Nissan Qashqai

A nose job and upgraded tech keep this hugely popular family SUV up to date On sale Now Price from £30,135

- Lawrence Cheung

CHANCES ARE, IF you try to think back to when family SUVs started to really take off in popularity, the car that springs to mind is the Nissan Qashqai. It's the car widely credited with starting the family SUV trend more than a decade ago, inspiring countless rivals on the way, not least the Kia Sportage, Seat Ateca, Skoda Karoq and Volvo XC40.

In an effort to keep these rivals at bay, the Qashqai has been facelifted, gaining a much larger front grille, sleeker headlights and clear lenses for the rear lights, along with a few new paint colours and wheel designs. Entry-level Visia trim has been dropped, but a new midspec N-Design version has been added, and that's what we're testing here.

N-Design adds distinctive body-coloured wheel arches and side skirts, as well as huge, 20in alloy wheels. Unfortunately, these cause the Qashqai to thump and fidget more over bumps than is the case with the 17in or 18in wheels of lower trim levels, as well as increasing the level of tyre noise. It's a shame, because the Qashqai is otherwise calm and quiet on the motorway, with only a little wind noise fluttering around the big door mirrors.