Nissan / Hyundai insights

[CogitoErgoSum]

Does anyone have some insight on the 2018 and newer Nissan Qashqai/X-trail? Specifically the cvt auto? And how thirsty is the x-trail 2.5

 

And any input on Hyundai Tucson 2.0?

[ichnusa]

I was super impressed with the 1.6 diesel x-trail... drove wonderfully!

[corrie.kuilder]

I drive a navara, had a xtrail. Both are awesome vehicles, the only drawback is trade-in or resale value

[BigToe]

Does anyone have some insight on the 2018 and newer Nissan Qashqai/X-trail? Specifically the cvt auto? And how thirsty is the x-trail 2.5

 

And any input on Hyundai Tucson 2.0?

 

If you mean the 2.0 diesel Tucson then all good the petrol 2.0 is underpowered on the highveld. Kia Sportage shares the same engines and the 2.0 diesel is bulletproof - 131kW and 400Nm.

[dirtypot]

Unless you love an unrelenting drone all the time, stay away from CVT.  

[SRBVI]

If you mean the 2.0 diesel Tucson then all good the petrol 2.0 is underpowered on the highveld. Kia Sportage shares the same engines and the 2.0 diesel is bulletproof - 131kW and 400Nm.

Agreed the 2.0 petrol Tucson is underpowered, my 1.6 (petrol) Turbo on the other hand was a awesome “sleeper”

[Skylark]

Don't they make a variety with the 1.5tdci engine that's widely used on the Nissan platform?

[Long Wheel Base]

My wife has the new Qashqai, 1.6T manual. She had an Audi A3 with a DSG box before and missed a manual so she wanted the manual. I also said no ways will I ever let her drive a CVT. I have driven a CVT Honda and it was probably one of the worst driving experiences ever. I get that it is less maintenance and more economical blah blah blah but its not lekker to drive. The engine just seems laboured to me, it won't rev nicely and just seems very lethargic. We have had no issues with the Qashqai and it is very well specced for the price, but so are the Hyundai and Kia's in the same category. The rav4 for eg is more expensive when you spec it the same. We looked at the rav and things like cruise control and BT were not standard.

 

My personal opinion, automatic options are fine but don't go CVT.

[Longbarn Killer]

I test drove a Nissan Sentra with CVT. The worst gearbox ever invented.

 

It whines, it never seems to be in the "right gear", the revs go up and down like a yoyo.

 

It just never seems to get going. 

[CogitoErgoSum]

My wife has the new Qashqai, 1.6T manual. She had an Audi A3 with a DSG box before and missed a manual so she wanted the manual. I also said no ways will I ever let her drive a CVT. I have driven a CVT Honda and it was probably one of the worst driving experiences ever. I get that it is less maintenance and more economical blah blah blah but its not lekker to drive. The engine just seems laboured to me, it won't rev nicely and just seems very lethargic. We have had no issues with the Qashqai and it is very well specced for the price, but so are the Hyundai and Kia's in the same category. The rav4 for eg is more expensive when you spec it the same. We looked at the rav and things like cruise control and BT were not standard.

 

My personal opinion, automatic options are fine but don't go CVT.

We are going through the same exercise now. I am leaning towards the 1.5 DCI Qashqai.

 

I read an article at some point comparing the various gearboxes re:replacement costs vs issues etc. CVT and DSG were on top of the list to avoid

[Long Wheel Base]

We are going through the same exercise now. I am leaning towards the 1.5 DCI Qashqai.

 

I read an article at some point comparing the various gearboxes re:replacement costs vs issues etc. CVT and DSG were on top of the list to avoid

My wife had the Audi for the 3 years it was under warranty/service plan. While we had it, I had to fight with the dealership to replace the clutches as one of them was stuffed, there was a serious vibration when it changed to 2nd. Then there was some mod to do with oil level in the gearbox and they had the car for 2 days. Then the mechatron(brain of the gearbox) died and left her on the side of the road. That took like 3 weeks to replace due to no spares kept in the country. All of this was fully paid for but had we had to fit the bill it would have cost us over R100k. No ways we could afford that car out of service plan.

[CogitoErgoSum]

My wife had the Audi for the 3 years it was under warranty/service plan. While we had it, I had to fight with the dealership to replace the clutches as one of them was stuffed, there was a serious vibration when it changed to 2nd. Then there was some mod to do with oil level in the gearbox and they had the car for 2 days. Then the mechatron(brain of the gearbox) died and left her on the side of the road. That took like 3 weeks to replace due to no spares kept in the country. All of this was fully paid for but had we had to fit the bill it would have cost us over R100k. No ways we could afford that car out of service plan.

I have always driven German cars. But I think I am cured from that now...

 

We currently have a little 2010 MB B200 Turbo auto. The gearbox is going into limp-mode.. it going to be a R35 000 fix.

 

I am not getting an auto gearbox again very soon

[PieterJvR]

I see you mention you are looking at the 1.5DCI Qashqai.

