Nissan X-Trail

Nissan, like just about every other automotive manufacturer, is expanding its range of diesel-powered vehicles with its 4WD SUV X-Trail the next in the line-up to receive these fuel-efficient power plants.

The Japanese carmaker will, from this month, offer two turbo diesel engine options in the X-Trail, a refined base engine producing 110kW and a torque of 320Nm matched to a new six-speed automatic, and a high-performance 127kW (360Nm) diesel with a six-speed manual transmission.

Nissan claimed the new engines are "remarkably" fuel efficient quoting fuel consumption figures of 7.4lt/100km for the manual and 8.1lt/100km for the automatic.

The basis for both diesels, said the company, is a common rail direct injection turbocharged 2.0lt 16-valve four-cylinder unit.

The new diesel X-Trail will be available in two new specification grades, with the new entry-level designated TS - based on the ST-L petrol model - and the premium version designated TL which is based on the Ti petrol X-Trail.

Nissan's managing director and CEO, Dan Thompson, said the new diesel has all the attributes to enhance the reputation of the X-Trail as a class-leader in its segment.

"The new diesel engines offer impressive performance in both the manual and automatic configurations and reinforces the X-Trail's position as an extremely capable compact SUV," said Thompson.

"The X-Trail diesel will be the first volume selling model in the compact SUV segment and we are pleased to be able to respond so quickly to such strong customer demand for this model," he said.

Earlier this year, Nissan introduced a new inter-cooled turbo diesel engine to its Navara D22 workhorse range.

The new 2.5lt turbo diesel engine matched to a five-speed manual transmission is available in both dual cab and single cab Navara D22 variants, and in addition to these 4WD variants, this model is also available as a 2WD single cab.

Nissan said the Navara D22 inter-cooled turbo diesel YD25 engine has a maximum power output of 98kW at 3600rpm and 304Nm of torque from just 2000rpm.

The YD diesel, with 16 valves and double overhead cam, features second-generation common rail technology for lower emissions and excellent economy, a variable nozzle turbocharger which also delivers lower emissions as well as more power, and a new balancer system for greater refinement, said Nissan.

The common rail fuel injection system, said Nissan, has an electronically-controlled high-pressure fuel injection pump for greater efficiency which helps provide more power, low emissions and lower levels of noise, vibration and harshness, while emissions are further improved by the adoption of an oxidation catalyst.

Nissan said that fuel consumption on all models is impressive with the 2WD single cab returning 7.3lt/100km, while the 4WD equivalent achieves a combined cycle of 9.1lt/100km and the 4WD dual cab ST-R 9.2lt/100km.

Importantly, the high-torque gives the 2WD Navara a towing capacity of 1500kg (for braked trailers) while the 4WD models are rated to 2800kg (braked).