big difference to the interior noise and I find the Cooper ATTs I am running limit the tarmac performance, especially in the wet. The Xtrails seem to prefer a good road tyre. Regardless, these things are good fun.
Thanks Ronny. Just brought one and after looking at many reviews and research. Good to see the off road capabilities which I was wondering about. Thanks
Well, it fails at rock crawling and hard offroading, yet it will crush a traditional 4x4 everywhere else. So depending on your driving profile, this one will be by far the better - and certainly the safer - choice.
I love these "Ronny drives X vehicle" videos , I believe the earlier models of the X trail did have a proper gearing with low range before CVT was introduced.
First gen xtrails had the epicyclic traditional auto with no low range only a centre diff lock- 2wd,Auto,lock modes. Second gen have the CVT and have crossed over to this current 3 gen as they share basically the same platform.
I hosted Subaru 4X4 days at fourby tracks. That X-Mode is wizardry and the things you can do in a Subaru are obscene. One participant said “my Land Rover would beat this.” I responded with “would you take your Land Rover on roads this tough?” He said “No.” so for 99% of destination off-roaders (a term I just made up as opposed to bush bashing) These light off-road vehicles are great. Just take a sat phone, EPIRB or a buddy.. and decent tyres but you should really do that anyway.
Good video mate, you only know what you know and I suppose soft roaders aren't your forté. Don't worry about the haters as I'm sure this video will still help people that are interested in it.
Two reasons it won’t go over 40 in “4wd” 1. It has a CVT - they are useless off road, they over heat, so it cuts it to reduce pressure on the transmission. 2, it doesn’t have a Centre diff, no crossover SUV does (Subaru always an exception) it cuts out to prevent the clutch packs from overheating. My Outback does the same thing when in x-mode. It’s fantastic in sand, best car I’ve ever driven on gravel but that’s its limit really. Conversely my wife’s Ford Kuga, despite having no 4wd modes at all does an amazing job of locking itself in 4wd when it needs to - I was surprised, I was convinced it would be dead set useless off road. These crossover SUV things are actually surprising when you have 0 expectations what so ever.
Having owned one of these (brand new 2009 manual 6 speed Ti ) for 11 years I will say if you drive it in 2WD it uses less fuel but when it rains I will drive it in 4X4i for better traction. Yes the Lock 4x4 will disengage after 40kph which is annoying. The only issues with the engine I have had was the clutch went in it and it’s expensive to replaced as it has a dual mass flywheel which was changed but did cost $3k to replace.
A number of soft roaders that I have seen with 4x4 Lock Mode that they are limited to use only up to 40 kph. So it's not just an X Trail thing but soft roaders in general.
This video was sick! I want an affordable light off roader, literally just to pull off the road and maybe fang up the beach 2o mins for a surf soo found this super helpful! thanks brother.
I have a 2016 Subaru Forester and xtrail in the higher trims. Would strongly recommend the Subaru if you're going softroading. It's not a proper 4wd but it's built a lot bloody tougher than the xtrail. That being said I reckon the xtrail is a lot comfier around town, especially if you've got good roads.
CVT transmissions like to explode at the best of times. Please dont ask them to do hard work in the sand or any off road work. And whatever you do dont ask it to tow a trailer
My wife has the model before this, I believe the 4wd system is still the same. 4wd mode is still 2wd, but it sends power to the rear when it senses wheel slip in the front. Which is why your display shows most power to the front. 4wd lock does send drive 50/50, but no centre diff lock just traction control being told to split it. It unlocks when you go over 40km/h or if you turn the car off. You must re engage the lock again.
It's the kind of car for someone that is going to go on a predominately highway road trip but wants to see things along the way that require driving onto roads that aren't paved with asphalt. A variant of this is sold in the United States as the Nissan Rogue, and it's not really thought of as a a four wheeling vehicle here either. When we bought my wife's daily driver we went for the Jeep Renegade, which is sort of in the same class as the Rogue/X-Trail, but we opted for the Trailhawk package, which fixes some of the kinds of issues that were an issue here. Wheels are 17" with 28" tall tires for a bit more sidewall, the 4wd system has more capability, and the design of the front and rear overhangs allow for much better approach and departure angles. It's still a car in my mind though, being unibody and four wheel independent suspension. I did put rock sliders on it but that was more so the tubes could be used as step-rails. Since the 4WD system is a full-time AWD system there's peace of mind that even in adverse conditions without manually engaging 4WD it'll still have some better handling than a 2WD.
4wd does not give you better handling. A 2wd car vs a 4wd car will turn the same. 4wd car will turn worse if you want to get technical (more weight). Only thing 4wd gives you is better traction out of corners…
Sorry mate, it doesn't have 4x4/4WD. It's an AWD that under certain conditions can lock 50/50 split. It also doesn't have a transmission, it's a CVT transaxle. No center differential either, it's a wet clutch coupling. Once you over heat it, goes into 2WD.
@@kombirat not really. 4x4/4WD has a transfer case (with or without low range). The system in question doesn't have a transfer case. It used to be called "viscous coupling" on some cars. What they call it now a days, who knows. 😁 Also, you can't permanently lock it (as Ronny found out).
Hi Ronny awesome vid..I have an xtrail and it's permanently on 2WD...so I can leave it on auto permanently rather? If yes, is there a speed limit on auto Thanks
In all fairness, not a single review, no one has actually tested this vehicle as it should..... 2 screaming kids in the back, a sleeping beauty on the passenger, and the esky in the trunk. If you repeat exactly the same you just did with the family... I will take my hat off for the vehicle, and my respect to you mate (not that there is non you have already shown to be a straight shooter with your comments)
I own this model and couldn't agree more with you. X-trail is the perfect "family" SUV that can take you anywhere but it's not the real adventure (if you mean off-road). Nonetheless, I love every minute driving this car
g'day ronnie, parked next to you at outback splash on saturday and noticed you in this beast. was going to ask for your opinion on it coz ive been thinkin of gettin one for the misso. then i see this vid.
