[W.A.G.7]

Wonderful review! 5 * rating. It is a good car, which follows jack of all trades policy. Neither here nor there, but will do the job without complaining. Shouldn't they have priced it a bit lesser? In the range of 5.85L to 6.85L? It would have been a good competitor for the Dzire.

I only feel that they should have made the interiors different from the Micra. Immediately it feels as if you are sitting in the Micra. Also paint quality and interiors are well put together. I say this because in the Micra also, there is similar superb paint quality and interior plastics are of good quality.

[Equus]

Fantastic review, rated 5 *s as always - thanks guys!! Another decent option in the C segment! Is the diesel launch around the corner (diwali)? Given the space, there will be many takers, and some from the taxi segment as well! Offcourse Verito is hard to beat but Sunny is so much more plush!

Doesnt this make you wonder if Toyota overdid the so-damn-obvious cost-cutting on the Etios?

[amtak]

Originally Posted by Equus

Doesnt this make you wonder if Toyota overdid the so-damn-obvious cost-cutting on the Etios?

To Avoid making it OT, lets compare Nissan v/s Toyota. Nissan has learnt from its mistakes (X-trail, original Teana pricing etc) where in Toyota is going Honda way (Know the market needs and still dont respond, make mistakes and learn the hard way).

Toyota has launched the Diesel Avatar's of Etios siblinngs. However, to keep the costs low, Liva D is available only in mid spec trim. If we compare this to Micra (I know, a segment higher), it comes with all bells and whistles and with real good quality interiors.

But yes, 2000 units a month is a bold figure and to achieve that number, they should have the diesel engine in place. I see a lot of cross shopping here, a few Micra D buyers may end up buying the mid spec sunny...

[downsouth]

Great review Avi, I was looking forward to the same. The care looks nice and big, though unconventional. Lovely color, The rear legroom is enough for people to put down the money on this car esp if they are going to be chauffeur driven. Is this the USP of Sunny?

Surprised to see there is no storage space for passenger's in the rear. The bonnet could be covered with NVH absorption stuff to reduce some vibrations. And whats with the center arm rest/ac intake Nissan could have done a much better job than that. Now waiting for the Diesel version to be out soon.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by suhaas307

Nissan has done well, and has 2 of those parameters licked! The FE should be good, and the space, well, you can see it for yourself! But after-sales-service needs to improve, and that would improve in time, with establishment of wider service-networks and better customer-care.

I agree the A.S.S has to certainly improve not just in increase in dealership network count but, also in their approach towards customer. But, from what we can see from some members comments they had pleasant experience at Nissan dealerships and may as well turn out to be the next Chevrolet which too had poor ratings and expectations from buyers which it has turned around dramatically over the last few years ( speaking from personal experience)

Originally Posted by ajmat

Is it me but are the front doors identical to the Micra?

Now that you mention. Yes, both cars front doors look almost identical

Originally Posted by sahakar

Now they continuing expanding this through out India and they will become another Hyundai and maybe better.

Well, that's a lot of expectation from Nissan. Hyundai is way ahead in their network count as well as A.S.S quality and comparable or better to the leaders ( Maruti). I would be happy if they match the standards of Chevrolet

Originally Posted by saleem_k

1. Would 100kmph be the absolutely comfortable cruising speed of this car as you have mentioned somewhere? HOw does the car behave if you accelerate suddenly from this speed or want to cruise at around 120-130kmph?

Sunny will feel quite comfortable in terms of ride and handling even till 140kmph. however, what it does not have in its favor is the engine noise which becomes increasingly prominent as you cross 120kmph and this will be a deterrent factor in keeping up high speeds.

Originally Posted by saleem_k

2. What is the maximum speed it can go up to?

We have touched 140kmph and it took a while to go to this speed with 4 occupants in the car. However, it's claimed to have a top speed of 165kmph.

