New Nissan X-Trail: not afraid of winter

It’s spring outside, so we’re going to bring you a report on the winter driving of the Nissan X-Trail. We remind you that at the end of autumn we took this wonderful crossover for a long test to understand in detail all its delights.

Winter hasn’t been too harsh on drivers this year, but we got basic impressions of how the Nissan X-Trail performs in cold weather. There are nuances, and they are quite interesting.

First of all, the Nissan X-Trail driver is not faced with the question of whether to warm up the engine in winter or not. After all, as we wrote earlier, when we examined the X-Trail technology in detail, this crossover can be considered an electric car that charges itself. Its engine does not directly participate in the rotation of the wheels, but is used only as a generator, that is, in a relatively “gentle” mode.

That is, when you press the start button, the engine will not start here. And there is no need to wait for him to do it – you can immediately switch to electric power.

But the heat generated by a running engine is also used to heat the interior. The Nissan X-Trail seems to understand this, so not long after we left the cold, the engine started again. However, we have a strong impression that in addition to the usual internal “heat supply” method, this crossover has a fairly effective electric air heating system. How else can we explain the fact that at -5 outside we don’t have time to drive even two kilometers, and the heat is already starting to flow from the air ducts into the cabin? That is, you understand: there are no questions about the speed of heating the interior in winter. And not only for those sitting in front, because the second row of the test Nissan X-Trail has a separate climate zone.

And this is not the only prerogative of our top-end Tekna+ configuration, as one might imagine. I have good news for you: the third climate zone appears in the Acenta configuration, the second in a row. And with it – heated front and even rear seats, as well as the steering wheel. What’s more: along with all this, the Acenta will even have a ThermaClear electric heated windshield! That is, starting from the second configuration out of five (!) available, the Nissan X-Trail is perfectly prepared even for more severe cold weather than those that tried to scare last winter.

Does ThermaClear quickly clean ice-covered glass at night? In a -5 system, two minutes is enough to remove the remaining ice with a wave of wipers. And we didn’t have to “dance” in the cold near the glass with a scraper!

By the way, about the wipers. They also have an interesting nuance, which you will especially appreciate in winter: the windshield washer system is brought to the leads on the wipers themselves. That is, there are no washer nozzles on the hood of the Nissan X-Trail at all. Which, as you know, always try to “freeze”. And it happens that those injectors still have to be found under a layer of snow or ice covering the hood… The conclusion is clear: Nissan X-Trail owners have another traditional problem in the winter, which the owners of most others face the crossovers in one way or another.

But the most dangerous problem in winter is a sharp decrease in the direction of stability observed on a slippery surface. The car begins not to move, but to slide, and in a free direction. Cars with only one axle drive are particularly sensitive to this, but all-wheel drives also suffer, since the response speed of most traditional all-wheel drive systems with automatic connection of the second axle is not always pleasant. In addition, there are some restrictions not only on the speed of torque transmission to the second axis, but also on the amount.

Typically, mechanical all-wheel drive systems can send 0 to 50% of traction to the rear axle, while Nissan’s e-4FORCE all-wheel drive system can send 0 to 100% of traction to the rear axle . Because, as you already know from our articles, it does not contain a driveshaft, a group of gears and clutches that have purely mechanical limitations in their performance. The torque of the Nissan X-Trail with e-4FORCE is always distributed in the most efficient way, whether starting on a slippery surface or negotiating a difficult corner at high speed.

Note that the logic of the all-wheel drive control system can be further adapted to a specific type of surface thanks to a switch on the console.

As for the response speed of the e-4FORCE to the driver’s actions, it takes only one ten-thousandth of a second from pressing the accelerator pedal until the required amount of torque is applied to the front and rear axle wheels. No wonder, because the torque actually comes to the wheels of this crossover through the wire.

The perfection of the e-4FORCE all-wheel drive does not mean that you can lose your guard while driving the X-Trail in winter – you can get into a skid in any car, despite its technical perfection. But it will be easier and simpler for the driver to return to a certain course if the car reacts quickly and clearly to his actions. So, due to the uniqueness of the powertrain of this crossover, it is quite easy to draw the conclusion that driving the Nissan X-Trail is a story not only about pleasure, but also about additional safety, even in winter.

All we have to do is remember the ground clearance, so let’s remember: the all-wheel drive crossover with the e-4FORCE system has less than the front-wheel drive version: 198 mm instead of 205 mm. But this, of course, is a small thing: about 20 centimeters “under the keel” is more than enough for normal operation. You can easily leave paved roads to, for example, admire a winter forest or a lake. Which we actually did with pleasure many times.