Are you in search of a compact SUV with a bit more style than most? Then the Nissan Qashqai Midnight Edition is one definitely worth considering. With a gloss black grille, body side moulding, roof rails, darkened LED taillights and 19-inch black alloy wheels, the Midnight Edition offers a unique style inside and out.
Hop in to this special edition Qashqai and you are greeted by firm seats that are covered with sporty Alcantara suede seat trim with leather accents. Both front seats have manual adjustment for height, recline, forward/back and 2-way lumbar.
The steering wheel design looks and feels good to hold, with the buttons to control media volume or call pick-up are where you would expect them to be. The voice control button is designated with a masculine-looking silhouette, similar to many other car companies. I found the system not to be particularly great at making calls or changing the media source, the only two functions available for voice control.
There are plenty of handy storage options in the Qashqai including good-sized drink bottle storage in the front door cubbies. Under the arm rest is another deep storage cubby that would be suitable for a large drink bottle, with a recess in the bottom to help locate the bottle and the cubby is lined with hard plastic for easily cleaning up spills. In addition it has clips for your pens under the arm rest and a slot for an iPod or slim mobile phone to be stored.
Under the arm rest there is one USB port, one 12V outlet and one AUX point for connecting your device to the infotainment system. All of the variants in the Qashqai model line-up come with Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, DAB+, iPod compatible USB port, Bluetooth, CD, AUX and AM/FM radio, so whatever your music source is the Qashqai has you covered. There is also an area at the front of the centre console for phone storage with another 12V outlet.
The two cup holders in front of the arm rest are a little deep, so smaller cups may be difficult to get out. I did like though that the gloss black surround on the centre console and dash had a sparkly speckle in it and this lessoned the noticeability of dust that is easily attracted to this type of plastic. The infotainment touch screen is a bit small, only 7-inches, and the graphics are also a little bit dated as well, but the sat-nav does feature traffic monitoring.
The rear seats have ample room for two adults to comfortably sit in them and the centre seat folds down as an arm rest with two rigid hard plastic drink holders in the front of it. There are two ISOFIX/three rear tether child seat restraint points, but only really enough room for two car seats due to the width of the seat. There are no central rear air vents or power outlets for passengers sitting in the rear seats, but the drink bottle storage in the door cubby is a good size.
The boot has a manual open boot and it’s heavy so my daughter was not able to raise the boot door herself. It is a reasonable size though for a compact SUV and would fit a stroller and the weekly shop with the cut outs behind the rear wheel arches providing crucial extra width and 60/40 split folding rear seats if you need extra length. There are two hooks and four tie down points in the boot for securing items and a temporary use spare tyre under the boot floor.
The Qashqai has front-wheel drive and is powered by a 2.0 litre, 4-cylinder petrol engine that is recommended to run on 91RON fuel. Power is not much at just 106kW @ 6,000rpm and torque is 200Nm @ 4,400rpm, so the acceleration is not very impressive. The official combined fuel consumption is 6.9L/100km and for my week I used 9.8L/100km. I found the ride in the Qashqai to be a bit jiggly and the Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) was annoying, thanks to its lethargic gear selection.
All Qashqai models have a 5-star (2017) ANCAP safety rating with driver and front passenger airbags, driver and front passenger side impact airbags and front to rear curtain airbags. The Nissan Intelligent Mobility active-safety features on the Midnight Edition Qashqai include Blind Spot Warning, Lane Departure Warning, Intelligent Emergency Braking, Rear Cross-Traffic Alert and Intelligent Driver Alert. The reversing camera has a dual view on the infotainment screen with the front/rear view camera on the right hand side and a 360o view camera on the left hand side with front and rear parking sensors. The Qashqai has standard cruise control only and this was not able to hold your speed when going down a hill.
All new Nissan vehicles come with a 5-Year Unlimited Kilometre warranty and five years of 24-Hour Roadside Assistance. Nissan Capped Price Service also means you know in advance the maximum price you’ll pay for the first five services according to your vehicle’s service schedule. The service interval for the Qashqai is 12 months or 10,000km, whichever occurs first, and using the Nissan Australia website the total price for these five services comes to $1,451.
The Nissan Qashqai Midnight Edition is available in Vivid Blue, Ivory Pearl, Gun Metallic, Magnetic Red and Pearl Black paint and is very competitively priced at just $35,900 excluding dealer delivery and on-road costs. Visit your preferred Nissan dealer to find out more about the latest-generation Qashqai.
| Pros | Cons |
| Nice exterior and interior styling | Jiggly ride |
| Good amount of room in rear seats | Not much power from the 2.0 litre engine |
| Runs on 91RON petrol | Heavy boot door |
Photographs by Driven Women Magazine.