2024 Nissan X-Trail Ti-L Review: Nissan Regains its Form

We’re going to go ahead an say it – this next generation Nissan X-Trail is a fantastic mid-size SUV which will go far in its quest to conquer one of Australia’s hottest-selling segments. Tested here in its top spec, the 2024 Nissan X-Trail Ti-L petrol should undoubtedly be on your shopping list. We can’t believe we just said that, as the previous generation of Nissan’s family SUV used to be a rather dull, and lacklustre affair. This new-gen Nissan X-Trail is a bold move by the Japanese automaker to claim the spotlight in a fiercely competitive market and is a complete revamp in design, tech and quality. This fourth-gen T33 X-Trail takes on the likes of Toyota’s formidable and ever popular Toyota RAV4, as well as newcomer rivals such as the Haval H6.

Built on Nissan’s ‘CMF-C’ platform, the X-Trail packs lightweight materials such as aluminum panels and high strength steels to make this mid-size SUV stand out in a sea of competitors, along with a rather modern high-tech interior with contemporary design. Has Nissan done enough to fend off the rest of the mid-size SUV segment with its non-hybrid X-Trail range? Let’s find out.

How much does the 2024 Nissan X-Trail Ti-L cost to buy?

The 2024 Nissan X-Trail range starts from $36,750 before on-road costs for an entry-level two-wheel-drive ST. A four-wheel X-Trail ST costs $3040 more at $39,790. Models come reasonably well equipped with cloth seats, 17 inch alloy-wheels, single zone climate control and cloth upholstery but lacks a leather wrapped steering wheel.

Next up in the range is the pair of Nissan X-Trail ST-L models – offered in either two- or all-wheel drive – for $43,190 or $46,290 before on-road costs respectively. Moving up to X-Trail ST-L trim scores buyers a 360-degree parking camera, 18-inch wheels and leather trim.

Lastly, you’ll find two all-wheel-drive-only models at the top of the regular internal combustion range: the Nissan X-Trail Ti which features a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster display, a larger 12.3-inch touchscreen and a 10.8-inch Head-Up Display, and then our top of the range test car, the Nissan X-Trail Ti-L. Both grades are available only with five seats, unlike the ST and ST-L which pair all-wheel drive with a seven-seat layout. The Nissan X-Trail Ti starts from $49,990, whereas our X-Trail Ti-L test car costs $52,990, both before on-road costs. Expect a circa $58,000 drive-away price for the X-Trail Ti-L. As a flagship model, our vehicle came fully loaded with quilted nappa leather seats, a 10-speaker Bose audio system, and an electric tailgate with hands-free operation.

Standard Colour

• Scarlet Ember

Premium Colours: $700

• Ivory Pearl
• Brilliant Silver
• Ceramic Grey
• Gun Metallic
• Diamond Black
• Champagne Silver
• Caspian Blue

Two-tone Colours : $1,200

• Ivory Pearl with Black roof
• Ceramic Grey with Black roof
• Champagne Silver with Black roof
• Caspian Blue with Black roof
• Sunset Orange with Black roof

Buyers after a hybrid version are in luck as the X-Trail ST-L, Ti and Ti-L models can be had with Nissan’s e-Power hybrid and all-wheel-drive running gear. Expect to pay a $4,000 premium over the regular petrol-powered version to have an e-Power hybrid X-Trail on your driveway.

2024 Nissan X-Trail Ti-L standard equipment:

• Panoramic sunroof
• Power tailgate
• Adaptive LED headlights
• Digital rear-view mirror
• Rain-sensing wipers
• Tri-zone climate control
• Real leather-accented seats
• 12.3-inch touchscreen infotainment system
• Satellite navigation
• Wireless Apple CarPlay
• Wireless phone charger
• 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster
• 10.8-inch projecting head-up display
• 10-way powered front passenger seat with power lumbar
• 20-inch alloy wheels
• Hands-free power tailgate
• Reverse-tilt power mirrors with memory
• Heated steering wheel
• Quilted Nappa leather upholstery
• Driver’s memory seat presets
• Heated second row outboard seats
• Rear door sunshades
• Ambient interior lighting
• Bose 10-speaker sound system

2024 Nissan X-Trail Ti-L safety equipment:

The X-Trail received a five-star ANCAP safety rating which covers all petrol and e-Power variants. It scored 91 per cent for adult occupant protection, 90 per cent for child occupant protection, 74 per cent for vulnerable road user, and 97 per cent for safety assist.