3:29 Been able to flick to 2WD could be useful for marginal fuel efficiency improvement or in any event perhaps when there may be a driveline fault, minimal connecting differentials to get movement. Just a guess though would kill to be able to switch out AWD into 2WD as an option.
I have had one of these. Older one (t31) (this one being a t32), nonetheless the driveline is identical same motor trans and transfer case. It’s a cvt, and the 4wd”lock” only locks up to 40KPH then doesn’t engage again. Goes good on the beach. But that’s about all it’s good for
You need to do this test with a new Forester, they are actually properly off road capable and can keep up with most real 4x4's on the beach and easy to moderate trails.
Great video and great review mate, if you could do more of these types of reviews on these types of cars “soft roaders ” that would be great would be good to see what you think of the Subaru Outback and those kind of cars.
The sad thing about the subies are they've gone to cvt, great for on road and economy, very bad off road in this situation such as with soft sand and beach driving the cvt has a threshold for how much you can pedal mash to prevent the cvt from overheating. Not as durable as an old school auto. When your cruising along hard packed or semi soft sand its fine but when your in tougher deeper powdery soft sand and you stop then want to go again it will struggle a fair bit as the computer and transmission will not let you overheat the transmission and cuts power around 3000 rpms or so. Even xmode won't save you either. I say at least make the off-road esq models a traditional auto at least, or a cvt that can endure more strain, heat and harder acceleration from stand still. The forester from 2008 my 09 had a traditional auto unfortunately no Xmode tho.
Great honest real world review, would be suitable to traverse the Pilbara, just not full time touring. Very scary that the vehicle jumps out of 4wd at 40km, would think that would be its biggest safety issue
A review on mum’s shopping trolley Ronny ? , did you or your wife select the vehicle ? and if it was me that car better look like it just came off the show room floor upon its return - inside and out ! Interesting choice of vehicle and for a review mate lol 😎👍🍻
Gears - 7 Gear Type - X-tronic (Constantly Variable Transmission) Generic Gear Type - Automatic Gear Location - Floor Drive - 4WD (4X4 On Demand) From Carsales vehicle spec list, guess it takes a non Toytota driver to figure things out lol ;-)
For half of the price you can get a Dacia/Renault Duster which is a true offroader, with "low-range" first gear, it's also more reliable, less electronics, easier to work on and better looking
A good review, but it loses big points for not mentioning an important safety issue that most people aren’t aware of until they have a puncture. The Nissan X-Trail comes with a space-saver spare tyre, rather than a full-sized spare. That feature is a deal-breaker for me. Personally, I would never buy an SUV with a space-saver spare tyre, unless I only travelled in the city. If you drive in the country (as most SUV owners would do), consider this before buying a car fitted with a space-saver spare tyre: * Space savers are a temporary spare: their job is to get you to the nearest mechanic. * Space savers are only good for speeds of up to 80km/h. How would you feel driving at that speed for 3 hours whilst everyone is passing you 30 km/h faster? *Space saver tyres only have a range of a few hundred kilometres before becoming worn out and needing to be replaced. * Ideally, you should put space-saver tyres on the opposite wheels to the steered wheels. * Space saver tyres don’t grip the road as well as normal tyres, which reduces the steering, traction and stopping ability. They are not as safe if you have to execute an emergency handling, cornering or braking manoeuvre. * If you decide to buy a car with a space-saver tyre and for safety reasons, you want to upgrade to a full-sized spare tyre, it often won’t fit in the space saver’s position, so your full-sized spare will take up space in the boot or the cabin. * With a full-size spare it’s possible to rotate your tyres using the spare, which spreads tyre wear over five rather than four tyres. You can’t do this if you have a space saver spare. RACV Chief Engineer Michael Case says "Our concern is that consumers are unaware of the increasing use of these spare wheels and secondly their performance and life limitations." As far as I'm aware, the only popular SUVs that come with full-sized spare tyres are the Kia Sportage, Hyundai Tuscon and the Subaru Forester/Outback. Also, you mentioned that the steering wheel of the Nissan X-Trail has Apple Play, but what about the majority of phone users that have Android phones?
I would say its more of a soft roader. Highways, City and a few dirt roads that are reasonably well maintained. With the tyre size & no low range I wouldn't want to do much else with it.
@@marianjavorka7712 normal mate and my wife have been driving the car 97% of the time !!! My a pathfinder front wheel drive, but they have all the same gear box.
Don't waste your money on electronic rust protection for a vehicle. Use Lanelin to coat the underside of the vehicle on a regular basis after washing and ensure to wash your vehicle as soon as possible, particularly after going through mud and salt water. Cleaning the vehicle after "exporsure" to corrosive elements is simple, cost effective and it works.
I had the STL 4x4 it went very well on the sand and over rocks also surprisingly capable, however cant tow a packet of peanuts and we were a bit worried going in serious off road situations as there is no low 4x4 mode.
I have the same version of truck you have(or close to it) but here in America its a Toyota Tacoma.. My wife has the USA version of this car thats a Nissan Rogue. It does drive good, gets good gas mileage, but does not have 4x4 option. But it looks just like this one, even same color.
