The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

stouffville suntribune wheels thursday april 1 2004 chs an advertising section of the economist s u n thursday april 1 2004 left canadians love small suvs and thats why nissan is bringing in the xtrail a model not offered in the us it brings to five the number of suvs offered by nissan in this country not to mention the three from its luxury brand infiniti rightthe dashboard treatment is busy due in large part to the need to mount the gauge binnacle centrally to allow for sale in markets in left- or righthand drive coun tries nissans xtrail joins the small suv market by jtm robinson road worthy canadians like our american neighbours cant seem to get enough of their sport utility vehicles but unlike our american neighbours we tend to go for small suvs eschewing the big gaudy gasguzzlers americans hold so dear to their hearts and minds now id like to think its because we shy away from showiness but its probably got more to do with discretionary income that anything else but the fact remains that 44 per cent of canadian suv sales in 2003 were in the small category significantly higher than the 26 per cent in the us with the introduction of the toyota rav4 in 1996 and the honda crva year later canadian small suv sales jumped from about 13000 in 1995 to 40000 by the end of 1997 last year that grew to 123000 no doubt about it canadians love their small suvs nissan not wanting to miss this trend has just introduced the 2005 xtrail a small suv sold widely in other markets and loosely based on the primera sedan chassis it brings to five the number of suvs sold by nissan in this country and this does not take into account the three more offered by its luxury brand infiniti interestingly xtrail will not be offered in the us where big is still big busi ness xtrail is available in five models xe in frontwheeldrive fwd and allwheeldrive awd se in fwd and awd and le in awd a fourspeed automatic is standard on all fwd models while a fivespeed manual is standard on all awd automatic optional models except the topline le which only comes in automatic there is one engine the 165 hp and 170 ftlb of torque 25litre twin cam inline four- cylinder as used in the altima sedan all x- trails come with fourwheel disc brakes abs and electronic barking power distribution and brake assist the only wheels offered as 16inch being steel on the base xtrials and alloy higher up the trim level ladder the awd system offers the driver three traction choices in 2wd it is a frontdriver in the auto mode its a slip and grip system that routes torque back and forth as needed for offroading or tackling deep snow or mud turn the instrument panel mounted function switch to lock and it splits traction 5050 for fwd buyers theres a snowmode switch that when engaged retards engine power to help maximize traction under slip pery conditions cargo area is a xtrail strong suit with 292 cu ft 827 litres with the rear seats up and 728 cu ft 2061 litres with the seats flat that translates into 87 cu ft more than mazda tribute 54 cu ft more than rav4 and 38 cu ft more than jeep liberty the nice thing about the cargo area is its got a plastic floor that can be removed and can be hosed out ifneed be thereare also 11 tie downs and a huge cargo net that reminded me of the kind of net fishermen cast into the sea such is its size speaking of big the optional pana roof is the size of a bomb bay door on a b52 its 33 times larger than crv and 22 times larger thanrav4 in xtrail nissan has tapped into the cabin heating cooling system in a novel way both the centre console storage area with closing doors and cupbottle holders at each corner of the dashboard have vents that allow them to beheated or cooled as required the aforementioned cup holders come with slots to hold the caps from bottle water so they dont go rolling around on the floor the dash features a centremounted bin nacle for the main gauges this being neces sary so the truck can be sold in left- and right- hand drive markets while xtrail doesnt seem that tall you can step in as opposed to sitting down as you would in a sedan head clearance a failing in small suvs is not an issue nor is the 311 degrees of allround visibility the seats are supportive and are pedestal style so back seat passengers have more legroom claustrophobic the xtrail is not driving a se awd with the fivespeed found clutch take up light and measured however the engine liked a good jab of revs at launch to get away cleanly there was a slight sensation coming through to the steering wheel which my codriver rightly traced to tire nibble coming from an aggressive tread pattern and asphalt with a high gravel con tent on a highway cutting across vancouver island brakes were good considering the xtrail is not exactly a lightweight although it is clas sified as a small suv upon entering one or two winding highway corners at perhaps too high a rate of knots there was a sensation of the outside rear lightening up as the rate of roll increase a bit like trailing throttle over- steer i think it was due to the centre of gravity being higher along with a tallish body it was proof once again that a suv should be driven like one like a sportscar there are all kinds of reasons why a suv doesnt make sense in our part of the world where the roads are good but after the winter weve gone through theres no argument that awd is a plus no matter how you cut it it could explain in part the fascination more and more canadians are having for suvs small ones in particular as nissan has shown with 350z sportscar the infiniti g35 and the murano crossover suv they are in tune with the times and in terms of canadians and their suvs times they certainly are a changing j new car dealer in markh li i v b t l e brand new tbird 2003 lincoln ls v8 l only 2003 lincoln aviator the classic touring roadster comeswith removable hard top colour accent pacl33lv8blanverttte 1 only c e 2003 lincoln navigator 2 only 62988 t only premium sport model power moonroof heatedcooled front seat sport tuned suspension select shift transmission advance trac 35l 4v d0hcv8 plus more power moonroof trailer towing pkg 17 spoke chrome wheels tire press monitoring system dvd rear entertainment system wssskf- 46l dohc v8 plus more powermoonroof power deptoyawe running boards tire pressure sensors power lift gate 18 chrome wheels power fold 3rd row seats plus more itley 21 main street unionville kennedy road 1 block north of hwy 407 i all cash prices arc plus freight taxes licence and fees ah factory to dealer credits and rebates applied and are not combinablo with any subvontod leaso or finance rato markham economist s sun readers choice awards markville ford lincoln svt 9054741350 9054741350 a jlca j w ilv a v jiaiiwvaii kj a wwwmarkvillefordcom wwwmarkvillefordcom wwwmarkvillefordcom