Originally Posted by saleem_k

3. Can you compare with the cruising abilities of Dzire, Etios and Manza petrol versions? something like Dzire<Etios<Manza<Sunny?

Sorry, I wouldnt be able to comment on the cruising ability of other two cars as I have never driven them at such speeds.

Originally Posted by saleem_k

4. Also, I believe with the spacious interiors and people buying it especially if they have medium sized family with 5 fully grown adults, how well can the car transport 5 medium to well-built people with all their luggage? Would highway cruising still be comfortable at 100kmph or it would be worse in such a scenario? In short, can this be a good weekend family car?

Sunny is a real 5-people car especially for medium built and height people with tonnes of space inside

Originally Posted by saleem_k

5. Which segment of the population do you see the potential customers coming from? People who need a big-car image irrespective of performance, people who prefer practical cars, Enthusiasts, people looking for budget sedans?

First two categories would be the prospective buyers of Sunny. I foresee people between age group of 30-45 will be the ones interested to buy this car.

Originally Posted by saleem_k

I also did not see you mention the ground clearance. Sorry in case I missed it.

Iam not sure about this info as it was not available but, its on par with other competitors and dont expect it to be below 165mm.

Originally Posted by skuz

How good is the engine/gearbox with respect to say swift or jazz? And can we compare the ride quality to the ANHC<Vento?

Given that their external dimensions are similar (Sunny & City), am surprised by the tonnes of space in the sunny rear seats! Would be interesting to know how nissan beat honda here, honda being supposedly the masters in space management! (or so i thought)

IMO, Swift and Jazz will beat the Sunny hollow in the engine and gearbox department

Sunny will beat Swift and Jazz in the space department.

Originally Posted by sids911

Hows the turning radius of the car?

5.3M is the minimum turning radius

Originally Posted by vasanthn21

Mobike: If my driving style is limits revving between 1500 to 3000rpm driving in the city, how would Sunny's engine fare? Would ECU remap help?

Only the performance enthusiasts would rev the engine beyond 3500rpm and rest of the population would go beyond that rpm range occasionally

And, if you plan to stick to 1500-3000rpm, you will find the Sunny quite a breeze to drive.

Originally Posted by ku69rd

Mobike,
Should say a very good review. Crisply written how does this compete/compare with Hyundai Verna Transform? Could you please add the verna to comparison chart as well?

Any inkling on the diesel prices? or can we expect a 10% premium charged over similar petrol variants?

I have never driven a Verna Petrol so wouldnt know the difference. Besides, who ever buys a Verna P?

Diesel engined Sunny's expected price figures are given by another member in a few posts behind. If that turns out to be true, expect a lot of heat on its competitors.

Originally Posted by Equus

Doesnt this make you wonder if Toyota overdid the so-damn-obvious cost-cutting on the Etios?

After experiencing the Sunny in close quarters, Etios indeed looks/feels cheaper in terms of overall quality.

[DeepChat]

Good review guys!

I think this car does a lot of things right. The looks are not offensive, in fact the front looks positively muscular. To me, the rear looks far better than Dzire or Manza (no offence meant to owners of these cars). Driveability within city is good and space is abundant. The pricing is spot-on. Interiors are not jaw-dropping, but still look good. Agreed that the greige is dull, but it still feels VFM at these price points. Comprehensive safety package is available on the middle variations too. Kudos to Nissan for that.

Will it appeal to purists? No, given the engine and gearbox combination.
Are most car buyers purists? I guess not. I think a lot of buyers will be fine with a VFM sedan offering Japanese quality, decent exteriors and interiors, and with good amount of space on offer.

There are 3 major issues that Nissan needs to work on:

• The brand image (and brand recall) - The Sunny may notch up decent sales but only if customers visit the showrooms! Lot of work is still needed on that front. This can compete with the City and the Vento P, but only if Nissan even figures on the list of buying options.
• The lack of a diesel option. Given the current petrol prices, I guess almost any diesel cars will generate healthy numbers. Jan 2012 seems too far off given that a number of households will make their buying decisions in the upcoming festive months.
• Maintenance costs and after-sales service is unknown.