CVT: A continuously variable transmission is an automatic transmission that can change seamlessly through a continuous range of gear ratios. So the "speeds" are artificially created points on the continuous spectrum of ratios that have been adopted to give the impression of fixed gear ratios to consumers used to actual gear ratios. Cars with these gearboxes sound like underpowered speed boats otherwise. The Jatco ones in Nissans are particularly bad news.
I own a T 30 2005 X-Trail and it's brilliant offroad, beside the T31 in manual form I would never buy the current versions of this make/ brand... The CVT is NOT designed for serious sand/mud driving. Once things heat up they are prone to just give up the ghost, due to the inherent design of a CVT. The CVT is the weak link in the driveline, never tow or push it to hard, pity Nissan never continued with a generic auto in 5 or 6 speed.
The wifes last car was a top of the range Nissan Murano with a cvt it was probably the nicest car I've ever driven we never had any problems with it and was sad to see it get traded. Some of the nissan cvt's were problematic tho on other models. As far as heated seats go its a running joke in summer putting them on for the wife without telling her and she gets me on occasion as well.
Hmmm... Just been given a 2020 Nissan QashQai as a courtesy car after somebody drove into my Land Rover while it was parked. Dunno how much the X-Trail has in common with it's "little brother" but the Qashqai is a total pain in the arse to drive. It's got a heap of automated systems such as lights, brakes and steering and it just tries to stop you doing anything it doesn't approve of. Try to parallel-park in a space it doesn't like and it'll stiffen the steering and apply the brakes to try and stop you. Come to a halt at a junction on a hill and then slip the clutch to avoid rolling back and it'll apply the parking brake and kill the throttle. Try to put your main-beam headlights on in a pitch-black urban area (such as the rural car-park where I work) and it just flat-out refuses to do so. It nags me when I have the windows down, it nags me when I change gear, it nags me when I drive along narrow roads, it nags me when I turn the lights on and then it nags me again when I turn them off. Utter pain in the arse. Also, although the interior looks nice, it's really cheaply made and it constantly rattles, squeaks and clonks as I'm driving it. Hopefully, the X-Trail is put together a bit better than the Qashqai. Also, I should say that I'd hope most of the "driver aids" can be turned off but I assume the hire-company I got my Qashqai from has locked all that stuff so it can't be disabled. I guess it wouldn't be so bad if all that stuff went away. I'm not averse to new technology, when it actually works well, but I can't wait until my Disco' is repaired and get it back.
I see the palisade has an 8speed torque converter auto which is much better than a dct auto or cvt transmission. I'd opt for a model with the traditional torque converter auto. The older hyundai/Kia's with the traditional epicyclic auto is a better transmission with a good awd system, just an un refined traction control system in equipped, distributing power left to right was not there forte and esp ( electronic stability program) was quite intrusive for sand driving and must be switched off otherwise overheating the transaxle and centre coupler was imminent.
Why central differential lock i.e. 50/50% split between rear and front axle is considered optimal for off road. Imagine a scenario where rear axle has no traction in such a case all the torque (100%) should be sent to front (axle with traction). If this assumption then then modern on-demand torque should be better for offroading as they can send torque where needed.
From South Africa, I have the 2016 1.6 dCie SE version, 4 x4 hill assist brake assist GPS and most electronics are the same, LOL I dont have the dirt road warning :) Body and looks are the same, and rather proud to boast about the fuel consumption the 1.6 turboi diesel gets ne 4.8 on the open road and last had 6.8 in town,
I believe "auto" means 2wd but if it senses a loss of traction with the driving wheels, it will automatically apply drive to the rear putting it in "AWD" momentarily...I could be wrong though?!
CVT is more of a compromise offroad than the AWD system. They wont let you build momentum if you need to mat it. You would have made it up the first dune if it were a proper auto or manual.
I just know if this car is fitted with Nissan's legendary CVT, it won't take long for it to need a new gear box! My friend did nothing like this in his car and had to replace the gearbox before 25000 kms!! However, I've heard they are going to stop using the CVT in some models.
I was just going to write that this thing probably has a CTV which I HATE except for fuel economy but saw Ronny mention it in the pinned post. You would think that Ronny would know what that is AND feel it when driving? It doesn't have gears (you can say endless ones) but fake gear changes. When you have to introduce fake gear changes in order for people to live with it/accept, well it's not a good thing.
Not having 4WD low and the 4WD lock disconnecting at 40 ks is not good for a 4WD . My Vitara would do a lot better than the X-trail off-road and thats saying something , meaning my Vitara is a soft-roader so what does that make the X-trail , softly softly off-roader . Being of low ground clearance you tend to plough through the sand and fill your sub frame with sand , if it's wet beach sand it stays in your sub-frame too . CVT is not a good trans for off road either , thats why it won't hold 4WD , it's a hairdressers car or in this case the Wifey's car :-)
Haha this hairdresser would never 😂 I'm an educated experienced 4wder and enthusiast that happens to be a hairdresser too, and even if I wasn't I'd still wouldn't buy a Nissan Xtrail, crap cvt hate them and would never want to fix one or work on one, oh and I also work on cars too, 😀 but yes I know alot of hairdressers who have these 🤮
CVT clearly I’ve never heard of her. If I watched someone else’s review I would have learnt about it but I go out of my way to not watch so it doesn’t impact on my view.
You should have bought the Mrs a RAV4 she deserves it, so not fare you get to have the Toyotas , let's not forget she has to put up with your excursions !
My wife has a ti, it’s a 7 speed auto and I’ve never stopped to change drive mode, once change the drive mode to auto on the fly highway when it was pissing rain helps with the aqua planing. I honestly think if it was lifted it’ll be better than my N80
After learning about what a CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission) is post release of the video, does it change my opinion on the X-Trail at all??