Standard features on all X-Trail models:

• 7 airbags including a front-centre airbag
• Autonomous emergency braking (AEB)
  • Pedestrian, Cyclist detection
  • Junction assist
  • Reverse AEB with Pedestrian detection
• Blind-spot assist
• Lane departure warning
• Lane keep assist
• Traffic sign recognition
• Automatic high-beam
• Adaptive cruise control
• Reversing camera
• Rear parking sensors

ST-L and above add:

• ‘ProPILOT’ active lane-centring functionality
• Front parking sensors
• 360-degree camera

Price-wise, the X-Trail ST-L is closely aligned with mid to high grades of most rivals, with the equivalent Toyota RAV4 Edge priced around $61,000 with on road costs and a comparable Mazda CX-5 G25 GT SP coming in around $55,000 drive away. All models offer very similar levels of equipment, with inclusions such as premium audio systems, along with lush interiors with genuine leather used throughout, yet it’s only the X-Trail which features huge 20-inch alloy wheels.

How fuel efficient is the 2024 Nissan X-Trail Ti-L?

Under the bonnet of the non-hybrid X-Trails sits a 2.5-litre naturally aspirated petrol four-cylinder producing 135kW at 6000rpm and 244Nm at 3600rpm. On paper, the X-Trail’s outputs don’t look spectacular and sadly, in practice, they aren’t. With power sent to the wheels through an old fashioned CVT transmission, performance is adequate rather than inspiring. Sadly, the engine and transmission combo feel like one of the weaker points of the new X-Trail and serve to detract a little from an otherwise excellent package.

With no turbocharger to help the engine out, the engine is not blessed with too much low-down grunt, and needs a bucketload of revs to get moving. Luckily, the CVT seems to always find the ideal gear ratio for the task at hand, promptly increasing engine speed when needed, and otherwise offering a relatively relaxed driving experience.

Driven smoothly, the X-Trail does just fine, even if the whole experience lacks the finesse of a modern turbocharged engine. For those after more pace from their X-Trail, as well as improved fuel economy, the e-Power hybrid with its dual electric motors will do wonders.

Nissan claims the X-Trail Ti-L variant consumes 7.4L/100km on the combined cycle. Over our week with the X-Trail, real-world fuel economy was decent in a mix of city and highway driving, with the X-Trail returning around 9.0L/100km. All versions of the X-Trail can run on cheaper 91 RON regular unleaded, while the fuel tank measures 55 litres.

The petrol-powered X-Trail line-up is rated to tow up to 2000kg with trailer brakes, while roof load is rated at 100kg.

What is the 2024 Nissan X-Trail Ti-L like to drive?

The X-Trail will be delight to drive both around town and on the open road thanks to a relatively softly-sprung chassis designed for peak comfort. Sure, it isn’t as engaging to drive as something like a Mazda CX-5 or Volkswagen Tiguan due to a distinct lack of steering feel and some excessive body roll, but for most buyers the X-Trail’s composed feel will make them feel confident behind the wheel. This is one slick SUV to drive, with accurate controls and all the comfort a growing family could ever need.

Both at higher speeds and on course-chipped roads, the X-Trail remains fairly well muted, with only some road rumble coming in at higher speeds on country roads. Thank Nissan’s inclusion of dual-pane windows. As far as cars go for eating up long country drives, you’d be hard pressed to find a better one.

Nissan’s driver assistance tech works well and apart from the occasional incessant beeping, the lane entering and adaptive cruise control are quite intuitive and natural in the way they operate.

Around town, blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert help out in tricky situations, while the 360-degree cameras with Moving Object Detection gives drivers a surround view of the vehicle when parking, though its resolution leaves a little to be desired. Overall, visibility is decent with large mirrors, a super clear digital interior mirror and quite a large glass-house.

What is the interior of the 2024 Nissan X-Trail Ti-L like?

The 2024 Nissan X-Trail Ti-L boasts a rather refined and tasteful interior which not only is a world away from the plastic fantastic interior of the old X-Trail, but also sets it apart from some of its competitors. As far as mainstream mid-size SUV interiors go, the X-Trail comfortably beats the Toyota RAV4 and runs the aging, albeit quality CX-5 close. The X-Trail’s interior is full of soft-touch materials, high quality trim elements, some genuinely useful touches, as well as some really solid tech.

Driver and front-passenger get to look at a tastefully trimmed dash with a leatherette panel, faux wood grain finish and some rather pretty aluminium rather than the ubiquitous piano black plastic.