 

I drive a 2015 1.5DCI Qashqai (it is the new shape, however there was a face lift about a year or 2 ago), I am very happy with the car, I bought it as a demo with 65km on the odo, and it is now just shy of 120 000km, I have had no issues with it. It is light on fuel (have averaged 5.6lt/100km) over the last 4 years.  It has all the nice features (except maybe for a rear camera there is a model that comes with the camera I just bought one that did not have the spec feature installed), it does however have PDC so no issue for me. Power is also ample even in 6th gear

 

The only "real" issue I have with the car is the rims and tyres, the car has the design spec which means it comes with 19inch rims and fairly low profile tyres (225/45 R19) for a SUV, and privacy glass and roof rails. It is great for road handling but not so great when driving on gravel roads, and unfortunately going to many bike parks in PTA there are a few gravel roads. You feel every single bump in the road and can't really go faster than 40-60 depending on the road condition.  And they are expensive to replace (Original Conti's is about R3200-R3500), I replaced them with tyres that are +/- R2200 a tyre.  Therefore my suggestion if you buying a Qashqai and will be taking some gravel roads now and again, look at the one with the 17inch rims.

 

 

Sorry for the long reply, but back to your original question. I have the same feeling about the CVT gearboxes although I have only driven them in test cars so can't really comment from a personal perspective.

I have however heard the new generation ones are quite a bit improved than the previous generation. 

A friend of mine drives a 2.5 X-Trail with the CVT gearbox, he says he is very happy with it and doesn't feel the gear changes, and it doesn't feel like you are stuck in a gear (like the old CVT gearboxes). He says depending on how nice you drive and the amount of traffic (he stays in Cape Town) his fuel consumption is between 7 and 8.5 (lt/100km), if his wifes drives it is between 9 and 11 

 

Edit: Fix Tyres prices paid. R3200-R3500 instead of R2200-R2500, and R2200 instead of R1700

[The Ouzo]

If you mean the 2.0 diesel Tucson then all good the petrol 2.0 is underpowered on the highveld. Kia Sportage shares the same engines and the 2.0 diesel is bulletproof - 131kW and 400Nm.

yeah that 2.0 petrol has been around for probably 20 years. Its gutless and thirsty, avoid.

 

1.6 diesel was the pick from a price vs performance perspective, but they only came in manual

[The Ouzo]

Agreed the 2.0 petrol Tucson is underpowered, my 1.6 (petrol) Turbo on the other hand was a awesome “sleeper”

problem with that 1.6 turbo was its thirst at anything over moderate cruising speeds.

130kw in the Tucson and 150kw in the Veloster and Elantra.

they later had SAC tune the Tucson to 150kw but it introduced some nasty turbo lag into the equation and you ahd to buy it with the brakpan body kit and exhausts.

[Long Wheel Base]

I see you mention you are looking at the 1.5DCI Qashqai.

 

I drive a 2015 1.5DCI Qashqai (it is the new shape, however there was a face lift about a year or 2 ago), I am very happy with the car, I bought it as a demo with 65km on the odo, and it is now just shy of 120 000km, I have had no issues with it. It is light on fuel (have averaged 5.6lt/100km) over the last 4 years.  It has all the nice features (except maybe for a rear camera there is a model that comes with the camera I just bought one that did not have the spec feature installed), it does however have PDC so no issue for me. Power is also ample even in 6th gear

 

The only "real" issue I have with the car is the rims and tyres, the car has the design spec which means it comes with 19inch rims and fairly low profile tyres (225/45 R19) for a SUV, and privacy glass and roof rails. It is great for road handling but not so great when driving on gravel roads, and unfortunately going to many bike parks in PTA there are a few gravel roads. You feel every single bump in the road and can't really go faster than 40-60 depending on the road condition.  And they are expensive to replace (Original Conti's is about R2200-R2500), I replaced them with tyres that are +/- R1700 a tyre.  Therefore my suggestion if you buying a Qashqai and will be taking some gravel roads now and again, look at the one with the 17inch rims.

 

 

Sorry for the long reply, but back to your original question. I have the same feeling about the CVT gearboxes although I have only driven them in test cars so can't really comment from a personal perspective.

I have however heard the new generation ones are quite a bit improved than the previous generation. 

A friend of mine drives a 2.5 X-Trail with the CVT gearbox, he says he is very happy with it and doesn't feel the gear changes, and it doesn't feel like you are stuck in a gear (like the old CVT gearboxes). He says depending on how nice you drive and the amount of traffic (he stays in Cape Town) his fuel consumption is between 7 and 8.5 (lt/100km), if his wifes drives it is between 9 and 11 

Bliksem, where did you see them for at that price? I had to replace the front tyres on my wifes in Feb this year and the contis were just over R4k per tyre(and I was not happy with them so didnt want conti again). The michelin was R4800, bridgestone was R4600 and I went with the good year at R4200 per tyre.