An incident that happened to us, centered around this car - My dad visited the Nissan kiosk at Delhi Airport yesterday. A Sunny was on display, and he was pretty excited since I had suggested this as a possible upgrade for him. The Sales Rep gave the prices, and these had my dad smiling. Then he asked the inevitable question immortalized by the Suzuki ads - 'Kitna deti hai?' Pat comes the reply - '7 kmpl in city, 10 kmpl on highways' To say that my dad was shocked would be an example of British understatement. Seeing that the published ARAI figures are ~17 kmpl, I can only guess that the guy meant 7 miles per litre and 10 miles per litre. But this experience is completely at variance with the sales experiences that some of the others have shared - about the sales reps being well versed in the product.

[vasanthn21]

Originally Posted by mobike008

Iam not sure about this info as it was not available but, its on par with other competitors and dont expect it to be below 165mm.

From your first post, the wheel base of Sunny is the most when compared to the other sedans in the chart, with 165 mm of ground clearance and Sunny not being light, I am assuming it would scrape on quite a few speed breakers especially with 4-5 adults seated. What was your experience?

[romeomidhun]

Though a good car, the sales will settle around 1000 - 1200 numbers a month, IMO. Only a Diesel version can raise the numbers.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by downsouth

The rear legroom is enough for people to put down the money on this car esp if they are going to be chauffeur driven. Is this the USP of Sunny?

Space would certainly be their key USP ( as you may have also noted from their print ad this morning) but, they are touting it to be a well rounded car for the average indian looking for a VFM product.

Originally Posted by vasanthn21

From your first post, the wheel base of Sunny is the most when compared to the other sedans in the chart, with 165 mm of ground clearance and Sunny not being light, I am assuming it would scrape on quite a few speed breakers especially with 4-5 adults seated. What was your experience?

As I was not sure, I intentionally added the asterix there.

What makes you say Sunny is not light? Base version is just 998kgs and top variant is 1027kgs and is easily about 100kgs lighter than some other cars in its segment. Moreover, as mentioned earlier, I was impressed with its stiff suspension ( atleast found it stiffer than what you normally expect from a petrol car) and this should ensure the car doesnt bottoms out on speed breakers.

We didnt get a chance to experience a lot of bad roads but, whatever little we experienced with 4 people in the car. It was quite stable.

[PearlJam]

Nice review!

In the interior pictures nissan-sunny-05.jpg and nissan-sunny-11.jpg, is that an air-vent just behind the handbrake?

[samabhi]

I would take that in its current form. It works a lot to me with lot of city driving and I can live with that under performing engine. For me the turn-on factors are :

- Driver comfort.
- Most importantly superior rear seating comfort.
- Ride comfort.

There are other cars to which will fit in the segment, but there's lot more quality feel around this one. Spare me the Vento which is on a higher segment. As someone rightly said, this is really a no nonsense car and a perfect bill for many of the Indian families. It would be interesting to see what would be the pricing for Diesel Sunny.

Nissan needs to spend a lot of effort to get this car out into the minds of the people. I didnt know until I read this review.

Thanks for the wonderful review.

[good.car-ma]

Originally Posted by acroback

Typical Nissan traits, unattractive to look but good package overall.

Really? I thought those were typical Toyota traits. Nissan are known for their attractive and extraordinary cars. For example, the Maxima, Skyline, even the European Micra in its own way, are all quirky and have attractive points.

Originally Posted by vnabhi

If only Nissan had given a better shape and interiors, this would have been a steal.

Looks are subjective. I hate looks of the Ritz but I know people who love it.

