Team-BHP - Nissan Sunny : Test Drive & Review

Test drove the Sunny XV today, out of sheer curiosity and I must say, while I do still have some niggling doubts, I am quite inclined to book one ASAP.

I agree with Mobike008's very detailed review (thank you for it), the car blew me away with the space and the features offered with the XV, but that very clunky gearbox kind of threw me off. That has got me in two minds, really. Didn't drive too far to see how the car handles in traffic but whatever little I managed, I quite enjoyed. I can see this car quite easily becoming my daily drive.

Funnily enough am stuck with a rather unique problem. I liked the all-black interiors that come with the XE only and while the XE lacks a lot of the cockpit fun-thingumajigs that come with the XL and XV, it appears that I cannot get an all-black interior if I choose the top 2 models. Weird!

Chanced upon an XE in the basement, the car obviously retains the same shape as the other two, the black interior is a tad plasticky but I still liked it better than the 'greige' the other two offer. Extremely disappointed to see that the XE, close to 7 lakhs on road in Hyderabad, has 4 old school maruti wind-up glass handles - no power windows for the front and that left me somewhat aggrieved. Of course, the showroom says it will give me power windows for an additional 12K, but come on.. Really?

All said and done, I liked it more than I disliked it and as I mentioned earlier, I can quite see myself enjoying this car, driving to work and back and because of that HUGE boot and ample back seat, see myself driving to and fro holiday destinations.

On the other hand, a friend is disposing of a 2006 Dec Baleno VXI. In quite good condition. For a song. AARGH. But that's a story for another day.

Quote:

Originally Posted by G_AmbyMad (Post 2540939)

Test drove the Sunny XV today, out of sheer curiosity and I must say, while I do still have some niggling doubts, I am quite inclined to book one ASAP.

. Extremely disappointed to see that the XE, close to 7 lakhs on road in Hyderabad, has 4 old school maruti wind-up glass handles - no power windows for the front and that left me somewhat aggrieved. Of course, the showroom says it will give me power windows for an additional 12K, but come on.. Really?

On the other hand, a friend is disposing of a 2006 Dec Baleno VXI. In quite good condition. For a song. AARGH. But that's a story for another day.

Strange to hear of manual windows, cost cutting bordering on being cheap...

2 cents on the Baleno.. give it a pass

Here's a review on the US Sunny aka Versa.

Review: 2012 Nissan Versa | The Truth About Cars

I like the fact that pretty much the same machine we have in India is in the US. Of course major diff being the 1.6L engine there and availability of auto transmission.

However, this review really reinforces my current thoughts that the lowest trim is the most value for money point A to point B people mover.

Cheers

Took a test drive of the Sunny today. The car is really big in flesh (a tad longer than the City) and the interiors are of good quality. Not too much of a bling factor, but the legroom/headroom is awesome. The center mount for cold air suction and rear vents are cool and very useful in Indian conditions.

Noticed that the gear shift was not slick compared to it's other Jap brothers. When the car is in motion, some vibration is felt with the gear lever. This is pretty much the same -ve listed in the official review. Asked the SA, but she confessed that the car was new and reached the dealer some 2-3 days ago. This got me even more perplexed !! Unfortunately the only Sunny dealer in Bangalore had just 1 test car.

The car seems to take on potholes woth ease and the engine is heavily tuned for maximum FE. OTR in Bangalore

XE - 706,036
XL - 838,659
XV - 935,112

Being a late- comer to the crowded C segment, Nissan does not have much choices when it comes to pricing. Hence they are targetting both the B+ segment and C segment customers(by underpricing it compared to it's competitors). Expect diesel by Jan 2012.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mohan41 (Post 2538063)

How did you find the under thigh support? I am also 5 11 and interested in knowing about this. The pictures in the review show a 6'3" person on the rear seat, and the under-thigh support did not look good for that person.

Hi Considering the space between the front seat and the back, i could keep my legs a bit more stretched so the under-thigh did not feel bad. Yes it is not as good as in Manza.

Just an update to all -
I did saw a Sunny (Diesel) on test drive in bangalore. I noticed it around koramangala area with the temporary registration number (TN). While i was wondering why a TN temporary registration vehicle in Karnataka, it passed me quickly, but i did notice the sticker on the back covering dCi clap:

I'm confident that we'll see the diesel sunny soon. My long wait to finalize a sedan will come true ( hopefully) :uncontrol

Quote:

Originally Posted by ghodlur (Post 2553039)

Its surprising that we dont have any ownership threads of the Sunny on the forum since its been some times since they were launched. Have they been not delivered as of yet or none of the BHPians have actually booked one? What seems to be the reason for the same?:Frustrati

Most of the fellow bhpians are probably waiting for the Diesel launch which is just around the corner. We should see more action after that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ghodlur (Post 2553039)

Hi,
I did book a Sunny XL variant 3 weeks back but yet to get delivery - was promised this weekend but now understand that deliveries are yet to happen from the factory and hence will get pushed behind by ~10 days.. Rest assured, will post my review as soon as I get the Caaaaar !!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by ghodlur

All- I have booked the XV model this evening - they are ready to deliver the car on tuesday (silver) dealer confirmed the diesel launch likely feb/mar and the engine is same as in micra, tuned to higher HP .

While on the topic if any fellow Bhpian's can confirm if they have any offers of any kind from the dealership on the 'sunny' the ONP is 8.39Lacs no freebies/no discounts

Quote:

Originally Posted by LL4X4 (Post 2554770)

Wow, thats a super fast delivery... which city did you book the Sunny? I got no discounts / deals whatsoever from the dealer in Chennai.. In Bangalore they were willing to give corporate discount of INR2,000 !