Honda CR-V vs Nissan X-TRAIL

What's the difference?

The Honda CR-V L7’s redesign wins in my book. It looks modern and its tech feels up to date. The boot is a bit awkward to use and the comfort with that back seat could improve, but otherwise it is a solid family car. The bonus of having those two extra seats in a medium SUV is great for families who need the flexibility.

My son didn’t gush about this one but did mention how awesome his view was!

The Nissan X-Trail ST-L 7 Seat is easy to drive, has some great features and fit my family of three just fine. The on-road handling is solid and there’s enough power under the bonnet for longer road trips. On a car this size, I’m not sure those extra two seats are worth losing the boot space but if you occasionally need to ferry your kid's friend to a game or something, it will be worthwhile. There are a few little things that aren’t quite up to a standard I like to see but overall, we like this one and it gets a 7.5/10 from us.

Honda has absolutely nailed the design of this generation CR-V! The previous model was nice to look at but by getting rid of all of the bulbous cutaways (especially in the rear) and lifting the old sloping nose, we now have a design that seems far more purposeful for this SUV class.

The LED exterior lights, including sequential turn signals and daytime-running lights at the front, are long and enhance the larger shape. The L7 sports a few black intake vents and an extended grille, which makes it look more robust, as well.

There was something robustly charming about the previous X-Trail shape and while the overall size has been maintained, most of the squared edges have been softened in the new model.

It makes it appear far more modern and it should maintain its kerbside appeal for years to come.

There’s quite a lot of chrome on the grille, making it look enormous. However, the black plastic moulding that wraps the car at its base helps it look sportier than it has the right to look. As does the dark privacy glass at the rear.

For a medium SUV, the cabin is fairly practical with its use of space but front passengers definitely benefit the most.

I have plenty of head- and legroom for my 168cm (5'6") height and while the seats feel a tad narrow, they’re extremely comfortable.

The black leather-accented trims are nice under hand and its great that both front seats feature electric adjustments but it’s a shame that only the driver’s side has adjustable lumbar support.

The heat function is also a nice touch and helps elevate the premium feel of the interior.

There are two cupholders in the front and middle rows, as well as drink bottle holders in each door.

The third row also gets a couple of cool fold-out drink bottle holders but if your drink is skinny, it may move around a little as the base doesn’t have a raised lip.

Charging options are good with a wireless charging pad, a 12-volt port, as well as, a USB-A and USB-C sockets up front while the middle row gets a couple of USB-C jacks. Third rowers miss out completely, though.

The rest of the technology is modern and is easy to use, which to me is the perfect combo. The 9.0-inch touchscreen multimedia system is responsive to touch and looks great.

It’s easy to connect to the wireless Apple CarPlay and there is also wired Android Auto for those users. The 7.0-inch partial digital instrument panel is easy to read and has traffic sign recognition.

The only space which feels awkward is the boot space. The third row doesn’t fold flat and that makes a ledge. You can flatten it out with a small panel that slides into position at the front but it's dicky to look at and use.

That said, it is a good size at 472L with the third row stowed and you can bump that capacity up to 1457L.

You get a temporary spare tyre in the L7 and a hands-free powered tailgate, which is always handy!

For my little family’s needs this week, I found it to be fairly practical most of the time. The front and middle rows have loads of space and even taller passengers will find comfort with the legroom and headroom in both!

The third row should be considered as ’sometimes’ seats for kids because the legroom is very tight. Besides two cupholders, there are also no amenities back there. Adults will curse you if they get stuck back there for long.

The front row enjoys the most storage options with a deep middle console, a phone/utility tray and glove box. There are also large storage bins in each door and two deep cupholders. The sunglasses holder in the roof is a bonus, too!

You’d have to get strategic with gear loading on a full-scale road trip.

This has a temporary spare tyre but to access it, you have to remove the third row (after sliding the second row forward) and that would be an pain to access if you had a full car load of gear and child seats.

Being a lower grade this doesn’t have a powered tailgate and I did miss it this week because the boot is heavy to close.  

Our model is the part-time four-wheel drive ST-L with seven seats and it is $46,290, before on-road costs.