It does a little bit, I wouldnt recommend putting this 'soft-roader' through a hard time off-road for too long with this type of system. This also explains why that Down Hill Assist is SUPER important for anything steep off-road. When it gets too hot it will jump out of LOCK MODE and over 40kph it will jump out of LOCK MODE.
Final note, despite what the internet experts say in the comments this vehicle does have 'ratios' in driving similar to gearing its just variable. Like gearing on a push bike except for the 2 gears change in size, to in a way change 'gears'.
DEAR , WAITING FOR THE NEW LC300 REVIEW
I had the manual diesel from 2015 ish for few years. Absolutely a better off road platform than cvt (even though it's some cool equipment) 😎 😁
Also have a lift and bigger tyres while still at 8.5L/100 avg.
My first thought when listening to the engine howl cvt.
My wife have Corolla with cvt.
There’s a continuous revving when flooring it.
But with normal driving trans simulates gear changes.
I like this kind of real-time test, much honest than car journalist's tests !!
Alot of Car journalist are the worst.
No idea of what there talking about, just reading off a brochure or media kit blah blah blah.
And generally have next to no off roading skills or understanding of what there doing.
Xtrails are a great family car. Definitely not a bush basher! But very capable in most situations. I've tested them off road and as long as you drive within their limitations, they're fine. Buy a nice set of all terrains and get the pressure right, and they're not bad. I've had them in dirt,mud, rough tracks and up on two and three wheels using lock and decent control. Excellent touring car but it's not a four wheel drive. If you want to do serious off road stuff, better but the right vehicle. A great all rounder for mum and the family.
Can I ask what you'd call a rough track vs a road you wouldn't have taken your X-Trail on? Is it, for example, anything marked as a gravel road on a map? I'm just trying to gauge what a vehicle like this can safely handle if I wanted to tour the country.
Honestly, this review is proof as to how good automatic 4x4 systems and CVTs have gotten. I have almost exactly that car, only with the tan leather, as a Diesel and with the current CVT generation, that simulates shifting so good that you actually won't recognize it. It is an excellent vehicle and suprisingly capable on snow and sand. It is no offroader, but that is pretty obvious. It's a daily driver that will get you where you need to go, even if the weather goes t*ts up or there are dirt roads and sh*t in your way. The 4WD and CVT will do perfectly fine in those settings, and since the CVT (at least the one in the Diesel version) has a super wide spread, you will have no problem crawling up steep, rough gravel roads etc..In fact, the way the 4WD and CVT interact in offroad settings or while mountain driving and towing is way ahead of what a normal auto could do. It really punches above it's weight concerning the 4WD system when you compare it to it's rivals. This is no lifestyle softroader, this is an SUV with a proper automatic 4WD system that Nissan put some serious effort into. No, it's not equiped with a locking center dif, it also is not equiped with a wet clutch or a viscous cuppling (interesting how many people just make stuff up :D), it has a magnetic clutch that "acts" as a center locking dif, and it will lock under 40 and will stay put unless you use this car for stuff it has not been designed for. It will also lock automatically if the terrain suggest so and it will lock up to 70kph and higher if the road is slippery. This is no rock crawler. Nobody ever said so. But I put this thing through heavy snow for hours on end and it didn't even flinch. It has a very capable traction control as well. Ground clearance isn't too bad either for a daily driver, with 21cm. And for what it is - a daily driver - this automatic 4wd system actually is way safer than a locking dif based one, that on the pavement will pretty much be a rear wheel drive. The X-Trail will just jump in and out of 4WD and everything inbetween, and super quickly as well. If you hit a snow patch, 4WD and transmission will react immediately, jump to 50/50 and alter the transmission ratio to give the ESP more control. No traditional 4WD will do that for you. For people that drive on roads first and foremost, this car is way more efficient, comfortable, safer, quieter. Mine weighs almost 1.9 tons (because of the diesel) and you can drive it between 6 and 7 liters/100km if you can tame your right foot. If you want to do serious offroading, this car is not for you. But if you needed this video or this comment to find out, you should not go offroading in the first place :D
Sounds like someone wishes they had a real 4wd😂
I'm loving this !!! I like seeing soft roaders on sand, helps judge whether people can do the occasional beach run as I mostly do beach fishing 🎣 and the majority of smaller "4wd's" are soft roaders, and for someone with a limited budget and can't afford a hilux or prado etc, don't want to buy an older vehicle thats more than 10yrs old or just want a small 4x4 thats bigger than a jimny sierra are limited in choice, I have owned a 93 suzuki sierra a 08 3 door grand vitara and have been excellent beach cars with dual range 4x4 I now have a 08 suzuki sx4 4x4 it has Suzuki's iAWD system 2H 4auto and 4lock and stays locked up to 60kmph then will revert back to auto if over that speed ( don't recommend sand driving in auto or it will over heat the clutch pack but will happily drive around in lock mode all day as long as it's under 60kmph) and on the fly can engage from 2wd to auto whilst driving up to 100kmph.
I've just put on some Goodride AT tyres to fit the stock alloys.
The Sx4 is the only awd softroader I know that can be centre locked up to 60kmph where most are 40-45kmph.
But I must say I love this style content, as it's useful for people like me wanting to buy or upgrade there car that want some offroad capabilities such as beach/sand driving.
Cheers Ronny 👌🏻👍🏻✌🏽
The 0-100 test is super scientific! ;) No room for error there! Love it!
