5 Daily Obstacles the Nissan X-Trail Can Overcome

“Cars are really expensive these days”, says the average Joe who laments each time COE prices are released. With prices in excess of $100,000, you’d expect cars in Singapore to be able to fly – or hover – at the very least.

Well nobody makes passenger vehicles that do those things except for maybe Boeing or Sikorsky; but at Nissan, they’ve found a way to make a car basically do it all, as far as your everyday driving is concerned.

“But every car manufacturer says that right?” you ask in disbelief.

Yes they do. But clearly, not all cars are built equal. Some cars aren’t always going to meet all your daily needs.

Let me take you through 5 things the Nissan X-Trail will do that your average sedan won’t.

Too often I’ve heard relatively new parents saying, “Oh crap, I’ve got to get a 7-seater now”, grimacing as they try to fit the child seats in, with baby prams everywhere and various bits of toys, diapers and other essentials cluttering the boot. All this while listening to mother nagging about the costs of taking a taxi because the car isn’t big enough.

Okay so maybe I’m dramatising a little here. But seriously think about how you’re going to fit everyone in your car when you wanna go on a day trip to Legoland or something and you’ll see my point.

The Nissan X-Trail is a 7-seater. No prizes for guessing that, obviously. It’s extremely versatile too - the seats are designed with a theatre view which provides better visibility for the second and third row passengers by elevating seat position. That’s not for your dad to backseat drive, but so that he won’t get motion sickness as he’ll know when you’re going to turn and when you’re going to stop.

Unless of course you drive like Lewis Hamilton at the Hungaroring on a particular Sunday in 2015, then all bets are off.

When you’re not being super dad and ferrying everyone around, it will fold down nicely and fit your golf bags, bicycles and fishing rods. It will also fit your Ikea shopping list, from tables to shower curtain bars and possibly even cupboards, if Ikea does a good job packing. Nissan says items more than 1.7m will go in if all the rear seats are folded down, so you won’t need to pay any delivery charges.

It’s not a small car; no, in case you haven’t gotten that yet. Of course you can’t ask for a small car and tell the salesman, “I want to fit my Ah Gong, Ah Ma, boy boy and girl girl and my mother and my father all together in comfort and style.” So you’ve got to get a reasonably large one. The X-Trail is big enough to fit the family all in, but that often means parking is a challenge.

While we can’t do anything about size if you want ferryability, the Nissan X-Trail can certainly help you park like a champ. Formerly only available on expensive German cars, cameras mounted all around the car help see obstacles everywhere as you park. A bird’s eye view image is displayed on the in-car screen, as though the car has a remote-controlled-helicopter-camera-drone thing flying above it.

There are four cameras, one in front, one at the back and one on either side. These cameras see those all-important areas as you inch into a tight parking lot beside your boss’ large executive saloon so you won’t have to pay the ridiculous dealership respray prices if you ding his car. More practically, it’ll save your sculpted 18” allow wheels from curb rash in a Katong parallel parking endeavour.

No seriously. You may not think going off-road is an everyday thing; heck, going off the road probably is one of the worst things to do whilst driving. But off-road capabilities extend beyond taking the car out to Bukit Timah hill and breaking every nature conservation law there is.

Being an off-roader means that the X-Trail is all-wheel drive (AWD) equipped. In human-speak, that means power is sent to all four wheels, instead of the usual front two or rear two. This in turn means that the car can send power to the wheel that has the most traction, keeping it from spinning its wheels in mud.

Nissan calls it the All Mode 4X4-i, and the system can be switched off giving you the fuel efficiency of a normal two wheel drive car should you wish. You can also leave it in Lock mode, for permanent four-wheel drive should you actually attempt to mow the lawn with the X-Trail. An auto mode is available and the car decides where the power goes depending on the wheels’ traction – the mode Nissan recommends you leave it in.

“What on earth does that have to do with everyday obstacles?” you ask. Traction is the very thing that you need to prevent yourself from going tail first into the traffic light and having LTA send you a nice long bill. In wet and wetter Singapore, that just means that the car is always gripping the roads round corners and through bends. No going off the road here, much to your wife’s relief I’ll bet.

Ever found yourself trying to search your pockets for your car keys whilst your hands are full of heavy watermelons and canned food? Yup, so have I. The groceries are heavy, the key is small and it’s impossible to get your stuff into the car. Sounds like a recipe for disaster if you have parked in a narrow lot without any space to put your stuff down doesn’t it?

Thankfully, the Nissan X-Trail has a sensor that will allow you to open the boot without your hands. Simply wave at the sensor or swing your bags around at it and impress your grandma with your magic car. You can even tell your friends that you have learnt the secrets of Professor X.

You park your car for hours and hours in the carpark downstairs, exposed to the elements for a whole day whilst you do your best to please your boss’ every whim and fancy. After a long hard day of pretending you’re listening in the endless oh-so-boring meetings, you get into your car and geez; it’s like stepping into a steam bath. The car has heated up over the day and it’s so hot even the aircon is blowing warm air for a moment.

We all know hot air rises; unless your secondary school teacher was a quack. With the X-Trail’s panoramic sunroof, you’ll be able to let out the hot air as the aircon works tirelessly to bring you the cool comfort that we all long for and love in this ridiculously hot season. This helps the car to cool quicker and ensure that your kids don’t whine after a Saturday out.

Credits: Story by Alvan Sio; Photos courtesey of Tan Chong Motors