Originally Posted by GTO

Sadly, I can't say the same about the car. Neither does it appeal to me, nor would I be recommending it too much to others. It seems to be middle-of-the-way in most areas, but the package doesn't come across as a very strong one to me. Main reason : The engine review that you guys put up. C'mon, running out of breath so easily? Noisy over 3,000 rpm? Compare that to the Etios, Dzire, Fiesta Classic & gang which have some super powerplants. From your review, even the Manza (Fiat) 1.4L petrol sounds better.

But until then, I'd give this car an extremely average rating. For self-driven types, the Etios (torque'y engine, fun behaviour), Dzire (excellent engine, sharp front end) and Fiesta Classic (100 BHP, segment best steering & handling) beat it hollow. For chauffeur-driven comfort, I'd pick the Manza diesel top variant which is priced on par with the Sunny petrol. The Manza's rear seat is also supremely comfortable and, while the Sunny may have that much more room, how much do you need any way? Spacious is spacious...a couple of mm here & there. Sure, if we bring in the Dzire, then the Sunny has a distinct advantage in space. But the Manza is also amongst the segment best.

It seems to be targeted at middle-of-the-way consumers so whats wrong in that. And I believe a car's performance can only be judged perfectly by driving it oneself (no offence to the excellent review guys). Everyone has different driving styles so to write off a car because it gets noisy above 3000rpm, without testing it may not be the best idea.

Also, a few mm can make a big difference. I'm above 6 feet and I know how I have suffered in some cars. Besides, do you really think that the Manza can compare in ride and handling to a tuned Jap sedan like the Sunny! Maybe you watched their ad just now

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

Now if they plan to use the same Micra diesel engine on this, should be a bummer ! Hope they use some higher state of tune for diesel.

Considering that they havent chucked in the 1.2 petrol as Maruti did with the Dzire, I guess they are sensitive to the size of the car and the engine. Also, the engine in the Micra is tuned down from the original state to suit the small car's requirements. I think we can expect a more powerful engine, may not be the Fluence's specs though.

Originally Posted by VW2010

Personally i feel the interiors are plain dull looking. Doesnt excite and i am not sure if this car will create any impression to sit inside and drive long.

At least from the pictures on this thread, i just feel the interiors lack the excitement most of the competetion offers.

The word i am looking for is Gaudy. The first impression is definitely not the one that excites me atleast.

Overall the car looks a great VFM for the offer price.

Most of you may like the interiors, but i just shared my thoughts on the interiors. So ignore if its not appropriate for you.

Of course you are right, the interiors could do with more color. But gaudy isnt the word you're looking for gaudy is in fact the very opposite, probably of what you were meaning.

Originally Posted by oxyzen

If Micra was anything to go by, Sunny's Handling should have been pretty disappointing.

Whats wrong with the Micra's handling? Would like to hear your opinion because I found it pretty decent.

Originally Posted by SkyWalker

I wont buy one (due to the poor highway capabilities), but i am still impressed by the quality, space and overall capability of the car.

Poor highway capabilities?? How did you arrive at that conclusion?

Originally Posted by Jaggu

Just saw the caaar ad on TV

What did you think of that ad? I;ll reserve my statement for after I hear yours.

Originally Posted by swiftdiesel

When Toyota has the audacity to launch a tin-can (read Etios) with a T badge, kudos to Nissan for launching a quality sedan with decent specs!

+1 to that. The Etios is actually an insult to discerning customers. Its like Toyota arrogantly throwing rubbish saying "Indian customers will buy whatever junk we give them because of the badge and the price". My impression of Toyota (which was not too great to begin with) has gone to nought after the release of these rubbish cars.

Originally Posted by ajmat

Having used the previous Versa in the US, I can concur - it is terribly underpowered, so much so some colleagues in the car with me were bemused at my ranting when trying to overtake.

Is it me but are the front doors identical to the Micra?

Although this car is being sold as the Versa in the USA, I think its just for familiarity of naming. The previous Versa was not based on the V platform so I doubt we can compare this car with that one accurately.

The doors look similar but they are not the same in shape or in dimension.