I wouldn't worry too much about that lock mode. It's literally just a suggestion to the computer that you want full clutch pressure on the RDU. Nothing "locks" and auto mode will be able to apply the same amount of clutch pressure, it just applies it less aggressively.
I hired one of these once and it was a lovely comfortable car however it just felt like a city car.
As a SUV the older x-trails were a lot better and they had awesome interiors
The older ones also had taller ground clearance and smaller rims with deeper side wall tyres, much better for the ballooning effect for sand driving 👌
Great review! I own an NT32 2015 1.6DCI TS 6 psd manual 4WD and I really like it. You can really punt the thing on the road and it's great fun in the dirt. The overhangs and limited clearance is a letdown but you can always lift it a bit. Tyres make a big difference to the interior noise and I find the Cooper ATTs I am running limit the tarmac performance, especially in the wet. The Xtrails seem to prefer a good road tyre. Regardless, these things are good fun.
Thanks Ronny. Just brought one and after looking at many reviews and research. Good to see the off road capabilities which I was wondering about. Thanks
I think these reviews are good to show exactly what vehicle not to buy for proper 4WD'ing ...case in point right here
Well, it fails at rock crawling and hard offroading, yet it will crush a traditional 4x4 everywhere else. So depending on your driving profile, this one will be by far the better - and certainly the safer - choice.
I love these "Ronny drives X vehicle" videos , I believe the earlier models of the X trail did have a proper gearing with low range before CVT was introduced.
First gen xtrails had the epicyclic traditional auto with no low range only a centre diff lock- 2wd,Auto,lock modes.
Second gen have the CVT and have crossed over to this current 3 gen as they share basically the same platform.
Even now if u select the gear in low range and put 4wd lock it is capable.
Pretty straight forward and honest review, good one Ronny!
See if Subaru will loan you an Outback so you can do a side by side comparison to your missus xtrail. I reckon the outback would win overall
I hosted Subaru 4X4 days at fourby tracks. That X-Mode is wizardry and the things you can do in a Subaru are obscene. One participant said “my Land Rover would beat this.” I responded with “would you take your Land Rover on roads this tough?” He said “No.” so for 99% of destination off-roaders (a term I just made up as opposed to bush bashing) These light off-road vehicles are great. Just take a sat phone, EPIRB or a buddy.. and decent tyres but you should really do that anyway.
Good video mate, you only know what you know and I suppose soft roaders aren't your forté. Don't worry about the haters as I'm sure this video will still help people that are interested in it.
Two reasons it won’t go over 40 in “4wd” 1. It has a CVT - they are useless off road, they over heat, so it cuts it to reduce pressure on the transmission. 2, it doesn’t have a Centre diff, no crossover SUV does (Subaru always an exception) it cuts out to prevent the clutch packs from overheating. My Outback does the same thing when in x-mode. It’s fantastic in sand, best car I’ve ever driven on gravel but that’s its limit really. Conversely my wife’s Ford Kuga, despite having no 4wd modes at all does an amazing job of locking itself in 4wd when it needs to - I was surprised, I was convinced it would be dead set useless off road. These crossover SUV things are actually surprising when you have 0 expectations what so ever.
Would love to see the 300 series up next Ronny.
Me too 👌
One would think his waiting for Toyota to offer one up for him to borrow hehe.
Hi Ronny, any chance you could give us a video on a review of the 300 series? Cheers
2nd this, would love to see your honest review.
Yeah, so people can have another video to whinge about losing two cylinders and a split tailgate 🤦♂️
I just want to see how it goes Offroad I don’t really care about the other stuff.
That's what I'm after. Cheers Ronny.
No gears at the automatic version. It's a CVT 'gear'-box.
Same with last gen RAV4. 4wd lock cuts out at 30km/h….then switches back to awd. Though the Rav has a proper 5 speed auto not a CVT and 16s wheels.
Having owned one of these (brand new 2009 manual 6 speed Ti ) for 11 years I will say if you drive it in 2WD it uses less fuel but when it rains I will drive it in 4X4i for better traction. Yes the Lock 4x4 will disengage after 40kph which is annoying. The only issues with the engine I have had was the clutch went in it and it’s expensive to replaced as it has a dual mass flywheel which was changed but did cost $3k to replace.
First comment! Well Done Ronnie! Another great review. I believe the auto is CVT so doesn’t have distinct gears.
A number of soft roaders that I have seen with 4x4 Lock Mode that they are limited to use only up to 40 kph. So it's not just an X Trail thing but soft roaders in general.
This video was sick! I want an affordable light off roader, literally just to pull off the road and maybe fang up the beach 2o mins for a surf soo found this super helpful! thanks brother.
Great family car and awesome for country living with some corrugated roads.
I have a 2016 Subaru Forester and xtrail in the higher trims.
Would strongly recommend the Subaru if you're going softroading. It's not a proper 4wd but it's built a lot bloody tougher than the xtrail.
That being said I reckon the xtrail is a lot comfier around town, especially if you've got good roads.
CVT transmissions like to explode at the best of times. Please dont ask them to do hard work in the sand or any off road work. And whatever you do dont ask it to tow a trailer
Ronny slowly being converted to the Y62 camp 😉
I'd love to test drive one
Heheeeyyy! Thanks for another sunday morning episode Ronny!
My wife has the model before this, I believe the 4wd system is still the same. 4wd mode is still 2wd, but it sends power to the rear when it senses wheel slip in the front. Which is why your display shows most power to the front. 4wd lock does send drive 50/50, but no centre diff lock just traction control being told to split it. It unlocks when you go over 40km/h or if you turn the car off. You must re engage the lock again.
