The Nissan engine is quite possibly the best thing about the Koleos. Not only does it provide the car with unlikely performance for something so high and heavy, but it is also uncommonly civilised in its operation.
In the unlikely event that you find yourself in a position where you need to extract maximum performance, it’s quicker off the mark in two-wheel-drive guise and can be persuaded to reach 60mph in a competitive 10.2sec. Although it can be made to rev towards 5000rpm, peak power actually arrives at just 3750rpm – uncommonly low even for a diesel.
We wouldn’t describe its noise as pleasant, even on one of our kinder days. It’s just a typical diesel rattle in all but one regard: its volume. Cane the engine and it can be quite vocal, but at part throttle it immediately reverts to hushed silence. Combined with excellent wind and road noise suppression characteristics, it gives us good reason to believe the Koleos to be the most refined car in the class.
Now that the Ford Kuga sets the benchmark for ride and handling, the limitations of the Koleos
are more apparent than ever. Nothing it does in either area of ride or handling is terrible, but nor is there a single characteristic to mark it out as anything more than a distinctly mediocre performer.
The suspension is soft, yet the advantages you might think this would bring to ride quality are compromised by other issues. At motorway speeds it’s acceptable, although if you load the car with people it floats over undulations a little more than we would like. But when you reach the city limits its reluctance to deal with everyday lumps and bumps in a decisive way suggests that the car’s final suspension sign-off was done with not a great deal of thought for the crumbling British road network.
Other negatives include mute steering, heavy body roll and a braking system which, while strong enough for the car’s performance, comes with a slightly overservoed pedal.
