Nissan Almera - What the Heck's Got Into Nissan?

Nissan makes great cars. They're extremely reliable and trendy, generally speaking.

The Nissan GTR is one of the best super cars around, followed by the 370Z, etc.

Then there's the ever popular Nissan Grand Livina and its derivative, the X-Gear, and the superbly powerful Navara SUT (or sports utility truck).

And then there are Nissan's silly looking cars, which I don't get (or understand). I mean, why? Why have these silly looking cars when they go against Nissan own styling trend that could easily stand up to other leading marques?

Check out the latest addition to Nissan's long line of silly design cars - the new Almera. One look and you know this car is meant to appeal to the Toyota Vios fan, but it doesn't even come close to the Vios' cute appeal.

If, by definition, cute means "ugly in a nice way", then the Almera is extremely ugly with just a dash of nice - not much or rather, it has too little of "nice".

To put it differently, labelling the Almera "cute" would be too generous a description.

It does have its winning points though. The Almera's cabin space is larger than the Vios', albeit the Almera remains a baseline-class or B-class car like the Vios. This means that there's quite a bit more legroom for rear passenger comfort, which one usually finds in compact-class or C-class cars.

The Almera's boot space is also on the larger side, which is good for mega-store grocery shopping and holidaying with the family, albeit the car's practical boot space is not all that bigger than the Vios'.

The engine is pretty standard, but it has been configured, not for power like the Vios, but for best fuel economy, which is reportedly 14.9KM per litre of RON95 fuel. Of course, the downside to this is that the Almera would feel rather sluggish, like the Sentra.

In short, the Almera would probably sell like the silly looking Silphy and Latio. But I seriously doubt that it would win over significant market share from Toyota just because it tries very hard to appeal to Vios-loving car owners.

By the way, the new Almera is actually the latest variant of the Sentra, but it's not called Sentra probably because Nissan Malaysia wants to keep selling the Sentra.

New Teana - Nissan's Luxyry Liner

I've often wondered how a company that manufactures a super car like the GTR could come up short when it came to designing luxury sedans. None of the luxury models produced by Nissan could measure up to those produced by premium marquees like BMW, Mercedes, Audi, VW and Volvo... that is until now.

Imagine a GTR in your driveway and next to it is the new Nissan Teana - not a Mercedes or BMW but a brand new luxury Nissan sedan. Personally, I think I'd be very, very satisfied.

Unlike the old Nissan Teana, this new one is more contemporary looking and can easily pass off as a top executive car. Nevermind that it's a bit late on the scene.

So, if I were super duper rich and could choose whichever brand for my personal fleet of automobiles, I'd go with the Nissan - from the GTR for weekend driving, to the Teana for being schaufer driven, to the cute little Nissan March for going to the cramp night market, etc.

Teana - A Nissan that Grows On You

Dang! It's been two months since I last blogged on my favourite subject.

To all my readers, my sincerest apologies for my lack of new entries. Just switched jobs; had to get into the groove at the new office; new expectations - that sort of thing.

In that time, however, I've had a lot to think about when it comes to cars. At the top of my head is the realisation that you don't have to spend a bomb on a car just to feel like you've made in the world. Driving an expensive, prestigious marque may impress your peers, but at the end of the day, you can still get a lot of driving pleasure from less expensive marques.

That realisation dawned on me at a recent Golf Tournament that I helped to organise. Almost all the VIP guests came in "wowie" cars, befitting their stature.

But as I took a walk in the golfing club's car park, I realised that many of the VIP cars weren't all that fantastic, especially those whose upkeep have been neglected by their VIP owners.

Some looked old and even run down. And for some of those cars, their interiors don't look half as impressive as their external looks.

And this brings me to my main point - don't spend so much on an expensive car when cheaper cars these days can give you almost as much comfort and driving pleasure as those expensive, prestigious marques (if not as much or even more).

Don't believe me? Having spent several months driving a Kia Forte 2.0SX, I've gotten quite familiar with its interior comforts. Then, I got into a BMW 525 and was surprised to find its interior as less than impressive.

That got me thinking - RM95,000+ vs RM230,000+. Yes, the BMW 525 is impressive looking on the outside, but since we're going to be spending far more time inside of a car, is it really very smart to pay more than twice for something similar in a far cheaper car?

OK, so you don't think that a Kia Forte would go very far with your peers. No problem, just settle for a stylish Mazda 6 at RM170,000+. Its interior will still be cheaper to own and will be just as impressive as a BMW 525, if not more.

Alternatively, you can go for the stylish Nissan Teana. Don't laugh. It's not the old-man's car that some may think it to be.

Yes, I'll admit, I was one of those who thought that the Teana was an old-man's car when it first came out. After being conditioned to prefer cars that have the fire-ant, upward-sweeping rear looks, anything that went the other way or looked like the Teana's drooping rear looked weird.

"Bontot roboh, macam orang tua," I said (translated from Malay to mean the shrunken ass of an old man).

