Here is an Exclusive review of the new 2011 Nissan Sunny Sedan.
Nissan entered the Indian
market with its exciting SUV X-Trial
some 7 years back. But it was only with the launch of its cute-hatch Micra in 2009, the company gained a
good reputation in the India.
Last month, it unveiled its new saloon offering, the Sunny which promises to
shake up the midsize segment with its competitive pricing and packaging. I
recently drove the car down the National Highway No.7 in Madurai. With the long-standing temptation
and curiosity combined with the media hype, here is what I experienced.
It was around 5.50 pm when we entered the Nissan showroom, and awaiting us was a top-of-the-line Blade Silver-coloured Sunny. Though the styling and design of the car is much familiar, it was much more exciting to be a layman to notice it once again. In spite of Nissan’s ‘V-platform’ car like the Micra, the Sunny’s approach to styling is different unlike other saloons that look like the booted versions of their hatchback sibling. It doesn’t look anything like the Micra, no sharing of body panels, and looks like a premium saloon resembling its family star, the Teana. Its similarly looking windows, sloping roofline, and bulbous corners tells you the same. It looks longer and bigger, thanks to its bulbous styling, which makes it exciting. It gets a stretched wheel-base of 2600mm, which is in fact one of the longest among its classmates. But it is true that the car does look a bit awkward from certain angles. The missing of the flamboyant wheel arches does have a negative impact on its manifestation.
Move inside, the cabin
looks as big as a reception hall! There is enormous space inside, particularly
at the back, which means high legroom and knee room. The rear seat accommodates
three passengers but the space could have been better. Headroom is also a tad
limited due to the sloping roof. But the front seats better overall support
despite the seatback not being all that big. Rear passengers get a separate
blower with a dedicated fan speed knob and are useful, though not exciting.
The Sunny’s interior was a
bit of disappointment to me. The dash resembles the one on the Micra and the
parts-sharing is evident. Though it is well put-together with decent plastic
quality, the interior of the car is not coherent to the exterior manifestation.
With a distinctive design and styling like a premium sedan, one would expect a
different interior layout which would relate it to its premium character. But
the dashboard, steering wheel, and door handles typically reflects a hatchback
inside. The instrument cluster is clear and is very easy to read. The
backlighting is also very attractive all over that dash. On the whole, the car
looks refreshing and the ‘greige’
(grey and beige) interior gives the cabin a light and airy feel.
Under the hood is the all new 1.5 litre petrol
power plant mated to a 5-speed gearbox, the only engine option offered as of
now. It produces 97.6bhp of power at a high 6000rpm and 13.6kgm of torque. It
is fairly silent while idling. On the road the engine feels responsive and
picks up well from as low as 1500rpm without the need to downshift. It revs
with gusto all the way to 5000rpm after which it loses steam and labours to the
redline at 6250rpm. The car is peppy to drive and quick in hitting the ton
mark. The gears are fairly accurate to use, though it gets notchy at times
while shifting gears. Refinement and NVH levels are decent, but I don’t think
it is better than the Honda City.
The car features McPherson
suspension in the front and a torsion beam at the rear. It feels quite stiff
and results in a bumpy low-speed ride but the situation improves during
high-speeds. High speed stability is good thanks to the long wheel base. There
is a bit of body roll but after the initial movement it stays in place and
takes the intended line. The electric steering is very light to use but feels
vague while cruising.
The Sunny is well equipped
with comfort and safety features. The top-of-the-line XV trim gets keyless
entry and ignition (button start), climate control, 15-inch alloys,
multi-information system which tells us average fuel consumption, steering
mounted controls and an audio system with CD and aux-input. Missing is the USB
connectivity. ABS and airbags are standard across all the three trim levels.
However, the base trim XE gets all black interiors (looks awkward for the
layout), fixed front head rests, and misses every chrome finishes including the
front grille.
The Sunny is an obvious threat to many of this class mates. It is hugely spacious, comes well equipped and is priced smartly as well. It straddles a fine line between the entry level saloons like the Dzire, Etios and Fiesta Classic in terms of price and upper segment saloons like the City, Vento and Verna in terms of space. But only when a diesel Sunny comes true, Nissan can make much difference. The initial response of the car tells us the same.
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