THE old adage ‘if it ain't broke, don't fix it' has long been VW's way forward, with often very conservatively styled new models sometimes hard to tell from the ones they replace.

Now Nissan seems to have joined the team, with a new X-Trail crossover that's a dead ringer for the top-selling Qashqai from every angle.

It's actually larger in every direction, but from a distance, and sometimes even close up, people thought my test car was a Qashqai!

There is nothing wrong with the styling I hasten to add. It's good looking from every angle, and contains a spacious family size interior with the option of two extra seats that fold easily up out of the huge boot's otherwise flat floor.

Only one engine is available, but it is a good one, a powerful 1.6-litre turbo diesel borrowed from partner Renault.

Some have criticised it for being noisy. They're being very picky. As far as I'm concerned it's a smooth and quiet powerhouse with enough urge for decent acceleration despite quite heavy weight.

In this car it drove the front wheels via the smooth changing six speed ‘box that's common to all, but other models come with four wheel drive for those who really need it.

That said, the towing capacity is the same high two tonnes for both.

The roadholding and handling are most unlike a 4x4, with well-controlled roll, and excellent grip.

And comfort is excellent over all surfaces, even at slow speeds in town, which is a real plus.

It a rather sombre black inside, but the Acenta I drove comes pretty well equipped, with alloys, tyre pressure monitoring, stability and traction control, start-stop, aircon, cruise, MP3 and Bluetooth, and an alarm.