But then, if one can be conditioned to like something, then one can get used to the Teana's rear looks, and even prefer it over time. And to my surprise, I actually started looking forward to seeing the Teana on the roads.

After that, the rest of the car's looks just grew on me. What can I say? I love it now. Never mind the faux wood panelling that sometimes makes me think that I'm driving part of a display cabinet - I hope they'll get rid of that in future variants of the Teana.

And judging from the many that have been sold already, many other car enthusiasts love the Teana too (the cheapest being the 2.0L variant at RM140,000+).

Would I drive it to a golfing club if I were to be a VIP someday? I don't see why not. OK, it's no Mercedes Benz or BMW, but it's good looking enough and its interior prestigious enough to hint to my peers that I've got my money tied up elsewhere.

Luxury Truck vs Mid Range Car

Ok, enough with the stinking Malaysian politics for now and onto more interesting stuff - cars and trucks.

If you had a choice between a luxury truck and a mid-range car, which would you choose? Truck, yes? Why? Because of luxury? Well, many people would, albeit not most.

You see, for about the price you pay for a mid-range car like a Kia Forte 2.0SX or a Toyota Altis, you can get the kind of luxury you associate with high-end cars like Mazda 6, BMW 5 series and even the VW Passat CC provided you're willing to settle for a luxury truck.

The one I'm referring to in particular is the Nissan Navara. For a truck, the Navara is extremely plush - full leather seats, car-like cabin layout and dashboard, great stereo, the works. For a "commercial vehicle", this is one truck people would buy if they want a luxury car but can't quite afford one.

Although it's a truck, its ride handling feels less like a truck than a car on the road. And its advance chassis and suspension system allows you to go off-roading with confidence.

What's more, for a truck, the Navara can pretty much outrun most cars on the road. That's because it comes with a 2.5L Turbo diesel engine that dishes out 171 BHp, which is far more than what its closest rivals of the same engine capacity can, i.e. Mitsubishi Triton, Toyota Hilux and Ford - YUCK! - Ranger. (Sorry, I have to say YUCK each time I mention Ford - YUCK! - because of the bad experience I've had owning a Ford - YUCK! - Focus).

The Navara looks distinguished too, not least because of its humongous size. When you drive this big thing, you can bet others will be wary of crowding your right of way.

At the same time, the fact that it's a truck means that you're going to have to settle for some trade-offs. For one thing, although it's fast, you can't expect it to attack corners like a car - unless you have a death wish. For another, you're going to have to be very careful when parking in building basements, especially small and tight ones, lest you leave paint marks on walls and dents and scratches all over your Navara.

Me? Although I can't help but admire the Navara for its looks, luxury feel and engine power, I'd still settle for a mid-range car. Let's just say, I still prefer the feel and looks of a car (my Kia Forte in particular) over a beautiful truck like the Navara.

Nissan X-Trail - Putting the Rear Lights at the Front

Nissan makes good cars. Don't believe me? Check out the Nissan GTR, which is one of the best super cars in the world.

So, it really boggles the mind when Nissan comes out with funny cars that don't quite cut it like how the Nissan GTR does. One of them is the Nissan X-Trail.

Boxy and retro looking, the X-Trail is probably one of the weirdest looking sports utility vehicles (SUVs) in existence, next to the Suzuki Jimny. And it just got weirder, in that the latest variant comes with headlights that look like they should have been in the rear.

It's almost as if Nissan's designers loved how some of their tail-light designs looked so much that they just couldn't resist putting one of them on the new X-Trail. And since the design wouldn't fit in the rear, they thought, "Hey! Lets put them in the front!"

So, now, not only does the X-Trail look terribly boxy, it looks butt-ugly at the front, too.

Note that the new X-Trail being sold in Malaysia is the 2-wheel drive version. Hence, its tyres are more suited for highways and byways, and not for off-roading or for sandy/muddy terrain.

So, why the heck are the wheel wells so damn big? They look like they're meant for accommodating super-sized tyres that are used for off-roading.

Sigh!

To be fair, the new X-Trail has some extras thrown in to keep it contemporary, such as key-less entry and start-up, MP3 player, rear air-con ventilation and drinks cooler, as well as six-speed auto-transmission.

Still, with all of the new X-Trail's design oversights and a whopping price of RM149,000+ on the road, it would be one of the last things I would consider buying if ever I were in the market for a new SUV, especially when there are newer and far more interesting alternatives around like the contemporary looking Hyundai Tucson and Kia Sportage.

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Addendum: Not many car manufacturers can carry through boxy designs with real style. Rover is one and Kia is another (see the Kia Soul). Looking at the X-Trail, Nissan in not among those that can.

Also, with great looking competition around to trump the X-Trail in terms of design, you really would do better to consider such alternatives.

A good example is the new Hyundai Tucson. Check out the chic curves and slanted lines. At about RM140,000 for its high-spec version, it looks to be a much better buy than the boxy-ass, butt-face X-Trail.