It's the kind of car for someone that is going to go on a predominately highway road trip but wants to see things along the way that require driving onto roads that aren't paved with asphalt. A variant of this is sold in the United States as the Nissan Rogue, and it's not really thought of as a a four wheeling vehicle here either.
When we bought my wife's daily driver we went for the Jeep Renegade, which is sort of in the same class as the Rogue/X-Trail, but we opted for the Trailhawk package, which fixes some of the kinds of issues that were an issue here. Wheels are 17" with 28" tall tires for a bit more sidewall, the 4wd system has more capability, and the design of the front and rear overhangs allow for much better approach and departure angles. It's still a car in my mind though, being unibody and four wheel independent suspension. I did put rock sliders on it but that was more so the tubes could be used as step-rails. Since the 4WD system is a full-time AWD system there's peace of mind that even in adverse conditions without manually engaging 4WD it'll still have some better handling than a 2WD.
4wd does not give you better handling.
A 2wd car vs a 4wd car will turn the same. 4wd car will turn worse if you want to get technical (more weight).
Only thing 4wd gives you is better traction out of corners…
26:00 it would be great for snow trips, its only about 3500kms away for most of you WA natives.
Sorry mate, it doesn't have 4x4/4WD. It's an AWD that under certain conditions can lock 50/50 split. It also doesn't have a transmission, it's a CVT transaxle. No center differential either, it's a wet clutch coupling. Once you over heat it, goes into 2WD.
Isn't AWD with a locked centre dif functionally identical to 4wd though? It just doesn't have low range
@@kombirat not really. 4x4/4WD has a transfer case (with or without low range). The system in question doesn't have a transfer case. It used to be called "viscous coupling" on some cars. What they call it now a days, who knows. 😁
Also, you can't permanently lock it (as Ronny found out).
Hi Ronny awesome vid..I have an xtrail and it's permanently on 2WD...so I can leave it on auto permanently rather? If yes, is there a speed limit on auto Thanks
I used to have an trail, it was great in the sand but no low range or clearance so was a nightmare over rocks.
In all fairness, not a single review, no one has actually tested this vehicle as it should..... 2 screaming kids in the back, a sleeping beauty on the passenger, and the esky in the trunk. If you repeat exactly the same you just did with the family... I will take my hat off for the vehicle, and my respect to you mate (not that there is non you have already shown to be a straight shooter with your comments)
I own this model and couldn't agree more with you. X-trail is the perfect "family" SUV that can take you anywhere but it's not the real adventure (if you mean off-road). Nonetheless, I love every minute driving this car
g'day ronnie, parked next to you at outback splash on saturday and noticed you in this beast. was going to ask for your opinion on it coz ive been thinkin of gettin one for the misso. then i see this vid.
3:29 Been able to flick to 2WD could be useful for marginal fuel efficiency improvement or in any event perhaps when there may be a driveline fault, minimal connecting differentials to get movement. Just a guess though would kill to be able to switch out AWD into 2WD as an option.
I have had one of these. Older one (t31) (this one being a t32), nonetheless the driveline is identical same motor trans and transfer case. It’s a cvt, and the 4wd”lock” only locks up to 40KPH then doesn’t engage again. Goes good on the beach. But that’s about all it’s good for
You need to do this test with a new Forester, they are actually properly off road capable and can keep up with most real 4x4's on the beach and easy to moderate trails.
Is it a CVT transmission?
Great video and great review mate, if you could do more of these types of reviews on these types of cars “soft roaders ” that would be great would be good to see what you think of the Subaru Outback and those kind of cars.
The sad thing about the subies are they've gone to cvt, great for on road and economy, very bad off road in this situation such as with soft sand and beach driving the cvt has a threshold for how much you can pedal mash to prevent the cvt from overheating.
Not as durable as an old school auto.
When your cruising along hard packed or semi soft sand its fine but when your in tougher deeper powdery soft sand and you stop then want to go again it will struggle a fair bit as the computer and transmission will not let you overheat the transmission and cuts power around 3000 rpms or so.
Even xmode won't save you either.
I say at least make the off-road esq models a traditional auto at least, or a cvt that can endure more strain, heat and harder acceleration from stand still.
The forester from 2008 my 09 had a traditional auto unfortunately no Xmode tho.
nice video Mate
how much do xtrail sell in Australia?
at convenience can you also do a test on RAV4?
Love the video.....got my new Xtrail 4x4 lzst week.....
Not sure about the tires and wheels for any kind of off-road stuff except maybe sand. I'd be choosing a smaller rim and a taller profile tyre.
Great honest real world review, would be suitable to traverse the Pilbara, just not full time touring. Very scary that the vehicle jumps out of 4wd at 40km, would think that would be its biggest safety issue
Would be keen to see how this 4x4 goes up against my AWD subaru xv at lancelin sand dunes, by simply watching this video my xv is better 🤔
Nice review, are you going to do more light weight 4X4 reviews? Subaru!
A review on mum’s shopping trolley Ronny ? , did you or your wife select the vehicle ? and if it was me that car better look like it just came off the show room floor upon its return - inside and out ! Interesting choice of vehicle and for a review mate lol 😎👍🍻
0:50 tyre PIS used.
(no worries, the tyre pis air when there is a leak anyway) thank you for the video.
Hello! How did you drove it on talmak road in 2wd or auto mode in speed over 100 ?
it would be good if it auto switched back on the lock 4x4 when returning back below 40kmh
That would make a HUGE difference for sure
Gears - 7
Gear Type - X-tronic (Constantly Variable Transmission)
Generic Gear Type - Automatic
Gear Location - Floor
Drive - 4WD (4X4 On Demand)
From Carsales vehicle spec list, guess it takes a non Toytota driver to figure things out lol ;-)
For half of the price you can get a Dacia/Renault Duster which is a true offroader, with "low-range" first gear, it's also more reliable, less electronics, easier to work on and better looking
A good review, but it loses big points for not mentioning an important safety issue that most people aren’t aware of until they have a puncture. The Nissan X-Trail comes with a space-saver spare tyre, rather than a full-sized spare.
