I have been extremely lucky; I was invited down to Melbourne to test drive the brand-new 2023 Nissan X-Trail which has had an incredibly thorough update to the point where only the badge is recognisable! The Nissan X-Trail has been the third highest-selling medium-size SUV in Australia since 2008 so it is an important one for our family audience.
Prices have gone up for this new model (hasn't everything) but compared to other similar-size cars, the X-Trail remains a relatively affordable family SUV, and is currently available in six variants starting from the base spec two-wheel drive (2WD for short) ST model at $36,750, mid-range 2WD ST-L at $43,190 and the top-spec all-wheel drive (AWD) Ti-L $52,990. That's before you add dealer delivery, stamp duty, rego etc.
The AWD variants of the two lower specs models, the ST and ST-L, are available with seven seats. These are more occasional seven-seaters for when the in-laws pay a visit or the kids spring a surprise play date and you need to fit their friend in the car, rather than an everyday seven-seater. For more space, Nissan is also bringing out a new 2023 Pathfinder soon (more on that next week).
All 2023 Nissan X-Trails have the same 2.5-litre petrol engine at the moment but if you want a hybrid X-Trail (and hybrids are SO good for parents), be a little more patient as Nissan is launching those in early 2023.
The new 2023 Nissan X-Trail has already achieved a five-star ANCAP safety rating, scoring 90% for child occupancy protection and 91% for adult occupancy protection. The New X-Trail has seven airbags as standard and comes with a suite of safety technology, scoring a massive 97% for safety assist in ANCAP testing. In other words it is good at avoiding crashes AND protecting you in a crash.
Some of these new safety technologies include forward collision warning, lane-keep assist, rear auto emergency braking and blind spot intervention to name a few.
I drove the five-seat, top-spec, Ti-L model of the 2023 Nissan X-Trail in Melbourne traffic and out on the beautiful Victorian country roads and it was great in both environments. Road, traffic and wind noise was minimal, which is good because parents already have enough going on in the car with the noise coming from the kids in the back.
Visibility is good, especially changing lanes in traffic and the turning circle is nice and tight so parking and manoeuvring is easy.
I found the seats very comfortable and the top-spec Ti-L's Nappa leather upholstery is soft.
My main touch points, the steering wheel and seating position, were good. I enjoyed the driving position in the new X-Trail as it feels almost cockpit-like and you sit down into the driver's seat with everything you need surrounding you.
The X-Trail interior is modern and up-to-date and I love the central console bridge we are seeing in more and more SUVs at the moment as it just offers that great storage area for handbags and all the detritus the kids randomly hand to us from the back!
A really obvious upgrade in the front is the 12.3-inch media screen and digital dashboard in front of the steering wheel and 10.8” head-up display that make high-spec versions of the 2023 Nissan X-Trail feel super modern.
The X-Trail has wireless Apple CarPlay and wired Android Auto connections as well as a wireless charging pad for compatible smartphones.
There are two USB sockets in the front as well as two in the back of the central console so rear passengers can charge their devices while travelling along.
Rear passengers are really well taken care of in the top-spec Ti-L model I tested, with built-in rear-window blinds, which is lovely to see included in an SUV of this size (they are usually only found in larger SUVs and people movers and some smaller luxury SUVs), so your kids can be kept sheltered from the sun while travelling.
The rear doors have also been given an 85-degree opening, making it much easier to get kids and child seats in and out of the back. It sounds obvious but a lot of car doors don't open quite this wide for some reason.
Rear passengers have heating controls in the back of the central console for the rear seats and air vents in the back of the central console box so everyone can be kept in a comfortable climate.
The new Nissan X-Trail has been made wider and taller than the previous model, giving extra interior headroom and shoulder room which will hopefully equate to more space for three child seats to fit also.
I'll be able to confirm this when I do my full BabyDrive testing with Infasecure child seats later this month but for now, I think it is safe to say the X-Trail would have similar results as my test of the Mitsubishi Outlander that is very similar in the back (Nissan and Mitsubishi are business partners and worked together to create both these SUVs).
The distance between the front passengers and second-row seats has increased by 10mm compared to the old X-Trail, which will hopefully allow slightly more legroom and allow more space in the front for the driver when in front of a rear-facing child seat. I noticed the hump in the rear footwell was minimal, which makes for better access to seats for rear passengers and more comfort for central seat passengers so they no longer have a large hump they have to straddle.
I couldn’t do my full BabyDrive testing as I only had one Infasecure Versatile Folding booster seat with me so I will test the new 2023 Nissan X-Trail with Infasecure child seats and for legroom and shoulder room soon.
The 2023 Nissan X-Trail has ISOFIX points in the two outer rear seats and top tether anchorages on the back of all three rear seats. Seven-seat models have no top tether anchorages in the third row.
With my experience, I’m pretty sure the 2023 Nissan X-Trail will fit 3 Infasecure Attain More or Achieve More child seats across the rear seats but I will test it extensively in a few weeks' time with my family and a full range of Infasecure child seats.
The 2023 Nissan X-Trail has a generous boot that will easily hold a pram with room beside it for shopping (full BabyDrive boot testing coming soon!)
A great feature is the dividers in the boot floor so you can split the boot up and have shopping in one half and your beach gear in the other for example. Or remove them altogether and have a slightly deeper boot space.
The new 2023 Nissan X-Trail has been given a full refresh and the designers seem to have thought carefully about its features to provide the modern family with what they need to make transporting kids big or small around in comfort and ease.
I am looking forward to putting it through our full BabyDrive testing and driving it with my family on board in early 2023. Also, can't wait for the hybrid!
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