New Qashqai diesel 4X4 models are hugely impressive, coupling excellent performance, a revelationary diesel motor, and on-road optimised AWD security with frugal consumption for a top-notch all-rounder.

Nissan SA has already watched with glee the strong sales success that its interesting little crossover, the Qashqai, has been in the local market. Despite a depressed market environment, this "practical but sporty" small SUV has posted higher numbers of sales, month by month.

Only problem we had with it, really, was that it was never particularly "sporting".

The launch motor range, consisting of two petrol fours of 1.6 and 2.0-litres capacity respectively, were severely lacking any hint of sparkle lugging this heavier-than-they're-used-to platform up the road, making for decidedly sluggish progress and a distinct lack of genuine excitement.

But the company has just redeemed itself in this respect — I've just been driving the two new model derivatives based on their 2.0-litre turbodiesel mill, and I must say that the new oil-burner is by far the best Qashqai yet released.

In addition to the new motor, Nissan has added a "Techna" model derivative to the lineup, only available coupled to the diesel engine, which adds 4WD capability into the mix. But before you get too excited about charging carefree up hill and down dale in your new Qashqai diesel, Nissan takes pains to point out that this is an "on-road optimised" 4X4 system, there to deliver safe, secure driving even in wet and slippery conditions, as well as take the odd gravel track in its stride.

I'll get back to that, but the new motor deserves centre stage first. An all-new second-generation common-rail diesel variant coupled with high-pressure high-precision piezoelectric injection mechanism make this diesel a far more refined and even more efficient mill than ever before. That's coupled to the heavier 4X4-capable Qashqai Nissan claiming consumption of 7.0l/100km, and 6.6 for the FWD models.

I can vouch for that, we drove the launch route pretty lead footed but still the trip computer stubbornly refused to go beyond an average of 7.4l/100km.

But even more importantly, at least for me and for those to whom the sporting pretensions of the Qashqai are key, is the way it delivers. It churns out 110kW at 4000rpm and 320Nm at 2000, but it's the way it loves revs which really wins me over. Most TDis deliver strong pulling power from low, low down, then tend to peter out entirely as the tacho sweeps past 4K rpm, making chasing the limiter an utterly pointless affair.

Not this 2.0-litre though. Although you can feel power has peaked at this mark, it still keeps pulling with conviction, easily blasting past the 4500rpm redline on the dial, and eventually running into the limiter at around 5300rpm. Although the sound it makes at these revs could hardly be described as symphonic, it isn't too bad either, not sounding ridiculously thrashed and ready to grenade at all.

It's really quite an achievement, and it results in a driving experience which is tremendous fun, urging you to push that car-based McPherson strut/multilink suspension layout to its limits through the bends despite the high, commanding driving position.

The interior of the Qashqai now features full leather as an option, and it's a high-quality hide too if not quite in the league of silk nappa and the like. There are all the mod-cons in there, all electric mirrors and windows, a comprehensive on-board computer, dual-zone automatic climate control, quality stereo system, and a small rotary dial to select between three preset AWD modes.

For high-grip tarmac driving, you can lock the system in FWD only, which makes for less drag on the drivetrain and less power lost in driveline inefficiencies and therefore improved fuel consumption, set it to fully-Automatic mode which links-up with the eighth-generation Bosch ESP and its multitude of sensors to control electronics within the centre diff which can split power distrubtion 50/50 front to rear, and an AWD Lock mode which locks power in this distribution map permanently.

In Auto mode there is a momentary delay when the nose does push wide once you’ve breached the limits of grip before the power is shuffled rearward, but it won't be a problem unless you’re pushing so idiotically hard that you’ve left not a single percentage of lane-space for possible correction — a decidedly silly thing to do if you’re not on a racetrack.

With pricing between R285K and R295K for this AWD dci model, depending on whether or not you want the (well worth it in my opinion if you want some plush in your ride) full leather interior trimming, the new Qashqai diesel really ought to even further accelerate the strong sales success of the Qashqai range in SA.

Just about all new models, particularly if they're this unique and striking, perform well in their first year or so and then generally sales will start to tail off. But with the addition of this superb new model, and I'll reiterate, in my opinion the best Qashqai of them all, by far, Nissan is likely to be able to stave off this potential downward trend for at least another year.

Pricing
Nissan Qashqai 2.0 dCi Acenta: R261 590
Nissan Qashqai 2.0 dCi Tekna (Cloth): R284 590
Nissan Qashqai 2.0 dCi Tekna (Leather): R293 590