Up front, the new-style shifter has freed up space for a wider-than-usual wireless charging pad and two large cupholders. The centre console has is a floating design with an out-of-view storage space for items like handbags or even a laptop, as well as a new butterfly-style console box. The overall packaging is thoughtful, with things like both USB-C and USB-A charging ports in both seat rows.

The quilted leather upholstered seats are trimmed in sumptuous tan leather and are thickly cushioned for superb comfort for all shapes and sizes and have sufficient bolstering for even the tightest of turns. What’s more, the driving position is spot on with tons of adjustment and the ability to really drop the driver’s seat down low.

The technology in the Nissan X-Trail Ti-L is truly top notch and includes a large, snappy 12.3-inch display that supports wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a large digital instrument cluster that provides a wealth of information, a massive 10.8-inch widescreen head-up display (biggest in segment, claims Nissan) which is particularly impressive for its crystal-clear clarity and colour and even the rearview mirror doubles as a display, utilising a separate camera for a clear view out the back, with almost no blindspot. Any way you look at it, the top of the range X-Trail comes with a lot of screen real estate and some rather clever and easy to use software too. It’s a class act. Our top-of-the-range Nissan X-Trail Ti-L with its 10-speaker Bose premium stereo proved to also be quite the delight for the audiophile.

Continuing on with the well-packaged and practical feel, climbing into the second row is super easy given the rear doors open up at an 85-degree angle. There are also rear sunshades, air vents with individual climate controls for the rear and more USB ports to keep rear passengers happy. All four doors also get large door pockets for even 500ml bottles to fit easily into.

Rear seat legroom and headroom is very generous with the 40/20/40 split-fold seats in their most rearward position, with occupants given a nice and high view of the road ahead. Kids will see everything and truly fall in love with this car.

Five-point ISOFIX anchors feature for all three seats at the back and make installing a child seat super easy.

Boot space in the 2024 Nissan X-Trail comes in at 585-litres with a space saver spare under the false boot floor. Nissan doesn’t quote a figure with the second row folded. By comparison, a Toyota RAV4’s boot only measures 542L and rear seat passengers miss out on window shades, rear seat heating, and third-zone climate control – all three of which feature in the X-Trail.

What warranty is offered with the 2024 Nissan X-Trail Ti-L?

The X-Trail is covered by Nissan’s standard five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty with five years of roadside assist included.

Nissan also throws in five years of roadside assistance with purchase. Scheduled maintenance for all X-Trail models, meanwhile, is a disappointingly short 12 months or 10,000 kilometres – whichever comes first.

Servicing is required every 12 months or 10,000km, whichever comes first.

• 10,000km/12 months: $359.00
• 20,000km/24 months: $466.00
• 30,000km/36 months: $501.00
• 40,000km/48 months: $566.00
• 50,000km/60 months: $404.00
• 60,000km/72 months: $655.00

That amounts to $2951 over six years or 60,000km.

As the Toyota RAV4 features capped price servicing at just $260 a pop with five years/75,000kms of capped price servicing in the RAV4 comes to a total of $1,300. This is significantly cheaper than the X-Trail which costs $2,396 over the same 5 years/50,000kms.

It’s a shame Nissan doesn’t extend the servicing intervals to 15,000km to match the service intervals of many of its rivals, including the related Nissan Qashqai as well as the X-Trail’s other platform stablemate – the Mitsubishi Outlander.

Should I buy a 2024 Nissan X-Trail Ti-L?

The new Nissan X-Trail isn’t just a brilliant effort from Nissan to capture the evergreen mid-size SUV market, it’s a benchmark vehicle which offers engineering talent in droves to nail the brief as to what buyers demand from this sort of car.

With its handsome design, squared-off edges, benchmark tech, spacious and well-built interior, the X-Trail is bound to be family favourite and might certainly end the RAV4’s reign at the top of the sales charts.

Sadly, as impressive of a package as it may be, the Nissan X-Trail, at least here in non-hybrid guise, is let down by a mediocre drivetrain which doesn’t offer much sparkle in the way of how it goes about its business. We strongly recommend X-Trail buyers steer themselves to the hybrid e-Power models, if they can afford to do so. Doing so will unlock a much livelier drivetrain and reduce fuel bills.

Still, if budgetary constraints remain, the 2024 Nissan X-Trail Ti-L petrol is an appealing proposition, with all-round goodness which is sure to please.