While I totally understand the need for windscreen pillars to be thicker these days in the interests of safety and roll-over protection, they can also be a hindrance to driver safety as they reduce visibility.
While using the Nissan for a long Continental jaunt recently, the X-Trail’s weighty front screen pillars obscured the view of approaching cyclists and motorbike riders on roundabout and angled junctions more than once, causing some sharp braking and embarrassed, apologetic waves to the rider. Admittedly this is far less of an issue in the RHD car on the ‘correct’ side of the road here in the UK, although occasionally it can still be an issue.
Likewise, the view through the back window in the Nissan (as with many other modern SUVs, crossovers and hatchback) is also too restricted, and amplified by a tiny rear-view mirror that partly blocks some of the forward view (with its rain sensors, automatic headlamp control and blacked-out area), and shows just a slit view of the rear. The reverse sensors and rear-view camera display on the central infotainment screen help here, but call me old-fashioned, as I still prefer to look back the traditional way when reversing.
In nearly all other aspects, the 40-years plus separating the old Honda Civic and this Nissan shine through, with the decades of motoring progress clearly evident in the X-Trail (comfort, safety, ventilation, and so on), even if it doesn’t quite put the same smile on your face as the 1975 Civic.
Photography by Tom Shaxson