That makes it more expensive compared to its key rivals with the Mazda CX-5 AWD Touring costing $43,700 and Kia Sportage SX+ Petrol DCT AWD at $43,850. Only the Toyota RAV4 Edge tops it with a $53,020 price tag.

However, for a model that sits second from the bottom in its own line-up, it’s well-specified.

Unless you're looking at the hybrid variant, all CR-V's share the same 1.5-litre, four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine. The L7 is a front-wheel drive and has maximum outputs of 140kW and 240Nm.

The L7 features a continuously variable auto transmission but it’s delightfully smooth and the engine has enough guts to make it a pleasant open-roader but you have to be consistent with the accelerator on hills.

Excluding the ePower hybrid, the X-Trail shares the same 2.5-litre, four-cylinder petrol engine across its models. It has max outputs of 135kW and 244Nm, which means it’s not super powerful but it doesn’t really whine at you, either.

I’m not a massive fan of continuously variable transmissions and this one can get a little jerky when you put your foot down. It's smooth otherwise.

The part-time 4WD drivetrain is an interesting feature for this size SUV but I didn’t test its capabilities this week. You can choose between five modes - 'Auto', 'Eco', 'Sport', 'Snow' and 'Off-Road' but I kept it in Auto.

The L7 has an official combined cycle fuel economy figure of 7.3L/100km and my real-world usage averaged 8.3L/100km.

That's after a week of mostly open-road driving, so I would expect it to be higher in an urban setting but it’s a solid result.

Honda recommends minimum 91 RON petrol and based on the combined cycle figure and the 53-litre fuel tank, expect a driving range of around 780km.

The official combined cycle fuel figure is 7.8L/100km and real-world testing saw my average at 8.1L. That’s pretty good for an SUV of this size and it was after a lot of open road and urban driving (think school and grocery runs).

The X-Trail has a 55L fuel tank and based on the official combined figure, you should be able to get around 705km of driving range. Perfectly respectable for the odd road trip or family vacay.

Nissan recommends a minimum of 91 RON petrol and adds that it is E10 suitable.

The CR-V has pleasant road manners and is fairly responsive with power without sounding too tinny when you have to put your foot down. It can lurch a little in stop/start traffic but is otherwise a very easy car to get around in.

The CVT is smooth and there’s no lag as can be the case with other CVTs at lower speeds. The suspension is medium-feeling and while you’ll feel the bumps, it’s pretty well-cushioned.

The L7 has active noise cancellation technology and that means the cabin is quiet, even at higher speeds, and you can chat easily with all occupants.

The X-Trail ST-L delivered a solid performance in all the situations I put it in this week.

I was just as happy tackling the open-road as I was in stop-start traffic in the city.

It has enough power to get up to speed quickly and keep you there but you don’t feel like you have heaps left in reserve. The engine can sook a little when you get too aggressive with the accelerator but otherwise works without complaint.

The X-Trail has been fitted with a good list of safety features, with the following being standard: LED daytime running lights, lane departure alert, lane keeping aid, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, 360-degree view reversing camera, dynamic parking guidelines, front and rear parking sensors, rear occupant alert, intelligent seatbelt monitoring and a driver fatigue monitoring system.

It also features adaptive cruise control with lane keeping assist; meaning, so long as you have your hands on the wheel, the car essentially steers itself. It's great to minimise fatigue on longer journeys.

It has AEB and forward collision warning with car, pedestrian and cyclist detection which is operational from 10-80km/h (5.0-130km/h for car detection). It is usual to see it operational from 5.0km/h, though. 

Honda shows up some of its competition with its ownership costs! With the CR-V you’ll enjoy a five-year/unlimited km warranty, as well as, a five-year capped price servicing program.

Services are a flat $199 per service, which is cheap for the class but servicing intervals could be annoying if you put a lot of kays on your car because they’re set at every 12 months or 10,000km, whichever occurs first (15,000km is more common).

The X-Trail comes with the market standard five-year/unlimited km warranty term and you can pre-purchase three-, four- or five-year capped-price servicing plans. 

On the five-year pre-paid plan, services average $425 annually which is great for this class.

Servicing intervals are every 12 months or 10,000km, which could get a little annoying if you put a lot of kays on your car every year.