Nissan Qashqai 2020 review: ST+

Like many small SUVs, the Qashqai closely resembles a high-riding hatchback. It’s easy on the eye, with nicely designed front and rear sections with LED light fittings, touches of chrome and a black grille that helps pump up its road presence. 

Sitting on 17-inch alloy wheels, the side profile is taken straight from the small SUV playbook of design; neat and well-proportioned, and perfect for fitting in with the crowd.  

The Qashqai is neat and well-proportioned.

Inside, the straightforward and contemporary design approach continues with no frills hard-wearing cloth and plastics taking centre stage. Premium touches include the modern D-shaped leather-bound wheel, and a dash embossed with subtle matt-grey touches.

The various switch gear, dials and buttons across the dash and steering wheel are well laid out and easy to navigate. Likewise, the driver's binnacle does a good job of presenting vehicle information for drivers to digest at a glance.  

For a small car the Qashqai is surprisingly roomy. My kids had plenty of room in the back when sitting behind my driving position (I’m 180cm), with inches of legroom to spare. Same story for the headroom. But while three kids can sit back there comfortably you may be pushing it to fit three adults.   

The 430 litres of boot space was more than enough to swallow the weekly shop, kids gear and scooters over the weekend. Folding the 60/40 rear seats down provides a generous 1598 litres of space – enough for a couple of bikes.

Featuring 430 litres of boot space.

After living with the Qashqai for a week I now understand the popularity of this segment. In the city it was nimble and sharp to navigate, small enough to fit into hatch-sized parking spots, yet still big enough to provide ample space for the four of us and whatever gear we threw in the boot.

Storage up front is excellent, with big bottle holders in the doors, two cupholders behind the shifter, a hidey-hole trench under the centre stack (with a 12-volt outlet) and a large centre console box.

Conversely, there’s not much on offer for rear seat passengers with pockets on the backs of the front seats and small bottle holders in the doors, but no cupholders or air vents.

The ST + also comes with an impressive suite of parking aids, including a 360-degree view monitor and surround parking sensors with movement detection.

The ST + also comes with an impressive suite of parking aids.

The Qashqai was awarded the maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating, and it comes with a decent amount of active safety kit. This includes auto emergency braking (AEB) with forward collision warning (FCW), and lane departure warning (LDW).

For parents with young kids there are two ISOFIX points and three top tether points for the car seats, plus six airbags, including side curtain airbags that extend to the back row.

The ST +, which sits one rung up from the base model ST, is priced at $30,790.

In addition to the tech offering, the ST + brings 17-inch alloy wheels, LED DRLs and tail lights, halogen headlights, privacy glass on the rear windows, power-folding rear-vision mirrors, an electric handbrake and keyless entry with push-button start.

The Ivory Pearl colour our test car came in is included in the price.