Nissan X-Trail   Women's view

Can Nissans latest X-TRAIL make family sense? June Neary decides

No ones pretending anymore. Compact lifestyle 4x4s never go off road. And if they ever did, it would have to be on something very easy. I know.

I once tried to take a Nissan X-TRAIL over a dirt trail and ended up damaging the exhaust. As I probably would have done with most of its Freelander/Honda CR-V/RAV4-style rivals. No, these are school run family estates. And theyre none the worse for that.

Buyers like me love the elevated driving position, the chunky looks and the feeling that if we wanted to chase buffalos across the Serengeti, then we could. So where does all that leave Nissans latest X-TRAIL, a car Ive been trying? Basically, it had to become more car-like if it was to meet the challenge being laid down by a host of new rivals. So Nissan has obliged. Theres more equipment, a smarter interior and, rather surprisingly, better off road capability.

Now theres a turn-up.

New from the ground up, the latest X-TRAIL is slightly larger than before: its wheelbase is larger and its longer. Though this unfortunately doesnt mean that there are now seven seats, I was pleased to find that much of this extra length could be found in the luggage area, which has increased dramatically in size. With the rear seat in place, the original vehicle had a luggage area VDA measurement of 410 litres up to the lower edge of the rear window: in this latest X-TRAIL, the equivalent figure is 603 litres, an increase of 193 litres (including double deck trunk capacity). Fold the rear seats forward and this increases to 1773 litres. Which is as much as I would ever need. One nice touch that I liked was the addition of an innovative double deck luggage area, with space for a sliding drawer under the floor where valuable items can be stored away from prying eyes.

The drawer has partition walls that can be placed in a number of different positions or removed altogether as required. The floor and the drawer can both be removed to increase load space even further. As a result, the luggage area of this X-TRAIL is deeper and wider than the original and, even with the false floor in place, virtually as tall. With it removed, luggage height is increased by 127mm over the original.

This generation of X-TRAIL feels a lot smarter inside. The rather icky plastics of the first generation car have been replaced with more soft touch finishes, metallic highlights and tonnes of auxiliary storage space. Nissan claims an extra 50 litres of oddment stowage around the cabin with various bins, boxes cubby holes and cupholders never more than a few centimetres away. It would have been thoughtful to have allowed the rear bench to slide to and fro, prioritising luggage or passenger space at will but perhaps thats a job for the 2010 facelift.

As it stands, theres a rather neat 40/20/40 split system for the rear bench.

The X-TRAIL is surprisingly competent off road, Nissans designers rightly proud of All-Mode 4x4-i, an intelligent four-wheel drive system that reduces understeer and apparently gives this ostensibly front-wheel drive car some real capability, predicting when the front wheels are slipping and directing drive to the rears with lightning response. A rotary knob lets you choose either fuel-saving front-wheel drive, automatic four-wheel drive with a variable torque split between the front and rear axles, and a mode with the centre differential fully locked to help you crawl out of the mire. Hill descent control, a hill holder function, ESP stability control and individually braked wheels acting the role of axle diffs only add to its off-road ability. Bear in mind that entry-level TREK spec gets you a simpler 4x4 system to compensate for cheaper prices that start from £18,795 for the petrol models and £20,395 for the dCi diesels.

Most will opt for the SPORT and AVENTURA grades that give you All-Mode 4x4-i. All versions are now four-wheel driven. Economy, even of the punchiest 173PS diesel engine is respectable, this version managing a combined figure of 38.2mph while emitting 190 grammes of carbon dioxide per kilometre.

The 65-gallon tank affords this model a very hefty range indeed. Economy is helped enormously by the fact that you dont need to run the vehicle in power-sapping all-wheel drive mode all the time, the intelligent 4x4 system reverting to front wheel drive when possible. Insurance and ongoing running costs for the X-TRAIL have always been reasonable.

As a second car for the family, even the cheapest X-TRAIL would be a pricey option, at nearly £20,000. However, unlike the majority of shopping hatches that sit in the drive all weekend, the Nissan would come into its own for family outings. The X-TRAIL looks good on paper next to its immediate rivals when it comes to standard equipment provision but then it always did. Whats particularly impressive this time round is that Nissan has integrated all the bells and whistles so well rather than appearing rather hasty bolt-ons.

Even the entry-level TREK variant comes with Bluetooth phone integration, 16" alloy wheels, full body coloured bumpers, climate controlled air conditioning, a full suite of airbags (driver, passenger, side and curtain), plus a CD/radio with 4 speakers. The SPORT variant that I tried adds a larger 17" alloys, an upgraded 6-speaker remote control stereo system with a 6 stack CD auto-changer, chrome for the front grille, plus front fog lamps, a large panoramic sunroof, privacy glass, cruise control, reach adjust steering, auto headlamps and wipers and a ski hatch.

I might struggle to justifying the premium being asked over a conventional spacious family estate. But then that comment applies to virtually every car in the compact 4x4 class. Viewed against its peers, this X-TRAIL stacks up well. If youre looking for a car of this kind, its one youll need to consider.