Watch Nissan Qashqai Bounce Its Way Through A Sketchy Moose Test

Watching this Nissan Qashqai tackle the Moose Test reminds us of a drunk, husky-sized superfan trying to get drinks for his friends at a football game. He wavers, stumbles, almost loses balance, skips along on one leg for a bit, but somehow delivers the goods without spilling a drop. At the end of the day, this crossover made a clean run through the cones at the 77 kph (48 mph) target speed. But whoa, Nellie does it stumble at the end.

To be fair, the reviewers at KM77.com who drove the Qashqai (Rogue Sport for those in North America) said things felt far less dramatic behind the wheel. It's a different story outside, where the SUV bobs and weaves through the slalom course while speed and weight transfer build up. Physics eventually force the inside rear wheel off the ground, unsettling the back end which causes the entire Nissan to bounce. 

Shifting from slalom to the Moose Test, the Qashqai's first run at 77 kph is a success. In fact, it makes a run at 79 kph that also doesn't tip over any cones, but one is bumped hard enough to move and that's technically a fail. Here's another technicality worth mentioning: watch the clean 77-kph run very closely from the rear camera. You'll see the Qashqai's left corner disappear slightly behind a cone at the peak of its emergency maneuver. This means the SUV actually slipped between two cones, breaking the invisible line which could be construed as a failure by some.

Still, it didn't hit a cone despite the unhealthy bouncing on its suspension. The video points to poor suspension tuning from Nissan on the Qashqai, which allows considerable weight transfer between the sides and corners of the vehicle. Stiffening things up a bit might also help reduce understeer, which gets amplified once the rear wheel lifts up.

It should be mentioned that this test is a 2023 model-year Qashqai. It's a new model from 2022, and this particular version is the E-Power series hybrid. A single electric motor powers the wheels, with a three-cylinder gasoline engine used to keep the battery charged as a range extender. It's also not a Nissan Rogue Sport, as the model was phased out for North America after 2022. However, it's still possible a version could reach US shores at some point.