That feature is a deal-breaker for me. Personally, I would never buy an SUV with a space-saver spare tyre, unless I only travelled in the city.
If you drive in the country (as most SUV owners would do), consider this before buying a car fitted with a space-saver spare tyre:
* Space savers are a temporary spare: their job is to get you to the nearest mechanic.
* Space savers are only good for speeds of up to 80km/h. How would you feel driving at that speed for 3 hours whilst everyone is passing you 30 km/h faster?
*Space saver tyres only have a range of a few hundred kilometres before becoming worn out and needing to be replaced.
* Ideally, you should put space-saver tyres on the opposite wheels to the steered wheels.
* Space saver tyres don’t grip the road as well as normal tyres, which reduces the steering, traction and stopping ability. They are not as safe if you have to execute an emergency handling, cornering or braking manoeuvre.
* If you decide to buy a car with a space-saver tyre and for safety reasons, you want to upgrade to a full-sized spare tyre, it often won’t fit in the space saver’s position, so your full-sized spare will take up space in the boot or the cabin.
* With a full-size spare it’s possible to rotate your tyres using the spare, which spreads tyre wear over five rather than four tyres. You can’t do this if you have a space saver spare.
RACV Chief Engineer Michael Case says "Our concern is that consumers are unaware of the increasing use of these spare wheels and secondly their performance and life limitations."
As far as I'm aware, the only popular SUVs that come with full-sized spare tyres are the Kia Sportage, Hyundai Tuscon and the Subaru Forester/Outback.
Also, you mentioned that the steering wheel of the Nissan X-Trail has Apple Play, but what about the majority of phone users that have Android phones?
amazing how capable a average little SUV can be, yeah 19" wheels are pain to get over road wheels for.
X-Trail? This is our old Rogue in the US
I would say its more of a soft roader. Highways, City and a few dirt roads that are reasonably well maintained. With the tyre size & no low range I wouldn't want to do much else with it.
As a Nissan owner since 2015 l would recommend to stay away unless you a deep pocket to "replace the gear box around ever 100k" 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔
Is that in off road or normal road condition?
@@marianjavorka7712 normal mate and my wife have been driving the car 97% of the time !!! My a pathfinder front wheel drive, but they have all the same gear box.
Hi Ronny,
Any advice on rust protection for a 4WD?
Chemical vs electronic
Thanks,
Big fan
Don't waste your money on electronic rust protection for a vehicle. Use Lanelin to coat the underside of the vehicle on a regular basis after washing and ensure to wash your vehicle as soon as possible, particularly after going through mud and salt water. Cleaning the vehicle after "exporsure" to corrosive elements is simple, cost effective and it works.
I enjoyed the Nissan Pathfinder BOSS SE back in ‘91-95
I had the STL 4x4 it went very well on the sand and over rocks also surprisingly capable, however cant tow a packet of peanuts and we were a bit worried going in serious off road situations as there is no low 4x4 mode.
I have the same version of truck you have(or close to it) but here in America its a Toyota Tacoma.. My wife has the USA version of this car thats a Nissan Rogue. It does drive good, gets good gas mileage, but does not have 4x4 option. But it looks just like this one, even same color.
CVT: A continuously variable transmission is an automatic transmission that can change seamlessly through a continuous range of gear ratios.
So the "speeds" are artificially created points on the continuous spectrum of ratios that have been adopted to give the impression of fixed gear ratios to consumers used to actual gear ratios. Cars with these gearboxes sound like underpowered speed boats otherwise.
The Jatco ones in Nissans are particularly bad news.
I own a T 30 2005 X-Trail and it's brilliant offroad, beside the T31 in manual form I would never buy the current versions of this make/ brand... The CVT is NOT designed for serious sand/mud driving. Once things heat up they are prone to just give up the ghost, due to the inherent design of a CVT. The CVT is the weak link in the driveline, never tow or push it to hard, pity Nissan never continued with a generic auto in 5 or 6 speed.
Hey mate can you do a test off the new ssangyyong ute or the gwm? Would be interesting to see a real unbiased test
to maximum use 4x4 on XTrail switch to manual and then use lower gears to get better traction and it comes by practise.
Are the older ones they used to use for speed cameras any good
The wifes last car was a top of the range Nissan Murano with a cvt it was probably the nicest car I've ever driven we never had any problems with it and was sad to see it get traded. Some of the nissan cvt's were problematic tho on other models. As far as heated seats go its a running joke in summer putting them on for the wife without telling her and she gets me on occasion as well.
Hmmm...
Just been given a 2020 Nissan QashQai as a courtesy car after somebody drove into my Land Rover while it was parked.
Dunno how much the X-Trail has in common with it's "little brother" but the Qashqai is a total pain in the arse to drive.
It's got a heap of automated systems such as lights, brakes and steering and it just tries to stop you doing anything it doesn't approve of.
Try to parallel-park in a space it doesn't like and it'll stiffen the steering and apply the brakes to try and stop you.
Come to a halt at a junction on a hill and then slip the clutch to avoid rolling back and it'll apply the parking brake and kill the throttle.
Try to put your main-beam headlights on in a pitch-black urban area (such as the rural car-park where I work) and it just flat-out refuses to do so.
