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This doesn’t mean that you should actually consider putting someone you care about on those jump seats. The seat cushions are way too narrow and the seating position too upright. You can keep those seats mounted there, but they’re for emergency use only. A better option would be to remove those seats once you bring home the van. The jump seats were obviously not part of the original design and prevent the third row bench from sliding all the way back for maximum legroom. Removing the seats will also increase the luggage space in the hatch area. The interior trimmings are one part mid-class car, two parts passenger van. The instruments and soft-cloth trim are like a normal car’s, but the steering wheel is a little more horizontal and the accessory controls like the stereo head unit and the aircon switches are angled upwards. It’s actually a logical way to mount them, as they’re easier to read from the high-mounted front seats. Most of the switches are easy to find and understand. The exception is the stereo unit from Clarion, which could improve on its button response. The view from the driver’s chair can induce a feeling of tunnel vision. The windshield base is way out of reach, and the nose can’t be seen, either. However, there’s hardly any nose anyway, so it doesn’t present much of a problem. There aren’t any cubbyholes or a center console for the driver’s gear, like shades or a cellphone. In place of a center console are folding armrests. The gauges are the luminescent type, glowing when the ignition is fired up. It doesn’t measure up to the latest displays, though, as the dials and needles wash out in bright sunlight. As with most vans, the best seats are in the second row. From the second row, you can reach up to the remote aircon and entertainment-system controls, and flip down the standard video monitor. The bench is wide enough for three and the view out the partitionless power windows is in full-glory widescreen. The third row is narrower and most comfortable with just two passengers. There are windows in the back, too, but they’re cut short by plastic paneling. One glaring inadequacy is the lack of seatbelts for the third row. It’s also a bit difficult getting out of that row, as the second-row seatbacks don’t fold flat forward. The seat portions of both rows do flip up, however, in case you need more luggage space. The two rows are mounted on a pair of rails, so they can be individually folded and then slid all the way forward or backward. Under the hood is a familiar powerplant. It's the 16-valve twin-cam 2.0-liter inline-4 previously seen in the Altima. It pumps out 145 bhp at 6000 rpm and 183 Nm at a rather high 4800 rpm. In practice, though, it’s well matched to the minivan’s weight and to the four-speed automatic. With just two passengers on board, the throttle response was instantaneous and invigorating, even on steep uphills. There was none of the customary delay that plagues heavy automatic-equipped vans. We can imagine that the response will be diminished with a full load of people and luggage, but apparently the engine can carry the load with some grunt to spare. There’s a power mode for the automatic that might help at full loads. During our lead-footed mostly-highway driving we managed 7.7 km/liter, giving the Q-RV a range of about 440 km per tankful. (Count on about 360 km before the low-fuel warning light starts flashing.) |
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