Nissan offers perfection to a Ti

The Qashqai is now being imported direct from Britain. Photo / Supplied

Nissan's crossover Qashqai is now being imported from Britain - and the change brings a wider choice in specification and colour.

The carmaker launched the five-door in New Zealand a couple of months ago, shipping it in from the factory in Japan.

But now Nissan NZ has fallen into step with Nissan Australia, which gets its Qashqai variants from the carmaker's Sunderland plant in the north of England.

The only difference between the transtasman models will be the badge: in Australia the vehicle is called the Dualis.

Said Nissan NZ managing director John Manley: "We are now taking the same specification Qashqai as Australia.

"Initially, Australia only launched four-wheel-drive models and we sourced our two-wheel-drive cars from Japan.

"But once Australia started taking two-wheel-drive examples, it made sense for New Zealand to adopt the same source of supply."

As a result, both the entry-level Qashqai ST and Ti models gain cruise control - and a price hike of between $400 and $600.

The Ti also adds a six-stack CD player, a drive computer, rain-sensing wipers and a storage tray under the front passenger seat to its standard specification.

The Ti steering wheel now has switches for the cruise control, audio system and Bluetooth hands-free cellphone calling.

Qashqai has been Nissan's most successful car ever in the European market. In New Zealand, it effectively takes the place of the Primera, slotting in between the Tida hatchback, the all-wheel-drive X-Trail and the new fifth-generation Maxima sedan.

There are two models: the ST at $34,800 and Ti at $37,900. Both Qashqai models come with six airbags - front, front side and full curtain - electronic stability programme, active front head restraints, three-point seatbelts on all seats, engine immobiliser and a five-star NCAP safety rating from the European crash testing programme.

Qashqai is based on the platform of the X-Trail, which is based on the Renault Koleos. The architecture is also in use on other models in the Renault-Nissan alliance.

It was conceived, designed and developed in Europe and is powered by a four-cylinder, 2-litre engine producing 102kW at 5200rpm and 198Nm of torque at 4400rpm, mated to a CVT transmission with a six-speed manual mode. Nissan says around 90 per cent of torque is available from 2000rpm.

Qashqai comes with a claimed fuel economy of 7.9 litres/100km, or 36mpg, from its 65-litre tank. Nissan attributes the car's economy largely to the CVT unit, a transmission cropping up more and more across its range of vehicles. "We are absolutely committed to CVT," says Nissan NZ market manager Peter Merrie.

CVT provides a number of ratios, helping the engine to work as efficiently as possible.

The result compared with conventional automatic gearboxes, says Merrie, is smoother acceleration as well as better fuel economy and lower emissions.