Originally Posted by DeepChat

An incident that happened to us, centered around this car - My dad visited the Nissan kiosk at Delhi Airport yesterday. A Sunny was on display, and he was pretty excited since I had suggested this as a possible upgrade for him. The Sales Rep gave the prices, and these had my dad smiling. Then he asked the inevitable question immortalized by the Suzuki ads - 'Kitna deti hai?' Pat comes the reply - '7 kmpl in city, 10 kmpl on highways' To say that my dad was shocked would be an example of British understatement. Seeing that the published ARAI figures are ~17 kmpl, I can only guess that the guy meant 7 miles per litre and 10 miles per litre. But this experience is completely at variance with the sales experiences that some of the others have shared - about the sales reps being well versed in the product.

Unfortunately, a company's fortune depends on such foolish salespersons sometimes. This is not new and there is a whole thread on TBHP about sales people's stupid statements. Its across brands, models, etc. I once had a Ford salesman tell me that ABS is Anti-Braking System by which the car will stop automatically if you press the brake at 96km/h. I nearly crashed the test car when I burst out laughing.

[sahakar]

Originally Posted by amtak

Good review. Seems like Nissan is ticking all the right check boxes while its sister company (Renault) the wrong ones! Isn't the fan box near the seats a risky item? Also, the digital tell-tale sign meter looks like "inner-wear" design. Who approved it?


Regarding the A**, I would agree that they have sorted it out at least for Mumbai. I test drove a Micra last week and the gentleman was very courteous (had got the car from Orion vashi to Mira Road). He knew that I am not going to buy the Micra (had informed him before hand only) but, i had mentioned to him that i need to see the know how spacious it is, as both Micra and sunny are on the same platform. Still, he got the car (55 kms one way) for a elaborate test drive.

PS: While I was typing this, he just called me to mention that the Sunny is now launched. Those planning to buy the Micra/Sunny from Orion Nissan, i recommend a gentleman named Narender (a fine sardar gentleman). Too humble and polite. Not the typical sales guy!

Looks like being humble and polite is something the sales folks have been told to do. As I mentioned earlier, we too had the same 'humble and polite' experience at the Worli showroom.

Cheers

[amtak]

Originally Posted by sahakar

Looks like being humble and polite is something the sales folks have been told to do. As I mentioned earlier, we too had the same 'humble and polite' experience at the Worli showroom.

Cheers

Isn't that a good thing? It is far better than say a VW/Tata/ or some of the most premium car showrooms. Or for that matter, better than Honda 2 wheelers - I felt, i was standing on the railway platform and waiting for a train. Hoards of passengers around. No one is bothered!

I for one, would appreciate this gesture. The only reason why I may not buy a Nissan is that I dont want to go to worli or Vashi for my car to be serviced!

50 dealers is still a small network. How many service points? I don't have a driver who can drop me to work and take the car for servicing.

[sahakar]

Originally Posted by amtak

Isn't that a good thing? It is far better than say a VW/Tata/ or some of the most premium car showrooms. Or for that matter, better than Honda 2 wheelers - I felt, i was standing on the railway platform and waiting for a train. Hoards of passengers around. No one is bothered!

I for one, would appreciate this gesture. The only reason why I may not buy a Nissan is that I dont want to go to worli or Vashi for my car to be serviced!

50 dealers is still a small network. How many service points? I don't have a driver who can drop me to work and take the car for servicing.

Oh definitely thats a good thing. No questions about it.

Also, they also have a solution for your problem. They send a guy from their service centre who picks up the car, takes it to Kurla their service centre, gets all the service done and drops back the car to your home or office.

So at least if you are in Bombay you really do not have to worry about going to drop your car at the service centre, etc.

And BTW they have the best value for money top end hatchback currently. The top end Micra petrol is only 5.9lakhs on road after discounts and includes nifty feature like stop/start button, ACC, etc

Cheers