LEADING THE WAY

easier.

New seats have an extended base and bolster shape to improve butt and back support.

The backs are high with tapered shoulders, feeling snug and liberating a little cabin space.

The high seating position gives you an excellent view of the road. There’s plenty of space for passengers in the front and back even if you’ve got a couple of taller people riding up front and, while a fifth passenger might feel the squeeze from their companions either side, they’ll enjoy some compensation thanks to a transmission tunnel that won’t impact too much on legroom.

The boot is impressive, offering 430 litres of luggage space. It has a false floor – with storage below where you can stow the parcel shelf – that also doubles as a load divider. Folding the rear seats flat liberates 1,585 litres.

There’s plenty of storage space in the cabin too with a good-sized glovebox and plenty of cubby holes for your odds and ends.

The infotainment system is excellent.

The touchscreen is responsive, the display crisp and the menu system easy to navigate but the physical buttons that flank the screen are a little on the small side. Equipment levels are generous. Sat nav comes as standard on N-Connecta models and above. There’s also a new Bose eightspeaker audio system available in addition to the existing units, which come with six speakers, DAB radio, aux in and USB sockets, as well as Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

Under the bonnet of my test car was a 1.3-litre 4-cylinder petrol engine producing 140PS and 240Nm of torque.

It’s quiet and refined and, with a manufacturer-quoted return of 53.2mpg on the combined cycle, respectably frugal.

The six-speed gear box is slick, precise with well-spaced ratios. Nissan have made efforts to improve passenger space refinement with a greater quantity and higher quality of sound insulation added inside the front doors and behind the rear wheel arches.

There’s also additional sealing around the front doors and the rear door glass is thicker.

Larger bumps are politely dispatched thanks to the Active Ride Control system.

The Qashqai maintains its composure well in corners, with direct, nicely-weighted steering. It improves steering precision too and, thanks to stiffer anti-roll bars, means that you can tackle twistier roads with greater confidence. . Even before the upgrades it’s easy to see what made the Qashqai so popular.

The build quality, practicality and driveability made a compelling package.

Nissan haven’t let success go to their heads and the revised model makes an already impressive automobile an even more compelling proposition.