An optional safety pack adds a 360-degree camera pack, with moving object detection alerting the driver to hidden pedestrians. Blind spot warning adds to the lane keeping assist, while a driver alert system monitors you and suggests when it might be time for a break.
All that equipment is placed in a cabin that looks and, for the most part, feels premium. Only some cheaper low down plastics let the side down, along with some steering wheel mounted controls that could date back to the mid ’80s. You’re comfortable looking at it all though; seats inspired by NASA technology leave you comfortable and fresh even after a few hundred miles.
This all counts for nothing if it’s a pig to drive, but fortunately there’s nothing to complain about there.
It’s clear that the Nissan Qashqai is not a car to set the pulse racing, with the 1.5 diesel engine offering a 0-62mph time of 11.9 seconds, but it does have an official combined economy figure of 74.3mpg and emits just 99g/km of CO2.
Progress is just about acceptable rather than exceptional, but relax into a cruise and it comes in to its own. Complex dampers separate and isolate different road surfaces, allowing the Qashqai to float over rough B-roads as well as it does across smooth motorway tarmac.
Cornering is secure and predictable, if not particularly engaging, but then this is a sensible and upright car rather than a sports car. Upsetting its road manners is difficult, and requires a level of heavy-handed abuse it’s unlikely to experience in the real world.
