Review of Car Nissan Sunny sedan
Sunny side up
I don't remember how I got there, but I do know that I was at the gates of the Nissan - Renault factory in Oragadam near Chennai. I got up at 4 am to go to the airport, so, naturally, I've slept on the way to the airport, on the plane and on the way to the factory near Chennai. But all that sleep disappeared once I caught a glimpse of the massive facility that was now standing in front of me. After completing all the formalities and finally entering the factory, I was greeted by a sight to behold, a sea of cars representing every single model being produced there. I knew that I'd be taking one of those cars for a short spin today, and that car turned out to be a steel gray Nissan Sunny sedan.
Design
I was greeted by a gaping grille with a thick chrome outline and two sweeping headlamps that led me to the front door handle. I took the Sunny up on that invitation and reached for the door, only to find out that the key was no where in sight. As I waited for the key to be delivered, I took a quick walk-around of the car and came away pleasantly surprised. The character line that leads to the rear of the car ends at the tail lamps. When looked at from the side give an impression that the rear is lower than the front of the car, usually referred to as the droopy-butt syndrome, but when looked at from the rear, the effect is not quite so pronounced. The Sunny sedan is based on the Nissan V platform and as such is basically the Nissan Tiida with a boot attached to it, but unlike the Swift Dzire, the integration of the boot was done seamlessly to give it proper sedan proportions. The 15-inch multi-spoke alloys on the XV (14-inch steel wheels on the XE and XL variants) round out the exterior package.
Interior
Finally, the keys have arrived and I'm allowed entry into the car. The XV comes with the same keyless entry and push-button start system as the Micra, while the lower variants make do with a traditional metal key. The cabin is light and airy thanks to the choice of interior colours and large greenhouse. The driver's seat and steering wheel are adjustable for height and finding a good driving position is fairly easy to do. The rear bench looks to be designed to seat only two although a third lap belt is present. Rear legroom is simply fantastic.
One particularly nifty feature is the addition of a rear blower — not an AC vent — that sucks cold air from the front of the cabin and blows it to the backseat. The front arm-rest contains the blower assembly which takes the cold air coming from the AC vents in the front and pushes the air towards the rear of the car. That's brilliant, frugal engineering.
Driver airbags and ABS are standard on all models, while the XL and XV models get passenger airbags too. The top spec version also comes with steering mounted controls for the stock audio system.
Performance
Performance is quite peppy. The 1.5 litre DOHC mill makes 98 bhp @ 6000 rpm and 134 NM of peak torque and that's more than enough to propel the 1027 kg top spec Sunny XV . Below 2000 rpm, the engine seems a bit sluggish to respond, but once past that, it picks up pace well. A quick downshift on the 5-speed gearbox might be required to execute a passing maneuver properly though. Cruising is comfortable and effortless, but the inclusion of a dead-pedal might have made it more so.
Stopping is a whole different story, however. The pedal travel is not progressive, the first few mm of travel gets you a weak initial bite, but suddenly, they become too grabby within a few mm of travel, making the driver seem like an amateur. Braking over undulations makes the car feel squirmy, as it tries to follow every rut on the road. Electronic aids in the form of ABS, electronic brake-force distribution (EBD) and brake assist (BA) are present to bring you safely to a halt, but how it gets there is not all that confidence inspiring.
Ride and handling
Ride quality is good, with the suspension soaking up all but the biggest of bumps. At slow speeds, the suspension reacts nicely to bumps in the road, and retains good body control as the speeds increase. Ground clearance is good too, but the chassis managed to find something to scrape itself on, which, considering the post-monsoon roads is not all that surprising. Rear seat comfort is fantastic for its class, provided you're not the one stuck in the centre seat. With an average sized driver, the legroom available to the rear passengers is unbelievable. The only thing that takes away from this comfort is the intrusion of wind and tyre noise at higher speeds.
Handling is quite neutral, with the car tending towards understeer as it nears its limits of adhesion, but that's only on smooth roads. When you throw undulations and ruts into the equation, the story starts to resemble that of the braking. Turn into a corner and all is well, but the moment you encounter a bump, the car seems to forget that for front wheels are connected to the steering wheel!
EPS does its job well, keeping the steering light and effortless at low speeds and weighing it up nicely as the speeds get higher.
Verdict
The Sunny makes for an excellent proposition for a car to be driven around in, with its fantastic rear leg room, the rear blower and supple ride quality. It also makes perfect sense for a family of 4. It's hard to argue with the price of the car too, you're paying Swift Dzire money for what's essentially an SX4 sized car.