It nags me when I have the windows down, it nags me when I change gear, it nags me when I drive along narrow roads, it nags me when I turn the lights on and then it nags me again when I turn them off.
Utter pain in the arse.
Also, although the interior looks nice, it's really cheaply made and it constantly rattles, squeaks and clonks as I'm driving it.
Hopefully, the X-Trail is put together a bit better than the Qashqai.
Also, I should say that I'd hope most of the "driver aids" can be turned off but I assume the hire-company I got my Qashqai from has locked all that stuff so it can't be disabled.
I guess it wouldn't be so bad if all that stuff went away.
I'm not averse to new technology, when it actually works well, but I can't wait until my Disco' is repaired and get it back.
In 2021 the car drives you. I'm afraid to think what's coming in 2022.
Can you test the hyundai palisade please. Its an AWD and would like to know how the HTRAC works which is common across the santa fe, kia and palisade.
I see the palisade has an 8speed torque converter auto which is much better than a dct auto or cvt transmission.
I'd opt for a model with the traditional torque converter auto.
The older hyundai/Kia's with the traditional epicyclic auto is a better transmission with a good awd system, just an un refined traction control system in equipped, distributing power left to right was not there forte and esp ( electronic stability program) was quite intrusive for sand driving and must be switched off otherwise overheating the transaxle and centre coupler was imminent.
Why central differential lock i.e. 50/50% split between rear and front axle is considered optimal for off road. Imagine a scenario where rear axle has no traction in such a case all the torque (100%) should be sent to front (axle with traction). If this assumption then then modern on-demand torque should be better for offroading as they can send torque where needed.
hey ronny get your hands on any new subaru I would like to see your review
Hey Ronny, where are these beautiful dunes you tested this vehicle on? Thanks Brendan
I believe it's the lancelin sand dunes north of perth. I could be wrong but looks a lot like it.
From South Africa, I have the 2016 1.6 dCie SE version, 4 x4 hill assist brake assist GPS and most electronics are the same, LOL I dont have the dirt road warning :) Body and looks are the same, and rather proud to boast about the fuel consumption the 1.6 turboi diesel gets ne 4.8 on the open road and last had 6.8 in town,
I believe "auto" means 2wd but if it senses a loss of traction with the driving wheels, it will automatically apply drive to the rear putting it in "AWD" momentarily...I could be wrong though?!
Thats how my 2003 pwthfinder works in auto. Its on demand awd.Gotta shift to 4wd hi to lock the centre diff
Ronny, can you review a Dacia/Renault Duster 1.5 diesel manual?
Ronnie Dahl in the next Mad Max movie! Do it!
CVT is more of a compromise offroad than the AWD system. They wont let you build momentum if you need to mat it. You would have made it up the first dune if it were a proper auto or manual.
you 100% have to drive it differently but it is a lot of fun on the sand.
grab handle for the driver? iv never come across a grab handle for the driver unless its on the A piller.
Where was this done, Lancelin?.
Is Xtrail 4X4 same as Pajero 4X4 ???
Awd cars disangage 4wd lock in higher speeds to prevent damage on the system
Can we change to lock mode on fly on Nissan Xtrail?
I just know if this car is fitted with Nissan's legendary CVT, it won't take long for it to need a new gear box! My friend did nothing like this in his car and had to replace the gearbox before 25000 kms!! However, I've heard they are going to stop using the CVT in some models.
I was just going to write that this thing probably has a CTV which I HATE except for fuel economy but saw Ronny mention it in the pinned post.
You would think that Ronny would know what that is AND feel it when driving?
It doesn't have gears (you can say endless ones) but fake gear changes.
When you have to introduce fake gear changes in order for people to live with it/accept, well it's not a good thing.
Not having 4WD low and the 4WD lock disconnecting at 40 ks is not good for a 4WD . My Vitara would do a lot better than the X-trail off-road and thats saying something , meaning my Vitara is a soft-roader so what does that make the X-trail , softly softly off-roader . Being of low ground clearance you tend to plough through the sand and fill your sub frame with sand , if it's wet beach sand it stays in your sub-frame too . CVT is not a good trans for off road either , thats why it won't hold 4WD , it's a hairdressers car or in this case the Wifey's car :-)
Haha this hairdresser would never 😂
I'm an educated experienced 4wder and enthusiast that happens to be a hairdresser too, and even if I wasn't I'd still wouldn't buy a Nissan Xtrail, crap cvt hate them and would never want to fix one or work on one, oh and I also work on cars too, 😀 but yes I know alot of hairdressers who have these 🤮
can you do a Modified Episode between prado and 4runner...
Does the new model have a new auto box not cvt
Cool watch ronny!
I have X-trail 2021 S model 😊
Could you review a forester
Why?
Did Ronny Dahl actually did this? A review on a Nissan X trail? World as we knew has come to an end. Good bye. 🇱🇰🇳🇿
lol... it's CVT mate, you review creditability just go down hill with no assist -)
CVT clearly I’ve never heard of her.
If I watched someone else’s review I would have learnt about it but I go out of my way to not watch so it doesn’t impact on my view.
It has no gears Ronny it is a CVT transmission , constant variable transmission
You should have bought the Mrs a RAV4 she deserves it, so not fare you get to have the Toyotas , let's not forget she has to put up with your excursions !
Not Sure most people care too much about this sort of test. What happened to Ronny?
PLz test the new Suzuki Jimny
My wife has a ti, it’s a 7 speed auto and I’ve never stopped to change drive mode, once change the drive mode to auto on the fly highway when it was pissing rain helps with the aqua planing. I honestly think if it was lifted it’ll be better than my N80