THE CROSSOVER LABEL is hauled out these days for any vehicle blending a few bodystyle genres or blurring the traditional segment definitions. Sports utilities and multi people movers are melding and contorting into a new breed of urban runabout touting off-road capability irrespective of the drivetrain set-up. Yet the incandescent sales success of Nissan’s Qashqai means the bundu-bashing details matter not a jot to most buyers. But the Qashqai is more than that, and after three weeks sampling a traditional five-seater and the just introduced seven-seater +2 sibling, I can verify that the car has real substance.

WHICH IS BEST?

Sporty or practical, capable or desirable – why choose? We’ve opted to review the Qashqai +2 because at a premium of just R20 000 over the five-seater, you’re endowed with so much more car. Sure, the third row is compact, but it’s capable of carting two little ones in comfort, albeit with restricted views of the road. This benefit emerges from a wheelbase extended by 135mm thanks to a total body length increase of 211mm over the fiver. Headroom is similarly affected and ditto for legroom, creating a cabin to make Nissan’s own Murano seem a little overinflated. It certainly challenges it for comfort and a premium feel. Under the sculpted bonnet is a 1997cc normally aspirated multivalve four outputting 102kW and 198Nm, mated to a traditional six-speed manual transmission. The CVT (for constantly whining transmission) is reserved at this point as an option on the five-seater model only. With the +2, the Qashqai issues a challenge to larger SUVs and MPVs in much the same way the regular model has become a real alternative to the perennial hatchback.

HOW ABOUT THE LOOKS?
With its 2010 update, new Qashqai's most notable upgrade is an intravenous shot of machismo. The revised headlamp clusters are more defined, and spearhead a subtle list of aesthetic tweaks such as a sportier honeycomb grille, more sharply-pressed bonnet strakes and a cleaner front bumper treatment with a better relationship between colour co-ordinated plastic and rugged grey cladding. The rear lamp clusters get LED definition, and in each corner Nissan has opted for diamond-cut 18-inch alloy hoops, pinched from last year’s Tekna derivative. The result is a far more aggressive animal, even in our test car’s anaemic monochrome white. That said, the puffed up arches, softly swaged hip line and a profile reminiscent of the marque’s own Murano SUV, complemented by a taller roofline, means the Qashqai +2 oozes a premium demeanour and promises acres of space within. A tint on the rear glass and silver roof rails all add value to the +2 package, which at R303 500 in 2.0-litre manual form at least looks the business.

WHAT’S IT LIKE INSIDE?