Driving through heavy rain with the wipers flitting frantically across the screen reminded me that there are 4×4 versions of the Kadjar.
Would I swap my front-wheel drive version for a more assured wet-weather drive? I have been known to go caravanning (don’t knock it until you’ve tried it) and for towing, the 4×4 is emphatically a better car offering a 1800kg braked towing capacity verses our cars’ 1350kg figure. That’s not just because of the extra traction, either, but because all four-wheel drive Kadjars come with the more powerful 130hp 1.6-litre.
For regular driving, though, even when it’s chucking it down, I’m quite happy with the front-wheel drive 110hp 1.5-litre diesel. With its relatively modest power and torque there’s no problem with traction on wet tarmac, and the smaller diesel is quieter and more refined than the 1.6.
It also promises better economy, with an official combined figure of 72.4mpg compared with 57.6mpg for the 4×4. Whether it’s genuinely that much more economical is a moot point, though. Our long-term test car’s average mpg is stuck in the low 50s – of course, very few drivers match the official combined figure, but to miss it by 20mpg is quite a margin. Hopefully, some more, long motorway drives in the near future will see that figure creep a bit higher.