For those that rack up the miles on their cars, a diesel version is on the horizon which will come with a dCI diesel engine sometime next year
I don't remember how I got there, but I do know that I was at the gates of the Nissan - Renault factory in Oragadam near Chennai. I got up at 4 am to go to the airport, so, naturally, I've slept on the way to the airport, on the plane and on the way to the factory near Chennai. But all that sleep disappeared once I caught a glimpse of the massive facility that was now standing in front of me. After completing all the formalities and finally entering the factory, I was greeted by a sight to behold, a sea of cars representing every single model being produced there. I knew that I'd be taking one of those cars for a short spin today, and that car turned out to be a steel gray Nissan Sunny sedan.
Design
I was greeted by a gaping grille with a thick chrome outline and two sweeping headlamps that led me to the front door handle. I took the Sunny up on that invitation and reached for the door, only to find out that the key was no where in sight. As I waited for the key to be delivered, I took a quick walk-around of the car and came away pleasantly surprised. The character line that leads to the rear of the car ends at the tail lamps. When looked at from the side give an impression that the rear is lower than the front of the car, usually referred to as the droopy-butt syndrome, but when looked at from the rear, the effect is not quite so pronounced. The Sunny sedan is based on the Nissan V platform and as such is basically the Nissan Tiida with a boot attached to it, but unlike the Swift Dzire, the integration of the boot was done seamlessly to give it proper sedan proportions. The 15-inch multi-spoke alloys on the XV (14-inch steel wheels on the XE and XL variants) round out the exterior package.
Interior
Finally, the keys have arrived and I'm allowed entry into the car. The XV comes with the same keyless entry and push-button start system as the Micra, while the lower variants make do with a traditional metal key. The cabin is light and airy thanks to the choice of interior colours and large greenhouse. The driver's seat and steering wheel are adjustable for height and finding a good driving position is fairly easy to do. The rear bench looks to be designed to seat only two although a third lap belt is present. Rear legroom is simply fantastic.
One particularly nifty feature is the addition of a rear blower — not an AC vent — that sucks cold air from the front of the cabin and blows it to the backseat. The front arm-rest contains the blower assembly which takes the cold air coming from the AC vents in the front and pushes the air towards the rear of the car. That's brilliant, frugal engineering.
Driver airbags and ABS are standard on all models, while the XL and XV models get passenger airbags too. The top spec version also comes with steering mounted controls for the stock audio system.
Performance
Performance is quite peppy. The 1.5 litre DOHC mill makes 98 bhp @ 6000 rpm and 134 NM of peak torque and that's more than enough to propel the 1027 kg top spec Sunny XV . Below 2000 rpm, the engine seems a bit sluggish to respond, but once past that, it picks up pace well. A quick downshift on the 5-speed gearbox might be required to execute a passing maneuver properly though. Cruising is comfortable and effortless, but the inclusion of a dead-pedal might have made it more so.
Stopping is a whole different story, however. The pedal travel is not progressive, the first few mm of travel gets you a weak initial bite, but suddenly, they become too grabby within a few mm of travel, making the driver seem like an amateur. Braking over undulations makes the car feel squirmy, as it tries to follow every rut on the road. Electronic aids in the form of ABS, electronic brake-force distribution (EBD) and brake assist (BA) are present to bring you safely to a halt, but how it gets there is not all that confidence inspiring.
Ride and handling
Ride quality is good, with the suspension soaking up all but the biggest of bumps. At slow speeds, the suspension reacts nicely to bumps in the road, and retains good body control as the speeds increase. Ground clearance is good too, but the chassis managed to find something to scrape itself on, which, considering the post-monsoon roads is not all that surprising. Rear seat comfort is fantastic for its class, provided you're not the one stuck in the centre seat. With an average sized driver, the legroom available to the rear passengers is unbelievable. The only thing that takes away from this comfort is the intrusion of wind and tyre noise at higher speeds.
Handling is quite neutral, with the car tending towards understeer as it nears its limits of adhesion, but that's only on smooth roads. When you throw undulations and ruts into the equation, the story starts to resemble that of the braking. Turn into a corner and all is well, but the moment you encounter a bump, the car seems to forget that for front wheels are connected to the steering wheel!
EPS does its job well, keeping the steering light and effortless at low speeds and weighing it up nicely as the speeds get higher.
Verdict
The Sunny makes for an excellent proposition for a car to be driven around in, with its fantastic rear leg room, the rear blower and supple ride quality. It also makes perfect sense for a family of 4. It's hard to argue with the price of the car too, you're paying Swift Dzire money for what's essentially an SX4 sized car.
For those that rack up the miles on their cars, a diesel version is on the horizon which will come with a dCI diesel engine sometime next year
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